Lacan’s Object-cause of desire and a couplet of Hameed Mohmand

We all have desires. Some we achieve some we don’t. Every desire when we first realise it to be our desire is related to happiness, fulfilment or contentment; we think if we get the object of our desire we’ll finally achieve happiness or it will fill the void that we feel due to the lack of that object of our desire. But once we get hold of that object, the lack remains and we desire something else; we still feel the sense of lack, the void, the nothingness. Something else becomes our object of desire and the loop continues. Lacan calls this void, this lack, this constant deferment or displacement of desire the object-cause of desire; it is the object that causes you to desire the object you actually desire.

It’s the persistent feeling we experience as individuals that something essential is absent or lacking in our lives. We are in a constant quest for satisfaction, knowledge, material possessions, and love, and even when we achieve these aims, an indescribable additional yearning remains. André Breton, a French surrealist writer and poet, encapsulated this reality: “Throughout my life, my heart has longed for an unnamed thing.” The object that triggers our desires not only gives rise to those desires but also amplifies and heightens them precisely because it remains beyond reach. The more we attempt to fill the emptiness within ourselves, the more our longing grows, as we pursue an unattainable “object,” which is essentially a void or absence.

But why in our daily lives we are more focused on the object of desire than the object-cause of desire? It is because the object-cause of desire is the function of the unconscious mind and we don’t have control over it. Even if we realise it to be the function of the unconscious mind and try to suppress it, it will continue its work of object-cause of desire in the background. While the object of desire is the function of the conscious mind on which we have a certain power of deliberation; the beam of the unconscious is focused on the object-cause of desire and the beam of conscious experience is focused on the object of desire.

Now is it (the object-cause of desire) a good thing or a bad thing? The entity that triggers desire (the emptiness, the absence) is the driving force behind our engagement with life, compelling us to pursue novel and superior experiences. Simultaneously, it is also the obstacle that hinders our ability to attain tranquillity, contentment, and fulfilment. It represents the persistent challenge within human existence, akin to a “bone in the throat.” One of Lacan’s most renowned statements remains unaltered: “Desire is the desire of the Other.” This declaration holds numerous implications. We covet what others covet, yearn to be coveted by others, strive to fulfil the Other’s yearnings, and aim to comprehend the desires of the Other. Desire yearns for desire. or as Nietzsche puts it, “Ultimately, it is the desire, not the desired, that we love.”

Now let’s see a couplet of a prominent classical Pashto poet Abdul Hameed Mohmand in the context of Lacan’s theory of Object-cause of desire:

هنګامه د مينې ګرمه ده تر حسنه

د مجنون د در ګدا شه, ليلیٰ مۀ شه

Translation:

The tumult of the urge for love(object cause of desire) is alive only till you acquire the beauty (object of desire);

so ( to keep the urge for love alive) don’t become Laila(the symbolic representation of the object of desire) but rather become a disciple of Majnu(the symbolic representation of object-cause of desire).

PS: I’ve tried my best to explain the topic in layman’s terms. I’ve avoided terms like objet petit a, signifier and signified etc. Moreover, I’ve avoided explaining the topic in the context of Lacan’s concepts of symbolic, imaginary and real because then it would have been difficult to grasp, and quite frankly, more difficult for me to explain.

