Rarely does one find a Pakistani intellectual attempting to challenge conspiracy theorists. — File

In one of the chapters in Aitzaz Ahsan’s The Indus Saga — perhaps the finest book written on the history of the region we call Pakistan — he makes an interesting point about our habit of blaming foreign/ hidden forces behind whatever goes wrong with us. Ahsan marks the starting point of this custom to be the period between the decline of the Mughal empire and the arrival of the British colonialists.

It is during this time that Ahsan claims people of this region developed the habit of accusing malicious outsiders working with the ‘corrupt rulers in Delhi’ for all the economic and political misery that the people faced. Well, today it seems this habit is not only alive, but thriving; perhaps a lot more fervently than ever.

Of course, the whole concept of the conspiracy theory — which is this habit’s ripest fruit — is certainly not confined to this region alone. The West too has its fair share of nutcases — from those claiming to be abducted by aliens to those denying the Holocaust. But, even though this phenomenon has given birth to a lucrative industry of sorts (books, DVDs, dedicated websites), it hardly ventures beyond being taken as anything other than fiction dressed as fact.

For example, in the West, nutcase books and DVDs have now found their way into mainstream stores, but they are at once challenged and then comprehensively and convincingly discredited by respected intellectuals. Unfortunately, such is not the case in Pakistan. Though the media and, subsequently, DVD retailers here were quick to grasp and exploit the commercial potential of this ‘infotainment’ industry, the flip side of this trend has gone missing in Pakistan.

Whereas assorted conspiracy theorists can be found doing the rounds in the shape of ‘strategic analysts’, ‘Islamic scientists’, and ‘political experts’ on TV channels, and whole shelves are being dedicated to crackpot DVDs under the ‘documentary’ banner at DVD outlets, only rarely does one find a rational Pakistani intellectual ever attempting to challenge the outlandish notions of politics, economics and religion put forth by conspiracy theorists.

They are doing a roaring business, especially on shows and ‘documentaries’ offering bizarre concoctions on the 9/11 attacks, ‘malicious Zionist/American/Hindu designs over Pakistan’, not to forget the Lal Masjid episode. It is surprising that the ‘information’ derived from conspiracy books and ‘documentaries’ the likes of which have been convincingly debunked elsewhere, remains to be taken as fact by a number of TV show hosts, ‘experts’ and their viewers.

But what makes a theory conspiratorial? It’s simple. It is a theory that tends to rally support against an ‘enemy’ by claiming that the enemy is part of a widespread and sinister conspiracy. The conspiracy theorist’s worldview imagines secret plots by powerful cults of powerful and rich lobbies who are also behind important historical events.

 
The theorist then makes irrational leaps of logic in analysing factual evidence in order to ‘prove’ connections between unrelated events to blame socio-political and economic conflicts on either an enemy country, an economic institution or an ‘international conspiratorial cult’ that is usually headed by an elusive breed of Zionists backed by Western powers.

This model is apparent on TV programmes supposedly discussing geo-political matters, terrorism, Islamic history, and Indo-Pak relations. More worryingly, the convoluted narratives that these programmes propagate are being swallowed wholesale by the educated, middle-class Pakistani youth without any worthwhile critical analysis.

 

No wonder, then, that according to a series of surveys conducted by various Western and Muslim institutions and universities since 9/11, more and more educated Pakistanis believe that the 9/11 tragedy was a Zionist plot; that the Pakistani Taliban are a creation of a Hindu-American-Zionist nexus; and that big corporate conglomerates in cohorts with secretive cults are behind everything from world wars, to the Aids virus, to economic recession, to the creation of both democracy, capitalism as well as communism.

What next, then? A majority of Pakistanis believing that the Earth is flat, perhaps? Maybe learned Pakistani intellectuals who can easily dent these irrational notions (but somehow don’t), think that most educated Pakistanis will never be sucked in by such theories.

But if sociologist Karl Polanyi’s symptoms of a society fast approaching a confused sense of quasi-fascistic conspiratorial-ism are an indication, the truth is that most young, educated Pakistanis actually are being sucked in. So what are the indications?

The spread of irrational philosophies, xenophobic aesthetics, anti-secular demagogy, heterodox currency views, criticism of the multi-party-based political system, widespread censure of the regime and of democratic setup.

Why else would certain TV personalities, channels and DVD retailers continue piling on such nonsense? After all, this is turning out to be the new ‘revolutionary’ Pakistani zeitgeist that, if nothing else, can always be turned into a lucrative business venture.

Most conspiracy theories are like unintentional parodies of serious and credible historical analysis of politics, society and economics. They are a ready-made model of an exhibitionist intellectualism for those who are not academically inclined towards rational, analytical thinking and critique.

And they thrive in uncertain times when societies are at their most vulnerable, looking for elusive scapegoats for their misery and other shortcomings.