I want my country back

[Sehar Tariq]

Sehar Tariq


Eight years ago I boarded a plane to the United States to come to college. I was 17. As I left, my father hugged me and told me to never come back because he believed that soon Pakistan would not be a country fit for me to live in. I told him he was trying to save money by not having to buy me tickets to come home. We laughed it off. I hugged him goodbye and that day my father and I began our great debate about the fate of Pakistan. Abba told me to stay away. I defied him every time. I came home twice a year. I only flew PIA. I refused to do an internship in the US I worked every summer in Pakistan. I moved back when college ended. I started work in Pakistan. I worked two jobs because there was so much to do and not enough time to do it in. I was inspired and energised. I was hopeful and optimistic.


Today I am neither. And I have lost the debate with my father about the fate of Pakistan. The Parliament by endorsing the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation (NAR) has heralded the end of Pakistan as I knew and loved it. Today, the elected representatives of the people turned Pakistan into Talibanistan. Today we handed over a part of the country to them. I wonder how much longer before we surrender it all.


Today we legislated that a group of criminals would be in charge of governing and dispensing justice in a part of Pakistan according to their own obscurantist views. They have declared that the rulings of their courts will be supreme and no other court in the20land can challenge them. They have also declared that their men that killed and maimed innocent civilians, waged war against the Pakistani army and blew up girls schools will be exempt from punishment under this law. A law that does not apply equally to all men and women is not worthy of being called a law. Hence today we legislated lawlessness.


What was most disturbing was the quiescence of the Parliament to this legislation. The utter lack of debate and questioning of this ridiculous legislation was appalling. The decision was not informed by any independent research or expert testimony, and to my knowledge none of the parliamentarians are authorities on matters of security, rule of law or regional conditions in Swat. This signals disturbing possibilities. Either our politicians are too afraid to stand up to criminals or maybe they don't possess the foresight to gauge the national impact of this action. There is no hope for a country led by cowards or fools.


How can one be hopeful about the political future of a country where the will and the wisdom of politicians becomes hostage to the threats of barbarians? How can I be optimistic about a country where doyens of the media like Ansar Abbasi hear the collective silence of the parliamentarians as the resounding support of the people of Pakistan, but are deaf to the threats issued by the Taliban to anyone opposing the legislation? How can I feel secure in a country where the army, despite receiving the largest chunk of our resources, cannot defeat a bunch of thugs? How can I expect justice when there are different laws for different citizens, and I as a woman am a second class citizen? How can I be inspired by a country where there is no culture, no music, no art, no poetry and no innovative thought?


How can I be expected to return to a country where women are beaten and flogged publicly, where my daughters will not be allowed to go to school, where my sisters will die of common diseases because male doctors cannot see them? How can I be expected to call that country home that denies me the rights given me by my Constitution and religion? I refuse to live in a country where women like me are forced to rot behind the four walls of their homes and not allowed to use their education to benefit the nation. By endorsing the NAR and giving in to the Taliban, Parliament has sapped my hope and optimism. Parliament has dealt a deathly blow to the aspirations of the millions of young Pakistanis who struggle within and outside the country, fuelled by sheer patriotism, for a peaceful, prosperous and progressive Pakistan.


When there20is no hope, no optimism, no security, no justice, no education, no progress, no culture – there is no Pakistan. Maybe it is because I am the grandchild of immigrants who was raised on stories of hope, patriotism and sacrifice that even in this misery I cannot forget that Pakistan was created to protect the lives, property, culture and future of the Muslims of the Subcontinent. It was not established to be a safe haven for terrorists. We fought so that we could protect the culture of the Muslims of the Subcontinent, not so that we could import the culture of Saudi Arabia. Our ancestors laid down their lives so that the Muslims of the Subcontinent – both men and women - could live in a land free of prejudice, not so that they could be subjected to violent discrimination of the basis of sect and gender.


Maybe it's because I'm competitive and I don't want to lose the debate to my father, maybe I am afraid to lose the only home I have, or maybe because I love Pakistan too much to ever say goodbye – I hope we can remember the reasons why we made Pakistan, and I hope we can stand up to fight for them. I hope we can revive the spirit of national unity of 1947 and lock arms to battle the monster of the Taliban that threatens our existence. Talibanistan is an insult to my Pakistan. I want my country back. Pakistan Paaindabad!


The writer is pursuing a master's at Princeton University. Earlier, she attended Yale University. Email: stariq @princeton.edu

[UmeAimon]

Salam,


The previous salam was a test :) I am reading a lot about Pakistan and politics on this form now a days. What I don't understand is why people are so scared of Talibans :) Plz don't think I am pro this and pro that. I don't follow taliban's way of life or their religion but honestly I don't think every news that reaches about them is trueand they are not as bad as they're potrayed...just badly projected though. They have their own ways, that may not be right but not worst then what the other muslims are following now a days that's powerfull sucking blood of the weak. Brother when your father warned you about what is going to happen to Pakistan, it was not because of talibans but because of Pakistaaaniiiss themselves. I am sorry to say this but these Pakistanis, specially those mostly scared of talibans, are the ones that created this hell anyway. You think 70% Pakistanis living in conditions you never dream of, deserve that kind of living? Who is taking care or has taken care of them? Do you think they'll care who ever rules them? It's this pathetic 20 plus percent elite and middle class of so called educated people who had the resources and who failed to take care of what could have been the heaven for subcontinent muslims because of their own corruption. Do they deserve this Pakistan rather do only they deserve Pakistan? So if taliban or for that matter any other country takes over , they probably deserve to and they'll probably not resisted atleast by those less fortunate 70 percents. but ofcource the powerful will resist causing Pakistan to disintergrate.


I am not hopeless because I still see people who are sincere, honest and well wishers of Pakistan and they are all over even in different kinds of Pakistanis or so called Talibans. What they need is the right direction. I saw programs of Zaid Hamid and I realised it was a good start. And it's great that he has such an impact on youth. There are many people out there trying to do good for Pakistan. But Mr Zaid also need to realise that even though the nation needs a boost in moral, the core issue is the still the "character of the nation itself" that is the most effective defence against any kind of assail. Character that not only will make people into the strongest but also the most advanced nation in the world. Character that we need to change desperately. And sadly the biggest hinderence to that change is the No2 Islam that people follow. Unless they realise that there will be strategies and there will be plannings but along with it lots of misery pain and sufferring for people... people who did not deserve that in the first place but got caught in the middle because of some hard-headed even self-rightouses who had the power to change but could not see the reality and who refused to take what really was the right path of Allah!

It's a harsh reality we need to admit and face if we are to survive as nation.


jazakAllah


UmmeAimon