To be
blunt, one may ask: Have the Americans lost their marbles? Having followed very
closely the anti-war
movement in Britain during the Iraq war from 2002-03, one learns to look
critically at state policies and predominant right wing hegemony. I looked at
the tidal wave of the anti-American
sentiment in Pakistan in that context. Everywhere in the democratic parts
of the world, progressive intellectuals and conscience citizens are critical of
the policies of their establishments. We cannot praise Noam Chomsky enough for thread
baring American
imperialist agendas, Robert Fisk for hyperventilating against Britain, the
West and Israel, or Arundhati Roy for challenging
the Indian state on issues ranging from the Maoist insurgency to the
repression of Kashmiris’ rights. However, if one is critical
of Pakistan’s government, its establishment or its army, the coveted label
of being ‘unpatriotic’ hangs on our head. Being critical of America and the
West promotes enlightening discourse, particularly if one is sitting in those
states and societies. However, excessive anti-Americanism is a right wing
agenda in Pakistan, unlike in the West where it is a left wing agenda. Our TV
anchors, rooted in the vernacular press backgrounds in Pakistan, contribute
to the hatred of the ‘others’ and a conspiracy-theories-laden world view
amongst the Pakistani public.
However,
coming back to the question posed in the beginning of this article, Americans
are really asking for criticism. To publicly
promote gay-lesbian rights in a conservative society and to issue
statements on internal security issues of Karachi’s violence is asking for
trouble. Commenting on the security situation in another country is against
diplomatic norms. Is this a paradigm shift in the US handing of Pakistan? It
seems as if the US has decided to be controversial and provocative. US-Pakistan
relations are at their lowest ebb. However, both countries need to wait it
out with patience and forbearance. Both countries need each other and depend on
each other in a lot of critical areas. Only a stable and well-functioning
Pakistan is in the larger interest of the world, including America and India.
It is high
time for critical and behaviour-changing introspection for both the US and
Pakistan. Had the US not plunged itself and Pakistan into the first Afghan war
with Ziaul Haq, the world particularly Pakistan, would have been a much safer
place today. The US turned Pakistan into a proxy state and waged a war that
defeated the Soviet Union but it made the whole world a much more dangerous
place to live in. It particularly tore apart the fabric of Pakistani state and
society. To add salt to the injuries, the US
packed up and left the Afghans high and dry in the late 1980s when the
Soviets pulled out, and is now paying a heavy price for deserting them. The US
needs to have a long-tunnelled horizon of its policies and not continue with
the policy of fighting proxy wars in developing countries.
Pakistan
needs to socially re-engineer its establishment and its population. The
Pakistani establishment
fed by foreign funding has bloated manifolds and has become a state within
the state. The majority of Pakistan’s population is fed lies and conspiracy
theories, which have little relationship with reality. A largely right wing
electronic media is making Pakistanis more paranoid
and xenophobic than enlightened. If Pakistan has to change, the change can
neither come through arms nor money. It can only come through changing the
hearts and minds of people. Peace, tolerance and mutual coexistence has to be
relearnt through Pakistan’s own cultural and historic roots. Both Pakistan and
America need to change drastically. America needs to stop interfering in
Pakistan’s internal affairs and review its recent postures of high-handedness.
Pakistan needs to socially
re-engineer hearts and minds through a high dosage of critical thinking and
the spread of progressive ideas.
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