November 2016 - The Debates

A critical discourse analysis of Bilawal' speeches.

If face is the index of mind, words are the reflection of the inner operations of one’s mind. What is going inside one’s mind and the controlling and the determining factors, may be concealed by the person by pretending, yet at times these factors make their way and come to the fore. This phenomenon is also described by the noted psychologist Segmund Freud. However a critical analysis of one’s discourse may reveal these inner factors which govern someone’s inner working of mind. If we apply these parameters on the speeches of the Pakistan Peoples Party’s Chairman Bilawal Bhutto, things will be revealed which usually remain away from the perception of the ordinary listeners.

The sounds of his speech, even if he speaks Urdu, are English. Critically analyzing his sounds one can easily notice his use of diphthongs and other English vowels, which he employs in speaking urdu. His sound system is built upon the practice of those sounds, and employment of which seems very odd in speaking urdu.

The pronouns he usually uses reflect other developments of the inner operation of his mind. Most of the pronouns are plural and are rarely singular. This use of pronouns is symptomatic of many factors governing his mind and actions. The use of plural pronouns show his dependence on other and lack of autonomy in decision making, be it relating to party matters or his personal life. The plural pronouns in the matters relating to the party affairs reflect his dependence on others. The immediate dictation in this regard may come from his father. Secondly the plural pronouns reflect his over-dependence on his family members such as sisters, he can’t take an independent decision even relating to his own self. It was even made public by him when asked about his marriage. He said that it would be decided by his sisters.

All the factors behind the scene may tell upon his choices in decision making especially when it comes to be in the capacity of a public office holder. The influence of English sounds on his speech also shows his alienation from the culture and problems associated with the country of his parents’birth. The Westminster scheme of things and the theoretical frameworks of running a state may not work then. How such a man would deal with the social issues of a country which he himself is alien to. Probably it is one of the reasons that despite the relentless efforts for the resolution of the problems, use of energy and resources, most of the social problems of Pakistan still persist. It is the gap between the power elites, who are mostly nurtured in west, and the ordinary folks and their problems which does not let the quixotic scheme materialize.

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Political issues of Pakistan.

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SOCIAL ISSUES.

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CRITICAL CURRENT ISSUES

Can’t we be human beings?

Jacuques Rossues has rightly said ,”man is born free but he is everywhere in chains, God made all the things good but Man meddle with them and they become evil”. Does one is tagged as a member of a particular class, caste, color or creed at the time of his/her birth? The answer can never be in the affirmative. It is the society which divides human beings into these various watertight compartments, and this division is so deep- rooted that it seems natural and acceptable rather than a social construct. It is therefore that human beings have lost their original and primary identities of being human, and have acquired the secondary ones, based on ethnic, geographic, religious, and sectarian and caste basis.

If the current plight of human beings around the world is critically examined, reasons behind most of the infightings, hatred, acrimonies and lack of the spirit of co-existence and fellow-feelings can easily be tracked down to the existence of these secondary identities save economic considerations. These identities have not only dispersed us away from the common bond of humanity, which otherwise could glove us together, but have put us into a fierce competition with one another. Where no one is ready to compromise but to assert his own identity, no matter how much harm does it cause.

Things would have been easier, had we accepted plurality and made it a part and parcel of our societal norms, but it seems within the realms of impossibility. Validity for one’s action/view is passionately adored, which automatically implies as negation of the rest, and thus the fight continues. These identities are neither stable nor fixed, but vary and get multiplied with the passage of time, which further complicates the existing sorry state of humans’ affairs.

The concept of plurality is out of question as the scheme of things demonstrate, the new identities are hell bent on eroding tolerance, co-existence, and fellow-feelings. We need to find out a way of salvation, a scheme which firmly gloves together the dispersing and alienated human beings who have had their parents in common in the yore. The religion failed to glove them together, as it itself is subject to proliferation of sects and factions which definitely multiplies not narrow down identities. The bond of geographical identity loses itself to caste and color, and the language too is subject to dialectical differentiations and is a medium common to all who are again divided in their creed and smaller geographical units.

The only way forward we are left with, is to firmly grasp the only identity which is common to all the human beings with no variance, and that the identity of humanity. It can truly glove us together irrespective of the class, caste, color and creed. If we cannot totally shun the socially constructed identities, we must at least subvert them to the primary one. Perhaps it is the only option we are left with, capitalizing on which we can see some light at the tunnel, and salvage ourselves from the present mess to the safer shores of truism.

HUMANITY IS A RELIGION ITSELF.