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IDEOLOGY CONUNDRUM

Every society or community is governed through its culture to accomplish the

sense of union and to become a nation. To assimilate group of people on one point
through consensus, culture plays key role. Culture encompasses different ways,
attitudes, practices, and the behaviors that are incorporated in the lives of people. If
people are governed through different attitudes or behaviors, they become distorted
and disunified. The emergence of unified group of people – that can be called a
nation – took place, if they are governed by the rules that are extracted from the
very culture. Whenever any new idea, practice and event take place in society
under custom or religion, there arises a difference of opinion among the members
of society whether it is good or not and finally it leads to a discussion of harsh
arguments just with dissension and criticism that eventually stratify society very
deeply. After discussion with arguments, there must be agreement, harmony and
consensus but why is it not so? The very dissension within the society if,
somehow, averted into consensus and unity, it would not only develop a nation but
also be a prerequisite of great civilization. Interrogatively, how can it be done?
How can a group of people reach a consensus-like situation and acquire modus
vivendi? Here lies an answer, IDEOLOGY.

Nation is connotated as assimilation of group of people that constitute society, over

an issue or any new social idea. It is always known by the civilization – set of
principles, rules and laws that exclusively constitute ideology – it keeps. It is a
group of people, community and the society that has common custom, heritage,
and culture. Hence, arguably the ideology, principles and set of rules are extracted
or developed based on common culture and custom – this is what civilization
contains. So, the gravity of ideology – based on culture – always keeps a group of
people attracted and revolved around itself. A camaraderie and bond between
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ideology and group of people – a community or society – make the latter nation
and civilization. Culture-oriented ideology vis-à-vis society acts as discernment
tool that members of community adopt to see through it. When society glimpse
through specs of ideology, consensus-like scenario, and modus vivendi is
developed after difference of opinion because ideology always has a confluence.
But on the other hand, the society failed to acquire culture-oriented ideology
suffers from ignominious rift among segments of society, over practices that these
should be performed in accordance with custom or religion or western civilization,
redundant difference of opinion without any equitable consensus, and above all it
despicably becomes divided, shattered and highly stratified. Because non-
ideologue filled society has not discernment ability and differences always remain
differences that cannot be reconciled.

Unfortunately, the very pattern of rift, disharmony, and division; the pop-up
difference of class not economically but ideologically, various segments of society
who are equally powerful, and deeply rooted distortion in society, exists in
Pakistan because it does not have culture-oriented ideology that has power to unify
people and make them a nation. Pakistan, since its birth has tried to adopt foreign
ideology, but it could not prove useful in term of making its people unified because
foreign ideology does not have compatibility and adoptability with its culture. If an
ideology is not compatible with culture of the society which is going to be
organized through it, then how different ideology can provide a base and gravity to
a different cultural society. Two opposite ends never meet. But at the same point,
someone claims that democracy is the global ideology so we should wear the
glasses of it to see through society.

The democracy traces its origin back in Ancient Greek city-states, was emerged to
ensure citizens’ rights. In modern era, modern liberal democracy is all about
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‘freedom’ – the statue of liberty at the top of the Capitol Hill Building above the
USA facing the east, that represents the firstly beamed object in the universe by the
dazzling rays of the sun is liberty. That phenomenon is culturally driven and highly
synchronized with European and American culture – also called western culture.
The modern democracy took pace through Magna Carta in 1215 to ensure civil
rights and in 16th and 17th century it acquired its refined and liberal form of
freedom and liberty orchestrated by John Lock and driven by European Culture
that was influenced by ‘The Reformation’ of Martin Luther in 1514 and later John
Clive. The Reformation took hundreds of years to develop a culture premised upon
freedom from papacy. It was the concept of separation of religion from the matters
of the world; religion becomes just an individual matter. From this culture, the
ideology, democracy took its liberal form.

But on the other hand, in sub-continent, contemporarily, the movements for the
revival of the religion were carried out by great Sufi Mujaddid Alf Sani and later
many others. Through Sufism religion was incorporated in the culture of Indian
society whether it was Islam, Sikhism or Hinduism. Hence, a religion-dominated
and religion-influenced society emerged in 15th and 16th century in sub-continent.
So, what happened in the west – Europe and America, and what in the east –
subcontinent, is antagonistically different from one another. Besides, it is not
possible to put in place the western-cultural-driven ideology – the modern liberal
democracy – in such a society which has its own religion-dominated and religion-
influenced culture. Because the freedom and liberalism in the eye of religion-
dominated society is limited.

For Pakistan, the case is similar, and it is facing conundrum-like situation. To

aberrate from this predicament to envision and enlightenment, Pakistan must
develop an Ideology of democracy based on civil rights – the essence of
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democracy, and culture – which is religion-influenced culture, that must have such
power of gravity to attract every segment of society so that it can be called a nation
and be known by its own civilization. Unless Pakistan does not develop the
ideology based on religion-influenced culture, it cannot avoid the threat of
distorted society, dissent without consensus, criticism without reform, stratification
without synchronization, division without union, non-acceptance of new ideas, and
above all failure to govern country with comprehensive and autonomous laws.
Ideology serves as a preamble of the society through which it achieves consensus
to find a solution of the problem that society faces. If it is not so, then how can you
dis-synch culture – the way of living of people, who are supposed to be governed –
from the ideology, principles, and rules, which are supposed to govern?

Muhammad Junaid Aslam