“January 2010 me talibani
dahshatgardo ne mere haath se mera kalam chhin liya. Lekin hum log taleem ke
liye jeto jehen karte rahenge kyuki taleem hamari basic right hai.”
“I don’t mind if I have to sit on
the floor. All I want is education,”
-Gul Makai urf Malala Yousafzai
On the eve of Diwali,
I am extremely delighted to see the lightning, the zeal and fervor among my
family, my brother and my neighbors. This enthusiasm is present everywhere in
air at this time of year in India. The ever growing human curiosity to navigate
and settle in diverse spaces has renovated Diwali in to a global festival,
celebrated in almost every continent. Thanks to the vast, wide and deep settled
Indian foreign population. But let this article be a solemn narrative from your
sincere author and allow yourself to be acquainted to another story equally
fervent and passionate. A story about a land, not far enough, of similar faces
and linguistics, similar flora and fauna, similar houses and equally similar
cities, similar governance and similar atmosphere. We drink the same waters of
Indus and breathe the same air of Punjab bur still share a relationship of
conscious friendship and unreal contentment. By now, I have given enough signs
for the theme topic of this article. It is our worthy neighbor “Pakistan”.
Pakistan, a blurred picture I find it. It takes me in a state
of confusion. Past experiences, a general perspective, their governmental
policies and political approach toward India, flavored with their unaccepted
guilt of giving shed to terrorism, induces me to adopt a disliking towards
them. However observing Pakistani will (of Pakistani denizen’s) and views, may
it be through interviews, Newspapers, TV shows or comments on a YouTube video, witnessing
their grievances and living style, I realize that there is something wrong in
their societal arrangement, which tempts me to believe that it is not that an
erroneous country to be hated. Perhaps Pakistanis, the citizens if I focus on
specifically (exempt the radical groups and those in politics), favor Indians
more than Americans. Wrong is the very political approach of Pakistan, which is
in the clutches of a handful of people in their government. Moreover we must
look into this grave situation and try to realize the actual mental and
physical state of Pakistanis, who suffer way more than us, from N numerous
rather uncountable diseases, pierced brutally and deeply into their society.
The morning of October
13th of 2012, in Peshawar witnesses yet another bomb attack,
this time not in a tiffin box or a school bag, but a car in broad day-light.
The target was an anti-insurgent peace committee office, which consumes the
lives of 17 innocent people along with it. Bomb attacks have become a regular
challenge in every nation, especially in these modern times with ever increasing
crime rates and terror risks, however just for a moment contemplate upon the
Islamic nations. Pakistan is facing one bomb attack back and again in almost a
two months period. We all can imagine the amount of public and private loss,
damage to life, property and infrastructure that Pakistan faces. Besides what
life am I talking about? Jaipur, a far more organized and safe city in the Indian
province of Rajasthan, faced 9 serial bomb attacks on the evening of May the 13th of
2008, whose losses are still buried deep within and the bad memories
continue to haunt the local natives. Renowned local Newspapers, Rajasthan Patrika and Dainik Bhaskar displays images and reportage of those
dreadful moments on its infamous annual anniversary May the 13th.
Must Pakistani newspapers also fill each of their monthly editions with fresh
blast reports? They may have become excellent blast reporters, with the
quickest reporting force as soon as a blast occurs, but is that an achievement?
Are they not tired? Do Pakistanis also take pride in their security forces?
Why would they; their forces
aren’t able to protect them from blasts, nor from north-west Talib penetration.
Why wouldn’t they; they still
exist within this rough atmosphere of a quasi-war state. But again, IS THIS AN
ACCOMPLISHMENT or A GUILT?
Let’s try to find answers to
these questions by anticipating in a further more depth. I’ll be moving in a
time slide with my diary entries, while you try to transit along with me. With
the following entries, I want to acquaint you with the contemporary Pakistani
chaos and a perhaps give you a feeling of being in a Pakistani atmosphere.
Dear Diary…
7th
April 2012
It
is April and the atmosphere is very hot here. The famous Khewra salt mines are
shining like diamonds in the scorching heat and are boasting of its glorious
history dating back to Alexander’s raid in 320BC. However equally shining is
white glorious snow in the cool valleys of Siachen, which has recently engulfed 140 Pakistani soldiers, from
their Gayari base camp in its hitherto biggest avalanche. Indian Prime Minister
Dr. Manmohan Singh has expressed grief for the life losses, but refuses to
retreat their force from Siachen. The Indian government might have called back
the soldiers, but their past experiences display a clear Pakistani desire of Siachen (dating back to 1949, Siachen is a strategically important
glacier for the forces) and Kashmir. Despite over-courteous and flexible political
will from their Prime Minister, he will never take a decision to call back the soldiers
especially under a doubtful neighbor. However we all Pakistani citizens wish
for peace, and hope the world does not blame us for such political desires of
our government.
June 13th
2012
Music
is an art that links different cultures and nations. One such artist was our very
own, the legendary Ghazal singer Mehdi Hassan, who resides no more with us. His
Ghazals transited across the Indo-Pakistani boundary. Pakistani singing culture
is more inclined towards Classical, which is hugely appreciated and widely
accepted in India. His demise is being regretted in both the countries. Surely we
share a same taste for music with Indians.
June
– August 2012
This
period has been a timeline of rough incidents for us. While on one hand, we
displayed a mark of sympathy on a global platform by releasing Surjeet Singh, a
RAW agent after he spend 30 years in jail, escorting another similar act of
mercy shown by India by releasing Dr. Khalil Chishty from Ajmer prison. On
other hand, we also faced global dishonor and humiliation when Abu Jundal urf Zabiuddin Ansari named in “50 most wanted criminals sheltered in Pakistan", was caught and deported to Indian security forces. His
involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks and subsequent events is a mark of
international shame for us as he belonged to Pakistan.
On
one hand the country faces a dearth of 5,733MWatts of power out of a total
country requirement of 19,000MWatts, torturing the citizens with a common power
cut of 20 hours a day. Since the
Pakistani water supply depends upon wells and underground tanks fitted with
electric motors to fetch water, entire families are troubled to cook and wash.
Moreover I and my friends are unable to perform at school because of sleepless
nights in blazing rooms. While on other hand there is no shortage of power in
the hands of incapables. Convicted by the Supreme Court for not reopening the
“graft cases”, against president Zardari, Yousaf Raja Gilani our Prime Minister has been vindicated a symbolic “30
seconds” sentence. He is declared ineligible for the membership of Parliament.
However hot the time may fall on us and the politics may ruin the common public
peace; we will continue to pay our reverence and admiration to Allah. By
fasting as we did in the month of Ramadan, this July because Ramadan itself means scorching heat and
fasting in this blistering hotness multiplies our showers of blessing.
August
– October2012
Huge
losses for Pakistan in this period. Balochistan, the largest Pakistani
province, faced yet another outbreak of the deadly
torrential rains. Submerged completely,
around a million are rendered homeless while around 10,000 animals are reported
to have been swept. Around 50,000 wheat sacks have been destroyed. However
larger is our agony for not only the physical landscape is facing the odds, but
the entire air in Pakistan is diffusing the rumors about the relationship of
our smart foreign minister Mrs. Hina Rabbani Khar and nation’s first son
Bilawal Bhutto. Such cheap
rumors always add to the intricacies
of public life however this one rose to such attention because of its global
appeal. It also appeared as a full-fledged article in India Today, a leading
news magazine of our worthy neighbor.
