The writer is the recipient of the James A Wechsler Award for International Reporting and a graduate of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism
I still remember the day I wanted to become the prime minister of Pakistan. I was nine years old. My family had recently moved from Karachi to Riyadh so that my father could earn enough to repay our family’s debts. I was angry at my parents for forcing me to move away from my friends in Karachi. In my first year there, August 14 was a punishingly hot, airless day in Riyadh. I didn’t have any friends to go out and play with in the evenings. I began acting up with my parents and kept telling them that I wanted to move back to Pakistan — back to where my friends were.
Even at the age of nine, I understood that my parents wanted to give me a better future by moving to Saudi Arabia. We weren’t escaping a life of poverty but we were escaping a life that wasn’t comfortable. For example, I remember my parents recalling that they couldn’t afford to buy diapers for me. Relatives would accidentally ‘forget’ their children’s diapers at my house so that my mother wouldn’t be embarrassed by my antics when going out for family gatherings. Riyadh, in sharp contrast, was materially comfortable. I never understood why my father — who worked as long in Riyadh as he did in Karachi — couldn’t make ends meet in Karachi. I loved my father too much to blame him so I blamed Pakistan instead.
That evening, on August 14, I thought of all the fun I’d be having with my friends and cousins if I was in Karachi. I felt guilty about not being able to buy a Pakistani flag from Karachi’s Allah wali chowrangi that year. Somehow, all these mixed feelings naively translated into a promise I made to myself that night; I wanted to grow up to become the prime minister of Pakistan. I wanted to solve all the country’s problems so that I could live with all my friends in Pakistan, happily ever after. Fortunately, as I grew older, I distanced myself from the promise of the office of prime minister but not from the premise of being able to help solve Pakistan’s problems in one capacity or another. Unfortunately, that premise appears to be dying in the hours after the attack on Karachi’s airport.
I still can’t put my finger on why the attack on Karachi’s airport physically caused pain I’ve never experienced before. I didn’t feel the same pain at the news of the two dozen Shia pilgrims being bombed at the same time. I struggle to understand why. Is it because I’m not Shia and I can’t feel their pain? Or is it because I’m a ‘burger’ and the airport hit closer to home because I use it often? Does this make me a bad human being and a bad Muslim? Perhaps, it isn’t politically correct to say these things out loud but the attack made me stop wanting to correct my thoughts. Was this Pakistan’s 9/11? Pakistanis die all the time, why can’t I just vent on Facebook and move on with my life? What’s wrong with my country? What’s wrong with me?
There are two telltale signs that signal you’re stuck in an unhealthy emotional relationship. The first is numbness. An emotional relationship with Pakistan causes daily pain and heartache. As a defence mechanism, we become numb to bad news and make ourselves feel better by calling it resilience. This shields us from daily pain. At this point, we’re still committed to the relationship either because we value the relationship itself or the pain of breaking up is higher than the pain of staying in the relationship. This was my relationship with Pakistan before the Karachi attack.
And then suddenly this week, something snapped and I can’t put my finger on what happened. The attack on Karachi’s airport is nothing out of the ordinary for Pakistan but for some reason it’s turning into a breaking point in my relationship with Pakistan. Almost overnight, the numbness has given away to extra-sensitive, intense pain. In the past, whenever my mind used to argue against Pakistan, my heart used to rush to the country’s defence. Today, my heart no longer rushes to defend Pakistan. Instead, my heart wavers. Am I beginning to give up on Pakistan?
Published in The Express Tribune, June 12th, 2014.
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COMMENTS (79)
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@Zeeshan: You are doing fine Zeeshan. So is Pakistan. We only worry about one issue: how to ensure that after you are both gone, the resulting vacuum is filled with something better.
@Malveros: So high on racism and willing to go so far that you distorted even the meanings of Pakistan. If you have any decency in you, you will educate your self in Independence of Pakistan and feel ashamed of what horrible sin you have just committed.
I was travelling in the Emirates flight that was the target of the terrorists that night. I live in Dubai yet I am back to Karachi this weekend to spend some more time with family! We can never give up on Pakistan. You can have multiple nationalities but never have multiple identities!
@globalobsever,
How else to project your delusionalism if not through the many Haqqanis, especially if they write in an Indian newspaper.
