2014: The year that could have been

Pakistan cashed in on a lot of luck in 2014, but is that really a good thing?

It seems strange how one can reminisce over events that never happened. After all, how can one be affected by a non-event? But history is rarely linear enough to be defined by cause and effect. Various examples — the Y2K scare, aliens and flying cars — show that our collective imagination is captured by the impossible and the bizarre or the sublime and the horrific. The year 2014 was packed with such events.

For better or worse, all the events in this article were averted but they nevertheless highlighted the best and worst of Pakistan — often in the same breath.

One sacrifice for all

The year 2014 for Pakistan seems to have begun and ended with the Taliban’s war on schools. As the country reels from the bloody attack on Peshawar’s Army Public School on December 16, it is perhaps a good time to reflect on how a similar tragedy was averted in January this year.

Aitzaz Hasan, a 15-year-old schoolboy from Hangu, was late for school and was outside the Government High School Ibrahim Zai gate when he spotted a man wearing a suicide vest. Despite the advice from his friends, Hasan confronted the man and prevented him from entering the school, which at the time had close to 2,000 students. Hasan, along with the suicide bomber, lost his life, but saved many from the kind of death and destruction that the country would eventually experience 11 months later.

"My son made his mother cry, but saved hundreds of mothers from crying for their children," Mujahid Ali, Hasan’s father, told The Express Tribune. It is indeed a tragic state of affairs when the last line of defense against militancy is our children, but in this case Hasan — and Malala Yousafzai before him — showed how potent that line is.

Dear Ebola, you need not visit Pakistan

With polio spreading unchecked, mostly aided by militants relentlessly targeting health workers, Ebola — which has killed thousands across western African states — was the second disease that threatened to engulf Pakistan this year. In a world with mass movement of goods and personnel, the disease threatened to become global. When the first few confirmed cases (and fatalities) emerged in the United States, panic became more widespread than the disease itself and Pakistan was not immune either. A handful of individuals coming back from West Africa were quarantined and suspected of carrying the disease. Although none of them were infected with Ebola, the scare exposed flaws in Pakistan’s public health infrastructure and preparedness to handle a possible outbreak. Vaccines and effective treatment are both difficult to find, and yet hardly any resources were put in education and prevention. According to the government’s logic, catching and detaining those affected would be equivalent to containing the disease. While the country believes it is fortunate to have evaded an Ebola outbreak, it is mostly fortune that it will have to rely on in the future as well.

Saints and storms

It was just as well that Nilofar did not hit, because like Ebola, Pakistan was hardly prepared for it. An example is the drowning of scores of people on Eid in Karachi’s rough waters because lifeguards were either absent or ineffectual and the police failed to cordon off the more dangerous sections of the beach. But perhaps it wasn’t the lack of preparation but the death wish of the citizens that deserves more attention since many Karachiites made their way to the beach front because of the hurricane warning and not in spite of it.

Discussing Karachi’s preparedness for the hurricane in court, Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani brushed away the precautionary measures, placing his faith in the mystical power of saints to counter an impending natural disaster. “(Saint) Abdullah Shah Ghazi has saved us many times before and he will save us this time as well,” he said, referring to the saint’s mausoleum which lies close to the coast. The hurricane that induced widespread panic and evacuations across Pakistan’s coast was barely a breeze and some drizzle by the time it arrived, but it had successfully exposed some of the downright insane responses some citizens had to an impending catastrophe.

High spirit despite a low note

A well-known statistic that recently did rounds on social media was that Pakistanis have won an Oscar, an Emmy and even a Nobel Peace prize within the last few years. But the Grammy has been an accolade that’s been tantalisingly close, but so far unattainable. Many hoped that 2014 would finally be Pakistan’s year since Indus Raag: Beyond Borders, a 12-CD compilation of South Asian classic and folk music, was shortlisted in the ‘Best World Music’ category. Unfortunately, the album never made it beyond that and was excluded from the final nominations.

The snub, while disappointing, should be taken in stride. While Pakistan’s security situation and its politics continue to debilitate, its artists continue to promise, creating installations, music, films and literature that have found global audiences and recognition. And this trend looks sure to continue, with a Grammy or not.

“I have a dream”

A popular slogan chanted this year was, ‘tabdeeli aa nahi rahi, tabdeeli aa gayi hai’ (change isn’t on its way, it has already arrived).

Despite the pervasive claim that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan and his supporters like to peddle, this year has emphatically failed to bring whatever promises ‘naya Pakistan’ had in store for the citizens. For the most part, all we got was more of the same (crime, terrorism, corruption, load shedding and poverty) with some added afflictions thrown in, such as famine, floods and sectarianism. To give an example, one of PTI’s campaign ads had a scene in which a would-be traveller shows up at a consulate to apply for a visa and the visa officer is so impressed by the traveller’s Pakistani passport that he stamps his approval. But, unfortunately, reality dictates otherwise. In the ranking of the world’s weakest passports this year, Pakistan is behind only Somalia and Afghanistan.

Pakistan continues to languish in the bottom reaches of infant mortality, illiteracy and school enrollment rankings. Our economic growth is anemic and our outlook is bleak. And it’s not just PTI’s promises that are to blame, even the ones made by the ruling government, such as high-speed railways, airports in every village and individual prosperity, have failed to materialise. But perhaps, the citizens are themselves to blame for believing in politicians’ promises in the first place. ‘Naya Pakistan’ was the idea that never was, but it seems to have been the most powerful exercise in make-believe that citizens engaged in this year.

Saim Saeed is a sub-editor for The Express Tribune. He tweets @saimsaeed847

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, December 28^th, 2014.