Why I’m proud to be a Pakistani

A good piece on unsung heros and heroines of Pakistan. I hope they inspires others also to make a Pakistan at peace within and without.

Just one discordant note..Imran Khan has turned into any other politician who indulges in double speak. He probably did not desrve to be there..just my thought.. but...others may disagree.

and yes..nice article.

this one shouldn`t worry about the number of interacts:)

regards,

Taimur.

Indeed..I too have my reasons for being proud to be a pakistani,other than the recently acquired nuclear poweress.

I am proud to be part and parcel of this land of pure not because of the destuction it is capable of making but because of the love,affection and hospitality with which its people are still identified.

I love my country because of the great heights it is capable of achieving,the tradition,cutoms and values that still hold importance and the strong family ties that are still the norm in pakistan.

I love my country cuz of that feeling of ownership that I have about it.I love it because of its mountains..I love it because of its deserts,rivers and plains..

I love it simply because of the reason that it EXISTS..something deep down tells me that life wouldn`t have been as good as it is if it hadn`t existed.

Last but not the least,cuz of the fact that this is my country of birth and residence..cuz I have friends and family here,who are just about the nicest people on earth.and cuz it is here that I feel I can help make a DIFFERENCE!

Re Kant Patel No. 8:

The general was beautiful. One of the finest men I have ever had the honour of knowing. Every now and then, he would drop by the house to meet my grandfather: ``Mr. Alam, I`ll be there at oh-nine-hundred hours``. Sure enough, the general would be there on the dot. I later learnt that he would arrive early, but park out in the driveway until it was time.

Don`t make `em like that anymore.

Rafay

PS: And thank once again Shandana, It really is a great article.

THANK YOU, that was a great article Shandana.

Some other great Pakistanis:

Shoaib Mansoor (writer, tv director)

Sadeqain (great artist)

Shaukat Siddiqui (writer, ``khuda ki basti``)

The best water I ever had was from a deep well in Taxila.

do we have a modern day emmerson here?

good work shandana, keep it coming.

regards,

mohammad ali

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Indeed a wonderful article. I will tell you of what happened to me a few years back in Karachi:

I dropped my wallet some place on Tariq Road. I finally gave up the search and cancelled my cards and assumed that was that. There were approximately Rs 10000 in the wallet since I had been out book shopping with my wife. A few days later I received a call from the Clifton telephone exchange that there was a taxi driver who had my wallet. Stunned by this I went there and met this fellow. Coincidences of coincidences, I had sat in his very taxi two years before (when I had been visiting) and when he saw my ID he recognized my face. All he found in the wallet for local identification was my Grindlays bank card with my account number. Not knowing how to read much, he went to the telephone exchange and had them call the bank. The bank inturn gave them my number and they called me. The telephone guys told me that he was determined to find me and return this to me. Upon his handing me the wallet he said ``Sahib, dhaik lai(n) sub kutch hai.`` Indeed all money and cards were there. Totally taken by this I handed him the money for his Inam. HE WOULD NOT ACCEPT IT! After much convincing that he had actually ``earned`` it he did. It did revive hope in my heart about Pakistan again.

Somehow this whole point of view of Nationalistic Pride seems VERY demeaning to me as a Muslim.. Having a democratic government (well not anymore anyway) does not give me ANY PRIDE of any sort.. Of course not many people realize that gaining PAKISTAN in fact was the MUSLIM WORLD LOSING THE REST OF INDIA that they ruled over for a really long time.. There are not country boundries in an Islamic state.. Maybe just governors but no separate governments.. And democracy (of course Pakistan does not have that any more anyway) is just too much for a muslim that fears! (of course believing the word of the mojority instead of that of God.. That article on The Flip side of democracy really did open my eyes to some ideas.. and Khilafat does seem a way out. That way will not have this whole idea of Muslims being separated by boundries and western cultivated ideals such as Visas etc.. Now potraying yourself a pakistani first then a muslim (well you actually did not do that at all) just does not compute! Of course It is understandable if you are not a muslim, and this message I wrote is a waste of time.. But if you are, then I am afraid..

I always prefer those who see the silverlining and build on it. The danger to watch is that Nazis were also proud of being Germans, and forgot humanity. Reading previous emails of the people who have proudly responded to your silverlining article, includes those who would be proud of pious Mother Teresa and controversial Gen. Tikka Khan.

Re: #2 Urstruly

Just curious, which freedom are you talking about?

Are more than half the Pakistanis who dont have latrines to take a dump in, or those who dont have clean drinking water etc, are they free to make any choice in their lives; what freedom do they exactly have which they will lose if that jawan did not die at the border. Not that I have anything against the jawan...but the sad thing is that most of the jawans on both sides of the border come from impoverished backgrounds to fight wars that they dont really benefit from...they die for abstract concepts of nationalism which are meant to control our lives...they die for their ``motherland``. Should we be blinded by this jingoistic nationalism to the point that we are willing to annihilate innocent people on the other side and be annihilated ourselves in the process. Because thats what nuclear weapons are for...to annihilate civilian populations. Surely the ``freedom`` that you talk about cant be worth it. It may be worth it for the ruling elite, who have their cars and airconditioned houses because they

have got something to lose; but it cant be worth it for most who are dispossessed.

rafay-alam, #6

Who is beautiful? The daughter or the General?

Kant...

Beautiful article...

I say there is more to Pakistan than what people make it out to be!

I completely agree with the names you have put forward. Pakistan is greatly in debt to the work these individuals have done. Allow me to add a few more:

- Abdul Sattar Edhi, of the Edhi foundation.

- I.A Rehman, Co-director of the HRCP.

- Aziz Sidiqqi, former Co-director of the HRCP. Now sadly, no londer with us.

- Tahira Mazar Ali Khan, women`s rights worker, and for being herself.

- Brig. Rao Hamid, of the HRCP.

Well, let`s put just about everyone in the HRCP on this list.

- Ardeshir Cowasjee, lone voice of reason and one of the few honest Pakistani I can think of.

- Shaheen Atiq-ur-Rehman, daughter of the beautiful General Atiq-ur-Rehman, and social activist.

- Omar Asghar Khan, of the Sunghi Development Project.

- Roland de Souza, of Karachi`s Shehri orginization.

- Barkat, the pan-wallah in Main Market, Lahore for his marvellous sense of humour.

- Alys Faiz, for being Alys Faiz.

- Saleema and Soaib Hashmi, for being a great couple, the funniest people in the land, for creating an awareness of women`s right, for their work for PTV and the stage.

My list is off the top of my head and contains (with one exception) living Pakistanis. The list is seeminlgy endless. I think we should all thank these individuals: Without them Pakistan would not be habitiable.

Shandana,

Very refreshing and original. I took a note of your avoidance of politicians, for obvious reasons. However, how about a humanist such as Edhi? I am sure, knowing you from your writings, that was not intentional. Good write-up though.

Kant...

Glimmers of hope, after all ...

Marvelous stuff.. for a change, nothing to bring forth the cynic in me, but rather, bringing a lump to my throat. With the added bonus of the love of a Karachiwallah (walli? :-) ) for the city!

I think everyone is going to add their own experiences here, people who make them them proud to be Pakistani, events that make them similarly proud. This would be a nice, optimistic thread to keep going for a long time.

If I may be cliched in my cohice of some other people who make me proud of Pakistaniyat..

Akhtar Hameed Khan

Abdul Sattar Edhi

The CPLC

I don`t think I need elaborate on reasons..

*sigh * I miss Itvaar bazaar. I miss Sabzi mandi. I miss going to Khohri Gardens. I miss Friendship Store (corner of Behria and 26th St!)..