The Power of Questioning

Artificial intelligence (AI) has made life easy. Answers are only a click away. Certainly, we live in an information age, but how we will deal with disinformation needs attention. I remember the Ayub Khan days when the National Press Trust (NPT) was created to manipulate information. It was an attempt to control the print media. Newspapers were censored, and those who defied orders were punished. After the takeover of the Progressive Papers Limited (PPL), the daily *Pakistan Times* became the mouthpiece of the government, while *Nawa-e-Waqt* remained defiant.

As a family, we had a balanced approach. Both papers were delivered, and we were required to read them to remain current. The only condition was that the Urdu paper was not to be read in the toilet, as it carried Quranic verses. Students remained at the forefront of resistance in those days. Despite promises of economic growth, the dictator was forced to step down in March 1969, right in the midst of his celebrations of the so-called Decade of Progress.

The Progressive Writers’ Association was also very active in those days. There were several intellectual discourses over cups of tea, served on a per-head basis, at several locations in the city. Notable among them were Pak Tea House, Coffee House, Cheneys Lunch Home, Shezan, Gardenia, Lords, Indus and Nagina Bakery. For lunch, Abdul Rehman Restaurant in Old Anarkali and Carry Homes on Beadon Road were popular. Discussions were held among leading intellectuals and politicians. I had the chance to meet several of them, namely Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Wali Khan, Qayyum Khan, Manzur Qadir, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi and Zaheer Kashmiri, to name a few. My own uncle (Mamoo), Dr Saleem Wahid Saleem, a progressive writer and poet, was also a regular participant in those get-togethers.

Every time Dr Saleem visited our house, he spent hours reading both newspapers. Every word was carefully examined by him. Perhaps he was using the filter of his mind to decipher the published news. It was the use of Human Intelligence (HI) at its best. One day, out of curiosity, I ventured to ask him about his deep indulgence in the printed matter. Promptly came the reply: “It is always the capacity of the reader to pick up the facts from what has been reported.”

When the USA was boasting of its war successes in Vietnam in those days, he predicted its retreat. According to him, the future of the Shah of Iran remained bleak despite Western support to prop up his regime. In those days, most scholars were of the view that his son would not accede to the throne, but no one could predict the disgraceful fall of the most powerful ruler in the Middle East, who was called the Policeman of the region.

HI is based on questioning. It is the cornerstone of change and human advancement. The status quo is challenged only by an intelligent question from an open mind. AI can facilitate but cannot lead. In the words of Josh Malihabadi: “Istraib Zindagi Ha.” There is no single English word to cover this phenomenon, but the closest is “continuous upheaval for change”. Dr Saleem questioned every published report to protect himself against widespread disinformation. He lived and died in the 20th century. The challenges of the 21st century are different, but the need and ability to question remain.

There are no shortcuts to glory; in the end, honest hard work prevails. HI will always be required despite the technological challenges that will come in its way from time to time. Only HI comes with the timeless potential to lead, which no man-made system can match or replace.