"Pakistan’s establishment has disregarded Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s call to keep religion out of the business of the state and ignored Suhrawardy’s proposal for collaborative ties with India."
Keep pulling citations and quotations to fit into one's own agenda.
@nmr44,
The number of Pakistani diaspora in Dubai and London is very small compared to you Indians. Surely, you recognized that. Indians even run to Saudi Arabia. You also hide your money away in Switzerland. Now that your economy has collapsed, the departure flights from your newly built Delhi, Hyderabad and Bombay airports seemed to increase. So, are those the tell-tale signs of imminent implosion of India in making? Why project your issues onto me?
@Zeeshan:
"The remarkable thing about Pakistan is its ability to self-reflect which Indians tend not to have."
You are again missing the point. I am not comparing India and Pakistan. I am just pointing out that delusional attitude such as yours only serve to destroy Pakistan economically, politically, socially and as a nation, and not India.
Reflect on this article:
Reworking the idea of Pakistan http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/reworking-the-idea-of-pakistan/
Excerpt: "Most of Pakistan’s current problems — the rise of the Taliban, the prevalence of conspiracy theories, religious and sectarian strife, the campaign by extremists to deny Pakistani children the benefit of the polio vaccine, the potential for international isolation, the lack of institutional balance and the dominance of the military — can all be traced to the original sin of Pakistan’s post-independence leaders. Pakistan’s establishment has disregarded Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s call to keep religion out of the business of the state and ignored Suhrawardy’s proposal for collaborative ties with India. As Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sets about trying to normalise relations with India, he would do well to revise the Pakistani notion of “permanent enemy”, which is inculcated at all levels of schooling and through the Pakistani media. Sharif should recall Suhrawardy’s warnings and embrace Jinnah’s vision of India-Pakistan ties. He should start changing Pakistan’s national discourse, without which forward movement might prove difficult.
@Malveros:
"There was no compulsion on people from UP, CP and Bihar to migrate to Pakistan. They kept on coming illegally into the country even into the 60′s and 70′s by train and plane and most of them (not all) who came were merely opportunists."
Well, what a false and hate-mongering propaganda! Creation of Pakistan was for all Indian Muslims. All Indian Muslims supported the creation of Pakistan and are entitled to move to Pakistan if they so choose. There is nothing illegal in moving to Pakistan, a nation created for them.
Shame on you for badmouthing Indian Muslims. Learn something from Israel that has kept its borders open to any and all Jewish people.
@globalobserver: Zeeshan's type don't wait for Pakistan to get destroyed, Sir. They leave before that happens and settle down in London (lately also Dubai), from where they further encourage Pakistan to self-destruct. Pakistani activists, be they politicians, military, or mere armchair intellectuals, all have a tradition of this long-distance service to their nation. The years spent in Pakistan before that are only in order to collect the money that empowers them to eventually practice this honest devotion.
@Proletarian: The 42 "recommend" are all from your Indian friends. Not a single Pakistani wants to be part of India. We are going through our growing pains and will come out of this stronger and more united since we are coming to terms with our differences now. This is not easy or painless by any means, but is an important part of our formation as a nation. Lessons are being learned and over time the requisite maturity will be in place to get along fine.
@Globalobserver:
Don't be so quick to write our obituary. We are around and will be around as a more cohesive nation state in the future. We have militancy to contend with, you have abject poverty and centuries old class system, destroying you from within regardless of the well funded PR machinery you have running overseas to project a pristine image of India. At the end of the day, both countries need to exorcise their evils and we, Pakistan, are right in the middle of it.
@art: Had you given up, you would not be loitering around and posting comments. Deep down we all care. Its out of dejection that many say, I am over Pakistan and don't care, but its a case of mood swing. While some cynics can permanently cut off ties to the country, most are not like this.
@Kaman Shah: Born in Karachi, on what bases are you calling him an Indian? If you jumped to a conclusion that he is from Karachi so his family must have migrated from India and hence proven that he is an Indian. Then, I salute the amount of hate you have gathered for your own people and nativity you have mastered in these 66 years.
There were no immigrants in Pakistan. The territorial divide was to make India and Pakistan come into existence. It is mere luck that your lands were awarded to Pakistan and in spite of lands and generation of ties to their land, his ancestors decided to give all up and move to Pakistan.
