Our favorite national sport besides killing each other is other is bashing our country. The target could be - it's government of the day, it's history, it's army and everything connected with it starting from the weather and stopping no where! Our politicians, our bureaucrats, our intellectuals, our journalists and the common man are all party to this constant barrage of hatred against the poor state of Pakistan. We somehow believe ourselves to be different and apart from our country, I mean, we think that we stand separate from what our country stands for - every Pakistani I have ever met and inevitably discussed this topic with feels he has nothing to do with why his country is where it is today, it is all due to the mistakes of others be it his predecessors or the past leaders, or the current government or someone else, he will never own the 'problem' if we can call the collective condition of Pakistan that. This country bashing isn't exclusive to us, the Russians were adept at this in the 19th century and that is portrayed beautifully in all the novels of Tolstoy, but then that is literature, and literature at all times has an aim higher than pure pleasure.
In every Pakistani gathering there is always under discussion the problems facing the country and its imminent demise at the hands of either the American-Jewish nexus or the Al-Qaeda group. Or the self destruction of the country by its failure to govern itself and mismanage its financial affairs. For years that's what I have been hearing and that is what I have participated in myself, distancing myself from the situation at hand and commenting on it as if I am an outsider merely looking into the issues of a banana republic and giving my suggestions to improve it.
We love to hate our country. And we have done this from the time it came into existence, is this the way to be? or is there a healthier relationship we can have with Pakistan minus the abuse and constant bashing? The interesting thing is we are critical of each other as well, the middle class hates itself for it is consciously conscious of being somehow underprivileged than the upper class, the upper class (which is upper only by size of their houses and their bank accounts - never mind where the money is coming from) hates the middle and lower classes for it can see itself reflected in them, their not so distant past, and their connections which they now want to shed and do away with. We basically have a country of haves and have-nots and the battle between the two is inevitable and unavoidable.
But, the point is how do we stop prosecuting and verbally abusing our country publicly and privately? Why is it that instead of feeling pride in being a Pakistani we feel somewhat inner shame, an uncomfortable feeling, a hope and wish that we could have belonged to another nation, another topography no matter what.
I don't have the answer to that but I hope we can find it soon enough before its too late.
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