Being in Pakistan for the last two weeks has been an interesting experience. I arrived back to Palestine yesterday, and was in Lahore for 10 days to celebrate my younger cousin’s wedding. Given the tense situation in Pakistan, me not having a car, and thereby not much to do, I had plenty of time in front of the telly watching the news about everything going on in Pakistan, and especially the attacks in Mumbay. That is, during the hours the power were on. Four to five times a day the power was cut off for an hour at the time due to lack of power. And since I didn't have anything else to do, this blogpost has turned to be a long one.
During all my stays in Palestine I’ve always compared the prevailing conditions in West Bank with Pakistan. The history of Pakistan and the mandate of Palestine have similarities that make this comparison interesting. Both regions were under British authority at the end of the Second World War, but whereas the Muslims in India got their state after a two-state solution on the subcontinent of India in 1947, the Palestinians are still fighting for their state.
This year, while the Palestinians are in their 61st year under occupation, Pakistanis celebrate their 61 years of independence as a free nation. After hundred years of struggle Pakistan was drawn on the map, and the world witnessed one of the largest immigrations in modern times. Over a million people left their homes to the other side of the new boarder drawn on the map to the newborn Pakistan or India, including my father at the age of three. Unfortunately this immigration wasn’t as peaceful as described here, but under extremely tragic and violent conditions. Pakistan has been a united and independent state for 61 years now despite all the predictions of early collapse of Pakistan. There are talks about Pakistan as a failed state, recently at the beginning of this year when the West’s favourite Benazir Bhutto tragically was murdered under a terrorist attack and the political situation was a mess, but Pakistan has been Azad (Free) for 61 years.
This is something I've always had in mind. This freedom, that cost exceedingly and is the dearest that Pakistanis have, is what constitutes the decisive difference between Palestine and Pakistan today. Besides this difference it was depressing to notice that I just moved from one sad reality to another. Despite the independence and freedom, Pakistanis are just as occupied as the Palestinians. Not by soldiers or settlers at gun point, but by fear, corruption and in the chains of poverty.
The conditions are really poor in Pakistan these days. Not a day goes by without a terrorist attack in the country. I lost count over how many people died because of terrorist attacks of various kind, be it bomb explosions, suicide attacks, random shootings, U.S. missiles hitting Pakistan and leaving X people dead, or all at once, during the 10 days I was there. This has resulted in two things in particular; huge aggression against Americans and of course fear of terrorist attacks framing themselves.
This fear is not a new phenomenon in Pakistan, but anyone following the news recently can understand that this fear is greater now than it has been for a long time. Halat bohat kharab Hain (The conditions are very poor), you hear everywhere. Partially is this due to the global economic crisis that Pakistan too suffers from, but the remark has its root in the uncertainty created by all the terrorist attacks as well.
The latest terrorist attacks in Mumbai didn’t help in that matter; but reinforced the feeling of uncertainty in Pakistan. India was quick, some would say a little too quick, to point at Pakistan, and the situation was very tense for a while. For a couple of days the fear of war was greater than the fear of terrorist attacks. This was on our day of Barat (2. day of Pakistani weddings and the day when the grooms family brings the bride to their house) and Walima day (the last day of the wedding that contains a dinner by the grooms family), the military force of India and Pakistan were both on high alert, and was consequently one of the hottest discussion topics during wedding dinners. That in the face of the fact that there were an outburst of “arbitrary firings” and riots in different areas all over Karachi with over 40 people dead during the week after the attacks in Mumbai.
Remarkably enough those riots started the day after the attacks in Mumbai.
I've been asked to give a comment on the attacks in Mumbai, but I don’t think it’s possible for me to give a neutral or a more well thought comment than all the comments that have been given already. I suppose the question is more to give a report of the attacks as they were seen from Pakistan. The immediate reactions in Pakistan ranged from "this is deeply tragic incident" to "They took one hotel (Marriot in Islamabad for 3-4 months ago), we took 3 of theirs". The stronger the allegations against Pakistan got the more the people rallied around the flag and the sympathies drowned in the desire to fight. Now, almost two weeks later, the countries are fighting over whether the threat to Pakistan was a phoney call or a real threat, but back then, it seemd real enough. It was quite difficult for all to understand how Indian intelligence so categorically could blame foreign (Pakistani) elements only a few hours after the attacks were engaged. How could they know that the boat the terrorist used came from Pakistan, etc? And if they knew all this, why didn’t they stop the boat? Now, there is no reason to deny that the people were related to or were Pakistanis one way or another. I can even believe that they got their training and planned the attacks in Pakistan, but that alone is not a reason to bomb Islamabad. There were reports about British nationals among the terrorists without India having plans to bomb London. I agree with the Pakistani officials when they say that these terrorists are non-state actors attempting to destabilize the region and wanting a war. Let’s not give them want they want.
