Loyal to Pakistan? Why?

Everyone I talk to says that Pakistan is this wonderful place. When I was in college, all my Pakistani friends would go to Pakistan at least once a year. I guess I can understand if they have parents there that need to be visited. What I don’t understand are people who go there just for the sake of going. Now, I was born in Pakistan, but I’ve never lived there. I grew up in the Middle East and moved to the United States when I was 16. Of course I’ve visited Pakistan on more than one occasion but never for more than a week or so.

Pakistanis usually get very upset when I try to tell them how I feel about Pakistan, I usually get a lengthy lecture about how it’s our home and how it’s our community and our culture, blah blah blah. Well, let me ask you this, what has this community done for me? I know, “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country…”. That’s easier said in a country where there are opportunities for everyone, regardless of race, religion, color, creed, gender, or sexual orientation. I’m not saying that the United States is perfect and void of all racism and discrimination, but it’s a hell of a lot better than Pakistan. I ask these Pakistanis who lecture me, what opportunities does a blind man have in Pakistan, other than begging on the sidewalk. For that matter, what opportunities do any disabled people have? There is open discrimination and there is no such thing as a lawsuit.

Pakistanis tell me that I don’t deserve to be a Pakistani, well I agree with them, I don’t deserve to be a Pakistani. I have no ties to Pakistan and until recently, all that I had to do with Pakistan was the fact that I had a Pakistani passport. This passport, that boldly announces “Islami Jumhuriah Pakistan”, has been a source of embarrassment on more than one occasion. Every time I traveled with this passport in hand, airport authorities around the world searched me for drugs. These are supposedly random searches but flying from Seattle to Dubai involves going through at least four different airports. What are the odds that one would be searched randomly at all four?

But what does Pakistan really stand for? Illiteracy has never been higher, the government doesn’t give a shit about the uneducated. Abuse of women’s rights is still thriving in almost all rural areas and in quite a few urban areas behind closed doors, the government or the law don’t give a shit about women. In fact, if a woman is raped, chances are that she will be imprisoned for adultery. What kind of sick, disgusting, sub human lawmakers does Pakistan have?

I can’t stand Pakistanis who live in the United States and constantly talk trash about American people, American culture, and the American way of life. Why on God’s green earth are they in America if they hate it so. They are here because this is the land of opportunity, because unlike in Pakistan, they CAN get good jobs and a comfortable life regardless of race, political affiliation, gender, sexual orientation, tribe, or amount of influence they have. Their children can go to good schools and colleges without having to bribe school officials. I also don’t understand the sense of pride they feel at being a Pakistani. What is there to be proud? “Hey look, I’m from Pakistan, where politicians are terrorists, the police is the biggest crime ring, women are treated like dirt, and we kill people who don’t agree with us, zippy dee doo daa for us!!!”

There are people on this forum that talk about Americans as if they are the scum of the earth. Well let me tell you this, Americans are a lot more sincere and honest than the average Pakistani. Maybe they are a bit more gullible or naïve or even ignorant, but the average American is a much better person than the average Pakistani. An American who meets a Pakistani will try his best to learn the ways and norms of the Pakistani, but the Pakistani will not do a thing to learn about the American’s way of life or his norms or values.

Pakistanis have this habit of socializing only with their kind. I see them once in a while, huddled together in a group, in the college cafeteria, at the movies, at the tourist spots. God forbid they talk to someone outside their group. No social skills whatsoever. And let’s not even talk about the issue of girls. If a Pakistani guy is seen with a girl, rest assured that by the next day, half the Pakistani community will be pointing fingers at him. If the girl also happens to be a Pakistani, she will be deemed a slut and talked about for the rest of her life. If the girl happens to be American, then the guy is dubbed an ABCD. These immature, pea brained, 30 year old teenagers have no lives of their own, so all they do is talk about other people.

In the end, I have no feelings of loyalty or pride over Pakistan. Why should I? It is not a source of pride to me, it is a source of shame.

This article is not a personal attack on Pakistan or Pakistanis, this is just my response to all the Pakistanis who have the audacity and cheekiness to tell me how I should feel about THEIR country, simply because I was born there.