To any sane person, they are more Pakistani than you ever will be. So shut up with your ignorance and try to be reasonable for once. If you are blind to see that racism hasn't lead Pakistan to anywhere in these 66 years than the writer has all the right to say what he is saying.
If only one could get rid of the (probably paid) indian trolls, would be great.
now on to the article: dear author, you probably haven't read enough history. Nations have gone through much worse than what is happening in Pakistan. Look up IRA... lookup world war... I am writing from Germany... this country was badly damaged in war but now the Germans are leading in many areas in the world because they fought back bravely and their intellectuals promoted hope when chips were down. I would suggest that if you consider yourself an intellectual, go read history and if you truly love Pakistan, you would not even think of 'giving up', oh and Pakistan doesn't need you anyway.
Now go look up "Jo bhi tha kya thoda tha" poem by Irfan Murtaza and you might realize that when it comes to true love, giving up is not an option.
ET: Please publish this, thanks
SHARIA IS VERY MUCH HERE
Day 1 - TTP kill Security force personnel Day 2 - Bomb blast at a crowded market place Day 3 - Honour Killing of pregnant woman Day 4 - Attack on International Airport Day 5 - Kidnapping of minority persons for ransom Day 6 - Shia Doctor shot dead on sectarian grounds Day 7 - Girls school blown up Day 8 - False blasphemy case on a mentally retarded girl by a Moulvi. Day 9 - Kidnapping a Hindu girl, forced conversion and marriage Day 10- Bus loads of Shia pilgrims murdered by Sunnis. Day 11- Saudi prince kill 2000 rare birds in Pakistan. AND THE CYCLE CONTINUES All these incidents stop once Kashmir is given to Pakistan.
I posted a reply yesterday to @globalobserver. Where is that reply?
@globalobserver,
"You are missing the plot totally. Let’s assume you are right in what you say, but the stark result and the naked truth is that it is Pakistan that is getting destroyed and not India. Keep up your false nationalistic delusion and falsehood until Pakistan is totally destroyed."
The "stark result" and "naked truth" seem to only apply to Pakistan and not India? Are you Indians bloodshed free or as long as Dilli and Bombay are spared, you are free to proclaim you are a peaceful nation? 50000 Muslims fled to refugee camps in your heartland but your mind wander away from the "stark result" and "naked truth" of India?
Seem to me your "false nationalistic delusion" and "falsehood" blind you from seeing the destruction you imposed on Kashmiris and others and the destruction you are facing within.
The remarkable thing about Pakistan is its ability to self-reflect which Indians tend not to have. The Indian shining is an example of that.
I don't think I can ever give up, nor do I want to. My people will always be my people. I will criticize and try and change norms but I can't give up. If I give up, then what? I'll only be living for myself and I want to live for something bigger than myself as well.
@Maria Haider: At what cost? If you aren't willing to move on for your betterment, I'd assume you're content with 'YOURSELF' perhaps? and in that case this whole argument becomes invalid.
Just like you Sir I've got thousands of reasons to give up on Pakistan but there's this one reason that makes me stand by it till my very last breath; and that reason is "It's MINE." I am Pakistan itself and I can't give up on MYSELF, Till death do us part. Long live Pakistan.
SAM@ABE....this is great one, exactly to the situation...i laughed good 2min
You only live once, how about having a better life for yourself, your family, and your generation by just moving on? Yes it hurts to see Pakistan in turmoil, question is - when was it NOT in turmoil? I have been born and raised in Pakistan. So far I have, myself not seen Pakistan moving to a safe, prosper state. I have however, seen many families moving on and living a much better life outside of Pakistan.
I'd still not give up on Pakistan myself, but really who am I fooling? It's the leadership who has given up Pakistan since decades. It's been bleeding for as long as I can comprehend.
Crazy people moves the world ahead... If you are not crazy enough to love Pakistan... you are just an ordinary person looking for a house, a family a car and a life of content! I would love to be a crazy ideologist and a firm believer in my country rather than acting as a girl whose heart was broken and now she intends to never love again! Road To Glory is always dark and difficult...!
Be a crazy one not an ordinary one!
I can see (sort of) why this article was written, but its impact is negative.
