A Jungian perspective of the Pakistan political situation

Planning to write this article, I googled the words, “Pakistan dream”. The hits that came back seem very appropriate to the content of this article as well as the point of view it attempts to convey. Two articles jumped out from the screen, “Pakistan, a dream gone sour” and “Pakistan: Dream deferred or denied”. Granted, I had chosen dreams as a parameter for my search, since this article is an attempt to understand the present reality of the situation in the context of Jung's work on dreams. But, a deeper look at the two topics that “jumped out at me”, would reveal a fractal of the current situation. Both reflect an impending catastrophe which threaten to engulf the homeland and question its very existence.

I would like to point out a trend that is steeped in antiquity. The “end of the world”, doomsday, Aakhrat is nothing new. It merely is the projection of a threatened man. Dating back to the pre historic mankind, the doom of the world has been foretold again and again. The caveman projected this fear of “the end” to the elements of nature and the modern man finds an alternative target for its excrement.

In freudian terms, projection is equivalent to smearing another person with one's refuse. The basic dynamic of projection involves denial of an unacceptable impulse in one's self and attributing that impulse to another person. Jung believed that all political conflict stemmed from this. When a neighbor is perceived to be plotting and scheming, it is actually the reflection of a person's own impulses that are not acceptable and hence are projected on the neighbor. Neighbors usually do not take to the smearing process kindly and hence a bilateral projection begins which turns in to a vicious cycle. An example would be the fight against terror.

To return to the topic of extinction, man is terrified of it's own propensity to destroy. Hence a projection on whatever is psychologically convenient, will ensue. Elements, Shaitan, Kafirs, Aliens everything is game. Jung pointed out that recurring themes of similar thoughts, are usually an indication of an archetype at play. These archetypes are living ideas which have been present in man since the advent of consciousness. Because these archetypes predate language, they speak in the language of symbols. They continue to dwell in the collective unconsciousness of the human race. This collective unconsciousness speaks to every human being. Even though modern man tends to discard the “useless unconscious”, it continues to exert a phenomenal hold over our everyday activities. Only an individual with an incompletely developed nervous system, that is a baby, can believe that reality ceases to exist once it closes its eyes.

There are innumerable examples in history where Man has “lost control”. Group influences take over. And if you would like to consider a step above that, the archetypes take over. It is no laughing matter when a soldier is ready to sacrifice his life for the country. The unconscious is at play again. Similarly the protagonist of our drama, the suicide bomber has an interesting psychological profile. Consciousness has decided to take a hike in the mountains while the archetype rules that individual. The unpredictability and the irrational responses of oneself, in an introverted mood has made every individual ask himself, “what came over me”. Spirits, Jaadoo, Jinn are all excellent explanations and they might have as much scientific backing as Jung's theory of the collective unconsciousness has, but that is besides the point. The point to realize is that Man is in the grip of forces that it cannot rationally explain. Pakistan is in the grip of forces that are not conscious in nature. Our dear president is one such example. How is he where he is? The Taliban, how have they become such a threat? Islam, the religion of peace, how has that been corrupted? Pakistan the land of the pure, how has that become such a mess?

It is very possible to bring forth a detailed analysis, overvaluing certain key events and building up a chain of events. The propensity of the human mind is to fill in the blanks to make a logical story out of a chaotic set of events. The truth of the matter is, a little disappointing to the man in search of complete answers and organization. That man will have to satisfy himself with half cooked propaganda, conspiracy theories, intellectual discussions or fairy tales. Each will have some truth in it, but there will be spaces in every theory. Spaces are the very nature of life itself and they can never be fathomed. From the subatomic to the interstellar, the quest of mankind and the realm of matter stop where space begins. The archetypes inhabit those spaces. It is those spaces that speak to man and it is those very spaces that are speaking to every Pakistani at this point in time. Ironically it is those very spaces that are speaking to the American and the Taliban. I would not be wrong to say that they are not faring well in their conversations with the unintelligible either. Misery loves guests at the tea table and we as Pakistanis should not fear loneliness, at all.

The symbols that Jung came up in his work, make for a rich exploration. Because he took these symbols as the language of life, he had time only to decipher a little in his life. The process continues. The multi faceted nature of his work is akin to an adaptor. Life itself escapes such an adaptor-ish approach so my musings should be taken with a grain of salt.

The full discussion of Jung's archetypes and the interpretation of the Pakistani heritage deserves nothing less than a long afternoon discussion on the benches of Lawrence Gardens in Lahore. I will, therefore restrict myself to a discussion about the anima and the animus in our heritage. The anima and animus according to Jung are the male and female counterparts that exist in all of us. A male will have the anima to balance him and female the animus. The anima and the animus as archetypes follow a sequence of development or a process of individuation, as per Jung.

The anima is described to traverse four stages which are equivalent of the four stages of the animus. The female element or the anima is personified by Eve, Helen, Maria and Sophia. Eve is the primordial image of the female form, which is the mother form. Anima at its initial stage begins as the mother for the infant. It is asexual but soon it is given the characteristics of Helen of Troy. She has a seductive appeal and romantic connotations. Mary, the next stage is characterized by a religious longing where as Sophia is the example of Wisdom- the apex of the womanly nature. Similarly in the hermaphroditic fate of human beings, the animus also matures. It is exemplified by the muscle man or thug as the primordial image. Tarzan would be an example. The second stage is of the man of action, for example Ernest Hemingway, whereas the third is of the “word”. The professor or the learned man are the examples of the “word”. The fourth stage is of the incarnation of spiritual meaning. It is the anima or animus that mediates unconscious impulses so that they can survive and thrive in reality or consciousness of man or woman.

Jung believed that in Islam, Prophet Muhammad PBUH was the archetypal symbol for the ultimate evolution of the animus where as Hazrat Fatima, in his view, was the example of the most mature anima. Hazrat Umar and Hazrat Ali both evolve in their life from men of action to men of knowledge. Both of them strive to be in the likeness of the Prophet PBUH, the godhead of the animus. We can see various personalities of our recent political history in a similar process of individuation. I believe the country, at different times with different leaders, followed a collective individuation process.

Let us take the founder of Pakistan, Quaid e Azam. He was certainly a man of action at one stage and then a man of knowledge. It is true that in his later life, his anima evolved from his fixation to Ratti Jinnah to his religious sister and religious nation but he could never become the embodiment of the ultimate truth though. His life to the end remained troubled. His life was one of over compensation. Generally speaking, a good sign post for overcompensation tends to be lack of humor, something that our current President does not have a fault with. Gandhi, however, across the border was a different story. He threatened to and maybe even achieved the stage of ultimate truth. A simple comparison of the impact these two lives had on the sub continent is interesting. It almost seems like Pakistan started off with a handicap. A schism just like the one in Jinnah's personality, has always existed in our country men. I am by no means ascribing a fault to Jinnah, but rather attempting to explain the almost schizophrenic nature of the country's founding archetype. This disconnect from the reality of the situation has always existed for our country. We as a nation are cursed at trying to overcome a conflict that was typified in Jinnah. It is no surprise that, the two parts of Jinnah's personalities are waging a war with each other at the present. A part that has run away with its naïve belief in Islam cut off from its cultural context and another trying to achieve sense through moderate indignation. Each part has achieved monstrous proportions and it is fueled by projections of the inadequately developed anima/animus.

A man with an undeveloped anima will unconsciously seek out the image of his mother, in a wife. The man will project the undeveloped anima on the wife and invariably there will be tension in the marriage, because the wife is the wife, not the man's mother. Similarly, a faction of people with an undeveloped consciousness will seek out the image of their anima/animus complex and project it. If the anima/animus is destructive, the result will be a society filled with men ready to kill or be killed. The anima of the Taliban is dark, wearing a shuttlecock Burqa, which is fairly primitive. It is no wonder that their biggest complaint is that they are not given a share in the power of the country. They feel that they are not getting the education, life style and prosperity they deserve. It is not funny that they are treating their women folk in much the same way they feel they are being treated. Projection fuels the conflict and projection has cars going both ways. The other faction on the other side of the divide, is no better off unfortunately. Their anima is that of a confused woman. One who is ready to be religious, when the need arises and yet lusts and longs for more and more materialism. The confused woman is incomplete. And when this faction projects on the religious fanatics, they call them confused, power hungry and religious as long as religion serves their purpose. They feel their existence threatened and the moderation is gradually turning in to a fight for survival. Should I ask how long it will be before both sides have their own army of suicide bombers or has it already happened?

From Jinnah to the present day, the faces of politicians have changed but the archetypal deficiencies have remained. In fact, the deficiencies seem to have grown. Are we going back in development as a nation? Our current president reminds me of the archetype of the trickster that Jung has described. Incidentally he is also the first stage of the development of the animus. The thug or the man who will get his way with hook or crook. Usually children love this archetype. They can spend hours watching Bugs Bunny and its exploits. The mischievous Bunny who tricks his way in to everything. Has our nation unfortunately reached that level of conscious development?

The question remains, though, what is the way out? Is it “out”, that we want to be headed or is it “In”?
Somebody has to bridge the divide between religion and the ultimate truth. Our nation needs a man of action, unlike Musharraf who like all our other leaders got stuck on the same question that stumped the founder of our nation. Yahya Khan took it to one extreme and Zia ul Haq to another but the fundamental question remained the same. How to adapt religious longings to the realities of life and how as a nation can we find the ultimate meaning for our lives. Imran Khan is a man of action, no doubt who has been writing about his own religious journey. Is he the person that promises to bridge the divide. Does he have the capacity to grow with the growth of the nation.

I would like to point out another interesting myth that Jung talks about. The birth, rebirth cycle. Out of the ravages of winter comes spring just like flowers have to die to be born again. This myth is repeated again and again in many cultures all over the world. It is the language of life itself. Is there going to be decimation before we as a nation, stand on our two feet.




Jung viewed the process of individuation as the main goal of life for the human being. It is only through the process of individuation that the balance between male female elements is achieved. Once that is achieved, the conscious becomes aware of the unconscious and the playwright of the human drama changes. Instead of being blindly carried forward by archetypal influences, man learns to swim the currents of the river. Only when one knows the direction of the river can one hope to swim to its banks. In this process of individuation lies the salvation for us as a nation and as individuals of this nation.

I started of this article by talking about the doomsday prophecies and I find myself being drawn in to a similar catastrophic mode. This tendency is not accidental but full of meaning. It is not a coincidence that people are talking such. Usually this is the footprint of an archetype. What exactly the archetype is that threatens to carry us along with it, needs to be brought in to awareness. After it is brought in to the consciousness will we be able to make a decision what our future direction is. Maybe our future decision will be to sit still and see how the drama unfolds.