Daily Times

Pakistan got its freedom from the British empire on the 14th of August 1947. Britishers left the sub-continent in the 20th century, but they did not actually leave the minds of indigenous people. They left a colonial mentality behind. The colonial mentality has paved its way to get in the roots of the economy, culture, and politics of the sub-continent.

As a result, it has done so much damage to the above-mentioned institutions of Pakistan, that it was a Herculean task for the country to become a developed modern state. The colonial mentality has caused Pakistan to be dependent on its colonialists. The politics of the nation have been affected by imperialism through the famous divide and rule of Britishers. Moreover, feudalism is also getting stronger day after day which is a legacy of colonialism. The administrative system is rotten due to bureaucratic red-tape. Colonial mentality is also impeding the progress of society. Masses in Pakistan are preferring to speak English instead of Urdu. They are using foreign products and opting for foreign jobs which in return is the cause of increased imports and low GDP. Here we will discuss all the above situation and we will also prove the above give causes of colonial mentality which is impeding Pakistan’s progress. In the process of discussing all of them, it is necessary to know about colonial mentality.

Colonial mentality is the internalized attitude of ethnic or cultural inferiority felt by people because of colonization. It corresponds with the belief that the cultural values and mores of the colonizer are inherently superior to one’s own. Colonial mentality is when a certain society thinks that foreign talent, foreign language and products are for better than local ones. The reaction of colonialism is colonial mentality and it is clearly seen in the case of Pakistan-once colonized by Great Britain. When they left, they left a colonial legacy of dependency on Pakistan on its colonizer.

Pakistan has a huge dependency on west colonials. Colonials developed a myth that economically weak natives cannot survive without western support. Colonialist James Harington said for Indians “they are yet babies that cannot survive without sucking the breasts of their mothers”. Pakistan is clearly proving what he said. Pakistan is reviving on foreign funds and aids since the beginning. She has got the aid of $78.3 billion from the United States of America (USA) between 1948-2016. She has bailed out the aid of 665 million pounds from the United Kingdom (UK) between 2009-2013 to support her economy. For that Pakistan must get rid of dependency for restructuring her economy to make herself enough overtime.

The colonial policy of dependency has been expanding from economic assistance to military assistance. The USA has provided nearly $67 billion to Pakistan between 1951 and 2011. A large amount of military aid has been provided during authoritarian rules in the country. The USA has been encouraging these dictators through military aid to achieve her own interest. As a result, it has affected the balance of power and foreign policy of Pakistan. It is essential for Pakistan to cut these aids for future development.

Following the colonial psychology of imperialism. People in Pakistan have started to prefer foreign products which have increased imports in the country. Watching the imports grow foreign multinational companies came to Pakistan. There are 40.000 multinational companies in Pakistan and has many market shares. They have kept local companies at bay. The demand for exports and the manufacturing of local products has decreased. As a result, the local industry is now surviving in the crowd of these crocodiles.
Colonial mentality does not have its roots just in the dependency, but it is also strong in Pakistan’s political sphere.

The political sphere in Pakistan is solely based upon divide and rule policy. People here have divided in the name of religion. There are nearly 182 political parties in Pakistan. Every political party has its own ideology and thus people are divided accordingly. Politics and religion have mixed in a way here that it has caused chaos of differences in the masses. Political parties and their so-called leaders are taking advantage of religion to gain political power. The class which is doing so and think politics as their birthright are feudal and landlords.

Feudalism in Pakistan is also inherited from our colonizers, who at that time used to give privileges to the nobility for their services in the military. Nobles in return used to exploit the rights of peasants, the same is happening in Pakistan. Feudal lords practice the same as our colonizers. Human rights, ethnic rights, legal rights, and even individual rights have been exploited by feudalism in Pakistan. Feudal lords are the type of government and jury in their constituencies. This the reason that poor class of these constituencies cannot stand for their basic rights. In first world countries, they have started to provide every basic right to their citizens but having colonial mentality are still on the same page.

Feudal and landlords have become so powerful that they have considered as “state within state”. They have their own system of law and justice based on narrow traditions. The evil practices of karo kari(honor killing), watta satta(exchange marriage) and vanni are rampant among this feudal setup. The education system is also in control. A large part of political parties of Pakistan consist of these feudal lords, with a large voter bank of their peasants and poor villager, only these feudal lords get elected in elections. In this whole setup, it becomes so difficult for poor’s and peasants to survive and win elections. Democracy can survive only through new people with new ideas. With the same feudal faces in assemblies year after year, the country gets the same policies and agendas which serve the interest of this class. These politicians cum feudalists are also controlling the administration and bureaucracy of Pakistan.

The bureaucratic system of Pakistan is totally based upon red-tapism, corruption and dishonesty. The bureaucratic system was designed and introduced by British raj to extract revenue from the land whilst at the same time maintaining political control over the rural masses. Since then, bureaucracy in Pakistan is working on the same rules with colonial mentality. It has been corrupted year after year. Red-tapism is at its peak in bureaucratic practices which is the main cause of corruption in the administration of the country. Files are being transferred from low level to high level and bribery is demanded to complete the official procedures. If the poor people cannot bribe bureaucrats, they are told to stand in queues. They have demanded excessive paperwork and their files, in the end, are red-taped in the end. These practices have rotten the administrative system of our country.

Colonial mentality is not just rotting the administrative system of our country. But it is also affecting our social sphere in many bad ways.

The social sphere is totally affected by colonial mentality after colonialism. Our colonials were English and used to speak the English language. When they came, they made us realize that they are superior from us and meanwhile our tradition, culture, and language inferior. As a result, we started to learn and speak their language, we also adopted their traditions and culture. In the process to do so, we forgot everything of our own. Nowadays, most people in Pakistan prefer to speak the English language instead of Urdu. The person who cannot speak English is misprized. It clearly shows that we are so much affected by colonialism and our colonizers are still ruling on us.

Furthermore, preferences for foreign jobs and foreign products have also seen after British raj. It is another example of the colonial mentality mentioned previously. Both, foreign jobs and imported products have affected our economy brutally. The fondness of foreign jobs have caused decrement in our GDP. The affection for foreign products has caused an increase in imports and a reduction in exports. As a result, our local industry is looking for skilled people to provide jobs and are at the same time affected by low revenues due to the preference of foreign products. This situation has affected our industry.

In conclusion, we discussed that after the independence of Pakistan it was attracted by the curse of colonial mentality. As a result, it caused our dependency on former colonizers. We examined how our political system is affected by imperialism.

Moreover, feudalism has deepened its roots which in return has rotten our administration. We canvassed that speaking of the English language and fondness of foreign jobs and products are also the part of colonial mentality. In the end, Pakistan has been struggling to become a modern state, but Pakistan’s past legacy and its ills have unfortunately been dragging her towards destruction. Post-colonialism exploitation led the country towards economic, military, and industrial dependence. The English language brought cultural and intellectual decline along with the inferiority complex. Uneven power setup, gifts of colonialism damaged the democratic process of the country.

To make a better future we must get rid of the ill mentality of the past. For those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.

The writer is a CSS aspirant with a Bachelors in Business from Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad