Pakistan
Are we patriotic Pakistanis!
Some people have gone too far in political opposition that they don’t hesitate to spew poison against their state institutions and mock national honours
Dr Lubna Zaheer
A few days ago, I had an opportunity to travel to Turkey and once again was impressed by the working mechanism of the government, infrastructure, public facilities and Turkish people's lifestyle. However, the most impressive thing I found over there is the selfless love of the Turks for their country, i.e. patriotism. But when I look at my country, I feel a lack of love for the country. Only Allah Almighty knows the intentions, but the kind of activities and the way the thinking is expressed in Pakistan reinforces my impression. It’s not that the political divisions do not exist in Turkey, the lines of political division are much deeper there too, and mutual disagreement and severe criticism prevail. But political leaders and people in Turkey never cross their limits. Political leaders don’t teach their followers to bully, don’t incite them to set public properties and transport to fire and block roads. Even if someone ever tried to cross the limits, the state severely crushed it. Here in our country, some people have gone too far in political opposition that they don’t hesitate to spew poison against their state institutions and mock national honours.
I was in Turkey when the celebration of Youm-e-Takbeer (May 28) and the announcement of a public holiday on that day were being mocked on social media. Unfortunately, some well-known and well-educated people were also pioneers in doing this. Some of them opined that when so many years have passed, why Mian Nawaz Sharif and the PML-N are mentioning nuclear explosions? They should forget nuclear explosions and move forward. In response, some like-minded people commented that they [the PML-N leaders] actually had nothing else to say except taking credit for the nuclear explosions. Thousands of miles away, I just wondered if nuclear explosions were (and are) so commonplace that they should be forgotten. Was this a shameful act the PML-N patron and his party shouldn’t mention? Is having the honour of being the first country in the Muslim world to possess nuclear assets so trivial that it should be forbidden to mention it?
I got upset and sad after reading these shameful comments. Like me, each Pakistani is proud of every big and small success of the country. Though I don’t vote for the PPP, I have developed a habit of discussing the late Benazir Bhutto during my foreign trips. Is being the first woman prime minister of the Islamic world such a minor issue that could be forgotten? A country like the United States has not been blessed with this pride and honour to have a woman head of the state. Why should we not be proud of this honour? This time, I mentioned Maryam Nawaz Sharif along with Benazir Bhutto in Turkey and applauses echoed in the hall during my speech.
And some people want Nawaz Sharif and the PML-N not to mention nuclear blasts. If we remember at that time, the then prime minister Nawaz rejected the offer of billions of dollars by US President Bill Clinton and refused to accept the US pressure. It’s what we call ‘Absolutely Not’. Today, it’s because of the nuclear tests that India doesn’t dare to look towards Pakistan. No one can take away this credit from Nawaz Sharif, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, and Dr Abdul Qadir Khan. I wonder if these things were being uttered by the people who still talk about winning the 1992 World Cup as if someone had conquered the moon. Although I’m not interested in cricket at all, whenever we discuss the 1992 World Cup we appreciate the performance of the cricket team and give credit to Imran Khan. Is political liking and disliking so important that we start dishonouring our national achievements, mocking them and telling our new generation that it's trivial achievements. Ask a Palestinian, who is subject to the atrocities of Israel today, about the importance of an atomic bomb. Do we consider ourselves a patriot and Pakistani after saying such things?
On the one hand, some circles want the national honours to be forgotten and on the other want to interpret and publicise the black pages of history for the sake of gaining political mileage. Nowadays, a video clip shared from the official X account of the PTI founder Imran Khan is under hot debate. In the clip, the said person [Imran Khan] has placed himself in the place of Sheikh Mujeebur Rehman and ‘presented’ Army Chief General Asim Munir as General Yahya Khan. When criticised, most of the interpreters started expressing ignorance. Justified that Imran Khan is in jail and his account is handled from the US, the question is why can't your account run from your own country? Because you have to say such poisonous things about your country and institutions, which cannot be done while living in this country. PTI Secretary-General Omar Ayub Khan, the grandson of dictator General Ayub Khan, is also seen delivering revolutionary speeches. However, Senator Irfan Siddiqui has rightly said that there is no problem in reading or teaching the Hamoodur Rehman Commission report. The problem lies in the intentions and attitudes that have suddenly woken up today after 53 years. If the PTI ruled for four years, why did the party not publicise this report in the media? Siddiqui has suggested that the PTI should make this report a part of the curriculum of educational institutions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The day of May 9 is still fresh in our minds. The state properties were ransacked and symbols of the martyrs were vandalised. I wish those responsible for these incidents were caught in time. What kind of behaviour is it that they [the PTI people] express happiness when our military officers were martyred in a helicopter accident, sometimes they plan that the IMF do not come to the rescue of Pakistan and shout slogans outside the IMF head office. All this has been happening for years. Remember the time when Burhan Wani was martyred in Indian-held Kashmir and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was to address the joint session of the Parliament organised to express solidarity with Pakistan. They boycotted the session. Indian newspapers ridiculed us that the Pakistani leadership is not united on the issue of Kashmir. In 2014, they staged such a sit-in at D Chowk in the federal capital, forcing the Chinese authorities to postpone the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping who then flew to India and Bangladesh and probably signed deals worth billions of dollars.
Once the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was delivering a protest speech against India in the United Nations. They were cheering the Indian lobby by chanting "Modi Ka Yaar" outside the UN building. There was also an incident when their workers raised party flags instead of Pakistan on Independence Day in London and created such a riot that Pakistan got a big laugh.
The question is whether all this mess fulfils the requirements of patriotism. Is the honour and dignity of Pakistan not important before our political choices? I wish we would have such a law enforcement mechanism that those who made a mockery of the country could be arrested and penalized.
-- The writer is a professor and analyst specializing in media and communication studies. She can be reached at lubna.zaheer91@gmail.com
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