AshenSparrow
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This is a major issue which I am ashamed that our MOD EDIT of a founder Jinnah didn’t address. When he pushed for a separate, independent state for Indian Muslims, he was creating an identity. He never defined what it meant to be Pakistani. Chaudhry Rahmat Ali Gujjar defined what people were Pakistani: Punjab, North-West Frontier Province (Afghan Province), Kashmir, Sindh and Baluchistan." Even Muhammad Ali Jinnah didn’t like the name but when public sentiment swayed he too adopted it:
"I think you will bear me out that when we passed the Lahore resolution we had not used the word ‘Pakistan’. Who gave us this word'? (Cries of “Hindus”) Let me tell you it is their fault. They started damning this resolution on the ground that it was Pakistan. They are really ignorant of the Muslim movement. They fathered this word upon us. . . . You know perfectly well that Pakistan is a word which is really foisted upon us and fathered on us by some section of the Hindu press and also by the British press. Now our, resolution was known for a long time as the Lahore resolution popularly known as Pakistan. But how long are we to have this long phrase? Now I say to my Hindu and British friends: We thank you for giving us one word. (Applause, and cries of hear, hear.) What is the origin of the word Pakistan? It was not Muslim League or Quaid-i-Azam who coined it. Some young fellows in London, who wanted a particular part of north-west to be separated from the rest of India, coined a name in 1929–30, started the idea and called a zone Pakistan. They picked up the letter P for Punjab. A for Afghan, as the NWFP is known even today as Afghan, K for Kashmir. S for Sind, and Tan for Baluchistan. A name was coined. Thus, whatever may have been the meaning of this word at the time it is obvious that language of every civilised country invents new words. The word Pakistan has come to mean Lahore resolution. We wanted a word and it was foisted on us and we found it convenient to use it as a synonym for Lahore Resolution." Sure attempts were made to create an identity:
I considered myself a loyal and true Pakistani but when I thought about it, it meant nothing. Being born in Pakistan made someone Pakistani but what did it mean?
I came to the conclusion it meant nothing. Being Pakistani was supposed to mean you belonged to either Punjab, NWFP, Kashmir, Sindh and Baluchistan. So it was akin in the sense that you can be European but at the same time be Polish or British or Italian or German. But then, these people have their own cultures, traditions, virtues. It meantsomething to be Spanish or French. So if Pakistan was for people in the North-West of India then what about the millions who flocked from India, the Muhajirs? Or lest we forget that majority of Pakistan’s population in 1947 was actually Bengali and resided in East Pakistan. A country in which there own name wasn’t even included.
Pakistan is facing an identity crises. The word means the land of the Pure and yet we have the some of the highest crime and corruption rates in the world.
Our people starve, hunger and hurt over the lack of economic development in our country because our Government is incompetent.
But then why should they be competent? Why should they foster an identity which means nothing to them. When Pakistani’s realise being Pakistani doesn’t mean anything they move to the next best thing: their Provincial identity. The Army defends a nation because it has to, it is its duty to. They give their blood and their life to an identity that means nothing.
The very thing the creators of the word Pakistan thought would unite people ended up dividing it. Our culture is not the same. Our traditions are not the same. Or religious practices differ. Our ethnicities differ. Our food differs. Our languages are not the same. Hence tying what it means to Pakistani to our culture, or tradition, or religious practices, or ethnicity or language is counter-productive because its ability to unite the population will be weak.
Somebody needs to meaning to what it means to be Pakistani. For this I believe we should lean heavily on quite a few Prussian virtues. As listed below:
Austerity | Fortitude | Courage | Determination | Discipline | Frankness | Godliness, coupled with religious tolerance | Modesty | Incorruptibility | Industriousness | Loyalty | Punctuality | Sense of duty | Sense of justice |
We already have some of these qualities: We have fortitude, it takes a measure of courage to go through the pain and problems to live in a poor country where simple things such as getting water or food is an immense issue. We have courage! It takes courage for our youth to defend Lahore in 1965, it takes courage to fight on the mountains of the Himalayas and the freezing conditions that inhibit that region. We are disciplined! Our students work hard, having lived and studied in Pakistan myself I can attest to this. Were they not would they gain admission to universities all across the world? Pakistani’s have earned Nobel awards. It was a Pakistani who devised how best to develop the South Korean economy. We are modest. Most Pakistani’s will not claim to be the best, they are realistic and humble people .
