As I sit here, warm in the confines of my office, downing daal, chawal + achaar that I made last night, I'm reading about the suicide bombing at the Islamic University in Islamabad. At this point, I've numbed myself to hearing news on what happens "over there", though when I really stop to think about it, it's beyond disturbing that nothing worthwhile has ever been done to save this failed state.
Being born and raised in New York City, Pakistan never seemed the way that it does to me today. It was easy to imagine that you'd take a visit and enjoy the couple of weeks you'd spend there; shop, eat, play with your cousins, visit relatives you'd never heard of, go to weddings, travel to different cities, etc. It seemed entirely plausible that you could spend months there if you wanted to, being spoiled by your khalas, mamoos and naanis. Part of this is a simple nostalgia, perhaps an inkling of all that "imaginary homeland" crap I studied in college. So, yes, my nostalgic tone does stem from a desire to feel connected to a nation my parents once belonged to, and I don't deny that it runs through my veins. But my feelings on culture, assimilation and immigration have changed significantly over the years. I think I've come to a very strong understanding of who I am in the scheme of my country (U.S.) and my "motherland" (Pakistan). I don't confuse the two anymore: I am very simply an American-born person of Pakistani descent.
With that said, I am actually shocked at how the frequency of bombings and raids has increased significantly in the past few months. Whereas I would once be shocked to hear about a bombing anywhere in Pakistan, it has now become daily news and I expect to see it when I open up my browser in the morning. Pakistan, in my mind, has officially reached a status akin to Afghanistan and Iraq, which is truly pathetic, and weirdly, makes me ashamed.
Like I said, I do think of Pakistan as a failed state. Whereas there was some kind of dysfunctional but functional order to civilian life in the previous decades, there is nothing now because the government does not have the resources to control its borders because there were never any systems put in place for that. So, of course, the U.S. has once again inserted itself into "protecting" a Muslim country, all the while fueling extremist rage and detached-from-reality "Muslims" killing normal-people Muslims. Great.
All of these problems are deeply rooted in how this government was formed coming out of the partition. Simply put, it wasn't. Rich landowners were getting theirs, making sure they stayed on top. There wasn't a constitution for several years after Pakistan was established, and when it finally appeared, it wasn't worth shit because it was changed so often. You look at India in stark contrast to Pakistan, and you wonder, how did this happen? It really is "Midnight's Children", if you think about it. Though India doesn't have the cleanest human rights record either, at least Hindus aren't killing Hindus (save the poor Dalits). What makes me weary of Pakistan is simply the complete lack of political structure which has inevitably failed each and every leader of the country, and therefore failed the people. You can only expect people in all levels of government to be either stupid or corrupt (probably both), lacking education and ignorant to the needs of the people they should really be serving.
I know it probably seems like I am coming at this from a privileged American standpoint; I have no qualms about that. I accept my culture and my roots, I love all of it. What I don't love is all the millions of displaced Pakis around the world having to shake their heads and somehow explain the 1,001 ways this country has deteriorated; and much like Afghanistan and Iraq, we wonder if things will ever get better. It's not simply an issue of militants needing to be eradicated, but if Pakistan does get better, Pakistani officials need to meet some kind of criteria for holding public office (after all President Zardari most likely isn't even a college graduate). Even now, they don't truly seem to be grasping the problem (or describing it well, anyway). Look at this quote from the
NYTimes:
“To target Islamic University is equivalent to targeting Pakistan,” said Rehman Malik, the country’s interior minister, while talking to a local television news network. “Students from 47 Muslim countries are studying here. To attack here is to tell the Muslims of the world that Pakistan is not safe for anyone.”
What is this guy really trying to say? Did it just occur to him that Pakistan
is not a safe place? He seems confused--Of course targeting an Islamic University in Islamabad is an attack on Pakistan and an attack on Muslims! It seems like a really stupid call to action, as if they don't know who could've possibly done this. What an effing moron.
Anyway, this whole rant was triggered by that quote. There's really no nice way of saying any of the things I just said. Needless to say, I am not visiting anytime soon.
