Re: An Indian writes to Economist on Pakistan
Most dangerous nation
IT is disturbing enough to hear Pakistan being called the ‘most dangerous nation’, particularly by the Americans, and becomes truly painful to see their presidential candidates, such as Hillary Clinton and Joseph Biden, say the same.
One wonders how knowledgeable they are about Pakistanis. Due to being a Pakistani I can claim to comprehended my compatriots more and, having had friends from many parts of the Islamic world, I do have a greater insight into the minds of my 1.5 billion co-religionists.
Besides, I can profess to understand the Americans far better than either of these presidential hopefuls do the Pakistanis. This is because I not only got part of my education in the US, having studied with and befriended American boys/men and girls/women, but their country has been like a second home to me.
In contrast, Ms Clinton has spent just a few days here and Mr Biden perhaps none. My list of buddies has included Buddhists, Christians, Confucianists, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs and Zoroastrians. So, the aspirants to the White House and others of the same mind ought to listen carefully.
What makes a nation dangerous? Is it merely the perception of what harm it may cause under certain circumstances or, would it be more reasonable to go by how many people a country has already killed, caused to be killed, or is still in the process of doing so? How many persons have been made homeless; how much conflict and disquiet it has imposed upon the world at large; how much turmoil and polarisation?
Pakistan is responsible for taking or losing a couple of thousand lives in the wars with India. But, the US had killed hundreds of thousands in Japan, including over 200,000 through the only atomic bombs ever used, that, too, on innocent civilians. In Vietnam three million were slain and an equal number made sick or permanently handicapped by the use of the Agent Orange.
In Iraq, sanctions following the first Gulf War took the lives of half a million children and now its losses are over 600,000 dead with several million turned into refugees, but there was no terrorism or sectarian strife before. Shockingly, America has been invading some place or the other after an average of 30 months! It is intriguing how most Americans are likeable but their governments act so callously.
Israel is the next most dangerous nation, having set the Middle East on fire and the global Muslim community aflame, severely straining relations between the latter and the West. In the summer of 2006 it had destroyed almost half of Lebanon due to a few Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah whilst scores of Lebanese captives were already in Tel Aviv’s custody who were supposed to have been released earlier. One recent inhumanity is that 49 Palestinians in need of urgent medical attention have died since June because Israel did not allow them to leave Gaza.
These aren’t assessments of Muslims alone but of most Europeans too, as surveys have shown. I have nothing against the Americans or Jews. In the US I had a Jewish landlord who had been almost as kind to me as he would have been to a family member, while from day one I used to respect him and help him out as I would my uncle, because my upbringing had taught me to defer to elders regardless of their religion. Even my dad had Jewish and other non-Muslim friends whom we all treated very nicely.
The threat perception about Pakistan has been magnified greatly. In my US stay I had encountered several Jews who would clench their jaws and breathe heavily as far back as the 1980s on finding out I was a Pakistani. Once, I have participated in seminars in Europe in the early 1980s where an Israeli attendee didn’t seem to even want to speak to me and, frankly, I also felt put off by him. In contrast, I had developed very good terms with the other participants, company officials and secretaries.
Most Pakistanis are brought up to be hospitable and helpful. An extremist minority should not be used to stereotype all. American leaders and politicians must remember that Pakistanis have been amongst their best friends. Some fair-minded Americans have acknowledged that the USSR could not have been defeated without Pakistan’s help.
A READER
Karachi
http://dawn.com/2008/01/24/letted.htm