Why I Love Pakistan

Love is a great passion. It is natural that man loves his native country. The same case in with me. I love Pakistan because it is my dear homeland. It was a dream of Allama Iqbal. And the Quaid-e-Azam struggled hard against the Hindus and the British to turn it into a reality. It appeared on the map of the world on the 14th of August 1947. I love Pakistan because God gave it to us as a gift to fulfill our desire to make it an ideal Muslim State. We got it in the name of Islam.It was the duty of our leaders to honour their pledges, but we are ashamed to say that they did not or perhaps they could not. It ought to have been an Islamic Country like Saudi Arabia, having a purely Islamic constitution an Islamic outlook of life and a strong love for an Islamic way of living. But we are not hopeless yet. I hope a time will come and Pakistan will become a real fort of Islam (Inshallah). I love Pakistan because there are still many people in it who demand crimes to be punished as laid down in the Holy Quran.And when this is done all social and moral evils amongst us will come to an end. We shall then become Muslims in the real sense of the word. And then Allah's promise in the holy Quran that â€Å"you will be most exalted if you become true Muslims† will insha Allah be fulfilled. I love Pakistan because while living in it we are free from the maltreatment of the Hindus. We are not forbidden to sacrifice the cow. Our shops are not looted by them our houses are not burnt by the bad characters amongst them.The doors of all important services are not closed on us. We re thankful to Allah because there are no ill natured Hindus here to fill our hearts with constant fear by their destructive designs and anti Muslim activities to kill us to loot to burn our property simply because we are Muslims. I love Pakistan because it is progressing by leaps and bounds in every field. I love Pakistan because its army its Navy and its Air Force are strong enough by the grace of All ah to guard every inch of his sacred territory.I love Pakistan because its government is our own government and its commerce its industry and its imports and exports are in our own hands. I love Pakistan because the doors of its services are all open to us and we are free to worship Allah as we please. We are free to go to mosques. Rather everybody is free to offer his prayers according to his creed. I love Pakistan because Allah wants it to exist despite our faults and it will Insha Allah exist as long as any other country does.I love Pakistan for the sake of all the saints who lie buried in it. I love it for the sake of all martyrs who fought for it. I love Pakistan because it will sooner or later win for itself a place of great honour and importance amongst the Muslim countries of the world. It will become the fountain head of Islam. It will work for the glory of Islam. Pakistani people will leave no stone unturned to spread Islam all over the world. I love Pakistan because it is the land of peace and its object is world peace. The CivilizationPakistan is not a recent figment but a continuation of 5000 years of history: quite sheepishly, I admit, that I am an adherent of the view held by many historians that the Indus valley and the Indus man were always somewhat distinct from their brethren across the Indus. I do not wish to venture into this debate but I am proud as an inheritor of Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro and Mehrgarh (not strictly in this order) and this makes me feel rooted and connected to my soil as well as ancient human civilizations and cultures.It also makes me happy that no matter how much the present-day media hysteria about Pakistan (and â€Å"natives† in general) diminishes my country and region, nothing can take away this heritage and high points of my ancestral culture. Pakistan is not just Indus civilization – it is a hybrid cultural ethos: the Greek, Gandhara, the central Asian, Persian, Aryan and the Islamic influences merge in to this river and define my soul – how can I not be proud of this? The People I simply love the Pakistani people – they are resilient, diverse and most entrepreneurial.They have survived calamities, famines, upheavals, injustices and exploitation and yet, by and large, retain a sense of humour. I am not naive to say that they are totally free of the various bondages of history but they display remarkable entrepreneurial and creative potential. Most of them are â€Å"real† and rooted and yet not averse to modernity. There is an urban revolution taking place in parts of Punjab and Sindh and the drivers are neither the state nor external donors but the people themselves. The private sector has even contributed to build an airport.There is an ugly side as well: the absence or predatory activities of the state (e. g. Karachi) has also provided a breeding ground for mafias but this is not a unique Pakistani phenomenon. From LA to Jakarata, such groups operate within t he folds of urbanization. I am proud of my people who have proved themselves in all spheres and countries – whether it is Professor Abdus Salam, the Nobel Laureate or Shazia Sikander, the miniaturist of international fame or Mukhtaran Mai who has proved her mettle in giving a tough time to forces of oppression.The Spirituality There is inordinate focus on Pakistani madrassahs, the pro-Taliban groups and the violent jihadis. How representative are these groups? Only Pakistanis know that such groups are