Seems like the days where Iraq and Afghanistan were embedded in the headline news are put behind us and all eyes are set on Pakistan. The Toronto Star has a section in their online newspaper which is titled Pakistan, BBC, CNN and CBC don’t go a day without mentioning one mishap in Pakistan or another, and now Pakistan itself doesn’t seem to be gleaming in its own eyes either.
As I was watching Geo News last night (Pakistani news channel based in Dubai), I started to think it can’t get any worse, and as the news anchor continued to read, she did not fail to disappoint me. Problems from politics to inflation, poverty to natural disasters, Pakistan has it all.
The recent floods made the international news after much hesitation and contemplation on the part of the media. Despite the fact that the disaster was much greater than the earthquakes in Haiti and the Tsunami that took place a few years back, Pakistan was approached with much hesitation. In addition to the floods, political and social unrest in Pakistan makes the nation all the more disturbed. Murders, robberies, sentencing of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, bomb blasts and cricket scandals are just a few of the numerous issues.
Issues of Pakistani politics were never my forte so I will not step into that territory, but what I do know is that Pakistan continues to crumble away slowly. Culture, life, politics, justice, religion, Pakistan is seeming to lose it all slowly. I know it is really wrong to sit thousands of miles away and endlessly criticize, and I know I am guilty of doing just that, but I need to vent it out and find some sort of constructive answers, some steps to follow. I know the sentiments I’m expressing are shared by so many, namely the Pakistani youth in and outside of Pakistan.
Can we come up with a solution? Is there hope? Is it too late to turn around? My criticism of Pakistan by no means expresses my contempt of Pakistan, but rather it is a plea for help, for constructive minds, for further constructive criticism so we can once again build a nation. I do not think the Pakistan I heard my grandparents speaking about exists anywhere in the over 800,000 square kilometers it is in today. The natural resources, the beautiful landscapes, the potential of growth of the people, it is all there. What Pakistan lacks is leadership with vision.
“Pakistan came to be when a nation was in need of a country. Today, a country is in need of a nation.”
As I was watching Geo News last night (Pakistani news channel based in Dubai), I started to think it can’t get any worse, and as the news anchor continued to read, she did not fail to disappoint me. Problems from politics to inflation, poverty to natural disasters, Pakistan has it all.
The recent floods made the international news after much hesitation and contemplation on the part of the media. Despite the fact that the disaster was much greater than the earthquakes in Haiti and the Tsunami that took place a few years back, Pakistan was approached with much hesitation. In addition to the floods, political and social unrest in Pakistan makes the nation all the more disturbed. Murders, robberies, sentencing of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, bomb blasts and cricket scandals are just a few of the numerous issues.
Issues of Pakistani politics were never my forte so I will not step into that territory, but what I do know is that Pakistan continues to crumble away slowly. Culture, life, politics, justice, religion, Pakistan is seeming to lose it all slowly. I know it is really wrong to sit thousands of miles away and endlessly criticize, and I know I am guilty of doing just that, but I need to vent it out and find some sort of constructive answers, some steps to follow. I know the sentiments I’m expressing are shared by so many, namely the Pakistani youth in and outside of Pakistan.
Can we come up with a solution? Is there hope? Is it too late to turn around? My criticism of Pakistan by no means expresses my contempt of Pakistan, but rather it is a plea for help, for constructive minds, for further constructive criticism so we can once again build a nation. I do not think the Pakistan I heard my grandparents speaking about exists anywhere in the over 800,000 square kilometers it is in today. The natural resources, the beautiful landscapes, the potential of growth of the people, it is all there. What Pakistan lacks is leadership with vision.
“Pakistan came to be when a nation was in need of a country. Today, a country is in need of a nation.”
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