– Qaraar Sarhadi

جمیل جالبی کی کتاب “ارسطو سے ایلیٹ تک” پر تبصرہ

“ارسطو سے ایلیٹ تک”
ڈاکٹر جمیل جالبی کی ایک شاہکار تصنیف ہےجس میں مشہور مغربی تخلیق کاروں اور نقادوں کی فن پر کی گئی نمائندہ اہم تنقیدی مضامین کا ترجمہ کیا گیا ہے یہ مضامین اس نوعیت کے ہیں جس سے ہمیں مغربی فکر کے ارتقائی سفر کا پتہ چل جاتا ہے اور ان بنیادوں سے روشنائی حاصل ہوتی ہے جس نے ہر زمانے میں مغربی طرز فکر کو نئے راستے پر ڈالا۔ شاعری کی تعریف پر بھی کافی سیر حاصل بحث کی گئی ہے بلکہ یہ کہنا غلط نہ ہوگا کہ مغربی فکر پر شاعری کے تناظر میں تنقیدی مضامین کے ترجمے ہیں۔ اس کتاب کی خوبی یہ ہے کہ مضامین سے پہلے جالبی صاحب نے ہر صاحبِ مضمون پر تعارفی مضمون بھی لکھا ہے جس کا فائدہ یہ ہے کہ مغربی تنقیدی فکر کا یہ سفر بےربط نہیں ہوتا بلکہ ایک تسلسل سے چلتا ہے۔ جالبی صاحب نے مصنف پر تعارفی مضمون اس نوعیت کے لکھے ہیں جو اس مصنف کا نہ صرف شخصی بلکہ فکری احاطہ بھی کرتے ہیں اس کا فائدہ یہ ہے کہ جب ہم مضمون پڑھتے ہیں تو ایسا نہیں لگتا جیسے اس مصنف کو پہلی بار پڑھ رہے ہوں۔ویسے تو یہ کتاب ہر قسم کےتخلیقی فن سے تعلق رکھنے والوں کے لیے پڑھنا ضروری ہے لیکن شاعری اور تنقید سے شغف رکھنے والوں کے لیے نہایت اہم ہے اس کتاب میں ان کے دلچسپی کا کافی سامان موجود ہے۔ اس کتاب کےمطالعے سے ہمیں اپنے فکری نہج کا اندازہ بھی ہوجاتا ہے کہ ہم کس مقام پر کھڑے ہیں: ماضی کے فکری رویوں نے آج ہمیں کس مقام تک پہنچایا ہےاور ہماری موجودہ فکری رویے ہمیں کس قسم کے مستقبل کی طرف لے جارہے ہیں ۔

• قرار سرحدی
  نوٹ: میں نے یہ کتاب مناسب قیمت اورقدرے بہتر کوالٹی کی پشتو اکیڈمی بک شاپ پشاور یونیورسٹی سے خریدی ہے۔

” I had a dream last night” by Qaraar Sarhadi

I had a dream last night,

That I was lost in the wild,

Though my options were tight,

Still, my heart was mild,

Stuck between my past and future,

With a backpack full of hopes,

For future; that awaits,

With a backpack full of regrets,

From the past; that weights,

If I move towards the past,

As if I am feared; it disappears,

If I move towards the future,

I am frightened as uncertainty appears,

I am not at peace at present at all,

Overwhelmed, confused, anxiety abounds,

My hands are sweaty, feet are cold,

It’s worse than it apparently sounds,

I woke up out of breath that night,

In the bed of this wretched existence,

Clenching teeth and feeling numb,

Fearing, it will remain in consistence,

My heart was not mild anymore,

I felt butterflies in my chest,

Unable to shook off my dream,

Even if I tried my best,

Where shall this leave me; I wonder

Is it the dream of truth and I’m stuck,

What does it mean I wonder,

The truth of dream that is my luck.

-Qaraar Sarhadi

Coronavirus: A Personal Reflection

We have been unkind to mother nature. The earth had suffered immensely at our hands. We have not even spared our own species. We didn’t care for the threat that climate change carried. It still does. International Conventions and protocols were disregarded. The arrogance of the world leaders paid no heed to the consequences of their indifference.  We exploited earth’s resources based on our gluttony for the maximization of wealth; and not for the optimization of wealth. The children of a lesser god- undeveloped nations- always in turmoil in one way or another.
Now the whole world seems to be equally in turmoil. Mother nature decided to take the wheel itself and steer us in the right direction; at least for the moment so that the earth can take a break from all the chaos earthlings had created for nature and maybe earthlings realize the importance of caring for each other and their habitat. It’s a moral test for the world order based on the liberal democratic paradigm. It is yet to be seen whether the paradigm is able to trickle down the concentrated wealth on the basis of humanitarian needs or would exploit the crisis for profiteering. See for yourself. We claim to be the most civilized at this point in history. Our claim is solely based on technological advancement as we still lack socio-cultural harmony because of xenophobic inclinations which prevail in almost every part of the world in one form or another.