The problems is that the Pakistanis have never OWNED Pakistan as their nation, which is why so many of them rush abroad at the first chance they get. To this day, we talk debate whether Pakistan should have been created or not !! Its almost like saying, should we have been born or not - GET OVER it and move forward! If your household have arguments or quarrels, or even if it's walls start to crumble out of lack of CARE, do you leave it? Or do you try to rebuild and fix it?
I lived in the UK for 22 years but always wanted to come home, and I did!! Even with all its problems, my heart feels at home right HERE!! Its problems are mine and I want to stay here to be part of the solution. I'll never give up on Pakistan, because, for that would mean giving up on myself.
@ Fus I am surprised at your comments. Humza is absolutely spot on when he says that u will never find sons of the soil (Sindhi, Punjabi, Pashtun and Baluchi) talk against Pakistan. I have many urdu-speaking friends who are mostly dual-nationals (living in Canada and USA). Their wealth is outside Pakistan and they appear to show the most concern about how Pakistan is a failed state. I have never heard positive things about Pakistan from them. They are always indulging in conspiracy theories of how Pakistan will cease to exist. Quaid-e-Azam created Pakistan by virtue of muslim majority areas getting independence. There was no compulsion on people from UP, CP and Bihar to migrate to Pakistan. They kept on coming illegally into the country even into the 60's and 70's by train and plane and most of them (not all) who came were merely opportunists. The only migration that was supposed to happen was in Bengal and Punjab as both those unfortunate provinces were divided. Please provide proof of "Urdu-Speaking Migrants" solely investing money and kick starting infrastructure for Pakistan. Your comments about educating (reading and writing) and teaching tameez to the sons of the soil is based on delusion. The areas on which Pakistan exists has a rich history of civilization and that civilization did not just suddenly start thriving with the advent of so-called educated urdu-speaking migrants.
Pakistan is a failed state.
I went through writer's personal odyssey,I must say we must focus on the positive,at least we must understand WORLD SUFFERS TERRORISM,how can we be immune to it since we are bordering Afghanistan and its tribal belts.Never die your hope to be our PM once.
@Zeeshan: India's defence expenditure is 1.8% of GDP as compared to Pakistan's 3.1% of its GDP. Pakistan has one armyman for every 300 citizens while India has one armyman for every 900 citizens. India spends twice on health and twice on her education vis-a-vis her defence while Pakistan spends on her health and education that is far less than her defence expenditure. Looks like Pakistan has misplaced priorities.
Better question to ask:
Do we need to make more Pakistan's or are we done with the experimentation?
@fus: Just for the record I am Pashtun. You may continue with your outmoded generalizations about native Pakistanis all you want but the fact remains that people of the soil identify with it more. Long before Pakistan, my ancestors lived here and long after everyone is gone, my ancestors will continue to live there. We will always be a part of this soil like its our mother - no matter what happens we cannot be disloyal to it. What part of this do you not understand? As for people traveling to other parts of the world for opportunity, it will continue regardless of what goes on anywhere. Why do you think so many Indians and Chinese keep emigrating abroad so that they are the number one source of immigration overseas?
@doesntmatter: truly said, great civilization does not give up. But civilization that became great had worked hard to overcome it's shortcoming, not just "survived" the way Pakistanis do. My words are not meant to offend you. I hope you understand the message in positive light.
@Zeeshan:
You are missing the plot totally. Let's assume you are right in what you say, but the stark result and the naked truth is that it is Pakistan that is getting destroyed and not India. Keep up your false nationalistic delusion and falsehood until Pakistan is totally destroyed.
@SH: Tell you what - I'll let you and those like you give up and the rest of us who care about the nation will continue to struggle to make a better future because we believe in our destiny. It's easy to give up on all Muslim countries because they all have problems but thank goodness most of us are committed to the country.
The author's pessimistic views synchronise with majority of Pakistanis who are totally fed up with the current situation prevailing in the country and resigned to the fate accompli. However, such negative thinking is not going to help Pakistan's cause but each Pakistani whether living at home or abroad has to show resilience by coming out in streets and start a revolution which can certainly bring a huge change in Pakistan. An overdose of religion along with hatred is the major cause of all ills facing Pakistan which needs to be tackled on top priority if the country is to brought back on the rails.
