'Mask that grins and lies'

Mir Adnan Aziz
The News

The story of Cain is neither history nor a mythical narrative of the origins of violence. It is an original account of the fact, parable and anatomy of violence, and also the reality that we are all children of Cain.

Religion, society and culture keep the traits of that part of our ancestry at bay. It is but though a fragile line, where if one thinking of himself as being wronged assumes himself absolved of all vestiges of humanity and restraint.

In our society of today there are two classes of people -- those who still exercise restraint and try to smile and those who have simply give in to what was described by Ralph Waldo Emerson as: "Mob is man voluntarily descending to the nature of the beast."

The societal demand to appear cheerful and tolerant seems increasingly untenable with the perpetual combination of miseries, stress, frustration and injustice. Poet Paul Laurence Dunbar commemorated the need to conceal emotions in these words: "We wear the mask that grins and lies..., / this debt we pay to human guile; / with torn and bleeding hearts we smile..." Today, seemingly extinct, are grinning masks or profusely bleeding hearts that smile.

In these recent days we have read about various incidents of mob "justice." The sentiments of the people at large were ominously evident in the comments of Muhammad Nawab, a driver at the Edhi Foundation. He is reported to have said that he would "mercilessly kill" the people who had robbed his daughter's dowry.

All these manifestations taken together conjure a fearful picture of state failure. This may also be appropriately conceptualised as a process wherein the state has abjectly failed to provide for the well-being and security of the lives and property of its citizens. This has resulted in a total loss of trust in the state, leading to hopelessness, frustration and fear. Finding themselves insecure with no hope of redress, the people have given in to the seduction, that is the retributive "justice" of a mob.

Individual survival strategies applied on a mass scale create chaos and anarchy. Anybody stuck in one of our harrowing traffic jams will vouch how individuals bent on (seemingly) achieving the slightest personal advantage, not only create confusion and aggression but bring the whole traffic (including themselves) to a complete standstill. Likewise survival of the fittest and an unregulated societal behavior results in chaos and standstill.

Bad governance, rampant corruption and injustice have brought about stark social inequalities. These have led to two distinct classes: the haves and the have-nots. While some have become extremely rich, a multitude continues to suffer in abject poverty. With very limited choices for survival, many have turned to illicit means of enrichment. Crime has flourished more so as those responsible for curbing it have failed miserably to assume and guarantee societal security.

How can a state lock up a father (reported in the papers) for alleged stealing some biscuits for his hungry children but glorify and lionize grand larceners whose rape and plunder of the country helped in part to drive the poor soul to this petty crime? These heart wrenching dichotomies and cruel circumstances breed anger, alienation and violence. Those involved in these violent retributive actions see it not as a manifestation of disorder but a protest against what they see as state disorder.

We experience state failure on a daily basis. It affects virtually all dimensions of our lives. This failure spectrum extends from load-shedding and crippling inflation to that of abysmal governance. This is compounded by the average citizen's perpetual fear of becoming a victim of criminal or illegal acts. What adds to the woes is that these acts are seemingly condoned by those very duty bound to prevent the same.

The failure of the state to provide human security coupled with the desire of the masses to mete out retributive justice, as a means of self or collective defense, has led to this upsurge of mob 'justice'. What is more worrisome is that the trigger point for violent outrages seems to be constantly lowering.

In a moral perspective, mob 'justice' is derogatory to human personality. It is like trying to right a wrong with a graver wrong. It is synonymous with terror, decay in morality and collapse of public authority. The consequence is an eventual victimization of innocent people. It can occur that a person is wrongfully accused of a crime and immediately subjected to fatal torture. There are reported instances where an individual has caused it to be meted out on an enemy.

A mob mentality minimizes human values and undermines human security, both essential factors for peace. These acts of violence dehumanize both perpetrator and the victim and thus should be considered an abomination. It is also a vicious descending spiral that, if left unchecked, culminates in the destruction of all - the state, the perpetrators and the victims.

The government should put its act together. Without justifying violence, the fact remains that an ineffective state callously immune to the misgivings of its citizens inadvertently encourages a violent reaction.

William Orville Douglas, longest serving US Supreme Court Justice, paraphrased it as: "Violence has no constitutional sanction and every government from the beginning has moved against it. But where grievances pile high and most of the elected spokesmen represent the Establishment, violence may be the only effective response".

It is imperative that the state accepts its role in agitating these violent acts instead of acting as a judicious inhibitor. It is also crucial to understand that both the punished and the punishers are victims of state failure and a flawed society.

To curb this ugly trend, the role of the government is paramount. Some of the measures it can undertake to curb this menace include, controlling the spiraling crime rate, building confidence between the police and the masses, combating corruption in the criminal justice system, educating the masses on the implications of jungle 'justice', judicious accountability of criminals and rekindling the spirit of duty consciousness and professionalism in public authorities.

(miradnanaziz@gmail.com)