Daily Times

“Nationalist pride, like other variants of pride, can be a substitute for self-respect”— Eric Hoffer

Way back in the 1960s, during our primary school days, our textbooks were full of stories about children from different provinces, including Bengalis when East Pakistan was under our flag. These were largely descriptive accounts of prevailing lifestyles, focusing on language, culture and staple diets, which naturally varied from region to region. Despite these distinctions, there were many similarities, and we learned that bravery, courtesy and, above all, self-respect were among them. Whether a Pashtun, Sindhi, Baloch, Punjabi, Bengali or even a settlor, each stood out as part of one proud nation that honoured its words and independence more than anything else. So what if one ate rice, another wheat or corn? So what if someone speaking Balochi could not understand what a Punjabi was saying? So what if a Pashtun’s clothes weren’t the same as a Sindhi’s? Variety, as the saying goes, is the spice of life. Alas! With the passage of time, this nation has experienced more disintegration on the basis of ethnicity than anything else. Consequently, we lost one part in 1971 and since then we have been struggling to forge unity. Yet without moves to eradicate inequality and injustice in all spheres and elitist capture, this remains a daunting task

One of the reasons for the rise and fall of nations is vulnerability to foreign invaders; at whose hands come humiliation and destruction. China and Vietnam are prime examples of this, as both navigated intermittent periods of subjugation and inroads made by outside forces. Yet both have emerged stronger; Vietnam is now a middle power and China is fast on its way to superpower status. However, few nations endure hardship on account of the actions of their own people.

Pakistan’s political journey has been quite an erratic one. There have been capricious rulers who played with the destiny of the people either by introducing totalitarian policies or else wooing them with the pretence of representative democracy, which also ultimately steered the country towards self-styled despotism. There came occasional splurges of development, industrialisation and progress interspersed with natural calamities and wars that kept the gears of advancement moving simultaneously forward and in reverse as the country oscillated between neoliberalism and fundamentalism; unity and ethnic or religious bias: education and ignorance; pragmatism and superstition. Thus, Pakistan, in its short life, has travelled a more winding road than most.

Pakistan’s political journey has been quite an erratic one. There have been capricious rulers who played with the destiny of the people either by introducing totalitarian policies or else wooing them with the pretence of representative democracy

Over the last seven decades, we have witnessed party politics on ethno-religious lines. Even those who opposed the creation of this country claim that it came into being in the name of Islam, believing this sufficient to unify Muslims of any race. Pakistan’s national flag bears a white strip to represent the minority that is entitled to all the rights and privileges enjoyed by the Muslim majority. Today, even the majority is being suffocated on account of rising intolerance, injustice, bad governance, petty politics, corruption and disrespect for the rule of law. With the country still firmly on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list — the threat of the black list looming ever large — it is becoming increasingly embarrassing for the citizenry to introduce themselves as Pakistanis. Against this backdrop of disunity, the people also have to contend with rapidly increasing domestic and international debt, the repayment of which is bleeding the national exchequer dry. As the American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson aptly puts it: “A man in debt is so far a slave.”

Nations that are unable to stand on their own two feet and live within their means end up relying on the largesse of others and, in doing so, surrender the right to self-determination. Historically, whenever countries stumble financially it is typically due to bad governance (including complacency of rulers), political interference in state machinery, rampant corruption and, above all, incurring more debt than can be paid off which, in turn, compromises state assets. And until loans are paid off, countries find themselves beholden to their ‘benefactors’ vested interests. The end result being dented self-esteem and wounded national pride.

If only we had managed to stand as one during the critical phases of Pakistan’s history — things would have been different. Maybe then we would have been able to put aside competing rivalries to pull our human resources together to prevent the country from getting caught in the debt trap. Had that happened, we would be in a position to collectively defy those who offend our sensibilities. Resorting to mere protests and destroying whatever remains is pointless. For what good is our nuclear status if we have to endure humiliation after humiliation? Truly courageous nations are those that stand united and work together to deliver the citizenry from each and every crisis. That is how they shine forth in the annals of history.

The writer, lawyer and author, is an Adjunct Faculty at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). She tweets @Huzaimabukhari