India points especially at a Pakistani based militant group called Lashkare Tayba. A militant group fighting against Indian occupation of Kashmir but the group was banned in Pakistan in 2002 and are responsible of many terrorist acts even within Pakistan. The terrorists themselves claimed to belong to something they called Deccan Mujahedin; an India based extremist group fighing for Kashmir. As far as what I heared that group was connected to Hyderabad area in India. I'm not sure of what else they're fighting for precisely, but it is a province in India that have had major problems between Hindus and Muslims for a long time, with hundreds (if not thousands) killed the last 10 years.
Some of the first reports (Friday or Saturday – 2 days after the attacks) were that Pakistan agreed on sending the director of ISI (The Pakistani intelligence agency) to India. This decision was reversed soon after. This U-turn was welcomed by the population. I asked some people why they supported this "non-cooperative line". In their opinion this had nothing to do with cooperation or not. Pakistan had offered to cooperate with any means to find the truth, by setting up a joint investigation team and so on, but the Indians refused to that, and demanded that the ISI director was sent to India for questioning. Sending the director of ISI as a “suspect” to India was – understandably – out of question. No country with some integrity and self respect would do that.
Was Pakistan or ISI involved? No one knows. Just like no one know whether India (or RAW, as their agency is known in Pakistan) were involved in the explosion at the Marriot hotel, the shootings in Karachi or the recent bomb blast in Peshawar. According to some friends, Pakistan had intelligence pointing at India after the attacks at Marriot, but Pakistan refrained from blaming India as strongly as India now blamed Pakistan . This said it is no secret that both countries have their interests in destabilizing each other for various reasons, and maniacs willing to carry out such actions exist everywhere.
India's accusations are completely without reason, was the general perception in Pakistan. Although, it is very symptomatic for both countries to blame each other, or a third actor than internal weaknesses, when anything like this happens. Usually India is more loud in its allegations than Pakistan (as seen in earlier incidents in 2001 and 2003), but this blame-game goes both ways. To blame foreign factors, or foreign conspiracies (often with reference to the neighbouring country (or CIA and Mossad for Pakistan’s case)) is one of the favourite hobbies here on this subcontinent, and shows in a way the mistrust that exists between these neighbouring states. Unfortunately, this goes for the ordinary people too. As mentioned, people talk about the obvious connection between the attacks in Mumbai and the attacks in Islamabad. A majority of the people are more than convinced that Indian intelligence is behind the attack on the Marriot hotel in a way or another, and I've also heard people saying : “it was about time. They have come a long way inside Pakistan (with reference to everything going on in Baluchistan and in the northwest areas) and it was time to show them that we exist,” about Mumbai. Although the immediate danger of war (if it ever existed, both countries being nuclear powers) is over, most people in Lahore are waiting for a reaction from their neighbouring country in the East, beyond all that was already happening in Karachi. The problems in Karachi was partly blamed on the political party of MQM and it’s leader in exile Altaf Hussein (of course in alliance with foreign (Indian) elements), but now they have the blast in Peshawar to talk about. I’m glad I’m out of the country before that time.
What I don't really understand is why any terroristattacks in Pakistan so easily is blamed on the sectarian problems within Pakistan, but not in India. As if India doesn't have it's fair share of sectarion or nationalist problems?
Back to Pakistan, my stay and my impressions from there.
The most striking to me has always been the enormous indifference/uncaring (likegyldighet) I see in this country. People – and particularly the sound middle class – tend to seem indifferent to everything, wanting to live their lives without any serious concerns about the conditions around them. Be it the tremendous poverty, the political chaos or the more sickening; combination of extreme poverty next to enormous private wealth.
You find poverty in the West Bank too (since I still haven’t been to Gaza, it’s difficult for me to comment about the conditions there) but it is not even close to being as visible and prominent as in Pakistan. Partly, it has to do with the huge population difference between Palestine and Pakistan. With over 172 million inhabitants, Pakistan is hard to manage and to develop. Any economical growth, if any, is eaten up by the population growth.
