Daily Times

Expatriates will soon face a dilemma. With the economic turmoil ensuing, people around them would need financial assistance. Should they then help the communities they currently live in or send their donations back home? They have got a difficult choice to make. In a unique way, the coronavirus pandemic has hit both rich and poor countries the same way. On both sides, millions of people have lost their jobs, businesses and livelihood. On both sides, uncertainty has taken hold, its intensity can be debated, but of course, it cannot be denied. On both sides, recovery in part depends on the power of the federal government and in part, the generosity of the rich people to reignite the economic cycle.

Prime Minister Imran Khan realizes its significance. In his recent address to the nation, he said he anticipates assistance from Pakistanis living abroad to help the impoverished daily laborers. Through this call, he attempts the third time in two years to lure the diaspora. First, he tried to generate funds to build a dam. It failed. Then he asked them to invest through remitting American dollars and boost the economy through the purchase of government issued bonds. It did not work either. Why? I think it is donor fatigue, a phenomenon representing lack of urgency to help a specific cause. But that we can discuss some other day.

What will happen this time?

Before we jump to the conclusion, here are some considerations. If Pakistanis are living in the West, the chances are their colleagues and neighbors would not look like them, would not speak their language, and would not belong to the same religion. They may also follow a different set of moral values, eat food that is forbidden in Islam and drink alcohol in homes with their children. Naturally, Pakistanis may not feel loyal towards them ignoring their suffering. In short, the likelihood of staying indifferent or aloof to that society runs high.

If they live in the Middle East, the question would not be as difficult to answer for obvious reasons. Arabs, even when they do not speak the same language, follow the same religion and maintain the same social and moral values. Bonding with them comes naturally. Furthermore, one can find quite a few stranded Pakistanis to offer help in these countries.

Pakistan, as much as they do not want to admit, in fact now is a foreign country to the expatriates

However, when it comes to the basic human rights, in contrast to the Pakistanis living in the Arab world, the Westerners live in an entirely different environment. They get the same rights as locals regardless of race or religion. I understand it is not 100% true but honestly it is very close to it. And for every practical purpose, it is their homeland. When they get sick, it is their government that would provide them health care services. When they grow old, it is their government which will send them a social service check. Then isn’t it their moral obligation to invest in the same community?

Pakistan, as much as they do not want to admit, in fact now is a foreign country to the expatriates. First of all, the society does not welcome them anymore. Old friends – sometimes jokingly and many times begrudgingly – do not hesitate to ask them to refrain from giving their two cents in the matters pertaining to local politics because by leaving the country they have somehow betrayed the mother nation. The laws too do not allow them to serve in official capacity. Then why deny the reality?

One question that keeps on coming up, mostly in the form of emotional blackmail, is that somehow, the expatriates still owe something to the place of their birth. I do not believe that. Their argument: the government invested in you to provide education, now it is your turn to payback. My response: if you got free education in Pakistan, it was because your parents paid taxes the same way your children are getting free education now in the West because you pay taxes here. Think for a moment, if your kids leave this country and settle back to Pakistan, would you expect them to start helping the Westerners as their homeland?

Bottom line: you are what you are because of the system that you work in at present. Your friends and family in Pakistan are what they are in because of the system they work in. They chose the comfort of living with friends and family, you on the other hand sacrificed your social life to work harder. If anything, they need to be more considerate, if not outright rude and insensitive.

To end, I want people to offer their charitable donations to the communities they reside in now, the countries that have offered them hope, the states that will eventually take care of them once they grow older. If one has left Pakistan, and is bringing up their children in the West, it is then their first responsibility to serve that country. Living here and thinking of there is nothing but a form of cognitive dissonance. I would avoid it.

The writer is a US-based freelance columnist. He tweets at @KaamranHashmi and can be reached at skamranhashmi@gmail.com