It would be astonishing for many of us to know that the donkey is an animal wiser than ninety per cent people in our society. Yes, it is so because what the donkey knows, the majority of us don’t know.
Surprisingly, it knows the limits of its knowledge and power and does not try to cross those limits. Have you ever seen a donkey politicking as the fox does? The answer may definitely be in the negative because it knows that it is not as astute as the fox is. Likewise, you may not have seen a donkey chasing a deer as the leopard does because it knows that it not as quick as the leopard is; You may not have seen a donkey fighting with a wild bull as the lion does because it knows that it is not as powerful as the lion is; And you may not have seen a donkey competing with a horse in the race. After all, it knows that it is not as fast as the horse is.
Now come to our society, here, conversely, you must have seen a naye (barber) who himself doesn’t know the spelling of the word budget, yet, advises the country’s finance minister over budget preparation; You must have seen a doodh wala (milk seller) who himself doesn’t know the abbreviation of ‘’COVID’’, yet, challenges an MBBS doctor over Covid19 treatment; You must have seen a university graduate who himself cannot even recite the second kalimah, yet, edifies religious scholars who have experience of religious matters more than of his age; You must have seen a molvi (religious scholar) who himself doesn’t know the definition of science, yet, mocks Darwin and Einstein on their work; You must have seen a politician who himself doesn’t know the ‘ABC’ of administration, yet, castigates a deputy commissioner on administrative issues; You must have seen a judge who himself takes decades to dispense justice in a simple case, yet, educates a chief minister on incompetence and ineptness; And you must have seen a general who in all his career has never conquered a single enemy’s outpost, yet, conspires to conquer his own parliament.
The argument would be peculiar that we always reprimand the donkey for its foolhardiness while in reality, it has many qualities which the majority of us are devoid of. Therefore, respect the donkey because it is more intelligent, smarter, and honourable since it knows its limits, accepts them and acts accordingly. Moreover, it rejects the idea of institutional excess and doesn’t meddle in the affairs of others. Whereas the majority of our problems are created by the absence of rule of law and institutional excess. Hence, all these problems could be resolved if we just follow the donkey.
The writer is pursuing MPhil in international relations from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad.
He can be reached at usamasherazi129@gmail.com
