Consistent Aggravation Of Public Debate

Elsa Sc S is worried about the extreme aggravation in public discourse

The social fabric of Pakistan is facing the horrible consequences of the debased language used in the consistent aggravation of public debate on media by public figures during the course of debating national issues. The situation has come to a pass whereby the lure of an angry public representative, playing with emotions and going about quixotically to put things right and wipe out evil, fails to abate. Many public figures have made professions out of their angry public performances and all sides have engaged in the vitriolic exchange of utterances that has proved very damaging to the public affairs in the country. It is painfully manifest that the wave of public indecency that brought the new power brokers in Pakistan to the fore completely diminished the importance of decent public debate. Hardly a day goes by without the public being exposed to the shallow chicanery of our public figures.

It is just unbelievable to observe that layer after layer and generation after generation of public affairs personnel in Pakistan has remained completely oblivious to the hazards of public utterances even after being exposed to almost a century of radio broadcasts and more than half a century of televised presentations. It is widely accepted that speech is given to the man to disguise his thoughts but this golden principle is simply lost and unfortunately, Pakistani consistent aggravation of public debate. figures cannot even understand this very basic tenet of human existence and utter things that are not only perverse but defy common sense. This deterioration speaks volumes about the intellectual decay of public figures who consistently fail to realize the grave implications of their irresponsible attitude.

The leaders of a country are required to form a positive public opinion but the kind of rhetoric employed by them in the public sphere is harmful both in the short and long term. They seem not to comprehend a vital fact that nations do not run on rabble-rousing instead what they need are frequent doses of cold logic and prudent reasoning. Pakistani public figures conveniently ignore that tongue lashes more viciously than the sword and spoken things become indefensible later. The echo of an unreasonable utterance lingers on, particularly in the current times whereby not only audio but video proofs are readily available that may be very frequently aired. They do not take into account that the damage of prurient remarks proves characteristically resilient despite the staunch belief of Pakistani public figures that public memory is short. They ignore to their peril that the public is represented by institutionalised behaviour that possesses the memory of an elephant.

Consistent Aggravation Of Public Debate

It appears that public recognition, stage fright or the magic of camera imbalances the temperamental faculties of Pakistani public figures and they ramble on without appreciating the consequences. It is utterly lost on them that brevity is the spice of effective communication. They are so enamoured of listening to the vibrancy of their own voice that they frequently put their foot in their mouth. Many political leaders have become classic examples of this phenomenon as during their public discourses they not only lost coherence but became ultimately vague through what is expected to clarify matters. They are dangerously unaware of this shortcoming and that no one, either their superiors or inferiors, had the temerity to stop them from uttering unguarded and base remarks.
The verbosity factor deeply embedded in the psyche of our public figures has not woken up from the stupor. Pakistani public field is notorious for plagiarism on a grand scale thereby committing the despicable act of intellectual corruption that is far more harmful than other forms of a misdemeanour. Vanity, indiscretion and inadequacy mark many of our public personages who meander into the volatile public arena just because they believe in their invincibility or are inadvertently thrown in the muddle.

Justifying this despicable form of public discourse by mentioning that Pakistani public representatives operate in a closed-end society devoid of public debate is not enough. That there is no training mechanism in existence for our public figures, not even in their alma maters, does not grant them the liberty to run amuck. Thrown in the muddy but responsible waters of public responsibility they ought to rely more on instinct than their ordinary compatriots and refrain from taking them for a ride.

In such a free for all, it becomes vital to devise a rational code of conduct that is, at least, politically correct otherwise they may be avidly courting the danger of a wider tumult. It must be noted that a nation is a power hard to rouse but when roused harder still and more helpless to resist. This is what is currently experienced by the entire political leadership whose vainglorious campaign tactics have simply backfired and the reality is now coming home to roost. Pakistani public figures have already roused the nation wrongly, and their capability to face the irresistibly disastrous consequences of this arousal is open to question. The Weekender