Punjab Notes: Dissent: power of logic or logic of power.

Byline: Mushtaq Soofi

Difference of opinion is fundamentally born of thinking. It's not just thinking, but an ability to think beyond parameters already established by tradition and authority on the strength of longstanding practice is what produces dissent.

All cultures and societies for the fact of being what they are feel compelled by the force of habit to place restrictions on thinking in the interest of what they perceive as sacred and inviolable rules that regulated and sustained life in the past. That such rules regulated and sustained life in the past is (mis)taken as a kind of guarantee that they would be effective enough to continue to do so in future.

What is missed in this logic or absence of logic is what Heraclitus famously proclaimed: 'No man ever steps into the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he is not the same man'. It simply means life is defined by unstoppable changes and society is always in a state of flux. But this process inevitably entails an element of fear; the fear of the unknown that acts as a deterrent against the 'hazards' of independent thinking.

Premium is put on what is tried and tested regardless of its being in the way in the discovery of tomorrow that is the cornucopia of potential and possibilities hitherto not realised.

Another factor closely related with value of having closed mind is the unsettling nature of diversity. Apart from other natural factors such as geography, terrain and climate, thinking minds add to immeasurable diversity we see all around.

Multiplicity of views and opinions has always been perceived as a threat to the established order that self-perpetuates by virtue of its longevity; being established at a certain point in time in the past is offered as an incontrovertible proof of its being based on reason and rationality. In other words the raison detre of the order is factually not hidden in the principles that underpin it but rather in its age. The longer the age the greater the authority.

An established authority with the passage of time assumes the form of hallowed tradition that emphasises the conformity as a prized societal norm. Preparing the young for a conformist way of thinking and living starts at home, is nurtured at school and comes to fruition with the entry into public life.

Family structure based on patriarchy is hierarchical. It rewards obedience and punishes disobedience which means acceptance of authority as the way for the young if they want to be...