The World Cup is over for Afridi and his boys and what a world cup it was. Cricket and Team Pakistan won lots of new lovers, inspired countless kids, and pulled back to cricket the scores of recent football converts. Their achievement to reach the semi-final brought pride back in Pakistan cricket with nationalistic jingoes reverberating on every radio, tv, and web channel. Particularly what happened in the 6 days building up to the clash with India; this was something never before seen in the annals of world cup cricket. It was called the ‘mother of all matches’, ‘the greatest game ever’; with countless side stories popping up; the curious case of the black stone, the tale of a butchered parrot, calls for return of a mechanically faulty Express train from Pindi, and even cricket diplomacy, it had it all. Screens popped up all over the country and mass gatherings arranged for that fateful day when India was to meet arch rivals Pakistan and the world of a billion and a half would be put on pause. As far as my hometown of Peshawar was concerned, bullets had become short in the market and were being sold in black. The neighbouring tribes went a step further; Rocket launchers, machine guns, AK47s and all their other heavy artillery was taken out in anticipation of some post match fireworks.
I saw the match at Nishtar Hall Peshawar, the only theatre in the city, and a host to over 800 ‘naujawans’, men and women, for that day. With all the right ingredients, a giant screen, a green crowd, wavin flags, blowing horns, guys dancing to the dhol , the DJ playing blood pumping music, and not to mention great side food, it was a mass party worthy of the occasion. There were also the expected overt displays of religious zeal for nationalistic purposes in the form of ‘Nara-e-Takbeer’ and ‘Pakistan ka matlab kya’ which echoed at various intervals throughout the match. Oh and of course when things started falling apart in the Pakistan innings, the mass dua led by a 20 something boy with a subway sandwich sized beard, for the ‘blinding of the kufars eyes’ in our goal to reach Mumbai; unfortunately judging by some of the shots the Pakistani batsmen played, it seemed the angels sprinkled the blinding powder unwittingly on the men in Green.
Of course all this got me thinking once again on something that had been on my mind for a long time, a far more serious issue. And I finally thought the time was right to put it in words. Today more than ever, 6 odd decades later, we are still squabbling over the ideology of Pakistan, what it represents, and what it means to be a Pakistani. I guess this is a burden that comes with ideological states, be it the Jewish Republic of Israel or the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. We have heard, read and seen both sides of the story countless times in search of ‘Jinnah’s Pakistan’. Of course each side defines and redefines what Pakistan stands for, its idea, and its ideals, in a bid to win people to their side. The numbers are still greatly in favour of one side thanks to years of militaristic embedding of their version of national definition, through state control and various media including school text books. But with the rise of Social media and greater access to information the balance may be tilting back closer to the centre with the urban youth starting to challenge the official narrative of history. And hence today the battle of the ideology of Pakistan is in full swing.
I however am of a slightly different school of thought (some have called it ‘Pakistaniat’) then either. Pakistan is a matter of fact, a truth undeniable, much like Israel for that matter. We may not recognize its existence (officially), but it is there, with all its exceptional contribution to science and medicine as well as all its war crimes and ethnic cleansing, and by denying it, we are only kidding ourselves. In fact we did have clandestine relations with them during the soviet war. Even the Palestinians, whom I greatly sympathize with, are willing to recognize the State of Israel (although not as a Jewish one). The point being, like Israel, Pakistan is.
So Pakistan as fact was carved out of British India, and while I understand that maybe an ideology was a necessity in Pakistan’s creation, or during its nascent years when people needed a basis to justify having undergone such a ginormous change, I strongly feel that it has no use today. I am not talking about a specific ideology, rather calling the idea of having an ideology as obsolete. Confused? Well here is why. I am a third generation Pakistani. The younger lot of today, also known as the bulge because of their massive percentage of the population, are fourth generation Pakistanis. This is to say that I was born and bred as a Pakistani to parents who were born as Pakistanis themselves. I have always been a Pakistani and know not what it means or feels to be Indian, Afghani, Iranian, Arab or any other ancestral nationality of yesteryear. My NIC, driving license and passport are green and the world makes sure to remind me of that at international airports. Pakistan for me is geography, a place where I was born, a place where I will live, and a place where I will most likely die. Just like citizens of 99% of all the counties in the world.
After Bengal split, the concept of ideology was reinforced on us because it was thought that Pakistan could only stay united under the banner of Islam. Which is in essence shying away from the mistakes we made then and continue to make today in Balochistan. The Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan by name is recognition by the federation that it denied justified rights to the people of Balochistan. Something we did with the Bengalis; it had nothing to do with ideological reasons, as both of them are muslim majority.
But anyone seeing the world cup would agree that Pakistan as a country in itself has the power to unite. I celebrated Imran Khan’s cornered tigers just like any other kid in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad or Quetta and I cheered Lala’s boys like everyone from the Durand line to Dhaka(sic). Pakistan has enough cultural greats like Noor Jahan, NFAK, Faiz etcetera; enough sporting legacy with cricket, hockey, squash among others; enough breath taking landscapes to marvel the world; enough historical heritage to indulge in; and enough heroes to inspire generations. Despite all its ailing’s and all its failings, Pakistan has enough for itself to stay united and enough for us to embrace, without the need of an ideology to stick us together. If we do away with the battle for what Pakistan was meant to be and how we want it to shape up, maybe we can resolve each individual problem on its own merit. It is time to break the shackles of the past in pursuit of the future. It is time for Pakistan to elevate itself from being an ideological project into being mere geography; and it is time for us to stop trying to be more than a Pakistani.