@Zeeshan
kudos for being the only optimistic voice in the comments section.
Two types of thinkers are visible in the ET, predominantly: (a) those who want to give up on Pakistan (b) those who think Pakistan is doing great and needs no change. Shouldn't there be a third type? Namely those with enough brains: (c) to recognize that Pakistan is going down the tube fast (d) to contribute practical ideas to reverse the process. Just a thought.
@Jim is an example of what I called beyond help.
@globalobserver,
I can assure you if you asked Kashmiris, they would remark that the one guilty of "aggressive geopolitical revisionist goals" is India and not Pakistan.
Ironic that your purported the notion that Pakistan's army has won a lion share of Pakistan's budget due to Kashmir while ignoring India's own military budget and its desire to bribe Kashmiris from its meager resources while its citizens are suffering.
At least, Pakistan's "obsession of being the guardian of Islam and the pan-Islamic desire to be the protector and leader of all the Muslim Ummah" alone instead of being "shooperpower" like India. You can look at the ballooning share of India's army budget to fulfill that delusionalism.
What you also have forgotten to mention is that the Kashmiri's freedom fighters have stayed loyal and supported the state of Pakistan. It was the Afghan war which opened the route to the current war within. Perhaps if minds could be opened to the whole picture rather than resorting to Kashmir as the scapegoat, one could comprehend the situation better.
@Humza - No wonder most of the people running out of Pakistan are Punjabis, even since the things were not so bad. Sindhi are living the life of Insects thanks to their richers Sindhis who treat then like animals. Half of these problems are due to the leaders and politicians who are supposedly son of soils. It has always been the migrant who have given their wealth, sweat and blood for this country without asking anything in return. Most of the son of soils have just sucked blood out this nation and people. Punjabis are blind and they dont care how they have destroyed the country, why every other "son of soil" hate them'. They dont understand the meaning of merit, they have destroyed this nation and they dont see it. Even after 67 years you dont consider the author son of soil shows your biasness in you which is very visible in people of northern and central Punjab. Pakhtoons have continued to live in caves, gradually the educated ones are replaced by this cave mentality type. Baluchis pretty much has the same life as Sindhis, treated like animal by their Sardars and the big brothers from Punjab who took over everything from Baluchis in t heir own province. It was the migrants who invested money, built infrastrutures and worked for the son of soils, who the sons of soil later learned to read and write and some tameez from these migrants, but one thing they did not learn what how to treat other with respect. CHeck the history and you will see the true role of the son of soils.
There would be no Pakistan without 'Muhajirs' so please get off your 'son of the soil' high horse. The problems in Pakistan are not due to questioning people like the author, who's just voicing the thougth processs of millions. They are due to a lot of bigger factors; one of them being ethnicity. and you, Sir, are obviously part of that particular factor.
@Bilal Lakhani,
This is not about Pakistan. It's about you.
@G,
When you could create a nation based on religion, why couldn't Muslims? Are you Indians the only people allowed to create a country based on your religious identity?
In your heartland where Hindus sent Muslims to refugee camps, two politicians had been shot down in the past three days :http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/10/us-india-violence-idUSKBN0EL1B320140610
Time to introspect the oxymoron notion of secularism.
@Udaya Bose: There is a fundamental difference in thought in Pakistan - many who migrated from India as Muhajirs may question Pakistan but natives of the soil - Pashtuns, Punjabis, Sindis and others do not question the state. We know the history of our land and its inclusion in many other empires and mix of cultures. Hence we see ourselves as fundamentally different than others in the region. I think the author's family comes originally from India and that's why the first comment refers to his divided loyalty.
Many Englishmen feel the same way because of the weather. Most Scotsmen just hate the English and are still confused about remaining in the UK or becoming independent after many centuries. Cheer up kids!
Writers like you should educate common Pakistanis and guide them in the right path. Many succesful countries like the US, Finland, China etc. have gone through civil war phase in the past and emerged from it succesfully. I believe there is hope as of 2014. More common people get metally poisoned by militant ideology as time goes by. Pakistan need a mass people's movement in the media and in public place. Educated people should volunteer themselves to make the population literate and teach common people about their civil rights.
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Upper Nigeria, Libya, Egypt - anyone see a common theme here?
