Face of Pakistan

In the past, people have always been skeptical about this country being a true country as there wasn’t much information in the internet about it. People had to look for information from other countries and read books just to find out more about what was happening in that country. But nowadays, with these websites like google and YouTube, people don’t need any such thing as reading or watching but rather they can search anything on these websites and will be shown all kinds of things that are happening in that particular country. The only negative aspect is when you look at someone else’s face, in real life (while looking at their photos on google and/or watching) there is definitely no evidence because all you see is different faces of the same person. And in turn, it affects your judgment about these people. So, when you see an unknown person, you might think he/she is lying etc and judge him/her based on some kind of random assumption. Not only that but if you look at the pictures with the opposite side of his/her face, then you might end up thinking she is telling the story of her family (this is even more likely now), telling you how much she loves you etc, even though it is not possible.

I would also say one must always remember that the media is a powerful medium of communication for everyone. It doesn’t matter if anyone in that world has never heard of them or is very well educated in that field. They can now have access to any kind of information that they want without giving up the right to privacy. To quote: “Privacy has nothing to do with free speech; everything to do with who we are.” — Edward Snowden

So, what I would like to write here is my personal experience as a foreigner visiting Pakistan. My first impression of the Pakistan army happened during my stay in Lahore where I stayed, to avoid feeling confused and having a bad memory. While staying, we got to know quite a bit more than just the basic stuff that could happen to every tourist in Pakistan. A lot of the most important events that happened were connected to history. History itself is something that’s easy to be forgotten about, however, I still remember my visits to ancient sites of Punjab in which we didn’t get to meet our ancestors. We did have great discussions about our culture and traditions. For example, one day while we were walking around Faisal Khan Market area, we came across many stalls selling clothes, shoes, purses etc. Our first impressions were really good for us since we were walking around a place where we could go shopping even if we didn’t have money for it. On top of that, there were hundreds of vendors selling food items in almost every inch of the shop. I felt very excited. After all, I love to eat food and I wanted to try out many new foods. All this excitement made it difficult for me to have a proper image of Pakistan. Because of what I saw only a superficial image, I couldn’t imagine the country that I lived in.

Afterwards, I went to visit Karachi where I stayed the next couple of days, while getting briefed by soldiers. I learned that Pakistan’s Army was famous not only for its military but also for its arts, literature and architecture. As I took my seat in another car, I noticed a lot of signs explaining what exactly we were going to see. I started asking “what exactly am I doing now?” It felt like a completely foreign concept to me. I felt uncomfortable that we weren’t talking about any specific places. I asked myself this question several more times throughout the day. Then suddenly, I saw a sign that said: “Welcome to Warzone!”. This was an absolute shock to me! Suddenly, it became clear how huge Pakistan actually is. There were so many locations to choose from: Delhi’s Taj Mahal, Jerusalem’s Old City, Mecca, Dubai, Al Ain, etc. So, I started wondering if I am living somewhere in Africa but being told that I am at warzone of North-East Asia. And then, there is this moment when my jaw dropped, I looked up to the sky and saw a massive rocket launch from anywhere in the universe including Pakistan. That’s when I realized and realised why Pakistan seems so small in comparison to how big it really is. Moreover, these rallies seemed to go on for hours like never before so I began questioning whether I came to this planet with a sense of curiosity or a lack of knowledge at all about my own country.

I guess this whole situation was making me forget who I am as a Muslim. My religious identity has nothing to do with the fact that I live in a land where Muslim people exist whereas the government claims to promote Islamic values yet all the major religions believe in God’s existence. But for me personally, I feel that Pakistan does deserve a second chance. Despite knowing that Pakistan is actually bigger than we thought it was, my views of the United States for instance, which is the biggest democracy in the world, makes me wonder whether their policies are indeed against Muslims. I hope that after spending enough time and getting to know Pakistan, I can finally say: it is not the same as America. When someone tells me, “I just want you to understand that everyone knows that you are the best and the brightest nation in the world, even Islam is the strongest belief system and that’s why we have no problems with you”, I ask myself, “What really am I doing?” Do I want to live here and only talk about this world? Or really want to learn more about the different cultures with whom we are related? Am I trying to show that Muslims can have a better view of America than non-Muslim peoples? Do I really care whether I am a citizen of the United States or not? I know I am a human being who has a responsibility towards other people even though I am a woman myself. What is the ultimate goal? Is that to make others hate me or to promote America all over again? Whatever it is, I think that it is unfair and unjust to put me into this position where none of my rights are respected yet I am treated like crap in front of my own people in a foreign land.

I think it is crucial for me to remind everyone that I am truly proud that I am Pakistani no matter what people tell me to try and understand. It’s our pride that we’ve fought so hard for so long and the sacrifices have never stopped. We started fighting during the independence movement, we started struggling for our rights and our freedom. Many others didn’t have as many opportunities as us nor didn’t have that strong will power that we possessed earlier in our lives. Some even lost their whole families due to the constant struggle for freedom. So, now that we are out of those wars, what else do we have for ourselves to fight for? One thing that is sure is that I don’t want to live under the rules of a bunch of cowards who keep telling me that I should leave my country or live there, that it’s stupid to leave. I want to be a part of history that deserves it as well. If anyone wants to change the world in the future, let me encourage them to try and make contributions that will help improve our lives. Let me also tell them that we deserve respect, we deserve attention and respect. Although, if I had to live on my own terms to prove it, then I think I wouldn’t be able to achieve anything. I am glad that I am alive and well-versed in some of that. I’m happy that I live in a free, open, democracy and that I have to fight for other people who struggle as well.