The Dichotomy of 75 Years

Listening to the new, rerecorded National Anthem that was released on our 75th Independence Day brought a wave of emotion along with it especially when I saw how diverse and inclusive it was. There was even representation from the Dawoodi Bohra community with women dressed in the traditional “ride” and men with white and gold coloured hats. I noticed it because I belong to the same community. 

The “zeal, zest & fervour”, as we many a times refer to our love for this country, was, however, short lived as I saw another news post on social media about Indian Electric Company “Ola Electric” about to unveil an Electric Car on India’s 75th Independence Day. 

While we continue to indulge in ideologies built around Pakistan Resolution Day, Defence Day & Independence Day, and these days, around a cup of tea that an Indian found “fantastic”, India has moved quite far ahead of us. India is one of the largest economies of the world and has quite an influence over the western involvement in the South Asian region. Some of the most influential organisations in the world have Indians in their top offices (Google, Microsoft, Adobe, Twitter, Mastercard & Chanel, to name a few). Indian software export last year was about $150 Billion while Pakistan’s was estimated at $2 Billion (India being 75 Times higher). Pakistan is yet to produce a single unicorn while India, in 2021 alone, produced 44 start-ups that reached the $1 Billion mark.

That is not all, India is also producing its own cars while we were just blessed with a 660cc alto as a replacement of the state of the art Mehran after a span of time that outlasts the time I’ve been in this world. India has billionaires who are actually contributing to the economy while also earning a buck for themselves. We have a Mr. Sharif & Mr. Zardari, both multi billionaires, who’re in a cat & mouse chase with a cricketer-turned-politician messiah! And do I even need to mention the war(s)?

When a person dies, we gather around to say nice things about them; things we were too busy or too proud to say when they were alive. While this Country” isn’t actually a living being, or dead for that matter, we gather each year (more than once, I must add) and talk about how proud we are of everything it has given us. We put up green lights, put on green clothes and put off silencers (from motorcycles) to show how much we love this country. 

What exactly is a country? A country is a piece of land. It is no different from any other land in any aspect other than its collection of ideologies. We’ve already thrown Jinnah’s ideologies down the trash can and every few years, we let our clerics and mullahs feed us more & more backward barbaric ideologies. We do not need to love the piece of land, for the mountains and the land will continue to be there whether we love them or not. We need not love this land, but we need to own it. 

That’s our problem. We love this country but we don’t own it. For if we own it, the GIKIs & LUMS would have to take ownership of producing Pakistan’s Sundar Pichais. Our worn down Suzukis, Hondas & Toyotas would have to be replaced with a high quality Pakistan Manufactured (not Pakistan assembled) automobile. Our economic policies would have to be more supportive of our start-ups instead of seeing them struggle to fly high and then burn to the ground. 

After 75 years, we still indulge in ideologies instead of taking action because action requires effort & ownership while ideologies are easily catered to with revamped national anthems…