Re: Do we as Pakistanis have anything to be proud of..
The Voice,
It was not what you were questioning but your mocking manner which was totally unprovoked that I, and others, found distatseful. Arjay, as everyone knows, is one of the senior members here. He is also ne of the nicest, never involved in arguments with others and most of his posts are informative. He is not an annonymous nick but a known personality. For a young person to come in and mock a known and polite individual is extremely rude.
Even the facts that you have provided in your post above are nothing but grasping at straws at best.
Fact is Pakistan is a poor country. 60 years ago we started out with 2 industrial units and a few carore rupees in our treasury. There was no infra structure in this area, no huge natural resource reserve, all we had was strong willed people. We were pulled into huge wars by our strong neighbour to further weaken us and our economy. By rights a nation such as ours should not have survived but we did, thanks to the strength of our people.
60 years down the road, if only 6.4 million people out of 165 million (3.8%) do not have access to clean water it is an achievement for a country like Pakistan. Do you even know the diverse geography of our country? If you did then this figure would not have sounded bad to you.
Pakistan being better than any other nation is an emotional patriotic statement. For a person like Raju sahab and me and and others who grew up there, Pakistan is the best country in the world. It is our identity, it is where we feel most at peace. Do not mock our love for our mother land. Just like you are the not the best looking young man out there but to your parents you are the best and vice versa.
Murree brewery produces alcohol yes, but it is not freely available in stores. Only non muslims are awarded lisences for alcohol consumption and there is a quota. Now if a Muslim individual goes out and buys it from a lisence holder how is that Pakistan's fault? No country can clam to be made up of farishtas only. Maybe you should define "Islamic country" and give me a few examples and then we can discuss it.
I have no clue what you are trying to say in #3.
Comparison with Switzerland, as I took it was not to show that Pakistan is better than Switzerland in every regard but to identify that even a country known for its scenic beauty does not have it all. I have been to the Swiss Alps, I have been to six different cities in Switzerland and I have visited different places in Scotland, these two are supposedly the most scenic countries in the world, and then I have visited Northern areas of Pakistan. I, and this is a purely personal opinion, have found the natural beauty and scenery of Northern Pakistan far superior than anything I saw in Switzerland or Scotland. Facility wise yes, they are superior but we have much better natural beauty.
Now let me tell you about Pakistanis. As a race, I have found them to be more intelligent than any other nationality I have worked with. I have had Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, French, Norwegians, Saudis, Omanis, Qatris, Egyptians, Yemenis, Indians, Srilankans, Bangladeshis, Malaysians, Indonesians, Vietnamese and a few other nationalities working under me and I have found the analytical and problem solving skilss of Pakistanis to be the best. They actually use their brains and think of a solution instead of being "lakir ke fakir", which sometimes is also a pain in the behind lekin that is not the point here.
Pakistan could have been a lot better, but for Raju Jamil and me it is something we are proud of. We will not appreciate you or anybody else coming here and mocking our love for our motherland.
As Raju says, khush rahaiN.
Such a wonderful reply...