IT IS THE CONSCIENCE WHICH MAKES COWARDS OF US ALL

            IT IS THE CONSCIENCE WHICH MAKES COWARDS OF US ALL 

PROF WAQAR HUSSAIN

 Dictionary meaning ;(Conscience does make cowards of us all. The conscience often prevents one from doing things that one wants to do (perhaps things that wrong or inappropriate). The phrase comes from Shakespeare's Hamlet. ... Ugh, conscience does make cowards of us all.)

      Adam's son Cain inaugurated the human history of --jealousy,unbound desires, crave for apposite sex, obsession of dominance,bloodshed; when he killed his brother and married his twin sister. He laid aside his conscience and became brave enough to commit this brutality. If he had listened to the call of his conscience, he wouldn't have done so. Since that day man has never looked back and is marching ahead while turning a deaf ear to the echo of his conscience. 

                    Our society is teaming with the examples where conscience is thrown off. The politicians takes million of rupees as loans and then manage to have them written off,without bothering bout the poor deplorable condition of the masses who live from hand to mouth. The industrialists take more work from the labor than the prescribed limit of eight hours and pay less amount to the workers. Our fief-holders are not acquainted with the word 'equality' ; they maltreat the peasants. The lives, properties and honor of this down-trodden class is at stake due to wildly transgression of feudal class. Our political leaders are leading a luxurious life. Their conscience don't prickle them. Their habit of closing their eyes to the dismal lives of thousands of people. The people have no access to three time bread. On the contrary, they give much importance to the glare of their dining table. Some Politicians impose ban on abroad medical treatment, but their fathers are sent off to Europe to have a treatment. All those acts of tyranny, injustice branch out when the people don't listen the voice of their conscience. At public level, a vast majority of people commit actions which are unjustified, e.g. killing of innocent people, corporal punishment to women, theft, robbery, boarding, proficiency, black-marketing, bribery, etc. 

                    If one moves through the pages of history one will find this phenomenon prevalent in all civilizations. What Yazeed did to Imam Hussain (RA) ? If he had listen to the call of his conscience that he was confronting a man of piety, the grandson of hazard Muhammad (PBUH), the son of Ali Haider(RA), and Fatima-tu-Zuhra (RA) and the Imam of the Muslims community, then he would not have raised even a slogan against Imam Hussain (RA). But he succumbed to the voice of his ambition and killed the whole coterie of Immam Hussain (RA) with a  brutality nonparallel in the history of mankind. There are many examples in religious history; Nimrod threw Hazrat Ibrahim (AS) in the fire, Pharoah (Rames II) did everything to muffle the voice of Moses, , Christ was nailed on the Cross, Abu Jahal campaigned ferociously against Muhammad (PBUH)

             On perusing the political and social history of mankind, we find numerous examples. The massacre by the Mongol, brutalities of the Portuguese pirates, tyrannies of Hindu Rajas, inhuman killing of Jews, Nazis holocaust during the World War II, unbridled religious aspiration of many Muslim rulers took them to the path of bloodshed. All the examples show that in socio-political history of mankind, people of different regions have acted on the lines, which their forefather Cain had carved.i.e. listening the call of aspiration and acting upon it accordingly by totally ignoring the voice of conscience.

                In the modern era, America is doing everything to exploit the world communities for her own vested interests. America invaded Iraq to safe Kuwait but stood aloof in the case of Kashmir dispute. UN moved resolution to establish Jewish state in Palestine, but kept silence over the issue of Kashmir, etc. Europeans raise great hue and cry if their single citizen is killed, but they themselves had a record of incessant killing worldwide. India is exhibiting great show of her tyranny in Kashmir, probably she is out Herod-Herod in her wretchedness. 

              On the other hand, conscience make a person brave. The whole history of religion and record of great leaders reveals that they didn't succumb to the outside pressures and listened to the call of their conscience and acted accordingly. Can we call them 'coward? they were truly bold and valiant. 

            Mankind should get rid of this habit of not listening to the prickling of conscience. It is very vital to usher an era of peace and tranquility. The legacy of Yazeed, Pharoah, Nimrood should not be followed. A famous British parliamentarian Charles Meridlaw refused to take oath on the Bible and lost his parliament seat.Meridlaw did the same on second time and met the same result.He repeated this practice in his third election and was deprived from the seat .All the times, he argued that he will take oath on his 'conscience' instead of The Bible. When he was elected for the fourth time, (because he was expelled from the parliament thrice), the parliament had to go down before his standpoint and he took oath on his conscience. And became a role model for whom their conscience is more sacred than the Holy Book.