PATIENT PERSEVERENCE VS PROTEST
Choose the Wise Strategy
YOUTH are the most productive and energetic asset of a nation. They can be instrumental to bring value to the world. Unfortunately, people, including the youth think that protests and demonstrations will get them what they want. There is no such example in history where protest directly resulted into a long term and positive change. On the contrary, it only aggravated the situations. If there is an issue at hand, then the authorities need to be presented with the issue in a peaceful manner. If the youth with their strength and vitality react to every adverse situation through protests and demands, it will take them away from the goal of education. They must singularly focus on education and stay away from all distractions like studentpolitics and student-unions.
Usually, the psychology behind protest is the feeling that if one were to exercise restraint and patience, then the other group would take advantage of the situation. Therefore people say that there is a limit to one’s patience. Student politics has adversely affected the educational system. An alternative situation to such politics is that educational institutions should work toward better management of their infrastructure and programmes. They must allow critical feedback from students, which would render unnecessary the need to engage in political mobilization over issues.
The Quran holds patience as the highest worship rewards of which has no limit. The Quran talks about limitless reward for keeping patience. When there is no limit to the reward to patience, how can there be any limit to patience? Exercising patience allows the process of one’s personality development continue unhindered. Patience is not an isolated attribute, but has a direct role to play in one’s intellectual development. Without patience one cannot reflect or ponder over higher truths. If one lacks a patient personality, one would remain agitated and disturbed. With such a state of mind one will be unable to contemplate on the deeper realities of life. This is why patience has to be adhered to throughout our lives.
A positive social change is possible only through education. Education leads to self-discipline. This approach seems to be very long-term, but according to the law of nature, any substantial result is achieved only through long-term planning. Short-term planning cannot produce any valuable result. Social upliftment or nation-building is like growing trees of oak. If we perform this task in the right way, a time will come when nation-building will have become a reality. However, if we do not adopt the right method to carry out this task, then even after thousands of years of effort we will not be able to achieve our target.
There is a very illustrative lesson from the life of George Bernard Shaw, the Irish playwright and critic. In earlier times, Ireland was not a place for quality education. Once an Irish person expressed his despair to Shaw about the community lagging behind in education. Upon enquiring, Shaw learnt that the person was also uneducated. Shaw advised him to secure education for himself first so that at least one person in the community shall no longer remain illiterate. So, the message is: Identify where the world lacks value, and then fill that gap by first starting from yourself.
A quality education will contribute to the nation by producing a good citizen. A good citizen is one who has a predictable character. His fellow human beings should be confident of his behaviour beforehand. For example, while planting saplings, a gardener assumes that no one would harm what he is planting. A gardener expects this good character in his fellow human beings. The student community of the world should be of such predictable character. Their seriousness in educating themselves should be such that the world should have confidence that they will not take to violence in any situation. In addition to this, the world should expect them to resolve the issues peacefully while continuing to pursue their higher goals of acquiring knowledge and skills. This attitude will surely lead to the development of the nation.
