Discrimination, Nationalism & Pakistan

Discrimination, according to the Oxford Dictionary is, "The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex, recognition." 

Nationalism, according to the same book is, "identification with one's own nation and its interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations."

Now, it is important that we know the difference between the two (discrimination and Nationalism), because failure to do so, would lead "nationalism" towards "discrimination", as once said by London's Mayor Sadiq Khan, "Nationalism can be as divisive as bigotry and racism." 

The statement said by Sadiq Khan is a bit harsh, but to be honest, it isn't far off from the truth. But, what happens when a nation forgoes nationalism? One may argue that nationalism is innate and that a nation can never forgo the quality of nationalism. For how can a nation not identify with its own country and share the interests of the land where they live? 

It happens when fear and chaos overcome the people. When the people feel embarrassed to be linked with their country. It is when the brave turn into the cowards and the fools lead the masses. It is a sad reality. 

Pakistan, a country situated in the south east Asia, with a population well over 200 million, has a rich history, which does not start from the independence, but well before. Unfortunately, over the years, Pakistan has often fallen of track and substituted growth and prosperity for terrorism and corruption. To talk about the mistakes made since 1947 would be a repetition of many articles and debates, which to no surprise have made no difference to the country. But what has never or very little been talked and written on is the mentality of the Pakistani people. We have become a discriminating nation and we are discriminating our own people, our own efforts for growth and prosperity. 

To convey my point across, I'll use three examples. 1) Politics, 2) Army and 3) Civil Society 

Talking about Politics, the nation has become too polarized, and while that is something time will heal, the mentality that has spread from Khyber to Karachi, is alarming. I mentioned the definition of nationalism above, and one may see nationalism in Pakistani politics, but a closer look shows that all of that love and passion is concentrated to political parties and individual leaders. For a democratic society, politics should be based solemnly on issue and the responsibility of setting that narrative lies on the people, not the politicians. The politicians will sell whatever they feel gets the attention of the masses. Take for example, the recent decision of the Supreme Court, which disqualified the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif. Now had this been any other society, the decision would have been treated with respect across the board and people would have questioned their leader (Nawaz Sharif), instead of joining the bandwagon of the party and making and promoting conspiracy theories. This is not to say that the history of Pakistan shows no indications of conspiracies being made and carried out, but considering that this is a democratic society, there are ways to deal with situations like these, though none of the ways include passing a bill that allows a criminal, convict or anyone to be a party head, yet that happened. And whose to blame for the embarrassment like that? The politicians? Not at all. The people and especially the voters of that party.  Imagine another country electing a criminal to office, we would be calling them out, yet we have done exactly the same by not questioning our politicians. We need to understand that questioning our elected representatives is a responsibility and the right to vote comes side by side it. If we will not question our representatives, what right do we have to vote? 

Here comes a sensitive topic, the army. It is no secret that even though we are a democratic society, the army has a massive say in how the country is run. The unfortunate thing about this is that we've accepted it. Instead of conveying to the military that their job is safeguarding the borders. we invite them over and over again. What kind of a democratic society are we? A son of brigadier once told me, with a smirk on his face that, "we (army) can do whatever we want and no one can say anything because we (army) are the only reason this country has any respect in the world." 

What message are we sending across? Is this the democratic society where we want our children to prosper? On one side you have the rich and corrupt and on the other you have the all powerful and unaccountable military. Where will the poor and the middle class go? And accepting this terrible terrible situation is, pardon the harsh words, the death of our nation. 

The civil society of Pakistan has for years stayed inactive, yet every now and then someone does try to raise a voice. The unfortunate and upsetting thing is that we, the people are the first to reject and shun their voice. The authenticity of their mission ends well before it could grow because instead of finding support from the masses, they find hate and distrust.. It is frighting to see how people could do this to one of their own. To reject a politician or a military personnel makes sense, but rejecting a civil rights activist and labeling them traitors and agents is disappointing to say the least.  

Malala, was a voice from within our ranks, but we, the people call her an agent. Call her story a script and a fake. The world showed appreciation and we did the complete vice versa. It's funny how when  the world does not recognize any other individual, we are the first to run to Facebook and lecture them on how they supported Malala but not this other person and call out their bigotry. Unfortunate to say, we fail to see our own bigotry and discrimination.