Proud to be a Pakistani?

I was out on the road on August 14 this year and I witnessed young boys sporting the Pakistani flag as bandanas, shouting out loud, “Pakistan Zindabad” (Long live Pakistan). For some odd reason, I did not feel like celebrating. In fact, I did not feel anything. Why? I guess it was because these people were celebrating freedom, while I thought to myself, “What freedom?” We are not free people, we should not be celebrating ‘freedom’. And we have no right to celebrate this day because we have not done justice to this country and its ideology. We have let down those who fought for our freedom. The likes of Jinnah and Iqbal must be turning in their graves at the present condition of Pakistan. Jinnah fought to create a democratic, tolerant Muslim nation, while Iqbal wanted the new generation to break free from archaic theological thinking.

In his presidential address to the All India Muslim Conference meeting held in March 1932, Allama Iqbal said, “The grandeur of our Deen [religion] is lying shackled by primitive superstitions of our Mullahs and Jurists and is begging to be let free. From a spiritual angle we are in a prison house of emotions and situations, which we built around ourselves during centuries past...”

But what has happened since our independence? Are we truly free? Are we free of all the biases that our forefathers wished would not be present in the coming generations, are we a democratic country, are we a tolerant society, are we economically independent, are we a just society? Is this the country I should be proud of? A country where corruption is rampant, where we have had more dictatorships than democracies, where the politicians are in politics for nothing but their own vested interests, where institutions like the judiciary are under the influence of powerful circles, where there is no justice for the poor, where there is unequal distribution of wealth, where there is no employment, no one cares about merit, education is in the pits, religion is used as a tool for spreading terror, etc. Somehow, I really do not feel proud to be a Pakistani.

But what can you or I do to make our coming generations feel proud to be a Pakistani? Do we want to fail our generations? Should we not do something that would help them celebrate August 14th with the joy and fervour this day deserves? Though a change cannot come overnight, but unless and until we all try, no change can come. To criticise everything is easy, to make a difference is the difficult part. Getting disillusioned and losing all hope is what happens to a lot of people, but those who keep contributing their bit are the ones who leave their mark on history.

Education is the most important tool that can help build a nation. This is not to say that it is the solution to all our problems, but if the education system of Pakistan is reformed, many of our problems would be solved. People lacking in literacy can hardly participate and understand the pros and cons of government policies and their influence on their lives. Therefore, in order to amend and modify the system and the way politicians manipulate naive citizens, the awareness of long-term and short-term interests must be instilled in people. More than 60 percent of the people in Pakistan are illiterate, and the majority of even those who are part of the ‘literate’ circle are almost illiterate. The standard of education in public schools is pathetic to say the least, while the private sector offers relief to only those who can afford it. The government needs to be woken up from its slumber by all those Pakistanis who feel that the need of the hour is reform of the current education system. A movement has to gain momentum and force the government to increase their education budget and really ensure the creation of new schools and improvement in the existing ones. Why do the elite flock after O-level and A-level degrees? The reason we have to rely on international degrees is because our own matriculation, FA/FSc, BA/BSc and Masters degrees are nothing to write home about. Unless the education system is revamped from the grassroots level up, it would always stay in the dungeons. The rote system of Matric and FSc has to go and must be replaced by something similar to O-levels and A-levels, where more emphasis is given to testing understanding than the labour exerted by the students in memorising their text books. Conspiracy theories against science, portraying it as evil, must go. Religious studies must be limited to Islamic Studies and the science text books must teach pure sciences, which are based on centuries of research and have been published in the past or present after undergoing a stringent peer review process. Instead of imparting fear of anything Western, all positive contributions must be acknowledged and our own history must be critically analysed instead of portraying every past figure as a saint in the text books. The new syllabus must be designed in collaboration with those people who have an in-depth experience with the Western style of teaching to make use of the advances in the mode and content of teaching. People sending all their children above a certain age to school must be given certain tax breaks and other incentives, which would continue to increase as their children go to higher classes. With time, it would evolve into a proper system and would benefit the future.

The next step should be legal reforms. Our legal system needs to be revamped and everyone should be equal in the eyes of the law without exception. The punishments should not be so harsh that they psychologically cripple a person, but not so soft for habitual criminals, in order to protect the entire society from them. The provinces should be given their due rights enshrined in the Constitution in order to usher in provincial harmony. If equal rights were given to all the provinces, there would not have been so much bloodshed in Balochistan, so much mistrust in Sindh, and such anti-government sentiment in NWFP. Three provinces have been manipulated by Punjab and the Centre. The concerned authorities must address this issue or who knows there might be a repetition of the 1971 debacle.

One reason why this country is in such dire straits is that our institutions are weak. Every institution needs to be strong, especially the judiciary must be independent of the influence of government and law enforcement agencies. The salaries of public servants must be increased so that they are not tempted to take bribes. If a police constable is paid, say Rs. 5,000 per month and he has four children, what choice does he have except to take bribes? When they have the power, but not enough money, they would certainly exploit the power to make ends meet. Similarly, checks and balances should be present at every level to prevent people from falling prey to temptations and anyone and everyone taking a wrong step must have to bear the consequences. Corruption has to go, merit should determine a person’s position, not nepotism and flattery. Things can work if people want to work. The Motorway Police is one such example. They are competent, they do not accept bribes and they penalise every vehicle that crosses the speed limit. If we can have an efficient Motorway Police, our own police force can be made to work efficiently as well.

Not only should the government make an effort to improve the conditions, so should the public. We should all try to contribute to society by doing voluntary social work. In the West, when people commit a minor crime, instead of sending them to jail, they are asked to do community work for 200 hours. Not only does it teach them a lesson, it also benefits the community.

It is about time that we as a nation wake up and rid ourselves of the fetters of ignorance and revolutionise the existing system to bring it to the level of other developed nations. Only then can we have a fair chance of competing with the rest of the world, where nations with proper systems in place will continue to prosper and the weaker nations will be eliminated by their own self-destructive policies. We are in dire need of technological, economic, constitutional, educational and moral reformation and we have to look no further, but within us to bring a change. If we are not doing anything to help the cause of our nation, it would be hypocrisy to expect someone else to do it for us. We should stop waiting for any Messiah to come and get everything in order. Nobody is going to come and only our collective effort can save Pakistan.