Historically, Pakistan and Palestine are both feudal societies not really able to shake that off from their systems. At the same time, Pakistan, in contrast to Palestine, has as mentioned enormous population and just as high illiteracy level. The official figures are 49 % of literacy in Pakistan. Palestinians, for their part, have one of the highest literacy levels in the entire (Arab) Middle East. Feudal societies with huge population (labour) and low or no education is an ideal combination for feudalism. When you add the historical luggage of a hierarchical caste system, paternalism and a good portion of religion, you have the perfect recipe for everlasting feudalism.
The biggest enemy for those empowered by the feudal system is education of the masses. It is only through education that the heads, or minds “open up”, as a friend said to me in the car on the way home one evening, and you'll easier be able to know your rights – as a worker or as a citizen.
Those governing Pakistan today and who have done so since the beginning of time for Pakistan are the same landlords who've always benefited from this system of feudalism. Take the leaderships of the Pakistan People Party (B. Bhutto’s party) or Muslim League (N) (Former Prime Minister and now opposition leader Nawaz Sharif’s party) as examples. They are both families we call landlords, owning huge amount of land in Pakistan, and even though they pretend running for elections on slogans as Roti, Kapra or Makaan (food, clothe and housing), it is all too clear that they do not want to relinquish their power and the benefits this old system gives them. PPP is even a member of the Socialist International and from that Norwegian Labour’s (my party’s) counterpart in Pakistan.
While it is and should be a public affair to provide its population with education, at least at a minimum level, it is remarkable that none of the governments the past 60 years have managed to raise the literacy level worth noticing. Conspiratorial enough I’d say that it is not a coincidence. With as little as 4% of the GNP used on education, the educational sector is left for private interests or non-governmental actors to fill. Education, and even primary education, is today a huge industry in Pakistan with private schools on “every street corner”.
To put it very simple and brief, it is the middle class’ duty and responsibility to end the negative impacts of feudalism and to inflame the necessary change. This middle class with education, knowledge of both rights and duties and with the ability to do something exists today in Pakistan without the required change coming.
That nothing (little is more just to say) happens, has a simple explanation, and does not include selfishness or uncaring that is so striking as I pointed out. It has to do with another ingredient that makes a natural and positive development of a society impossible – corruption.
Corruption is so widespread that for a large majority of people in Pakistan there exist no laws or regulations. Anything and everyone are for sale. It goes through all layers of society and numbs any positive development. When corruption is so common and widespread, people end up with no confidence to the institutions of society. To put it more scientifically; Neither the Judiciary, executive or legislative power has the people's confidence in Pakistan today. It's every man for himself, and the survival of the fittest that applies.
Not so strange, when a former criminal is country's president today. I have never held back that the deceased Benazir Bhutto and particularly her husband, the so-called mr. 10%, and current president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, are not among my favourites. But his impressive game that has taken him from the jail cell only four years back to the top of the political hierarchy today is "admirable". It is incredible that a man, who, according to everyone, filled his pockets and accounts with state revenues during his wife's governments during the 90s, now is head of state with direct (to say it popular) access to the same revenues.
With a corrupt judiciary, there is no equality of the law, and no one can guarantee the consequences you will face if you claim your legitimate rights. So it is not a mystery why the middle class is so paralyzed.
Over time, everyday life is far more important for people than to produce a political change. Especially when any serious attempt could result in unknown consequences, and no average person wants, either for himself or his children, to be a victim of that. This fear, according to my friend, is what keeps the middle class back. Moreover, the educated middle class is numerically a minority in Pakistan, and when considerable bulks of these are equal partners in the corrupted system, there is little Hasan and Sadia can do. Hasan sees how the community fly off in the wrong direction and it doesn’t help how much he cries for justice, he’s only left behind, so finally he flies along. Or as my buddy said: Agar woh kutte ke bachen hain, to main bhi kutte ka bacha hon (if they’re sons of bitches, I’m a son of bitch too). To put it in a more attractive language: If you can not claim your right, you fight for it.
It is an evil circle not easy to get out of.