But we need better. We need to be austere, If we were austere then the lavish salaries of our Members of National Assembly or Senate the MNA’s would have to be cut so that that money could be spent on the people. We need to be determined, determined that we can do good for our nation, not immigrate because there are little opportunities, we need to make those opportunities through determination. We need to be frank so that we can address the issues that plague our nation. We need to have a belief of a god but coupled with religious tolerance. I live in the understanding there will be consequences for my actions. If not in this life but in the next. If only the godless, shameless criminals who steal, kill and kidnap feared the afterlife and the retribution they will receive it would deter them from doing so. But it has to be coupled with religious tolerance, acceptance that others will not believe in the same god as us, and that is fine. As Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington said: Educate men without religion and you make of them but clever devils. If bankers and public servants cared about the lives of the poor, would they be so reckless in the way they handled their business which held the ability to destroy economies? A belief in God is the easiest way to do so, but if someone doesn’t then tolerance. To avoid violence and promote peace. We need to be incorruptible. If our police officers viewed corruption as a despicable act would they be so susceptible to it? If society hammered it into their youth would they go on to view a job in government as a way to earn money fast or as a way to serve the people, devoid of a result in material richness? If mothers taught their children to value incorruptible more than the amount of money we earned wouldn’t Pakistan be a better place to live. If attached a stigma to corruption as is in the UK for example would people be so susceptible to it? We need to be industriousness within Pakistan, not after leaving Pakistan and working hard for another economy to gain their passport and secure a future for their children, a primitive reaction to the failing state that is Pakistan, this reaction of fleeing. We need to beLoyal. We need to stand and fight. Fight the intolerance, the violence, the corruption, all the evils of society. Condemn it! With our actions! If not with our actions then with our words! If not our words then in our hearts! But stand our ground nonetheless. Plant our feet firm in the concept that Pakistan is a nation for all, regardless of tradition, culture, ethnicity, religion and language. A land where we care for our families, our neighbours, the land God has entrusted us as well as the nations that neighbour us. We need to be punctuality. It is starting a task that is the most difficult part of a journey, being on time will aid us in those aims, regardless of difficulty. We need to have a sense of duty. It is good that Pakistani’s aim high and go abroad, but to disregard your roots? To try and tear them out and disassociate ourselves from them? No. No matter how far we travel, no matter how far we go, we must never forget our roots. As a wise man once said: The world will not, we should we? Wear it like armour and it can never be used to hurt us. We must be patriotic but not nationalistic. We must have a sense of justice. Society is built on the belief if one its members breaks its laws they will receive the punishment they deserve. If this simple, foundational aspect of society isn’t fulfilled what is society but a step away from collapse. If the murderers of our sisters go unpunished, who is to say it won’t be yours next? If the thief goes unpunished who is to say it won’t be your property that is stolen next? We cannot tolerate the perception of bad luck and that it won’t happen to us. Pakistan must function as a human body. As the Prophet said that Muslims should: “The parable of the believers in their affection, mercy, and compassion for each other is that of a body. When any limb aches, the whole body reacts with sleeplessness and fever.” We must make this a defending principle of Pakistan. That when one province is hurt, the others help, when one district is traumatised the others help, when one town is distraught, the others help, when one community is shaken, the others help, when family is sick the others help.
Sure, not everyone will be like that, but most of us should. We should be a shining example to the world. We have what we need to be content. The Indus river flood plain is rich and can provide for everyone. We don’t need gold, or iron or coal. Let us promote education and reason. Let us be a bastion of technology and development. Let reason and logic rule the land. Let us feel for those who are hurt, let us feel for those who are poor and hungry, who cry. “More than machinery, we need humanity”. We need to believe in Pakistan. Not as an amalgamation of British Provinces but as a land for the pure. The Pure of Heart and Mind and Soul.
We won’t be rich. We won’t be wealthy. We won’t have black gold in the quantities that the middle-east has to exploit. Can’t we provide safety? Education? The chance to succeed? If people drop their clinging nature towards their ethnicities of being Balochi, Sindhi, Punjabi, Pathan, Muhajir and hold true to the above concept of Pakistan at least then, when we are old and about to die, we know that we have left a safer Pakistan, a purer Pakistan, an optimistic and better Pakistan for our children.