Spanish Flue killed millions for we were not that advanced in the field of medicine or communications and transportation then or maybe we were not literate enough. But now that we have apparently everything, we have nothing. All we have are precautionary measures which are simple enough to be comprehended by an illiterate. Mother nature has been kind enough to have given us a simple way to fight it. Do we want to be remembered as a generation that couldn’t wash their hands, maintained social distance and stayed home to fight off a pandemic?
As Paul Romer puts it, ” A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.” It is high time we contemplate our dispositions in individual as well as collective capacity towards one another. We must reflect on how we got here and how can we get out of this crisis? And in the process, we must realize that as a human being we must look after each other and after mother earth otherwise nature has its own way, at the cost of human lives, to ‘flatten the curve’ and who knows maybe next time it’s worse than this.
It can be the worst of times, it can be the best of times depends on how we respond to it. Do we want it to be the worst of times?
Reminds me of the opening paragraph of Charles Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities, which opens with:
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair …, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way …”

#stayhomestaysafe
#washyourhands
#practicesocialdistancing

-Qaraar Sarhadi 

احمد جاوید صاحب کا ایک قول اور میری راۓ

‎وجہ اس کی یہ معلوم ہوتی ہے کہ کمپیوٹر سکرین پر توجہ برقرار نہیں رہتی اور تسلسل میں بھی خلل پڑھتا ہے جس کی وجہ سے تحریر تو ہم پڑھ لیتے ہیں لیکن اس پر غور و فکر کرکے اس کا اثر جذب نہیں کر پاتےکیونکہ پھراگلے لمحے ہی ہم کسی اور طرف بڑھ جاتے ہیں۔ایک ہوائی سے قرات ہوجاتی ہے خصوصاً سوشل میڈیا پلیٹ فارم پر جہاں پر مختلف انواع کا مواد سیکنڈ کے حساب سے بدلتا رہتا ہے سکرول کرتے جائیں اور سیاسیات سے لے کر چٹ پٹی فلمی خبروں اور میمز و ٹرولز تک سب یکے بعد دیگرے سکرین پر آتے رہتے ہیں اس لیے ہماری توجہ سیکنڈز تک رہتی ہے
‎یوٹیوب وغیرہ پر موٹیویشنل ویڈیوز کا بھی یہی حال ہے کہ جب تک ویڈیو چل رہی ہے موٹیویشن مل رہی ہے ویڈیو بند کردی موٹیویشن بھی ہوا ہوجاتی ہے میرے خیال میں براہ راست ملاقات کا اثر زیادہ دیرپا رہے گا
‎ میرے خیال میں جنہوں نے کتابیں پڑھیں ہیں اور اب وہ ڈیجٹل دور میں بھی ٹیکنالوجی کے توسط سے آسانی سے میسر آنے والی کتب یا دیگر تحاریر کوپڑھنا چاہتے ہیں تو ان کے لیے اس دوہری ذہنی سیٹنگ میں مشکلات پیش آئینگی۔ایک صورت تو یہ ہے کہ کتاب سے مکمل کنارہ کشی کرکے آن لائن آجائے یعنی لکھنا پرھنا اور نوٹ کرنا سب آن لائن ۔اب آن لائن ڈائرئیاں بھی موجود ہیں۔یہ کام کتاب والوں کے لیے دشوار تو ہوگا پر وقت کا تقاضا ہے شاید یہ کشمکش ہماری نسل تک ہو آنے والی نسل کو شاید یہ اشکال درپیش نہ ہو کہ ان کی ذہنی سیٹنگ ابتدائے آفرینش سےجدید ٹیکنالوجی سے ہم آہنگی پر استوار ہوگی۔
قرار سرحدی

Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement

The reservations of PTM are the reservations of every Pashtun. For quite a long these feelings of discrimination among the masses of Pashtuns particularly FATA were brewing. It’s not a result of an external stimulus. Now that they have a voice to represent them in the form of Manzoor Pashteen, and a platform to present their constitutional demands in the form of PTM, Pashtuns from every circle of life have joined in. Since Pashtuns from every circle of life have joined in (a particular circle of life has not for the obvious reason 😉 ), it means they are persecuted and discriminated every now and then by the security authorities by one way or another. But the recent uprising got its impetus from the deteriorating conditions of civil liberties to the natives of FATA. I’ll steer away from the background details as most of the people are familiar with it. Those who are not should read Raza Wazir‘s article in New York Times(link in comments) and listen to the speeches of Manzoor Pashteen.