Besides poverty in Pakistan, you’re struck by the class divisions in the society. The huge population is easy to blame in this context too, but in my opinion it has also to do with the old hierarchical caste system that unfortunately still exists today. Pakistanis are obsessed by casts or bradri (families/brotherhoods) as they call them. These bradris go back to old times, and indicates your family’s background; landlords, salesmen, kings, servants and so on. Combined with the new casts made out of the power of money and education the country is divided into many layers. Sheikh, Choudry, Jatt, Raja, Mughal or Rana are all names used to show what bradri you belong. I don’t want to exaggerate the role of Bradri, but am sad to state that there are still families not wanting to marry their children outside their own bradri and so on…
Most of the homes (middleclass and up) today have their mulazim (workers/servants), and some families make a huge point out of how many mulazims they have. These are people the families cannot function without, but whom they never really trust, even though the mulazims may have served them their entire lives, and even lived in the same house (of course in a different section). This is not the worst. The worst part is the clear distinction that’s made between people by everyone. Small children are raised up in an environment where they’re indirectly taught that not everyone are alike. Watching small children bossing around grownups is sometimes hard to watch. What’s interesting is how everyone has found a class / person beneath them. Even the barber I went to had a person underneath him, to find scissors and comb for him, who had one underneath him who had one under him and so on. This hierarchy is often based on age and seniority, and instead of uniting, people find someone below them to kick and thus get out their own frustration. Actually, it can be quite amusing to watch the chain of yelling as it follows age and hierarchy in a matter of five minutes. An order at a shop may sound something like this:
Customer: "A glass of orange juice. Quickly!"
Salesman: "Yes, of course sir."Then the salesman turns to the guy next to him:
"Oe, a glass of juice ASAP!"
The guys nods, and yells to the kid next to the squeezing machine:
"Come on kid, a glass of juice to the gentleman now. Chal, jaldi kar!"And so on.
If anything is wrong with the purchased item, the whole chain of command repeats it self.
Walking around in the relatively well-off neighbourhood in Lahore I lived in (a housing society like many others made up behind walls and 24 hours guarded gates, giving the residents a sense of security, and me a sense of Palestine), the only ones walking or riding a bike on the streets on any given day you see are the so-called Mulazims – or the poor people, while the residents (rich) remains indoors, in cars or all other locations than on the streets. Surely there are tense times these days, but the main reason is clearly the class society I just described, and the despise each stratum has for the stratum beneath them. People choose to remain indoors or in cars, not in fear of a possible terrorist attack, but because they don’t want to degrade themselves by walking in the streets or standing in lines outside a restaurant as a mulazim.
Well, I had to ask my friend about not standing in line and order food when we stayed in the car when we stopped at a burgers shop (same friend and same ride as mentioned a couple of times). He had a different – I may call it a more capitalist – approach to this phenomenon. "By sitting in the car, I will first of all have the privacy I want, and secondly, the man who came to the car, took my order and will bring us our food will earn 10-15 Rupee. I do not have to do anything, because there are others who will and wants to do it for me. Good for me, good for them.”
I'm not sure of what I feel about the logic. There was something in me that wanted to protest, but I could not deny the fact that by staying in the car, I “created” jobs. In a country with huge population, enormous poverty and not that many jobs, this is an easy way of “creating” jobs.
To sum up; Pakistan has a great potential and have always had it. No doubt about that. Rich on natural recourses as gas, petrol, coil and so on, this country will (Inshallah) rise up to its potential. But, political instability, huge population and corruption are all obstructions in the way of triggering that potential. This far, the biggest achievement for Pakistan after 61 years of freedom, is not the creation of the best health system, educational system or something like that, but the achievement of becoming a nuclear power (which is quite huge actually). And honestly said, that is the only reason why anyone talks to Pakistan in international affairs, and why India has abstained from attacking the country the last decade.
But before the country can start moving in a more positive direction, the country needs to solve out its problems with its neighbour, but more important it needs a generational revolution especially among its politicians. Besides the exception of 8 years with general/president Musharraf, the same politicians who led the country while I lived here in the early 90s, and was 11 years old, are controlling the country, and that’s not a healthy sign. Political assassinations are not a way of achieving that change.
Besides the change among its politicians, the country must somehow get rid of the corruption, and bring back peoples trust in the institutions developed to serve the people. This seems like the most difficult task, but the generational revolution among policymakers and fight against corruption is kind of interconnected. The fight against corruption must start from the top, meaning that the leadership has to change, either physically or if they are able to, at least in mind. But perhaps the most crucial factor is the task of educating the people, and states lack of focus on that matter. Education alone will, in my opinion, solve many of Pakistan’s problems as poverty, uncontrolled population growth and even corruption and the class society.
The moral is; my cousin is happily married, I’ve left the country of my origin and am still unmarried. Pakistan is nice, but sitting in BirZeit, I’m glad to be back in Arab culture and land.
During all my stays in Palestine I’ve always compared the prevailing conditions in West Bank with Pakistan. The history of Pakistan and the mandate of Palestine have similarities that make this comparison interesting. Both regions were under British authority at the end of the Second World War, but whereas the Muslims in India got their state after a two-state solution on the subcontinent of India in 1947, the Palestinians are still fighting for their state.
