OVER the years ,tolerance of difference of opinion in our society has receded significantly. It has now come to the point where many of us only talk at rather than talk to one another. Dialogue has been the obvious casualty in the process.
Since many today are not willing to listen and then respond intelligently with a counterpoint in case there is an argument, it is only buzzwords that one picks up in a conversation to jump to a conclusion. In a social discourse today this is becoming the norm: the inability to listen, grasp what is being said and then add to the conversation. Thus partisanship in ideological/political grandstanding gets the better of so many today.
There is an increasing inability to hold a focused conversation without juxtaposing two conflicting personalities, ideas, opinion or stance. For instance, it is almost blasphemous today to critique Imran Khan’s stated opinion on a given issue without being labelled as ,
anti-Imran, and by implication , pro-Zardari, pro-Sharif, pro-American etc.
The buzzwords that works as a smoke screen to block a dialogue the minute you open your mouth, in this case, ‘Imran Khan’, ‘Zardari’, ‘Sharif’ and ‘America’ or any suitable to be picked, trigger a rehearsed reaction instantly. Similarly, Pakistan can not be discussed without juxtaposing it with India and vice versa.
Excerpt from article by Mr. Murtaza Razvi
Published in dawn dated 20/11/2011
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