“A Nation Without Heroes is a Nation without hope.” When you look around the world, every country has heroes that children look up to, that mould their characteristics as a person.

Can you think of your childhood heroes? Can you think of the people that you model yourself after as an adult? Why did you choose them? What characteristics do they embody that makes them worthy?

For those of you that are Pakistani, can you name our national heroes? Jinnah, Iqbal, A.Q. Khan (whether you like it or not), a host of cricketers and media personalities? How many of them do you want to be like? How many do you know about, studied about in school, who are they?

There are no identities, as Pakistanis, that influence us more than the personalities and celebrities from around the world. We as Pakistanis are no longer Pakistani. We spend more time watching Indian televisions shows and movies than we do watching our own Pakistani ones. What has been the driving factor in this loss has been the marginalization of the national language, culture and literature. Pakistanis no longer think Urdu is either fashionable nor spoken by anyone who is anyone, which explains why everyone and their driver are trying to speak English. As we all know, when you stop learning your national language, you lose your link to the culture, traditions and values espoused by that language. The loss of the national language has also led to the growth of regional languages that have their own values and traditions. Now, Pakistan is made up of Pathans, Punjabis, Sindhis and Balouchis, each speaking their own languages and practicing their own traditions leaving no room to be Pakistani.

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