Daily Times

When flags are burnt, sentiments run high. Though it is justified to state that desecration of a national flag is in fact an insult to the people belonging to a nation, double standards often surface when a rival country’s flag is humiliated in public. On Monday this week, a prominent writer of Pakistani origin was witnessed publicly burning the Pakistani flag in a protest organised by Baloch separatists in Canada. We are in no position to comment on whether the intention of this particular gentleman was to genuinely highlight the resentment of the Baloch separatists. This particular action, especially coming from an intellectual, is hurtful to our national sentiments but it is certainly not shocking. This action per se is not as disturbing as is to completely turn a blind eye to the reasons behind why the flag has been burnt. And, quite unfortunately, the examples of our deliberate ignorance in the garb of jingoism are many in Pakistan. While television channels show with much jubilation separatists in India burning their flag, they feel enraged when the same is done to the Pakistani flag.

If we are to focus on our regional politics, there have always been enough reasons for burning the US, Pakistani and Indian flags. The politics of nationalism are commonplace in Pakistan, where an individual gets jailed for a long time in Pakistan for hoisting the national flag of India in support of his favourite cricketer, whereas very little has been done to take to task those who outrightly commend and support groups responsible for terrorism and sectarianism in the country. A similar incident happened in India when seven Indian nationals were imprisoned for displaying the Pakistani flag on their banner commemorating Eid-e-Miladun Nabi, the birth anniversary of the Prophet (PBUH). These biased administrative policies seem unable to understand the fault lines running within the country, where segments of the nation feel alienated from national ownership of the country mainly because they have been refused their fair share of citizenship, liberty and basic rights. The proponents of the Khalistan movement in India have burnt Indian flags on several occasions. This was done as an act of expressing resentment of the Sikhs of Indian Punjab against their state. In Pakistan too, many feel oppressed by certain actions by the state. This is particularly true for our regions that remain devoid of political representation like Gilgit-Baltistan and Balochistan.

The separatist tendencies in Pakistan are a far more serious issue for the state to tackle. Pakistani flags have been burned many times in Balochistan. Armed groups are gaining a stronghold in the region because they sympathise with the people’s resentment against the establishment of extra-judicious actions against them. The voices raising awareness about missing persons in the province are being silenced. Deprivation of economic empowerment and lack of political participation are adding up all the woes in the province. Where one voice is silenced by the state, more will protest against it. There is a misperception of the government that its heavy handedness will diminish their separatist movement but they do not realise that a mere minority of those wanting a separate homeland has the tendency to turn into an agitating majority if remedial steps are not taken now to integrate them into the economic and political mainstream of the country.

Other segments of the population in our nation face extreme discrimination and insecurity, and are leaving in huge numbers. Over the past five years, about 12,000 Hindus have left Pakistan, followed by Christians, Ahmedis and Hazara Shias who have taken to hazardous shores they find safer than living in Pakistan. Minorities like the Parsis have all virtually left, leaving behind just a few dozen. The Ahmedi community is also leaving Pakistan because they feel helpless, constitutionally violated and without state protection against violent religious mobs that have been targeting them for their beliefs. Hazara Shias also feel stuck and are fleeing because of the worst kind of violence they face at the hands of militant Sunni groups. It is in fact the unchecked radicalisation over recent years that has led Pakistan to be divided on religious lines, severely damaging its internal harmony and resulting in growing resentment towards the state for its failure to protect them. Though it is not right to state that those leaving the country are equated with the separatists, the only thing that is common in them is a loss of state ownership. Even if they want to stay loyal to the nation, the hostile environment for them leaves them with no other option. If they feel any agitation against the state, they have many reasons for it.

There comes a moral dilemma for those who protest by burning flags: whether they associate a particular flag with tyranny or are advocating for armed movement against the state. We must keep in mind that the people who protested against Pakistan recently in Canada were no militants; in fact, they were represented mainly by the students and Baloch diaspora, which had organised this rally. Though it was a small event it consisted of intellectuals and other opinion makers whose voice leaves a deep impact on shaping the mindsets of the people.

There should be no patronising of burning flags that symbolise a national identity. Doing so is not only an irresponsible act as it simply means that one is denying to accept the sovereignty of the nation. But this should not mean that the state taking action against the protestors by imprisoning them without trial and torturing them in their illegal detention is going to contain the movement. It is time the state realised that it cannot expect loyalty from the people and unless the state proactively works to resolve and redress their issues, more flags will be burned.

The writer tweets at @zeebahashmi and can be reached at zeeba.hashmi@gmail.com