I would say that the harsh truth is that the proportion would be far higher than 30 per cent.
KARACHI: This is with reference to Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s recent comment in a television interview, while he was in the UK, when he was told that a survey revealed that as many as 30 per cent of all Pakistanis would emigrate if they had the opportunity to do so. I would say that the harsh truth is that the proportion would be far higher than 30 per cent.
It is not just simple economic opportunity that is driving away many Pakistanis because most of those who want to leave or have left come from privileged and financially sound backgrounds. Of course, the bulk is still from the middle class, which must be shrinking with every passing year.
As long as our national focus is on hating India and America, which is done to divert attention from the real enemy within, we remain doomed. Rampant lawlessness, murderous bigotry, and an ever-expanding military empire all contribute to our existing condition where much of the rest of the world sees us as nothing more than a state that harbours and sponsors terrorists.
Dr Mervyn Hosein
Published In The Express Tribune, June 17th, 2012.