This year, while the Palestinians are in their 61st year under occupation, Pakistanis celebrate their 61 years of independence as a free nation. After hundred years of struggle Pakistan was drawn on the map, and the world witnessed one of the largest immigrations in modern times. Over a million people left their homes to the other side of the new boarder drawn on the map to the newborn Pakistan or India, including my father at the age of three. Unfortunately this immigration wasn’t as peaceful as described here, but under extremely tragic and violent conditions. Pakistan has been a united and independent state for 61 years now despite all the predictions of early collapse of Pakistan. There are talks about Pakistan as a failed state, recently at the beginning of this year when the West’s favourite Benazir Bhutto tragically was murdered under a terrorist attack and the political situation was a mess, but Pakistan has been Azad (Free) for 61 years.
This is something I've always had in mind. This freedom, that cost exceedingly and is the dearest that Pakistanis have, is what constitutes the decisive difference between Palestine and Pakistan today. Besides this difference it was depressing to notice that I just moved from one sad reality to another. Despite the independence and freedom, Pakistanis are just as occupied as the Palestinians. Not by soldiers or settlers at gun point, but by fear, corruption and in the chains of poverty.
The conditions are really poor in Pakistan these days. Not a day goes by without a terrorist attack in the country. I lost count over how many people died because of terrorist attacks of various kind, be it bomb explosions, suicide attacks, random shootings, U.S. missiles hitting Pakistan and leaving X people dead, or all at once, during the 10 days I was there. This has resulted in two things in particular; huge aggression against Americans and of course fear of terrorist attacks framing themselves.
This fear is not a new phenomenon in Pakistan, but anyone following the news recently can understand that this fear is greater now than it has been for a long time. Halat bohat kharab Hain (The conditions are very poor), you hear everywhere. Partially is this due to the global economic crisis that Pakistan too suffers from, but the remark has its root in the uncertainty created by all the terrorist attacks as well.
The latest terrorist attacks in Mumbai didn’t help in that matter; but reinforced the feeling of uncertainty in Pakistan. India was quick, some would say a little too quick, to point at Pakistan, and the situation was very tense for a while. For a couple of days the fear of war was greater than the fear of terrorist attacks. This was on our day of Barat (2. day of Pakistani weddings and the day when the grooms family brings the bride to their house) and Walima day (the last day of the wedding that contains a dinner by the grooms family), the military force of India and Pakistan were both on high alert, and was consequently one of the hottest discussion topics during wedding dinners. That in the face of the fact that there were an outburst of “arbitrary firings” and riots in different areas all over Karachi with over 40 people dead during the week after the attacks in Mumbai.
Remarkably enough those riots started the day after the attacks in Mumbai.
I've been asked to give a comment on the attacks in Mumbai, but I don’t think it’s possible for me to give a neutral or a more well thought comment than all the comments that have been given already. I suppose the question is more to give a report of the attacks as they were seen from Pakistan. The immediate reactions in Pakistan ranged from "this is deeply tragic incident" to "They took one hotel (Marriot in Islamabad for 3-4 months ago), we took 3 of theirs". The stronger the allegations against Pakistan got the more the people rallied around the flag and the sympathies drowned in the desire to fight. Now, almost two weeks later, the countries are fighting over whether the threat to Pakistan was a phoney call or a real threat, but back then, it seemd real enough. It was quite difficult for all to understand how Indian intelligence so categorically could blame foreign (Pakistani) elements only a few hours after the attacks were engaged. How could they know that the boat the terrorist used came from Pakistan, etc? And if they knew all this, why didn’t they stop the boat? Now, there is no reason to deny that the people were related to or were Pakistanis one way or another. I can even believe that they got their training and planned the attacks in Pakistan, but that alone is not a reason to bomb Islamabad. There were reports about British nationals among the terrorists without India having plans to bomb London. I agree with the Pakistani officials when they say that these terrorists are non-state actors attempting to destabilize the region and wanting a war. Let’s not give them want they want.
India points especially at a Pakistani based militant group called Lashkare Tayba. A militant group fighting against Indian occupation of Kashmir but the group was banned in Pakistan in 2002 and are responsible of many terrorist acts even within Pakistan. The terrorists themselves claimed to belong to something they called Deccan Mujahedin; an India based extremist group fighing for Kashmir. As far as what I heared that group was connected to Hyderabad area in India. I'm not sure of what else they're fighting for precisely, but it is a province in India that have had major problems between Hindus and Muslims for a long time, with hundreds (if not thousands) killed the last 10 years.