marginal to the mainstream attachment to and practice of religion. The rural folk are still steeped in Sufi worldview and many versions of Islam exist within the same neighborhood. Of course there is manipulated curse of sectarian violence but that mercifully is not embedded despite the attempts of big external players and the octopus-like state agencies.Ordinary Pakistanis, such as me, value their Islamic beliefs, are God fearing and follow what is essentially a continuation of the centuries old traditions of spirituality that survives in the folk idiom, in the kaafis of Bulleh Shah, and in the verses of Bhitai and Rahman Baba. Our proverbs, day-to-day beliefs are all mixed and laced with history, oral tradition, Sufi lore and of course Islamic simplicity. It is another matter that there are individuals who want to hijack this thread and impose their nonsense on us – but we as a people have resisted that and shall continue to do so.After all we inherited the confluence of ancient religions and practices. Pakistan is where Buddha taught and Taxila shined, and where Nanak preached and the great saints – Usman Hajweri, Fariduddin Ganj Shakar, Bhitai and Sarmast – brought people into the fold of Islam. Despite the revisionist, constructed history by extremists in India, the sword had little to do with Islam’s rise in this region. The Natural Beauty Well the spirituality of my homeland is not just restricted to the intangible belief systems. It also reflects in the splendors of Mother Nature.From the pristine peaks in the north to the mangroves of the Indus delta, Pakistan blends climates, geographies, terrains in its melting pot. Within hours of leaving an arid zone, one enters into a fertile delta. And again a few more hours put you right in front of otherworldly mountains. The deserts of Cholistan radiate the moonlight and the surreal wildernesses of Balochistan are nothing but metaphors of spiritual beauty. Where else can I experience the aroma of wet earth when the baked earth cracks up to embrace every droplet and where else can one find a Jamun tree with a Koel calling the gods?An everlasting impression on my being shall remain the majestic sunrise at the Fairy Meadows amid the Karakorams and the melting gold of Nanga Parbat peak. I love this country’s rivers, streams and the fields where farmers testify their existence with each stroke, each touch of earth. I cherish trees that are not just tree s but signify Buddha’s seat or the ones in graveyards nourishing the seasonal blossoms. The Cuisine Yes, I love the aromas and myriad scents of Thai cooking, the subtlety of the French and Lebanese or the Turkish dishes but nothing compares to the Pakistani cuisine.Forget the high sounding stuff; ghar ka khana (homemade food) no matter which strata are you from is difficult to find elsewhere (except India of course). Whether it is a simple Tandoor ki Roti with Achaar or Palak (in the Punjab) or the intricate Biryani with ingredients and spices of all hues, the food is out of this world. In my house, we were used to at least ten different rice dishes (steamed white rice/saada/green peas/vegetable/channa/choliya/potato Pilau), three types of Biryanis (Sindhi, Hyderabadi, Dilli or just our cook’s hybridized Punjabi version), and my grandmother’s recipe of Lambi Khichdee.The list continues. In the Northern areas, there are Chinese-Pakistani concoctions, in the North West Frontier there is meat in its most tender and purest form. In Balochistan there is Sajji, meat grilled in earthenware at low heat until all the juices have transformed the steaks into a magic delight. And, the fruits and the sweets – the mangoes that come in dozens of varieties and colours, melons of different sizes, the pomegranates and the wild berries that still grow despite the pollution everywhere! How could I not love this eclectic cuisine? And Finally†¦ the sum-total of all five: I love Pakistan as this is my identity – immutable and irreversible. Simple. The genesis of this post. I am averse to the ratings and rankings that characterize the junk-journalism of our times. Much like the embedded style of reporting such a view remains partial and often ignorant of the nuances and layers of subtext that are almost unachievable in the pop-view of the world. Readers might question this apparent paradox as on the one hand I am participating in this top-five series and on the other I am also being critical.Well, well this is kosher from a South Asian perspective as we remain a mythical-modern bundle of contradictions. The real reason for me to ‘submit’ my top 5 is the inquiring spirit of Mayank Austen Soofi whom I don’t know and have never met. But I am quite empathetic to his efforts at understanding Pakistan. At least he ventures into the ‘other’ territory and unlike the mainstream media and writers, does not view Pakistan as a threatening collage of burqa clad women, terrorism and gun toting radicals.Even as he carries out his current obsession, i. e. Pakistan, there are many in the blogosphere who have questioned his motives and alleged deliberate derision of Pakistan and its inhabitants through his writings. Since I do not suffer from this sort of irrational paranoia, I am happy to let him write more on my country. At least there is one alternative voice, one un-cliched perspective from the other si de of the border. Even if my young friend employs a cliched format in this series, it is better than ‘high writing’ churning more cliches!