Enough with the mantra of ‘RAW agent’ and ‘Foreign hands’. For how long will such bogus and cliche narratives work.A RAW agent would preferably plant a time or suicide bomb in such gatherings rather lead it with peaceful democratic overtures and overthrow govt and finally conquer Pakistan (the queue is long here)because those who are criticizing the very nature and character of the movement in such context seems to fear such conspiracies. These conspiracies that have been in fashion whenever a persecuted group of people ask for their due rights has never been solidified once. Instead, if supported, the so-called democracy of Pakistan would’ve been stronger. The movement is spearheaded by youth and discontent of youth regarding lack of basic rights should be addressed properly rather awarding them with the title of traitor or agent. Since the youth have challenged the monopoly of status-quo, every tactic in the book is being applied to suppress, divide or divert the movement from its path. But kudos to the leaders of the movement that they are still holding their grounds.

We had never been agents of anyone. We are not agents of your enemies. We had fought your wars. We have fled our homes for you. We have endured the brunt of every sort of war for you. We have listened to you. We have listened to your reservations.Now it’s time for you to sit with us; listen to us; listen to our grievances and reservations; address them; treat us like first-class citizens; respect our culture and aspirations. This is the most civilized form of protest. A movement showing the world a peaceful democratic way of demanding one’s due rights. You undermine this you derail democracy. A concerted effort must be sorted to address the disgruntled youth of the most marginalised and war-torn region. You can gauge the indifference of the state towards FATA from the fact that since independence it has been almost 70 years and FATA is still functioning under the draconian law of imperialist Brits- FCR.Remember youth shapes the future of a society.They are assets, not threats. These young men want to be embraced and treated as equals. Is this too much to ask for?

-Qaraar Sarhadi

Trump’s Afghan Policy: A critique

By: Qaraar Sarhadi

Trump’s Policy:

The long-awaited Trump’s Afghan policy is finally announced and the wait wasn’t worth it. Most likely America plans to stay for a while. Trump announced an increase of at least 4000 to already 8000-10000 American army personnel; contrary to his previous office holder who intended to withdraw American troops. But Trump’s policy carries aggressive and offensive overtures. He designs to deal with Taliban with an iron hand if a  peaceful settlement of the conundrum is not reached. Diplomatically, the policy has, once again, asked Pakistan to do more; about the Haqqani network and so-called anti-Afghanistan terrorist sanctuaries in Pakistan. In a not surprising move, U.S has decided to increase the role of India- Pakistan’s arch-rival- in Afghanistan.

Critique:

               In retrospect, the increase in the number of soldiers has exacerbated the protracted Afghan war instead of paving way for a peaceful settlement. If a military solution was viable, the matter should’ve dealt with right now for it has been 17 years of military presence-world mightest military. Taliban’s primary condition for talks with the Afghan government is the exclusion of foreign involvement, in fact, Taliban do not want any foreign usurper on their land. Quite contrary to Taliban’s condition, America is increasing its military presence which Taliban vehemently oppose and vow to fight. So, if the military presence increases so do the militant activities which will result in a catastrophic situation as ISIS is also taking ground in Afghanistan. The situation might imitate the middle-east quagmire, in particular, Syrian crisis. Too many cooks spoil the broth and this broth has already been spoiled multiple times. These cooks are the regional players involved directly or indirectly through proxies in Afghanistan to pursue their vested interest. Here we will discuss the role of regional players in the context of Trump’s new Afghan policy.

India and Pakistan:

India and Pakistan have a history of perennial hostility since their independence from Great Britain. Apart from Kashmir being the flash point of the conflict, sir creek, and Kargil are also prone to trigger a confrontation between the two nuclear states. Since the partition, India has never accepted the fact that Pakistan is now a sovereign state as they still believe in the reunification of India as an ultimate goal of Hindutva. From the very start, they had conspired to destabilize and divide Pakistan either directly- the fall of Dhaka- or indirectly- by supporting separatist movements in Balochistan as evident from the confessions of arrested Indian spy, a serving naval officer of Indian Navy, Kalbushan Yadhav. Here comes the importance of increased interest of India in Afghanistan. Indian officials-PM Modi, FM Sushma Swaraj, and their Defence Minister- have reiterated their malign intention to isolate Pakistan regionally as well as globally. In order to do so, Afghanistan, being the center of realpolitik for regional hegemony in South Asia, India is actively engaged in expanding its clout in the corridors of Afghanistan’s government by wooing them with economic aid and spreading a malicious propaganda against Pakistan. Now that America has also asked Indian increased involvement in Afghanistan, its increased presence is not a good omen for Pakistan. Pakistan has perpetually informed Afghan and US govt. about their reservations on Indian involvement and its support for the anti-Pakistan TTP safe havens in Eastern Afghanistan.Moreover, India also intends to sabotage Pakistan’s already feeble relationship with the incumbent Afghan Govt. Pakistan shares the longest and immediate boundary, and also culture, religion, and ethnicity( not to mention history) with Afghanistan. Pakistan has been suffering the brunt of post cold war and post 9/11 gimmicks of superpowers in form of Klashinkov culture, drug trafficking, and frequent movement of manifold terrorist outfits through the porous boundaries carrying out terrorist attacks inside Pakistan sabotaging peace necessary for a vibrant economy. So, a peaceful Afghanistan- at least clean of anti-Pakistan elements- is also in Pakistan’s strategic interest. Both the states strive to increase their clout in Afghanistan to achieve their goals. This tug of war has not only undermined the peace process in Afghanistan but also deteriorated the regional peace and security. Now that the US has sidelined rather blamed Pakistan-the most important player- for her own failure, the balance of regional struggle for hegemony in Afghanistan is disturbed. India will become more confident and Pakistan more conscious of Indian activities in Afghanistan. A mere misconception can trigger a nuclear confrontation between the two arch-rivals.

Russia, China, and Iran:

Russia has suffered and seen the repercussions of a superpower withdrawal from Afghanistan as USSR was the primary victim when it left Afghanistan after 1988. Subsequently, USSR broke into Central Asian Countries(CARs). Russia does not want terrorist outfits to infiltrate their country once the US left Afghanistan.Hence, she intends to keep up with the elements that might become major players afterward- Taliban. There have been reports of Russia’s collaboration with Taliban through back-channels. However, Russia has also been active in the peace process as evident from the recent trilateral dialogue among Pakistan, China, and Russia regarding peace process in Afghanistan. Same goes for Iran as she wants her Shia brethren-Hazara community- to be safe in the Afghanistan of Taliban.

OBOR, being the impetus for China inclusive foreign policy in recent years, has prompted China to involve itself more actively in the global politics shunning the previous policy of isolationism so it can achieve its goal of reaching the markets of different parts of the world. CPEC is also a part of OBOR which passes through Pakistan, Afghanistan, and CARs to reach its destination- Eastern and Central Europe.Hence, a peaceful Pakistan and Afghanistan are necessary for the CPEC to work out successfully. China is actively participating in bringing peace in Afghanistan as evident from its active part in Quadrilateral Coordinational Group’s(QCG) endeavors to settle the Afghanistan quagmire.

Why Trump’s Policy is doomed to failure?
                                                                                             The paradox and dilemma of Trump’s policy is its unpredictability as he mentioned in his policy that American presence will depend on the situation on the ground. Why Trump’s policy is doomed to failure because there is nothing new in the policy while the situation has and is drastically changing due to fragile regional geopolitical dynamics of Asia. There is two tug of wars for claiming hegemony in the South Asia i.e between a superpower and emerging superpower- the US vs China- and on regional level Pakistan vs India.We have discussed earlier Pakistan vs India conflict in the context of the said question in the perspective of bilateral issues. But here we will discuss their roles in the context of interests of the superpowers.

US major ally in the region is India as declared in the Trump’s new policy as well while China’s major ally is Pakistan. Where the US signed defense and economic agreements of worth billions dollar with India, China is investing in Pakistan through CPEC. In order to contain China’s clout in the region, US, and India create hurdles in the efforts of peaceful settlement of Afghanistan issues. The untimely announcement of Mulla Omar’s death and killing of Taliban new leader Mansoor in the Balochistan province of Pakistan when under the aegis of QCG Pakistan was collaborating with Taliban to bring them to the table for the talk. India is threatened by the economic prospect of CPEC for Pakistan and hence tries to sabotage it by hook or crook- Kulbushan Yadhav confessions and Chaubahar port fiasco. Taliban’s stance is clear. They have stood by their conditions from the very start-US departure and release of their prisoners. What is unclear is US intentions as evident from Trump’s new policy hence the menace continues.

