Where do we stand as a nation?

America pressuring our leadership to join the war on terror in 2001 and the subsequent violence in Pakistan sound like better times. Even though it was the Musharraf dictatorship, people felt connected to their homeland. There were problems but unlike the grave ones we have now. Even when India sent Abhinandan into our airspace, the nation was united against a foreign enemy. Today, that thing is gone. Pakistan is not united. We were talking about CPEC. Those really feel like days in the distant past.

For the last few months, Pakistanis have seen nothing but turmoil. Powerlessness is the meaning of a Pakistani citizenship. A popular leader was ousted from power. The people felt helpless and seethed with anger. Inflation went through the roof making the lives of the poor even more miserable. The US dollar has never flexed its muscles like it has in today’s Pakistan. Foreign remittances are going down. Popular journalists have been harassed, jailed, beaten, stripped naked, and so forth. Some journalists were compelled to leave the country, one of which was actually killed days ago. The American president has openly insulted Pakistan calling it the most dangerous nation in the world. With the exception of Pakistan’s removal from the FATF, I cannot recall a single positive development for the people of Pakistan. Even that removal from the list didn’t cause much happiness because of all the miseries all around us.

Maybe we are the most dangerous nation, except we are a danger to ourselves only. There is almost zero credibility that the incumbent government enjoys. Our judges and generals are the most favourite targets of social media attacks, speaking of which the online space is ever more toxic. I do not know of a worse case of the erosion of democracy. Journalism is under a vicious assault. The country has a leadership crisis as we speak.

The worst aspect of this entire drama is that the people feel disconnected from their country. They don’t have this illusion anymore that they matter or that their opinion has weight. They have woken up to this harsh reality that their citizenship doesn’t mean much beyond their role to pay taxes and cast vote whenever the politicians come to play with their emotions.

All this happened in the last few months. Amid all of this, there hasn’t been any meaningful discussion on climate change, which is the most dangerous threat to the security of Pakistan. Perhaps Pakistan’s enemies can relax and enjoy watch us in self-destruct mode. Pakistan doesn’t need only nuclear weapons to defend itself against enemies, it also needs some reckoning with the truth and some perspective to defend itself against itself. A war with another country might trigger foreign nations to come to the rescue and avert the war and chaos. Rest assured nobody is coming to save ourselves from the consequences of our own bad actions.
I have this habit where I jokingly make a comment with friends and peers that while we all would love to end up in paradise, none of us is willing to die in order to get there though. The same could be true of Pakistan and those who claim to help it and stand up for it. Whether overseas Pakistanis like myself or the retired generals or the ousted politicians, all claim to be in love with Pakistan and want to do something for this country. Nobody, however, is willing to live here and create the change they want to see.

For the overseas Pakistanis, this country is a giant hotel where they mostly come for vacation and to feel VIP. For the politicians, Pakistan is this mega office where they must come to use their job description to make money through corrupt practices so that when they are removed, they can live peacefully in those palaces in England, which even the local Brits can’t afford. Pakistan is losing.