There was a Sardarji who wanted to win the lottery badly. He started praying every day, read the holy book, visited the Gurudwara daily and so on. At the end, his supplication would always be - "God, please let me win the lottery, tomorrow." Nothing happened. At the end of one year, he was fed up and went to the Gurudwara and shouted - " I don't believe in you anymore - I've been praying for one year and you cannot even grant me one wish !" Suddenly there is a flash of lightning and God appears before him and gives him a tight slap. He asks God tearfully, why he has been slapped and God replies in an exasperated tone - "At least buy the lottery ticket first !".
This is exactly whats going on in Pakistan...
@doesntmatter And therein lies the difference. Pakistan is not a civilization; India is. Have you ever heard of Pakistan Valley Civilization? Pakistan is just an artificially created state that will wither away. The word or term did not even exit till it was coined.
@G No, "Jinnah's vision" is not an oxymoron and nor is a separate state that is economically, socially and politically an independent state for the muslim majority - thereby, providing muslims full control of their governance - in anyway orthogonal to rationality. Islamic corpus, in fact, dictates precisely this in advocation of the Ummah concept, to which the majority of over 1.5 billion people adhere to. Israel is an example of this 'oxymoronic' idea too. If the Pakistanis have screwed up the past decades then we are to be blamed, why blame someone who died 60 years ago?
Remember Moenjodaro. Karachi is becoming modern day Moenjaodaro, thanks to ineptness of Sind government.
"Give up on Pakistan" the advice was given to Mr Jinnah by the visionary leaders of the sub-continent in 1946!
Awww geez - " will to act " . Yes I still remember THOSE days .
@G: it was people like you at the time who pushed him to it. Talking as though all of you were such saints.
Funnily enough, the great Quaid-e-Azam was not at all a religious man. The concept of Pakistan suited his politics.
"For example, I remember my parents recalling that they couldn’t afford to buy diapers for me"
Hey, if you were old enough to be able to remember you parents saying you need diapers.... moving to Riyadh seems to be the least of your problems...
When the ideology is regressive, you cannot expect an entity which is based on that ideology to be progressive.
It was inevitable, all of this. Maulana Azad had predicted this. So did Nehru.
@Kaman Shah: Indians like you never had any love for Pakistan.??? I thought Pakistan was the homeland of ALL the Muslims of Britain's Indian Empire. Are you telling me the great Quaid got it wrong?
Pakistan is a failed political project. We should renounce the two nation theory and ally with India and together initiate the process of creating a unified south Asia for everyone's mutual benefit.
Author: A man went to a saint,living outside of town,to learn spirituality.On first day saint raised his hand and prayed for guidance and some other needs they heard big no from heaven.Next day they raised their hand again this time got the same reply.when on third day they heard big no the man lost his patience and asked the saint why he was praying again and again despite clear refusal from heaven? Saint replied,'I'm praying for last thirty years hearing not accepted reply yet I have not lost hope you lost it in three days?.It is said ,this time came a voice saying 'Oh my man! I have accepted all your prays of last thirty years'. Be hopeful things will change.
@Shaista Zulfiqar:
"What saps me of my energy is that we don’t have the will to act. We as a people seems to be in two minds. Partly we symphatise with the miltants. We cannot decide whether we should be with them or against them. This goes on year after year and with the passing of time the country dies a little."
Well said. Very correct and truthful observations. I would go one step deeper.
The fundamental reason for Pakistan's failure as a state is due to its aggressive geopolitical revisionist goals. The obsession with Kashmir and India is behind all of Pakistan's problems. As a result of these wrong national priorities you gave the space for the army to dominate the country. A lion's share of national resources were allocated to the army, and the army in turn created, nurtured and deployed Islamic terrorists as assets against India. Then there is the obsession of being the guardian of Islam and the pan-Islamic desire to be the protector and leader of all the Muslim Ummah.
Unless Pakistanis understand the cost to the nation that these bad priorities have imposed on and give up the fundamental issue of India/Kashmir obsession and being the torch bearer of the pan-Islamic paradigm, Pakistan will continue to disintegrate as a civilized nation state.
Respect your emotions.Now if you will give India , the Baloch province & Kachmir, we will be obliged
Relax brother, Pakistan will take another 10 years to implode at best. There is still time to enjoy your green passport. I believe punjab will remain as Pakistan so don't worry. Rab rakha
A country of 190M cannot give up. While well intentional, stop the negativity and be the leader who inspires people. If guided correctly, these tragedies can shake people out of their slumber and direct them towards positive things. Something good can come out of even such things. The attack on a powerful symbol of the nation has (hopefully) shaken up the elites who have been busy in "strategizing" and paper tigering about wars and strategic depths and so on
pakistan was given up on august 16, 1947. since history cannot be reversed, at least in this case, pakistanis have no option but to regret and bear it.
Author - Read Kaman Shah's comment to you for some reaffirmation about how you feel.
What saps me of my energy is that we don't have the will to act. We as a people seems to be in two minds. Partly we symphatise with the miltants. We cannot decide whether we should be with them or against them. This goes on year after year and with the passing of time the country dies a little.
Brutally honest and heartbreaking. As a person from across the border, i just hope things turn around. What you felt when Karachi airport was attacked is how millions like me felt when 10 people on a boat attacked my city including a railway station i have been on hundreds of time.
Now if anything is not time to give up. As a media leader you have a role to play in correcting the disinformation campaign because plans based on flawed assumptions cannot lead to succesful outcomes..
Those who can move out of Pakistan have and have dual citizenships, and can talk about giving up on Pakistan. For most of us, what are our alternatives? We cannot influence anything that is happening around us. What else if not Pakistan for those who have to live here and cannot fly away? Please tell us what alternatives do we have? Tomorrow we may have Taliban as our rulers and with their version of Sharia. This land has seen much, and so we will see some more. Jo Allah ki marzi.
Dear Author, in global world I see no reason why you should be thinking of giving up on Pakistan. One can live anywhere and still feel connected to his/ her roots. I don't think one has to feel sad for the things over which one has no control. I remember a guy who use to tell us when we were young. "Change the place to your liking and if you can't; leave the place and settle down where you like". Place Of Birth is accidental and there is nothing to feel emotional about it. Hizrat is always the work in progress.
It is probably similar feeling, natives of Afghanistan and present day Pakistan ie northwest area of India, had once Islamic marauders attacked and planted their barbaric seeds. Al Kida, Talibaan or Uzbek are same as Ghazanis, Babars, Nadir Shah and Abdali. Hope you start understanding how natives of Indian subcontinent view alien Bedouin and Vatican religions.
@Syed Ahmad: Jinha's vision? Sounds like an oxymoron. If he had any, he wouldn't be breaking/creating a country based on religion/faith.
I remember my parents recalling that they couldn’t afford to buy diapers for me Just thinking you need it now as well. Pakistan is too big and too strong to fall part. Your pessimistic thoughts are not going to belittle the strong belief of 190 million people in the country.
I gave up long ago.
Thats the different between great civilizations and mediocre ones. The great ones never give up.
It is precisely because Pakistanis never give up on Pakistan that the nation survives. Think about the resilience and bravery of airport security battling hard core criminals who attacked unexpectedly and were prepared to blow themselves up. They ran towards the attackers and bought valuable time so the commandos could neutralize the anti state cowards. The whole Muslim world is in turmoil and Pakistan is probably better equipped to weather the tumults than most Muslim nations like Libya, Syria, Yemen, Iraq or Afghanistan. The unity of the nation in times of stress is exactly what shows how strong Pakistan is and Pakistanis are. Pakistan Zindabad!
Welcome to what minorities have felt about Pakistan. Jinnah's vision is dying thanks to religious parties and their supporters.
Yes..its time to give up on Pakistan.
Let the Chinese annex Pakistan. There is no other alternative.
This is an exceptional article. I think the reason why I (like you) gave up on Pakistan was hopelessness. While it is true that terrorists are attacking our secured facilities like it's a walk in the park for them, it is not just about terrorism. In every sector, things are going from bad to worse. I moved to Toronto 6 years back for my studies and job. Am I going back? No! Economically and security wise Pakistan is a nightmare for young people like me.
It's not that we do not love Pakistan. Our heart aches even though I have not been to Pakistan for last 4 years, it still hurts. You do not go numb. It will always hurt. But you become hopeless to a point where you would rather just give up.