KARACHI: On the final day of the seminar titled ‘Social harmony, tolerance and education’ organised by the Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) at a local hotel on Friday, Amir Rana, director of PIPS examined in depth the need for harmony within a society.

The interactive session saw him ask the participants of the seminar several questions such as their choice of reading material, why they thought social harmony was important, and what in their opinion was holding Pakistanis back from realising their dreams.

There were a variety of answers to the queries, which helped move the discussion forward. Things such as teachers imposing their own mindset on students, and one’s own views being hijacked by the media, were some of the things on the minds of the participants.

Meanwhile, on the topic of what was holding Pakistanis back from getting to a point of distinction, Mr Rana spoke about the many indexes used by economists to assess us. “Your country is known better through these indexes. Even China looks at these assessments to decide what kind of relationship they should keep with you and how you would benefit from their idea of work,” he said.

“So, what are these indicators? They are the structures of your formal and informal economy, your relations with your neighbouring countries. But above all it is your social cohesion. It is linked to your economy. If there is no social cohesion, it means that there will be conflict. Investors from any country will not come where there is a problem of social cohesion,” the scholar pointed out.

“Our attitudes matter in things such as social cohesion. Do you accept your destiny or would you like to improve your social contacts? Our lethargy here is forming negative views,” said Mr Rana.

“And then non-state elements exploit your attitudes to make you look bad of course. Therefore, your attitudes too are social indicators. For example, if you look at tourism in Pakistan, how many Pakistani tourists do you see travelling abroad? And how many foreign tourists do you see coming here? That’s another social indicator for you,” he pointed out.

The participants were encouraged to brainstorm about the other attitudes or things that may be holding the country back. Things such as insecurities, lack of confidence, fear of competition, fear of failing, being defensive, feelings of inferiority, becoming isolated, etc, came up.

It was explained then that one is being fearful of things about which one doesn’t know much about, of things one has little information about. “There is a term ‘no, we don’t know’ which some people hide behind when they feel challenged. It is like a reaction formation which can send you further into more ignorance,” he said.

“On the other hand,” he said, “people should know the ‘art of now’ to stay current and in the present. The beauty of this art is balancing oneself between one’s past and future to reach the realisation that one’s present is within one’s control. Why do we want instant solutions? There is no need to rush for solutions. It can give you hurry sickness. There is a process to reaching somewhere, just like you can’t think of a solution to anything in your head instantly because it requires a thought process,” he concluded.

Published in Dawn, January 19th, 2019