In the whole discussion, I’ve ignored the role of Afghan Govt. the reason is that Afghan govt. has no say in its matter as it’s under the dictate of US and under the influence of India.Moreover, the leadership and the Unity Govt. is highly fragile, incompetent and corrupt.

Conclusion:

Two points of Trump’s new policy can further deteriorate the Afghan conundrum: Increased military presence and increased Indian involvement. Increased military presence will prompt Taliban to become more cautious which will push them away from the negotiation table.China and especially Pakistan are the key player in solving the Afghan puzzle and both have unsolved issues with India. Increased Indian involvement means growing Indian hegemony in the region, hence, a powerful ally of US in South Asia to sustain its clout.This will make China and Pakistan suspicious of US intentions to seriously solve the Afghan problem amicably.Moreover, ‘Divided’ Unity Government of Afghanistan has no potential to address the matter with a concrete and an agreed proposal.

Solutions:

Reduce the military presence and increase diplomatic overtures. Strive for a peaceful settlement by reinvigorating the platform of QCG. India doesn’t fit into the equation as it will tilt the issue towards Pak-Indo conflict; the US must realize this. Sharing of intelligence information to eradicate the terrorist sanctuaries in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Growing ISIS presence in the region is a matter of grave concern and should be nip in the bud. To solve the Afghanistan problem, a sincere and concerted effort is necessary.

-Qaraar Sarhadi

رحمان بابا یو شعر او وجودیت

چرته مې وئيلي وو که اوريدلي وو چه  پشتنو کښې د رحمان بابا ديوان کور کښې ساتل او وئيل يو رواج وو خدائے خبر چه اوس شته او کنه خو د رحمان بابا تصوف داسې رنګ او ژبه لري چه هم عامي او عالم دواړه خپلې پوهې مطابق ترے اثر اخلي سبق اخلي …د رحمان بابا شاعرۍ کمال دغه دے چه هر زمانے سره په خپل مخصوص رنګ کے آهنګ لري..لکه د شعر اګورۍ
دے ويل اے رحمانه زړه دے د کتو دے

چه مرګې په دنيا شته دے ته له خاندې
د شعر د وجوديت فلسفے په فريم کښې بيخی برابر رازي .. وجوديت فلسفه په نينلاسمې صدۍ کښې پيل شوے وا چه مغربي فلا سفه کښې ډير زر خور شوا او د ادب نه تر فلسفے پورے ئې خپل اثرات پريښول … سارن کيرکيګارډ چه ړومبې وجودی فلاسفر بللے شي وائي ” چه انسان څنګه پيدا شي نو مرګ د پاره دومره عمر ډير دے” يعنی د ژوند سره مرګ جوړه پيدا شی… اوس د شعر يو وار بيا اوګورۍ..

قرار سرحدی

Ratti gali Lake

څاڅکې څاڅکې چه وریږی خوږ باران 

ستا یادونه ورسره وی راراوان

 آسمان پہ لمن خورې تورې وریزې

پکښې ځلیږی ماښامونه د هجران 

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میں کون ہوں

ابتداۓ آفرینش سے ہی انسان ‘میں کون ہوں ‘ کا جواب ڈھوندنے کی سعی کر رہا ہے اس سوال کے ادراک نے ہی انسان کو آگہی کی طرف راغب کیا اور یوں وہ ایک ایسی فکری و علمی سلسلے کا آغاز کرتا ہے جو اسے اس سوال کا جواب ڈھونڈنے میں مدد کر سکتا ہے ۔۔فلک کے بے کراں وسعتوں نے جہاں انسانی شعور کو متحیر کیا وہی زمین کے طول و عرض نے انہیں سامانِ فکر و معاش مہیا کیا

 تاکہ  وہ اپنی کھوج برقرار رکھ سکے اس کھوج میں انسان نے مظاہرِ کائنات پر غور و فکرکا آغاز کیا 

سبزہ و گُل کہاں سے آئے ہیں

ابْر کیا چیز ہے، ہَوا کیا ہے

 