Some of the first reports (Friday or Saturday – 2 days after the attacks) were that Pakistan agreed on sending the director of ISI (The Pakistani intelligence agency) to India. This decision was reversed soon after. This U-turn was welcomed by the population. I asked some people why they supported this "non-cooperative line". In their opinion this had nothing to do with cooperation or not. Pakistan had offered to cooperate with any means to find the truth, by setting up a joint investigation team and so on, but the Indians refused to that, and demanded that the ISI director was sent to India for questioning. Sending the director of ISI as a “suspect” to India was – understandably – out of question. No country with some integrity and self respect would do that.
Was Pakistan or ISI involved? No one knows. Just like no one know whether India (or RAW, as their agency is known in Pakistan) were involved in the explosion at the Marriot hotel, the shootings in Karachi or the recent bomb blast in Peshawar. According to some friends, Pakistan had intelligence pointing at India after the attacks at Marriot, but Pakistan refrained from blaming India as strongly as India now blamed Pakistan . This said it is no secret that both countries have their interests in destabilizing each other for various reasons, and maniacs willing to carry out such actions exist everywhere.
India's accusations are completely without reason, was the general perception in Pakistan. Although, it is very symptomatic for both countries to blame each other, or a third actor than internal weaknesses, when anything like this happens. Usually India is more loud in its allegations than Pakistan (as seen in earlier incidents in 2001 and 2003), but this blame-game goes both ways. To blame foreign factors, or foreign conspiracies (often with reference to the neighbouring country (or CIA and Mossad for Pakistan’s case)) is one of the favourite hobbies here on this subcontinent, and shows in a way the mistrust that exists between these neighbouring states. Unfortunately, this goes for the ordinary people too. As mentioned, people talk about the obvious connection between the attacks in Mumbai and the attacks in Islamabad. A majority of the people are more than convinced that Indian intelligence is behind the attack on the Marriot hotel in a way or another, and I've also heard people saying : “it was about time. They have come a long way inside Pakistan (with reference to everything going on in Baluchistan and in the northwest areas) and it was time to show them that we exist,” about Mumbai. Although the immediate danger of war (if it ever existed, both countries being nuclear powers) is over, most people in Lahore are waiting for a reaction from their neighbouring country in the East, beyond all that was already happening in Karachi. The problems in Karachi was partly blamed on the political party of MQM and it’s leader in exile Altaf Hussein (of course in alliance with foreign (Indian) elements), but now they have the blast in Peshawar to talk about. I’m glad I’m out of the country before that time.
What I don't really understand is why any terroristattacks in Pakistan so easily is blamed on the sectarian problems within Pakistan, but not in India. As if India doesn't have it's fair share of sectarion or nationalist problems?
Back to Pakistan, my stay and my impressions from there.
The most striking to me has always been the enormous indifference/uncaring (likegyldighet) I see in this country. People – and particularly the sound middle class – tend to seem indifferent to everything, wanting to live their lives without any serious concerns about the conditions around them. Be it the tremendous poverty, the political chaos or the more sickening; combination of extreme poverty next to enormous private wealth.
You find poverty in the West Bank too (since I still haven’t been to Gaza, it’s difficult for me to comment about the conditions there) but it is not even close to being as visible and prominent as in Pakistan. Partly, it has to do with the huge population difference between Palestine and Pakistan. With over 172 million inhabitants, Pakistan is hard to manage and to develop. Any economical growth, if any, is eaten up by the population growth.
Historically, Pakistan and Palestine are both feudal societies not really able to shake that off from their systems. At the same time, Pakistan, in contrast to Palestine, has as mentioned enormous population and just as high illiteracy level. The official figures are 49 % of literacy in Pakistan. Palestinians, for their part, have one of the highest literacy levels in the entire (Arab) Middle East. Feudal societies with huge population (labour) and low or no education is an ideal combination for feudalism. When you add the historical luggage of a hierarchical caste system, paternalism and a good portion of religion, you have the perfect recipe for everlasting feudalism.
The biggest enemy for those empowered by the feudal system is education of the masses. It is only through education that the heads, or minds “open up”, as a friend said to me in the car on the way home one evening, and you'll easier be able to know your rights – as a worker or as a citizen.
Those governing Pakistan today and who have done so since the beginning of time for Pakistan are the same landlords who've always benefited from this system of feudalism. Take the leaderships of the Pakistan People Party (B. Bhutto’s party) or Muslim League (N) (Former Prime Minister and now opposition leader Nawaz Sharif’s party) as examples. They are both families we call landlords, owning huge amount of land in Pakistan, and even though they pretend running for elections on slogans as Roti, Kapra or Makaan (food, clothe and housing), it is all too clear that they do not want to relinquish their power and the benefits this old system gives them. PPP is even a member of the Socialist International and from that Norwegian Labour’s (my party’s) counterpart in Pakistan.