Thank you for your time and focus! Please tell me your views!
"I think you will bear me out that when we passed the Lahore resolution we had not used the word ‘Pakistan’. Who gave us this word'? (Cries of “Hindus”) Let me tell you it is their fault. They started damning this resolution on the ground that it was Pakistan. They are really ignorant of the Muslim movement. They fathered this word upon us. . . . You know perfectly well that Pakistan is a word which is really foisted upon us and fathered on us by some section of the Hindu press and also by the British press. Now our, resolution was known for a long time as the Lahore resolution popularly known as Pakistan. But how long are we to have this long phrase? Now I say to my Hindu and British friends: We thank you for giving us one word. (Applause, and cries of hear, hear.) What is the origin of the word Pakistan? It was not Muslim League or Quaid-i-Azam who coined it. Some young fellows in London, who wanted a particular part of north-west to be separated from the rest of India, coined a name in 1929–30, started the idea and called a zone Pakistan. They picked up the letter P for Punjab. A for Afghan, as the NWFP is known even today as Afghan, K for Kashmir. S for Sind, and Tan for Baluchistan. A name was coined. Thus, whatever may have been the meaning of this word at the time it is obvious that language of every civilised country invents new words. The word Pakistan has come to mean Lahore resolution. We wanted a word and it was foisted on us and we found it convenient to use it as a synonym for Lahore Resolution." Sure attempts were made to create an identity:
I considered myself a loyal and true Pakistani but when I thought about it, it meant nothing. Being born in Pakistan made someone Pakistani but what did it mean?
I came to the conclusion it meant nothing. Being Pakistani was supposed to mean you belonged to either Punjab, NWFP, Kashmir, Sindh and Baluchistan. So it was akin in the sense that you can be European but at the same time be Polish or British or Italian or German. But then, these people have their own cultures, traditions, virtues. It meantsomething to be Spanish or French. So if Pakistan was for people in the North-West of India then what about the millions who flocked from India, the Muhajirs? Or lest we forget that majority of Pakistan’s population in 1947 was actually Bengali and resided in East Pakistan. A country in which there own name wasn’t even included.
Pakistan is facing an identity crises. The word means the land of the Pure and yet we have the some of the highest crime and corruption rates in the world.
Our people starve, hunger and hurt over the lack of economic development in our country because our Government is incompetent.
But then why should they be competent? Why should they foster an identity which means nothing to them. When Pakistani’s realise being Pakistani doesn’t mean anything they move to the next best thing: their Provincial identity. The Army defends a nation because it has to, it is its duty to. They give their blood and their life to an identity that means nothing.
The very thing the creators of the word Pakistan thought would unite people ended up dividing it. Our culture is not the same. Our traditions are not the same. Or religious practices differ. Our ethnicities differ. Our food differs. Our languages are not the same. Hence tying what it means to Pakistani to our culture, or tradition, or religious practices, or ethnicity or language is counter-productive because its ability to unite the population will be weak.
Somebody needs to meaning to what it means to be Pakistani. For this I believe we should lean heavily on quite a few Prussian virtues. As listed below:
Austerity | Fortitude | Courage | Determination | Discipline | Frankness | Godliness, coupled with religious tolerance | Modesty | Incorruptibility | Industriousness | Loyalty | Punctuality | Sense of duty | Sense of justice |
We already have some of these qualities: We have fortitude, it takes a measure of courage to go through the pain and problems to live in a poor country where simple things such as getting water or food is an immense issue. We have courage! It takes courage for our youth to defend Lahore in 1965, it takes courage to fight on the mountains of the Himalayas and the freezing conditions that inhibit that region. We are disciplined! Our students work hard, having lived and studied in Pakistan myself I can attest to this. Were they not would they gain admission to universities all across the world? Pakistani’s have earned Nobel awards. It was a Pakistani who devised how best to develop the South Korean economy. We are modest. Most Pakistani’s will not claim to be the best, they are realistic and humble people .
