Handling dissent

This refers to the article, ‘Ah, the national narrative’ (Oct 23), by Syed Talat Hussain. The article was a true portrayal of the actual state of affairs prevailing in our country and, as such, had to be unflattering. I think what lies behind this sort of muddle-headed approach is the basic dishonesty which prevents us from conducting an open and honest discussion as a means to arriving at conclusions.

And even when we conduct discussions at times, these are meant merely to ‘invent’ arguments to validate preconceived notions that serve particular interest groups. And the worst part of it is that it is the same story from top to bottom with dissenters, if any, invariably declared traitors. No wonder we are in such a mess.

S R H Hashmi (Karachi)