Oppression is directly linked to the emotions of the oppressed. No action of the oppressor can be termed tyrannical if the oppressed is not disturbed by it. Most of the oppression in the world is so subtle that the oppressed is led to think it is a part of his likings. At times the oppressed becomes convinced that to put up with tyranny is a component of his faith.
The greatest cruelty of the oppressor consists of the fact that he brainwashes the oppressed so as to make them develop a tolerance for oppression, to go on living in oppressive circumstances. In order to safeguard his wealth the rich king teaches his poor subjects to be patient, submissive and compliant. Those who preach patience to the poor prefer to get rich themselves. The oppression goes on and on and no one is any wiser. In fact, the oppressed don’t even realize that they are being wronged. The rich rulers send their children to the English public schools while the poor are told in the name of religion, to have their kids educated in some religious seminary. After acquiring proficiency in Dars-e-Nizami (Nazami’s curriculum), the children of the poor end up as Imams of mosques and live in cubicles. The children of rich join the bureaucracy and lord it over all. The oppression goes on and no one feels it. If an intellectual exposes the oppression, he is immediately branded an infidel and a heretic and his character is maligned. The strange thing is that even those who suffer oppression and live in oppressive conditions team up with the oppressors and oppose the man who had shown that they were the victims of tyranny. In order to carry on his despotic activities, the oppressor assumes several disguises. Either he sets himself up as a Messiah or dons a leader’s mask or acts as if he was an intimate friend or creates an illusion of love or deceives you with flattery. The oppression, in any case, never comes to a stop. Nowadays there is outbreak of messianic claims. Every incompetent person claims to be blessed with insight. There is no lack of Messiahs who do nothing but sow discord among the people. There is no shortage of physicians. There are doctors who resemble Messiahs but pay more attention to their patient’s pocket than to his ailment. With a smile on his face, he states that there is nothing wrong with you and merely for telling this wants you to pay him his fee. And having suffered this wrong, you cheerfully take your leave. The physicians make merry when the poor fall sick. The oppression goes on and nobody realizes it. In the domain of politics the leader do great wrong as they fatten their egos. They mislead the people and make their lives thoroughly miserable. Even the petty street hawker is tricked into believing that he has become an expert on political matters. He remains a victim of oppression and deludes himself with the thought that his awareness of international politics is total. He raises slogans of “down with America” and regards the tray on which his goods are displayed as a tableau of politics. He has been grievously wronged and doesn’t even realize it. The desire for a new era inflicts fresh torments on a life full of constraints. In their game of obtaining more and more benefits for themselves, the leaders play with the well being of the poor. Oppression continues and the oppressed don’t even realize it.
Some of the religious scholars talk about the meaninglessness of life at such length that all desire of hard work, effort, exertion and enterprise simply vanishes. Nothing equals the repression of knowledge. A knowledge which is of no help to the knower is a torment. The oppressor indulges in oppression and the victim accepts it in the belief that his education hinges on it. He gets educated and his needs remain unsatisfied. Education, like a beautiful medal, hangs round his neck, like the bell which adorns the neck of the ox. He listens to the sound of the bell and is pleased and ploughs the land belonging to the oppressor. He doesn’t even know what is happening to him. Why can’t he get a job if he has been educated? But securing a job no longer depends on one’s education but on having proper connections. The luckless have nothing in store for them but meaningless education. It is an oppression no one is aware of. The most dangerous of oppressors enters your life posing as a friend. It is very hard to escape from an oppressor who comes armed with the sword of love. He traps innocent in the snare of love, exploits them and once his selfish aim is achieved, abandons them at some unknown turn of the road to be at the mercy of the vicissitudes of time, taking his leave with a devilish smile. You can’t even curse him. He was yours. He pretended to be your friend. You still treasure the old letters he wrote you once while he ditched you ignoring every dictate of ethical behaviour. We were all praise for him once; so how can we now say that he has wronged us. Suffice it to say that a wrong was done but the oppressed was stricken dumb forever.
As a matter of fact, to use something in a manner contrary to its nature is oppression. One should put a thing to its proper use, that is, use it for the purpose for which it has been created. To do the contrary is oppression. To force someone to do something which is against his temperament is oppression, nay it is tyranny. A feeling of oppressiveness overtakes a man who is forced to do something against his nature. He is seized by inertia. And thereafter the inertia boils deep within him like magma and during some unmarked moment, it wells up to the surface, pours out as lava, destroying everything in its path. The silence of the oppressed is the beginning of the admonition of the oppressor. The oppressed who keeps silent is very dangerous. He is like a silent storm. To make a man do more work than he is paid for is also oppression. The remuneration should correspond to the personality of the giver. The greatest oppression is to make someone’s efforts go totally waste.
It is oppression to create misgivings in someone’s mind. It is the height of tyranny to plunge a whole nation into state of uncertainty. It is oppression to make a wayfarer lose all interest in travelling while he still has a lot of distance to cover. It is oppression if after reaching the half way mark one starts thinking: well, where are we supposed to go from here?
It is oppression to think that a poor man’s honour is of little account. Countless are the ways in which oppression makes itself felt. The oppressed always presents the same face. He is poor, simple, innocent, gentle, gullible, quick to submit, ready to give up what is his by right and willing to wish everyone good luck. It is because of his blessings that the tyrant stays in power. The temperament of the oppressed does not change; neither does that of the oppressed. In this way, oppression continues to flourish. The oppressed is convinced that it is his fate and the oppressor thinks that it is the outcome of his ingenuity. Both of them continue to move in their respective orbits but occasionally fate, in order to put an end to the oppression attributed to it, makes the scales fall from the eyes of the oppressed. He begins a campaign for the restoration of his usurped rights, topples the oppressor to take his place and sure enough is next seen in the grab of the oppressor. In this manner oppression gets a new lease of life. Oppression, in any case, goes on and no one is aware of it.
You can’t put on the brakes on the wheel of oppression unless you have enough courage and enough awareness to forgive and to ask to be forgiven. You lay the foundation for oppression by seeking vengeance. The desire to forgive is a must for the end of oppression. It is only by giving up their old habits that people are able to wipe out oppression. How should we deal with the oppressor and his oppression? In this connection we can learn a lot by studying the lives of the Prophets. Hazrat Yusuf’s brothers had behaved very badly with him. The only way to repay them for their misconduct was to say: “Go! You will not be punished now”. Following the conquest of Mecca, the Holy Prophet (SAW) said the same thing to his old enemies: “Go! You will not be punished now”.
If the process of seeking forgiveness and of forgiving were to get under way in a society, the process of oppression will automatically come to a halt. Give up selfish thinking and oppression will be no more. Put an end to the sallies of the ego and the process of oppression will also come to an end. He who forgives shall be forgiven. If you handsomely oblige others, the memory of oppression will be erased. Give someone what is his right, in fact, give him more than what is his right. By this simple act you will put an end to oppression. A welfare society is one which has no wronged or deprived people in it.
Selection from OCEAN IN A DROP
Translation of Hz.Wasif Ali Wasif’s book
Qatra Qatra Qulzam
