A letter to Pakistan on 70th anniversary

Dear Pakistan;

Happy 70^th anniversary. On this day I have to write to you regarding my relation to you, my relation both as an individual and as a Pashtun.

I for one don’t believe in the patriotic zeal and nationalistic fervor of shouting for glory of the country that has given me its passport. Nationalism and patriotism are instruments of propaganda. The instruments of propaganda are subtle. Their ability to hide in plain sight and driving a particular point through repetition of simplistic notions and denying any complex stock taking is mostly effective and more so in situations where alternative discourse is frowned upon and clamped upon. We see the symbols of patriotic propaganda everywhere and as they are pervasive we don't think about them consciously but they leave a mark subconsciously. So, I have raised my conscious guards long time ago and now behind every veneer of patriotic slogans of glory of any country my rational mind unintentionally steers down to the countless bloodbaths that the rulers of that country have carried out ostensibly in name of defense of that country. When I hear about the past glories that a country tracks its present to, I have nothing but to smile at the falsehoods, half-truths and hysteric delusions that are passed down as national histories. Behind every slogan of commitment to a certain set of values I see the sufferings, the miseries and loathing of the masses which can be fed, clothed at the expense of few jets and missiles.

I am a humanist first and foremost and as such my relation to any state can be transactional and not emotional. I can’t help but to own some kind of identity which is in relation to the country I live in. Pakistan has given me a political identity. But that is not something to be proud over. I guess 99% of humanity has a political identity. With the advent of nation-state I have one political identity or another; even empires before the nation-state have given political identity to its subjects. So when your officials and my compatriots ask me to be thankful to you for you have given me an identity I don’t know how else to react other than laughing in their faces. Millions upon millions of my countrymen and countrywomen expect me to die for your glory but I consider that such a waste of the precious gift of life. But I have no qualms in dying for truth, justice and honor (not to be confused by the fragile ego thing that your citizens hold so dear), and if the beauty is overpowering, for beauty too. But please wait a second before you bring down the guillotine on my neck. I may not subscribe to the patriotism that you want me have to but I have nothing against you and will never ever do something which harms your integrity.

Speaking of identity, I can’t overlook the fact that my relation to you is defined by my existential identity of culture and language. I know that for being entered into the folds of Pakistaniat I have to abdicate my claim to unique cultural-linguistic identity but that also comes at a political cost. The instrumental identity of Pakistaniat demands from me that I have to be silent over the asymmetric development policies and totally non-humanistic calculation of worth of human lives. To be considered a Pakistani by you I have to admit open-heartedly you considering central and northern Punjab as the strategic core and me as strategic periphery. To be considered a good Pakistani I have to reconcile with the fact that if people in northern and central Punjab die all of the state machinery, including army chief and prime minister, will come into action but I am being killed for the last thirteen years for the sake and protection of Pakistan. And that if I dare raise a voice over this travesty of justice I will be declared a traitor.

But even after all that you have done to me; I still am not losing hope in you. I long for the day when you will abide by the constitutional guarantees and rights that you yourself has given me. I don’t have to reconcile the political identity given by you and my thousands years old existential identity. I expect that one day you will also reconcile with this fact. And I am working and will work towards this reconciliation. If this happens it will be triumph of diversity over assimilation, of acceptance over rejection and of tolerance over bigotry. I expect that one day you will value my life as much as you value the lives of people you consider Pakistani. I expect that one day you will give me my due share in development and not deceive me in name of security. I hope that one day you will consider me an equal citizen.

I am clear over my relation with you, are you? You don’t need to answer as abstract imaginative constructs can’t talk, but my compatriots can talk and answer me.

Regards;

An individual and a Pashtun.