From UK, with love

Saeeda Warsi's statements were enough to make one scream... but it was nice to have you in Pakistan Ms.Warsi and I hope you enjoyed your visit.

Saeeda Warsi has been the big news since July 16. The chairperson of the Conservative party, who is Pakistani by origin, visited Pakistan, met some top people and visited many places including her father's hometown. This trip was expected ever since she attained success in the recent British elections. She received a hero’s welcome wherever she visited, especially in her hometown.

Pakistani people are very hospitable. We forget everything when it comes to treat and greet guests. At times we even forget rivalries and enmity just to keep the color of this quality alive. She deserved it, and I think every guest deserves respect and honour. It becomes our duty to behave well and act sensibly, and I see no problem with her visiting here, becoming big news for the media, giving interviews, and appearing morning shows along with other regular political TV shows.

It is great to be hospitable but to me the purity of this attitude can only be attained when it has a flavor of selfless effort. Unfortunately, in a few instances, this element was lacking. I do not know why we attach mountain high hopes with some people and then regret when none of them follow through. The same thing happened this time.

Saeeda Warsi's statements were enough to make one scream. Her statements about the Kashmir issue and Pakistan’s relations with India show what we were expecting out of this trip. She clearly sais that the resolution of these issues is not in their hands and there is someone else who is handling it.

It is clear that the world around us will never help us on this issue, especially those countries on whom we have relied on more than they deserve. When I think about the 'someone'  Warsi refers to, I wonder if that person is unaware of their powers.

Why do we always want others to come and resolve our issues? Why not try at our end? It is our problem, so it must be solved by us and not by anyone else. Therefore, I believe that we have to think about this whole scenario in a sensible manner and stop complaining and looking at others to come and solve our issues.

The problem with our policymaking is that most of the time, we do not know what exactly it is that we want. That is why, with regards to the Kashmir issue, we have not been able to decide where to stand and how to take up the issue and as a result our case and our demands are not properly being glossed. For many years we have remained confused as to what we really want and unless we are not clear about our stance it will be useless to expect others to move as we expect them to.

It was nice to have you here Ms.Warsi and I hope you enjoyed your visit. I even hope that you visit Pakistan again. I want to thank you for the reality check.