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Travelling Together or Going Our Separate Ways
We live, and have lived for centuries, in a politically and
economically divided world. Unable to
accept these differences, there is always one group that takes the further step
of dominating another. The most direct way is for a stronger group to take over
a weaker group by sheer force. Where the two forces are equally matched,
subterfuge, divide et imperia – divide and rule, is effective.
Sometimes all it takes is cultural seduction. Something as
innocuous as blue jeans became an important symbol of the Free West during the
Cold War. Bruce Springsteen told the East Berlin youth in a July 1988 concert
“I’m not here for any government. I’ve come to play rock ‘n’ roll for you in
the hope that one day all the barriers will be torn down.”
History books are
filled with the constant constructing and dismantling of alliances, based on
the perceived enemy of the moment. All the great wars in Europe, India and
China were won or lost on the shifting sands of temporary alliances, as they
are today when security and economic interests align or are threatened.
Throughout history, there have also been forces that try to
unite the world. Today it’s to combat climate change, overcome a pandemic, or
create gender equality. In the past religious missions attempted to unify
people. Buddhism spread from Lumbini in Nepal to all of South Asia, China and
most of the Far East. Christianity spread from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem
across the world, Islam from the first sermon atop Al Safa Mount.
As the poet Manzar Bhopali says
muttahid
hone ka jazba tha sabhi men lekin
muttahid
hone ka mauqa hi hava ne na diya
(Everyone
passionately longed for unity but
The wind did
not give an opportunity to be united}
The great
global mission has defined unity as sameness rather than oneness, and is not
likely to rest until everyone establishes a specified form of democracy, with capitalism
as the universal economic system.
In Nature,
animals group in herds where predators and prey coexist. Although the myth of “the
truce of watering hole” has been debunked at least for larger predators like lions who
happily attack the oblivious and unguarded, it is still a place for unity in
diversity. What remains a puzzle for
ecologists is the question - what prevents the single best competitor from
displacing all other species? Based on
studies, ecologist Peter Chesson finds when dominant species create an
exclusive niche for themselves, they actually limit their own species, allowing
less powerful and less discriminating species to multiply. The battle remains
limited between those who compete for the same resources.
Can humans
coexist in all their diversity as nature shows us? There are many examples
around us. The family is the most obvious whose members are diverse individuals.
Where a dominant family member tries to impose one system for all, the family either
breaks up or is unhappy and unable to achieve their own potential.
Another
common example is the camaraderie of fellow travelers – on buses or trains or
planes, especially when there are delays. I remember a two hour traffic wait in
Karachi for some VIP. Before long everyone was out of their cars, grumbling,
chatting, sharing water and giving out business cards. Public Art events, music concerts, and cinema,
the classroom, voting, protesting, also bring people together. These are all of
course temporary shows of unity.
We all
aspire to King Arthur’s legendary Round Table with no head. Can the legend become a reality? Can the
United Nations evolve to a true forum for all nations? Can the G8 become the G
195 including all countries? Probably
not until the fear of loss is set aside, a fear expressed by Manzar
Bhopali:
tum pe chha jaate shajar bante
jo nanhe paude
tum ne achchha hi kiya paon jamane
na diya
(If the tiny saplings grew
into trees they would have spread all over you
You did well to not
allow us to place our feet firmly)
Durriya Kazi
September 25, 2021
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