انسان سوچنے لگا کہ آکر یہ کائناتِ رنگ و بو کس لیے ہے اگر میرے لیے ہیں تو میں کون ہوں اور یہ اہتمام کیوں ہے میری کائنات میں کیا وقعت ہے کیا کام ہے کیا مقصد ہے ؟مگر ان باتوں کا تعین تو تب ہی ممکن ہے کہ یہ معلوم ہوسکے کہ میں کون ہوں ؟لیکن زمانوں پر زمانوں کی یلغار کا سلسلہ جاری رہا اور میں وقت کے پردہِ سیمیں پرمختلف ناموں اور حوالوں سے ابھرتا رہا ڈوبتا رہا ۔۔زماں  و مکاں کی قید میں میرا یہ  معصوم سا سوال جوابوں کے صحرا میں سرابوں کے پیچھے بھاگتا چلا گیا مگر مطلق جواب ندارد۔۔۔۔ میری فکری ارتقاء کا تسلسل جاری رہا اپنی کھوج کو مختلف مظاہرِ کائنات کے تناظر میں جاری رکھا مختلف زمانوں اور مختلف تہذیبوں میں میرا مختلف مفہوم رہا لیکن من حیث القوم میں کون ہوں کا ایک متفقہ و مشترکہ جواب نہیں ملا اور انسان بٹتا ہی چلا گیا کوئی مذہب میں خود کو ڈھونڈتا رہا کوئی وطن اور قوم کو اپنی پہچان سمجھتا رہا پھر صنعتی اور سائنسی انقلاب نے انسان کی فکری ارتقا میں یک لخت ایک لمبی جست لگائی اور بہت سے سربستہ رازوں کا پردہ فاش کیا جس سے یہ ہوا کہ میں اس بھاگ دوڑ میں کائنات کی تسخیر کرتا چلا گیا جو میں کل تھا وہ آج نہیں ہوں اور جو آج ہوں وہ کل نہیں ہو نگا ان ایجادات نے جہاں انسانوں کو قریب تر کیا اور دنیا کو ایک گلوبل ویلج بنا دیا وہی  کائنات کے نت نئے جہتوں کو بھی دریافت کیا۔۔اگرچہ انسان آج کل کی نسبت ایک دوسرے کے زیادہ قریب ہے اور ایک دوسرے سے زیادہ واقفیت رکھتا ہے لیکن تیزی کے ساتھ بدلتی ہوئی تہذیبی روایات نیز سماجی حالات کی اوٹ سے اٹھتی ہوئی آندھیوں کے اچانک اور شدید حملے نے افراتفری اور انتشار کے سوا کچھ نہیں دیا اور جب انسانی صورتِ حال اخلاقی اور تہذیبی سطح پر اس درجہ بگڑتی ہے تو پھر انسان کی انسان سے کبھی کوئی ملاقات نہیں ہوا کرتی اور انسان اتنی بھیڑ میں بھی تنہا رہ جاتا ہے 

ناصر اس دیار میں
کتنا اجنبی ہے تو 

ٹی ایس ایلیٹ تو یہاں تک کہ گیا ہے کہ ”انسان کاغذ کے ان پرزوں کی مانند ہیں جن کو سرد اور یخ ہوائیں ادھر ادھر اڑاۓ پھرتی ہیں اور بس’۔۔۔

ہر تہذیبِ انسانی نے میں کون ہوں کا جواب دھونڈنے کی اپنی سی کوشش کی ہے جدید مغربی فلاسفہ کا بانی ژاک ڈریڈا نے کہا کہ ‘اندیشم پس ہستم یعنی میں سوچتا ہوں اس لئے میں ہوں’۔۔یعنی میں سوچ کے بطن سے وارد ہوا ہوں ۔۔شاعرِ مشرق علامہ محمد اقبال نے اپنی  پہچان کے حصول کے لیے خودی کا فلسفہ پیش کیا القصہ انسان نے اپنی سی کر دیکھی پھر متفقہ و مجرب جواب تاحال نہیں ملا۔۔لیکن   اس ساری تگ و دو میں اس ساری تلاش میں اس سارے ارتقائی سلسلے میں اگر ایک چیز زماں و مکاں سے مبرّا رہی سب انسانوں میں  مشترکہ رہی تو وہ تغیر تھی یعنی میں ازل سے تضادِ جمود رہا تجریدی طور پر بھی عملی طور پر بھی ۔۔شاید میں کون ہوں کے جواب تک کا سفر ہی اس کا جواب ہے میں کون ہوں کا جواب شاید یہی ہے کہ میں تغیر ہوں ۔۔

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