Dear Sir,

To everything is a season and a time, a time to reap and a time to sow. The adage is clear enough but the application much of the time is uncomfortable. To be in season is the thing, isn’t it? No one wants to be out of style or off pace. However some things are natural: like getting old in our times could be as simple as not being able use the latest mobile phone and there is that increasing gap of being useful simply because of technology, as we sit and watch the ease of how our grandchildren adapt.

Political appropriateness, however, seems to have a life of its own which defies reason. The adage doesn’t seem to apply.

Having been led for centuries by an oligarch, our history for political inclusion needs no in-depth study or brains to decipher.

It was a struggle on many fronts, which included fair and equal pay, basic education, voter enfranchisement and human rights, all of which were intended to make a better society.

Just like in war, there was an array of weapons used in the battle to get the country to where it is. Unionism was a weapon, political parties, demonstrations, strikes and even riots were part of that arsenal.

Here we are now a country full of memories, caught in a world of globalisation where our continuation and survival are less dependent on our heritage and more dependent on our ability to innovate and collectively respond to present and future challenges.

The analogy for us today is, after the war what to do with all the weapons?

After all, we need a war to justify a need for weapons, and if the basic war is over, should not the proverbial swords be turned into plough shares? But when we are being led by the old generals of the wars that have long past, pity those who want peace.

It is the role of the intellectuals of every age and generation to determine the times and what society needs.

At the moment, we face a vacuum of clear and direct leadership.

No expressed master plan; not even a bad one. I believe in the power of the infinite good and pray for the wisdom to navigate through the ensuing darkness filled with dinosaurs to a place of security and upward mobility.

If we can meet the challenge of our times, we would have provided an example to the whole world.

If we don’t, we would have proven only that holes get deeper when you keep shovelling and that it’s better to retire old generals than to leave them in charge of the battlefield.

It’s time to rethink ourselves and leave all the slogans for the history books.

KHALID WASI