But we need better. We need to be austere, If we were austere then the lavish salaries of our Members of National Assembly or Senate the MNA’s would have to be cut so that that money could be spent on the people. We need to be determined, determined that we can do good for our nation, not immigrate because there are little opportunities, we need to make those opportunities through determination. We need to be frank so that we can address the issues that plague our nation. We need to have a belief of a god but coupled with religious tolerance. I live in the understanding there will be consequences for my actions. If not in this life but in the next. If only the godless, shameless criminals who steal, kill and kidnap feared the afterlife and the retribution they will receive it would deter them from doing so. But it has to be coupled with religious tolerance, acceptance that others will not believe in the same god as us, and that is fine. As Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington said: Educate men without religion and you make of them but clever devils. If bankers and public servants cared about the lives of the poor, would they be so reckless in the way they handled their business which held the ability to destroy economies? A belief in God is the easiest way to do so, but if someone doesn’t then tolerance. To avoid violence and promote peace. We need to be incorruptible. If our police officers viewed corruption as a despicable act would they be so susceptible to it? If society hammered it into their youth would they go on to view a job in government as a way to earn money fast or as a way to serve the people, devoid of a result in material richness? If mothers taught their children to value incorruptible more than the amount of money we earned wouldn’t Pakistan be a better place to live. If attached a stigma to corruption as is in the UK for example would people be so susceptible to it? We need to be industriousness within Pakistan, not after leaving Pakistan and working hard for another economy to gain their passport and secure a future for their children, a primitive reaction to the failing state that is Pakistan, this reaction of fleeing. We need to beLoyal. We need to stand and fight. Fight the intolerance, the violence, the corruption, all the evils of society. Condemn it! With our actions! If not with our actions then with our words! If not our words then in our hearts! But stand our ground nonetheless. Plant our feet firm in the concept that Pakistan is a nation for all, regardless of tradition, culture, ethnicity, religion and language. A land where we care for our families, our neighbours, the land God has entrusted us as well as the nations that neighbour us. We need to be punctuality. It is starting a task that is the most difficult part of a journey, being on time will aid us in those aims, regardless of difficulty. We need to have a sense of duty. It is good that Pakistani’s aim high and go abroad, but to disregard your roots? To try and tear them out and disassociate ourselves from them? No. No matter how far we travel, no matter how far we go, we must never forget our roots. As a wise man once said: The world will not, we should we? Wear it like armour and it can never be used to hurt us. We must be patriotic but not nationalistic. We must have a sense of justice. Society is built on the belief if one its members breaks its laws they will receive the punishment they deserve. If this simple, foundational aspect of society isn’t fulfilled what is society but a step away from collapse. If the murderers of our sisters go unpunished, who is to say it won’t be yours next? If the thief goes unpunished who is to say it won’t be your property that is stolen next? We cannot tolerate the perception of bad luck and that it won’t happen to us. Pakistan must function as a human body. As the Prophet said that Muslims should: “The parable of the believers in their affection, mercy, and compassion for each other is that of a body. When any limb aches, the whole body reacts with sleeplessness and fever.” We must make this a defending principle of Pakistan. That when one province is hurt, the others help, when one district is traumatised the others help, when one town is distraught, the others help, when one community is shaken, the others help, when family is sick the others help.
Sure, not everyone will be like that, but most of us should. We should be a shining example to the world. We have what we need to be content. The Indus river flood plain is rich and can provide for everyone. We don’t need gold, or iron or coal. Let us promote education and reason. Let us be a bastion of technology and development. Let reason and logic rule the land. Let us feel for those who are hurt, let us feel for those who are poor and hungry, who cry. “More than machinery, we need humanity”. We need to believe in Pakistan. Not as an amalgamation of British Provinces but as a land for the pure. The Pure of Heart and Mind and Soul.
We won’t be rich. We won’t be wealthy. We won’t have black gold in the quantities that the middle-east has to exploit. Can’t we provide safety? Education? The chance to succeed? If people drop their clinging nature towards their ethnicities of being Balochi, Sindhi, Punjabi, Pathan, Muhajir and hold true to the above concept of Pakistan at least then, when we are old and about to die, we know that we have left a safer Pakistan, a purer Pakistan, an optimistic and better Pakistan for our children.
Thank you for your time and focus! Please tell me your views!
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