My Country Has a Heart of Gold ; Do its People?

‘Pak sarzamin ka nizam

quwate akhuwati awam’

[The Order of this Sacred Land

Is the might of the Brotherhood of the people]

We’re always taught that reciting the Holy Quran in Arabic is a good deed, but reciting the Quran in Arabic, alongside reading its translation, is a more Holy act. After all, what is really the difference between reciting God’s message in a language we don’t understand and a parrot reciting a learned phrase repeatedly (except, of course, the fact that the Quran’s recitation brings great reward to a Muslim, and a parrot may do so habitually). But in order for our hearts to connect with the Quran’s Author, we yearn to understand its meaning, and as a result, we remain conscious of the Book’s instructions and messages. 

In a similar manner, I doubt that we’ve ever paid heed to our national anthem. Sure, we all know it by heart. How couldn’t we? We were made to recite it every morning before assembly, while the flag was hoisted. But seeing my country’s state right now, it does not seem that, no matter what strata people come from, they have yearned to understand the anthem’s meaning—and it shows, quite visibly, in what Pakistanis have become today. 

It is almost impossible for me to go through a car ride, sit at a guest’s house or in the TV lounge without the infamous and aggravating yet seemingly irresistible debate amongst members of my family vs other families, other families vs their families, news anchors vs other anchors, politicians vs other politicians, and so on. ‘Are you a supporter of Khan, or the opposition?’ ‘How can you not support Khan, the alternative is terrifying.’ ‘Khan ruined our country, at least the opposition is living up to its said promises.’  ‘Oh you haven’t chosen a side–how criminal!’ Yes. I haven’t chosen a side. And no. That doesn’t mean that I don’t value Pakistani politics as compared to foreign politics. 

I haven’t chosen between Khan and the Opposition because I see an overarching third choice: I choose my country. I choose my land, its people, communities, minorities, history, heritage, culture, nature, and legacy. I choose its pure and innocent essence, over siding with any political party that implicitly and cunningly seems to use my country to aid its personal benefit. Although I don’t intend to criminalize or demean either party, I feel as though falling deep into the rut of prioritizing emotions over facts is something our people have burrowed themselves into. And the following are just a few of those very facts that many, while choosing a side, choose to ignore: 

• Khan has, time and time again, remarked sexist comments with regards to women. For example, he claims ‘avoiding temptation will prevent sexual violence’, and ‘If a woman is wearing few clothes it will have an impact on the men unless they are robots’, amongst other things. 

• Khan also claimed during one of his jalsas that ‘Inn choron ko lenay se behtar tha Pakistan par nucleur bomb mar deytay’ [It would’ve been better if, rather than having these thieves in our government, a nuclear bomb was dropped on Pakistan]. Several believe that despite Khan’s efforts, he failed to revive the moribund Pakistani economy and got caught up in his own rhetoric. 

• Several cases of corruption filed against the opposition, who, during their tenures were charged with looting money from the national exchequer and transferring it into private/other accounts. 

To make perfectly clear the very blurry line between my nation and its current state—they are both mutually exclusive. My country has a heart of gold, it was birthed in the name of freedom, equality, justice, and peace. However, evil does not negate the good done by a person or a party, and the good does not negate the evil. But what has become prevalent over the past few months is that both sides have moved rapidly toward preserving their personal power, rather than choosing us, the people. When these politicians and parties show you who they are, believe them. Don’t justify their claims or their actions just because you or your family has traditionally supported them. My country deserves better than that. It deserves a follower of Jinnah and Iqbal–working toward their vision with the same character that our country’s founders did.  

Don’t choose a side, choose your people. Fight for structural change, rather than a party change. To those that are perpetually stuck in the loop of arguing over Khan or the Opposition: look toward other choices, grassroot parties and organizations that are in genuinity working for our country and its peoples’ cause. I think what we most often fail to realize, or forget, is that the real power lies with me and you. Let’s go out and fight for real change, a shift in the current power paradigm in terms of social and economic issues, and raise our voices against those that infiltrate and impose the idea that our country’s fate is bound between either Khan or the Opposition. Our country, with its Sacred heart, deserves more than that. 

The Order of this Sacred Land-

Is the might of the Brotherhood of the people. 

You and I hold within us, the power to represent the meaning of this Anthem. Use it wisely. 

an article by Hamda Azeem