Back in late 70s and early 80s, me and my peers saw ourselves as privileged to actually watch the parade of the 23 March, the Pakistan day. The most awaited parts then were the air past, parachuting especially the one led by the legend Brig.TM and the parade by the SSG Commandos. Simultaneously, adoring, the works of a “dissident” like Lt.Col. Faiz Ahmed Faiz , disciplined exemplars like Maj. Gen. Sher Ali Khan Patudi, Col.Zameer Jaffery, Col.Khan and Maj.Gen.Dr.Shafiqur Rehman and despising President Gen.Zia’s regressive regime while fully relishing holidays granted by his government whenever Pakistan used to win a hockey or cricket match were indeed some unrivalled experiences of that age of relative ignorance and innocence. Manto’s writings, helped many of us who were teenagers in 80s, in diagnosing that partition and independence , hating US and longing to get its visa may, get enshrined in the same body and a vast majority can actually manage to live with this kind of paradox without appearing as suffering from any mental disorder. Years rolled by and life bizarrely shifted the priorities and purposes. However, somewhere a soul remained restless on identifying its inclination to love the homeland unconditionally even while seeking the delights of Indian movies, with self-reproach.
Generations Y and Z, with their distinctive traits are obviously totally different from folks like us. However, they too are influenced by their elders, media and set norms of the society. They have a relationship with their past and history. Youth with its own stratification remains the determinants of any transformative change at societal, political and policy levels. Some critical questions could be; What could made them internalize the worth of Pakistan? What investments should be offered by the state so that our youth could envision an unconventional yardstick of success? How can the idea of accomplishment go beyond , passing CSS exams to get secured careers that at some point grant them scholarships that they failed to get earlier and leave the country tactfully for greener pastures or becoming a poster star through well-rehearsed pitches in startup competitions or spitting venom against the country to become a twitter intellectual? The answers are neither conventional nor composite. God is in the detail.
Luminaries and legends are not found in the chateaus or buildings oozing with grandiose or gaudy architecture. They are in the barracks, bunkers, at the heights of deadly Siachen , unlimited skies, merciless seas or mysterious deserts and very often proud of their (income) poverty
Pakistan has to put extra efforts to bust the myths tarnishing its image at many fronts. This requires enabling environs, mature enough to take up tough questions with scholarly tolerance, introspection, and critical thinking. It is not a secret that any stuff that views the country defiantly and or damagingly pulls popular attention not only outside but at domestic level too. Among a plethora of demeaning literature and other content against Pakistan easily available, on internet it is indeed quite an exploration to find some pieces of work with less vilification and anti-Pakistan biases. Deadly embrace by Bruce Riedel , Pakistan in the Twentieth Century by Lawrence Ziring and Pakistan: A Hard Country by Anato Lieven are some of the very few better (not absolutely fair) and important books to cognize the country ‘s development in politics, economy, extremism, foreign policy and other areas through the incisive lens of foreign writers.
Pakistani government should contemplate to develop a customized and accessible database of books ( fiction and nonfiction both) to understand Pakistan with intellectual integrity. Truth and facts are awkward to market, but they are priceless. The country has established private media, thinktanks led by famous names and a grown-up state owned PTV. In the times like these where the battlefield is not between “organic soldiers” but everywhere, the ISPR with a precise discernment of the hybrid warfare is doing a demanding duty, ingeniously. Its attentiveness to the production of movies, TV dramas, songs ,capacity development of media practitioners and inspiring presence on the twitter are laudable. Considering the extraordinary brunt of geo-strategic burdens and their complexity for Pakistan, one of the many urgent necessities is to broaden the spectrum of impact oriented interventions. Positive portrayal must never get blurred. However, the clear lines between creative liabilities and liberties must be maintained. This could mean many, caveats, including application of media literacy. For instance, protagonists on screens should not be shown as meeting feme fatale every now and then while on duty. Their sacred workplaces and weapons must never be objectified and diluted down for a selfie. Pakistani audience especially youth as the most active consumer of media who are clearly unlike from cocoons kids in developed countries, need to see the illustrations (while preserving the privacy concerns) that are representativeness of the war on terror. These may include the images of the elegance of lioness-like single mothers receiving coffin of a 21 year accomplished officer son, tearless eye of the old father returning from the funeral of a son whom he always imagined organizing his, toddlers carelessly playing on the grave of a shaheed father and many many more. Such stories are ought to be highlighted repeatedly on different media throughout the year rather than reserving for certain important days.
Luminaries and legends are not found in the chateaus or buildings oozing with grandiose or gaudy architecture. They are in the barracks, bunkers, at the heights of deadly Siachen , unlimited skies, merciless seas or mysterious deserts and very often proud of their (income) poverty. Our country has been recurrently dealt with not only many quarters of so-called free media in the west but also with unprecedented unfairness by many brilliant brains who benefited a lot from their motherland. In this age of instant gratification on social media platforms and digitally accelerated disinformation a national communication strategy for youth, with creative punch and empirical data, aimed at promoting our national sheroes/heroes, the essentials about national security and contemporary challenges must be devised. The ISPR ,media outlets, youth-led organizations, youth-mentors, thought- leaders, academia and think tanks may consider coming together to developing travelling seminars, v-logs and artistic pieces based on books that project Pakistan constructively and are authored by those whose patriotism and or professionalism cannot be questioned. My personal list of such books is extensive but here, I suggest that these 5 books penned by men in Uniform namely; “Rising Hindutva and its Impact on the Region” by Group leader S M Hali (Retd.), Fighting Shadows by Maj.Gen.Samrez Salik (Retd.), Unlikely beginnings; a soldier’s life by Maj.Gen.Abubakar Osman Mittha (Retd.) and two Urdu books M M Alam by Shehzad Rafique (PAF) and SSG -Tareekh k Ainey mein by Lt.Col.Ghulam Jillani Khan (retd.). These and other chosen books must be available in the libraries of all public and private academia as hard and soft copies and should be showcased in popular current affairs and entertaining TV shows and Radio programs.
The 64% of Pakistan’s youth bulge must be defended from being deluded by any anti-national interest entities. Pakistan needs to rebrand patriotism through informed intellectual warriors who could safeguard country’s conceptual circumferences. This entails empowering of youth through inclusive education, employment, social innovation and social justice.
Happy 81st Pakistan Day!
The writer is a free thinker