October-Nvember2012
October
6th experiences a drone
attack in the Mianwali region from
US forces against tentative presence of militant sanctuaries in the tribal
regions. There is tension in the region. Sometimes such inefficiency from our
side is aching. Why cannot we retaliate to a nation who is bombing our land for
any security reason under the sun, but without our permission, by using their
drones? Such paralyzed approach pains. When India and Pakistan decided to
separate out from each other in 1947, they had in mind of a worthy and
appreciable future for their upcoming generations. But now If I look towards
India, I feel that despite of their governmental inefficiencies they are way
ahead of us. Their citizens are satisfied, and are living without the everyday
fears of bomb blasts, drone attacks or any Talib infiltration. While here in
Pakistan, cricket veteran Imran Khan leads a
rally representing the
“Tehrik-e-Insaf” party, condemning the drone strike in Mianwali, in his fight
for the seat of Prime Minister; Indians are racing China and USA in Space. They
have transformed themselves beautifully from a diverse collection of
linguistics to a modern and ideal living society, while our politicians boasts
of equal military power and nuclear power, by being sycophant to China,
grabbing sleeves of America, and sucking precious citizen’s blood.
Goodbye
Faisal
Probably the above Diary entries
explain you the local grievances which form a very dangerous recipe, especially
in a radical society where each group has its own interpretations of Islamic
laws.
However 9th of October
2012 experienced a gun attack on a young smart Pakistani social activist working
for education, Malala
Yousafzai. Malala was 11, when in 2009 she started writing a diary for BBC,
in which she expressed her days and the local atmosphere in Swat Valley region
in western Waziristan region of Pakistan. She wrote under her pen name of “Gul
Makai”, to avoid any unforeseen trouble. However soon the Swat Valley was taken
over by Talib insurgents who destroyed around 402 schools in the region, to
prevent the distribution of education. In her emotional blogs filled with her
everlasting spirit to gain education, Malala refused to lay knees before the
terror. She raised her voice for education over several forums. Her association
with BBC provided her the initial launch. She started getting invitation as
speaker on various platforms, TV shows, Reporters from international magazines
and news portals, Political meetings. A 14 year old Pakistani girl, with
excellent command on her voice, English and Urdu, was appreciated by the entire
globe, when she was awarded with the National Youth
Peace Prize. However she was shot in head by Talibs on October 9th,
in broad daylight while returning from school. She was operated in Great
Britain, and has been declared out of danger. United Nations General Secretory
has declared the 10th of November to be celebrated as the Malala
day, for the globe stand on her behalf. This incident has risen the Pakistani
youth and general public with a great commotion since this was the first time
an air of realization spread dictating the illegitimate presence of terror
against education, awareness and freedom. Moreover an uproar for the rights of
education that too specifically including “girls”, in a nation where, their
potential realization is another massive issue, is a gorgeous development.
Pakistan as a whole has undergone
a great deal of changes but in a haphazard manner. Perhaps one strong reason
behind is the loose structure of sub-provinces in the west, and subsequent
inability of the weak governments to protect it from Afghan infiltrations.
Presence of radical groups in North coupled with a dearth of emergence of strong
and ideal politicians with time, took the nation in to a ditch of illusion.
If youth such as Malala can fight
in Swat Valley against Talibs, and can raise thousand more, who recite their
motto “We are Malala”, then perhaps we
can get many more Benazirs, Hinas, Nawazs, Imrans, and Iftikars. The glorious,
magnificent and bravura civilization of Indus valley, which once boasted of
being one of the earliest modern civilizations, today suffers with a failed
economy and society. But a societal and Political change can lift the Meluhhan
land to extreme heights. And the youth coupled with brave girls like Malala has
proved this…
This
is an experimental try from your sincere author to present the current story of
Pakistan in a different style. The above
mentioned diary entry is completely
fictional. It is placed above to give the readers a deep insight of the mental
state of a Pakistani citizen. It is based on news, TV interviews and common
sentiments of Pakistani public gathered from different sources on internet.
The Hyperlinks to specific words, names and phrases will direct you to their
related articles on internet. They are just meant for brief references and deep
study if anyone wishes so.
The
following are the references for above…
images
from:: http://images.google.com/
