Back in November of 2005, The News published a series of articles on the good things about Pakistan that we tend to forget in the midst of our everyday lives. What I have done is reproduced each of the articles so that we can start looking at the reasons to be Proud Pakistanis.

The many good things
There is too much negativity that the public discourse to which we are all contributors. This negativity is not always warranted, and there is something to be said for the inherent value of a positive attitude
By Aasim Sajjad Akhtar

For virtually all Pakistanis, on this Eid holiday, the one unequivocally ‘good’ thing that stands out about Pakistan is the overwhelming response of ordinary people to the catastrophe of October 8. Many have suggested that the large-heartedness and dedication that has been on show after the earthquake are unprecedented, that never before have Pakistanis displayed such unity of purpose and a collective ideal. This is even more significant given that in recent years the notion of the collective good has been conspicuous by its absence from our public sphere. Maybe, just maybe, the adversity of millions could trigger a turnaround in our public ethos.

The relief effort has not just been about giving, it has also been about questioning one’s own indulgences and excesses. In years past, Ramzan has been marked by shopping sprees and food hoarding. This time, this unbecoming feature of public life has been substantially curtailed, again because of a conscious and collective decision of ordinary people to cut back and not because it has been demanded by any central authority that claims the moral high ground.

Perhaps it would have been more appropriate to start off this piece by mentioning the tremendous spirit with which survivors of the earthquake have confronted the tragedy. The world has recognised that the earthquake truly did hurt the most vulnerable communities in the entire country, and that the chances that many of them will simply not receive the aid and assistance they need and deserve are high. That so many of those whose lives have been shattered are able to continue trying, and even smiling from time to time, is a testament to all that is good about the human condition.

There are so many other good things about Pakistan and the Pakistanis that make it up that one is hard-pressed to isolate but a few. It is true that many among us are bitterly critical about the way in which structures of power that demean and exploit are justified in the name of religion, nation, and the list could go on and on. It is also true that these structures of power have deep-seated historical legacies and that they cannot simply be wished away. This is why it is essential to keep decrying these structures of power, because they are what mute the good things about our society, and continue to erode the goodness of the people that constitute it.

And so therefore one cannot help but suggest that another immutable good thing about Pakistan is that the tens of millions of people that comprise it believe in what is right and fight for it, in whatever little way they can, wherever they can, often with disregard for how much they risk losing. The struggle to improve the human condition has, throughout the ages, been the primary redeeming feature of humankind, and Pakistanis are no less than any other people in taking up this struggle.

Often this struggle is expressed in an idiom of identity, and reflects the effort of Pakistanis to preserve cultures that have deep historical roots. Notwithstanding some of the more regressive manifestations of this urge, or the unending conspiring of the powers-that-be to impose a singular and limiting culture upon us, the diversity of Pakistan’s people remains. Historical circumstance has brought all of the nations that comprise Pakistan together, and have allowed all of us to benefit from one another. Although some benefits stand out.

Like the food. How would we ever do without the food? But moving beyond the stomach, there are some things that stand for the ages. In much of the ethnocentric discourse that dominates the modern world, the importance of the popular culture of the third world is hopelessly understated. In Pakistan poets, writers, musicians and artists of all other kinds live and work in every village, street and mohallah, and they define the daily experience of the Pakistani people. Some of the stuff that emerges from the ordinary poet or musician is incredibly profound, reflecting the crucial importance of cultural expression as a voice for ordinary people. Capitalist modernity has penetrated Pakistan — and other third world countries — but has often ridiculed the ability of people that were subjugated by colonialism to understand the modern world. But our poets and musicians understand the modern world just fine. It’s too bad that so few of the high priests of knowledge get to benefit from their pearls of wisdom.

And then there is the food again. But seriously, another quality that stands out about most Pakistanis — and more specifically the less affluent majority — is the unconditional hospitality with which they welcome visitors into their home, and treat them as exalted royalty (even though takalluf sometimes reaches ridiculous proportions!). It is generally postulated by academics in particular that this is a trait of patronage-based social formations. This is true only to a very superficial extent, because such practices have tended to persist even after social formations have been penetrated by the individualism of modernity. This feature of most Pakistani households is not to be understated because it reflects that within society at large the roots of a collective consciousness that can confront the decaying public ethos mentioned at the outset very much exist.

So there are many good things about Pakistan to enjoy, and to build upon.

There is admittedly, too much negativity that pervades Pakistani society and the public discourse to which we are all contributors. This negativity is not always warranted, and there is something to be said for the inherent value of a positive attitude, both at an individual and collective level.

It is also true, however, that much of the criticism that abounds in this day and age is but a natural response to what people see happening around them. But negativity also points to something else — that people have lost faith in the possibility of good things happening, and that they expect the cynical domination of a coterie of back-slapping philanderers to continue indefinitely. It would be a shame to admit defeat so easily.

There are more than enough good things happening around us to remind us of the very definite possibility that the negatives can be challenged.

Just start off with the food.

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