In response to one of my posts on the same pages, one of the members made a statement that, “overseas Pakistanis are always critical and discount Pakistan".
Let us discuss, this subject seriously leaving all personal aggravation aside:
After the 9/11 tragedy, the world jumped on Islam saying that Islam is a terrorist religion, Islam is this, Islam is that. The true Muslims have tried to convince them that Islam is not some one’s name which exists in physical way. Islam is a religion, a constitution, a manifesto. This is the same way as an state has a law but even crimes happen, people become criminals, it’s not the fault of the Law but it is the fault of those who don’t follow the law. The same way, Islam cannot be blamed or tarnished…but those Muslims should be blamed who do not follow the religion Islam as our last prophet Muhammad (sas) described upon and God said in Qur’an.
Once Maulana Syed AbulAlaMoudoodi said in a question that a ‘*******’ child is as Paak and saaf as someone born in Medina. It’s not the fault of the child who was born out of illegitimate relationship of two wrong doers but it is the fault of both man and woman who gave birth to that child, so don’t hate or discount child but apprehend both parents.
First of all, It’s not only we overseas Pakistan who criticize Pakistani society. If you read the papers and go to the letters to the editor page, people from all walks of life complain about the indiscipline and injustices of the society, right from a wrong Wapda Bill to making a domicile and no one does work without the rishwat.
Secondly, you people got to understand that we do not target or criticize Pakistan but we discount those who run Pakistan, government machinery, the society. Pakistan is the same as another 220 countries of the world and it has no physical visibility materially as XY ZEE do.
Thirdly, we overseas Pakistanis are more critical and come in light because those who live in Pakistan and never had a chance to go abroad cannot compare Pakistan with other societies of the world as we do. Watching CNN on cable TV sitting in Jumma Goth and living and working in Toronto and New York are two different things.
Fourthly, I don’t know whether most of the people know or not but I know for sure that I have worked in Pakistan till 1993 when I was a Grade-20 Officer in the Federal Government that under the government service rules in Pakistan, no government, semi-government or private employee is authorized to write letters, articles, comments in the newspapers or media. If you want to write something non-political, social or educational, you have to seek written permission from your department.
These days, you see lots of activity because of the computer and the Internet as you could do a lot of stuff in disguise and no one can catch you. Otherwise, before the computer age, there was only one way Postal service and it was very easy to track down the sender of a mail.
I know one of my friends who used to work in the Identity card department years back and he wrote a letter in Jang criticizing his department. He was called upon an explanation, charge sheeted and later fired from the job.
This is 21st century, things have changed a lot. It’s not only because of IT technology but awareness has reached to every corner of the world. People are more educated, aware, alert, tolerant and broad-minded as oppose to 15-20 years back.
One thing more I want to clarify that moving from one country to another or one place to other is a not something new and is a natural phenomenon. Whether it is Benazir Bhutto, Mr. Altaf Hussain or Shafiq Khan or Malik Yar Khan……..this is human nature that humans like change, new things, experiences, adventures and playing with dangers. Even birds, animals and other creatures migrate from one place to an other in search of water, food, air and weather conditions. You might see ducks and other watery birds from Australia and Siberia in the lakes of Thatta and kinjhar Lakes in Sindh. Humans move and migrate because of better living, education, security reasons, training, tourism, adventure and just for a change. Life is not a rehearsal, it’s a one time shot and why not to see God’s beautiful world if you have the opportunity. Our last prophet Muhammad(sas) migrated from Mecca to Medina when he had a life threat and he was asked to save his life as his mission was still underway.
As water flows from uphill to ramp, the same way humans move from lesser developed countries to the developed countries where they could find more opportunities in all sectors of human life. You won’t find Americans, Canadians, Scottish and Germans in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh as you will find Pakistanis, Indians and Bangladeshi vice versa.
The truth of the matter is that it is not only Pakistanis or Indians but every single immigrant who went to States, England or Canada is known by his background. Canada and America has a long history of immigration. Some 200-300 years back, people from all over the world traveled to America or Canada in search of food, fur-trade and other businesses and than settled there.
A couple of weeks back, I was watching a program on TV where experts found remains of western people in China and they were wondering how come these western people traveled to China?
People might be living in Canada and America for 5 generations but they are still known by their original last name from back home some 100-200 years back. Every white or a person who is living in Canada or America does not mean that they are native Indians or native American or Canadian. They are also immigrants and it’s just a matter of time some came to Canada and America 100 years back, some 50 years, some 10 years and some yesterday but in reality they are all immigrants.
These immigrants who go to these countries are real assets for them because those are filtered people, cream of the country. They go with their high educational background, years of experiences, accumulated bank balances, life-long savings and other resources. If that was not the case, Bush would have asked over one Million illegal immigrants from Mexico to go back to Mexico and Millions of Muslims to return back to their respective countries (after 9/11). But practically, it is not possible for any country to ask the mass population to return back to their original land.
On the same time, these overseas Pakistanis are real source of building of Pakistan’s foreign reserves when they send billions of Dollars every year to the country. For instance, in my case, I come from an extended family of 9 brothers and sisters. Though I am here in Canada but my base is Pakistan, my mother, brothers, sisters and hundreds of kin and relatives are in Pakistan. I have one brother and sister in Canada, one in England and 3 brothers are Grade-20 & grade-19 Officers in the Federal government in Pakistan. I cannot strike off my country as a soil where you belong is like our mother’s womb, which cannot be change. We might be phannay Khan, Turram Khan, live in Canada or America, whether we are pauper or King, our mother cannot be changed.
What is the difference if I live in Canada and visit Pakistan twice in a year and there is one Pakistani who belongs to Sialkot and works in security company in Karachi and visits his family once a year or after two years? For his family, he is living overseas, even worse than me?
If you go to Caribbean island, you will find 80% of the population who are Hindu, Muslim and Sikh origin. Because their great great grand parents migrated from Indian continent to those Islands 150-200 years back. Even after several generations, they are still the same origin.
Once a guy argued with me that he knows a lot about America, Canada and Europe as he has been on a world tour twice. Honestly speaking, having a pleasure trip of the world for 4-6 weeks and living and working in the country for 10-12 years cannot be the same. There are people who are living in the west for 20-30 years but still speak broken English language, pre-thinking a sentence in their own language and than translate to English and they are toad of the well as they never left the place where they are living. This is the same way, when companies and employers ask for a NEW employee with a precondition of 15-20 years experience. Why he does not hire a fresh MBA, Engineer or Doctor for his set up? Experience counts a lot. A hearth surgery or bypass cannot be conducted by a fresh MBBS doctor and it requires years of experience to train, learn the job!
Everything God has created on this planet has a reason.
LAST WORD:
We may forget everything, but we should not forget one reality of life that “Our lives are mortal”. We cannot live forever, we have to die one day. The only thing that will live forever, will be the Mother-nature, our creator, the omnipotent God.
If I have fear of God, I understand this reality, I cannot be Pharaoh, I cannot condemn, discount, disrespect any individual, any human……………..forget about my country Pakistan and my religion Islam……..no way.
May God bless you all.
SHAFIQ KHAN
CANADA