While it is and should be a public affair to provide its population with education, at least at a minimum level, it is remarkable that none of the governments the past 60 years have managed to raise the literacy level worth noticing. Conspiratorial enough I’d say that it is not a coincidence. With as little as 4% of the GNP used on education, the educational sector is left for private interests or non-governmental actors to fill. Education, and even primary education, is today a huge industry in Pakistan with private schools on “every street corner”.
To put it very simple and brief, it is the middle class’ duty and responsibility to end the negative impacts of feudalism and to inflame the necessary change. This middle class with education, knowledge of both rights and duties and with the ability to do something exists today in Pakistan without the required change coming.
That nothing (little is more just to say) happens, has a simple explanation, and does not include selfishness or uncaring that is so striking as I pointed out. It has to do with another ingredient that makes a natural and positive development of a society impossible – corruption.
Corruption is so widespread that for a large majority of people in Pakistan there exist no laws or regulations. Anything and everyone are for sale. It goes through all layers of society and numbs any positive development. When corruption is so common and widespread, people end up with no confidence to the institutions of society. To put it more scientifically; Neither the Judiciary, executive or legislative power has the people's confidence in Pakistan today. It's every man for himself, and the survival of the fittest that applies.
Not so strange, when a former criminal is country's president today. I have never held back that the deceased Benazir Bhutto and particularly her husband, the so-called mr. 10%, and current president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, are not among my favourites. But his impressive game that has taken him from the jail cell only four years back to the top of the political hierarchy today is "admirable". It is incredible that a man, who, according to everyone, filled his pockets and accounts with state revenues during his wife's governments during the 90s, now is head of state with direct (to say it popular) access to the same revenues.
With a corrupt judiciary, there is no equality of the law, and no one can guarantee the consequences you will face if you claim your legitimate rights. So it is not a mystery why the middle class is so paralyzed.
Over time, everyday life is far more important for people than to produce a political change. Especially when any serious attempt could result in unknown consequences, and no average person wants, either for himself or his children, to be a victim of that. This fear, according to my friend, is what keeps the middle class back. Moreover, the educated middle class is numerically a minority in Pakistan, and when considerable bulks of these are equal partners in the corrupted system, there is little Hasan and Sadia can do. Hasan sees how the community fly off in the wrong direction and it doesn’t help how much he cries for justice, he’s only left behind, so finally he flies along. Or as my buddy said: Agar woh kutte ke bachen hain, to main bhi kutte ka bacha hon (if they’re sons of bitches, I’m a son of bitch too). To put it in a more attractive language: If you can not claim your right, you fight for it.
It is an evil circle not easy to get out of.
Besides poverty in Pakistan, you’re struck by the class divisions in the society. The huge population is easy to blame in this context too, but in my opinion it has also to do with the old hierarchical caste system that unfortunately still exists today. Pakistanis are obsessed by casts or bradri (families/brotherhoods) as they call them. These bradris go back to old times, and indicates your family’s background; landlords, salesmen, kings, servants and so on. Combined with the new casts made out of the power of money and education the country is divided into many layers. Sheikh, Choudry, Jatt, Raja, Mughal or Rana are all names used to show what bradri you belong. I don’t want to exaggerate the role of Bradri, but am sad to state that there are still families not wanting to marry their children outside their own bradri and so on…
Most of the homes (middleclass and up) today have their mulazim (workers/servants), and some families make a huge point out of how many mulazims they have. These are people the families cannot function without, but whom they never really trust, even though the mulazims may have served them their entire lives, and even lived in the same house (of course in a different section). This is not the worst. The worst part is the clear distinction that’s made between people by everyone. Small children are raised up in an environment where they’re indirectly taught that not everyone are alike. Watching small children bossing around grownups is sometimes hard to watch. What’s interesting is how everyone has found a class / person beneath them. Even the barber I went to had a person underneath him, to find scissors and comb for him, who had one underneath him who had one under him and so on. This hierarchy is often based on age and seniority, and instead of uniting, people find someone below them to kick and thus get out their own frustration. Actually, it can be quite amusing to watch the chain of yelling as it follows age and hierarchy in a matter of five minutes. An order at a shop may sound something like this:
Customer: "A glass of orange juice. Quickly!"
Salesman: "Yes, of course sir."Then the salesman turns to the guy next to him:
"Oe, a glass of juice ASAP!"
The guys nods, and yells to the kid next to the squeezing machine:
"Come on kid, a glass of juice to the gentleman now. Chal, jaldi kar!"And so on.
If anything is wrong with the purchased item, the whole chain of command repeats it self.
Walking around in the relatively well-off neighbourhood in Lahore I lived in (a housing society like many others made up behind walls and 24 hours guarded gates, giving the residents a sense of security, and me a sense of Palestine), the only ones walking or riding a bike on the streets on any given day you see are the so-called Mulazims – or the poor people, while the residents (rich) remains indoors, in cars or all other locations than on the streets. Surely there are tense times these days, but the main reason is clearly the class society I just described, and the despise each stratum has for the stratum beneath them. People choose to remain indoors or in cars, not in fear of a possible terrorist attack, but because they don’t want to degrade themselves by walking in the streets or standing in lines outside a restaurant as a mulazim.
Well, I had to ask my friend about not standing in line and order food when we stayed in the car when we stopped at a burgers shop (same friend and same ride as mentioned a couple of times). He had a different – I may call it a more capitalist – approach to this phenomenon. "By sitting in the car, I will first of all have the privacy I want, and secondly, the man who came to the car, took my order and will bring us our food will earn 10-15 Rupee. I do not have to do anything, because there are others who will and wants to do it for me. Good for me, good for them.”
I'm not sure of what I feel about the logic. There was something in me that wanted to protest, but I could not deny the fact that by staying in the car, I “created” jobs. In a country with huge population, enormous poverty and not that many jobs, this is an easy way of “creating” jobs.
To sum up; Pakistan has a great potential and have always had it. No doubt about that. Rich on natural recourses as gas, petrol, coil and so on, this country will (Inshallah) rise up to its potential. But, political instability, huge population and corruption are all obstructions in the way of triggering that potential. This far, the biggest achievement for Pakistan after 61 years of freedom, is not the creation of the best health system, educational system or something like that, but the achievement of becoming a nuclear power (which is quite huge actually). And honestly said, that is the only reason why anyone talks to Pakistan in international affairs, and why India has abstained from attacking the country the last decade.
But before the country can start moving in a more positive direction, the country needs to solve out its problems with its neighbour, but more important it needs a generational revolution especially among its politicians. Besides the exception of 8 years with general/president Musharraf, the same politicians who led the country while I lived here in the early 90s, and was 11 years old, are controlling the country, and that’s not a healthy sign. Political assassinations are not a way of achieving that change.
Besides the change among its politicians, the country must somehow get rid of the corruption, and bring back peoples trust in the institutions developed to serve the people. This seems like the most difficult task, but the generational revolution among policymakers and fight against corruption is kind of interconnected. The fight against corruption must start from the top, meaning that the leadership has to change, either physically or if they are able to, at least in mind. But perhaps the most crucial factor is the task of educating the people, and states lack of focus on that matter. Education alone will, in my opinion, solve many of Pakistan’s problems as poverty, uncontrolled population growth and even corruption and the class society.
The moral is; my cousin is happily married, I’ve left the country of my origin and am still unmarried. Pakistan is nice, but sitting in BirZeit, I’m glad to be back in Arab culture and land.
2 kommentarer:
There is more evidence that the Mumbai terrorists came from Pakistan than there was that Osama Bin Laden was behind 9/11.
But India should not make the same mistake as the US and should show more restraint.
Already Pakistan is falling apart as a nation. In a few years it will break up into 3 or more countries (like Yugoslavia) - a Pashtunistan, a Baluchistan, a Sind and a PakPunjab. If India takes any overt action, this would just unite the Pakistanis and delay the breakup.
Best thing is to let the US handle the terrorists and watch Pakistan fall to pieces on its own
In any case Pakistan has its own karma to reckon with, see http://www.sentfotlife.com/karma.html?Pakistan
Thanks for the comment, Dave. People (and especially India) have been waiting for Pakistan to fall in pieces all since 1947, but it didn't, and some thinktank ideas or maps are not going to change that fact.
The loss of East Pakistan (Bangladesh) was a huge blow for the Pakistnanis, and is burnt into their consciousness. They will not let that happen again.
Have you noticed that even when the pachtuns or the sindhis demonstrate the Pakistani flag is seldom burnt?
Yes, Pakistan have it's political problems, but you're right, as long as India keeps threatning (or Pakistani government making people belive that India is threatning) Pakistan will stay unite. But don't you think the American bombing unites Pakistanis too?
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