Ramadan in Pakistan

There are moments between happiness, that we call life. Eternal happiness is perhaps just a mirage, that we aim at with stories of heavens, in afterlife. However, in the life presented, it is both heaven and hell, with present usually being the latter, while past the former. Nevertheless, since my long series of moments, since the last time I was happy, not that I can even recall when, I present to you my impression of Ramadan.
I went to Taraweeh, a six day Taraweeh, at a house which had put up a banner about the taraweeh prayer proceedings, reading the entire Koran in six days, and I happened to go with my cousin, brother Fahad bhai, who had seen the banner and asked me if I would like to go along. The fact about welcoming strangers to prayer proceedings, ones house, was an interesting prospect, considering I am a fiend for experiences, I love how other people express their lives and this opportunity of six days provided me just that. On the first day, we reached their ten minutes before the prayers started, and leave after finishing the prayer traweeh proceedings, for the next five days. I would stand right behind the imam, actually besides the guy immediately behind imam, who would give takbeer. I continued to stand at the same place for the six days, we went to the taraweeh proceedings. I did not miss a single moment of the prayers. The prayers would continue for around one hour and forty five minutes, and in that time, I would close my eyes and dedicate to the recitation of Koran and proceed with the prayers, my eyes being closed for the entire time of prayer, apart from the breaks in between. The last day, a guy with green turban came for a short bayaan or session of islamic teachings and stories followed by him leading the prays.
Right after the guy with turban finished, one of the guys who had come with him, which I had noticed only after he started talking with me in Sindhi. It is quiet an eye, if somebody would start speaking with a stranger in Sindhi, considering Sindhis do not even consider me Sindhi, despite the fact my mother tongue is Sindh. Anyways, what followed in that conversation was a weird Sindh and Urdu conversation, with me attempting to a converse in a different dialect of Sindhi than him, and the Sindhi he used, was alien to me. Anyways, the conversation lasted for a few minutes. My cousin asked me if I had known that guy, and if I was friends with me, I replied I had no idea who he was, and since he started the conversation, I went with it. I said, it happens to me sometimes. And, then we went back to our houses.

The non-existent identity: being a Pakistani

Apart from what is taught to children in Pakistan, a grandiose delusional, skewed history of Muslim rule in India, depending on which era one was in school--that is from Muslims being saviors of the subcontinent to glorious struggle of Muslim League, an honest glance at the history shows Pakistan as nothing more than an ill-conceived aborted idea, in the form of a land, a result of clash between a handful self-righteous, rigid and deluded individuals. Had anybody, and I mean ANYBODY been in place of these five or perhaps six individuals, our course of history, which we call Pakistan (and for that matter, India and Bangladesh) would have been a different one.

A nation born from an idea of a single person, who kept the understanding enclosed in his own mind, never-sharing it with anyone, and certainly not in the manner taught, would look exactly like Pakistan. This nation would be a nation in only name, as the understanding behind the nation left unlocked hidden, in Jinnah's mind, died with him.

The result, generations and generations of Pakistanis without any identity, except perhaps as an anti-Indian, reactionary identity.

The lack of identity has made this never-to-be nation, existing as Pakistan, open to foreign influence and especially strengthening of local identities, which in an absence of an understanding of a new-born nation, that is Pakistan, which was also forced upon them, that is Pakistanis, as these local identities, which were just a part of pre-partitioned single Indian identity. Without any narrative, these local identities started functioning as nations. Since the details of what entailed a nationhood were never known, it was only matter of time that these local identities became nations themselves.

A sense of belonging, is a need, which arises over time. In an absence of a narrative for belonging to Pakistan, local identities such as Sindhis, Punjabis, Pushtoons, Balochis, or perhaps at time even more tribal like Soomro, Jutt, Gujjars, Achakzais, Dehli-walay, Hyderabadi became the sole identities of nation-hood.

Much damage has already been done. The identity of a Pakistani remains, non-existent. It does not mean much when a Pakistani meets a Pakistani, but it means plenty when a Gujjar meets another Gujjar. And, the whole political scene, the entire intellectual elite remains incapacitated or rather unable to realize, the absence of a Pakistani identity,

I am not sure, why we are all living in a wonderland, believing we know exactly what Pakistan is or rather as a result, who we are as a Pakistani.

When India got independence, it got the entire British political infrastructure, which was used to develop an "Indian Identity". On the contrary, Pakistan was provided no infrastructure, not even the promised one, to start developing an identity. In the absence of social, political and economic infrastructure or understanding of Pakistan, right from the second Pakistan was born, created enormous hurdles in creating any sort of meaning under which a newly born nation like Pakistan could grow. Neither any actions were taken to conceive a Pakistani identity.

I am not sure, how one can assume a nation to come into being by just cutting the land into pieces. The understanding of Pakistan remained shrouded, which made it, whatever anybody wanted it to be, and thus, a great bargaining chip for political purposes in Pre-Partition India. After all, Muslim League or Jinnah, for that matter, always wanted muslim electoral representation, at the most. And, Congress was the one to partition the Sub-Continent into "Pakistan and Hindustan". Plus, as Khwaja Nazimuddin quotes, and I say from my memory of Hussain Haqqani's History on Pakistan, and to the effect "what Pakistan means, is only known to Jinnah".

With complete clarity that no understanding of a Pakistani nation was provided, no steps were taken to develop any Pakistani identity, and the very fact, that Pakistan was created as a response from Muslim League's (Pakistan's champion) mortal enemy Congress, responsible for partitioning India, in effect, making Congress the creator of partitioned India, how could nobody have done anything about it? How come nobody even addressed the problem of an absence of Pakistani Identity.

I am not sure, how such a pressing problem remains unabated?

Is it a surprise that we have become an unstable state? Anything that does not know where to go, or what it is, will always be unstable, no matter what is done.

Nevertheless, it is the burden of the present generation to build the Pakistani Identity. If the Identity is not forged, what do the borders mean that we keep securing? It is an uphill task, but also a glorious opportunity to bring all idealism into reality through Pakistan, if only we could reach a point of a nationhood. Pakistan has everything, from minerals to agriculture, a factory of self-sustenance, if only we can get that Pakistani Identity.

I guess, the paradox here is there is a Pakistan, but no Pakistani. 

Corrupted Society, Pakistan Undeniably

Every Pakistani knows corruption is everywhere, ubiquitous. Breaking the law, equals, few hundred rupees, or even just ten rupees, if the police officer is in good mood. It gets even better, if one is directly connected, or is himself/herself a bureaucrat, minister, president or the best of all, in higher ranks of military. With such connections or positions, law becomes a malleable entity, utilized to cater one's own whim, and serving no other purpose whatsoever.

We are going off track here. The point is corruption is from the bottom to the top, breaking the law is not a big deal, and nothing works, without a little bit of bribe. Bribe is the essence that moves the governmental, or for that matter any Pakistani institution, except of course, the very few private companies who care. However.

The troubling part is, corruption has been so rampant since decades, corruption has not only normalized but also become acceptable. For Lord sake, I know a guy, whose entire family ostracized him, for the reason he would not take bribes, albeit honesty being a social crime. His wife, children, brothers, cousins, sisters--you know name it, every body against the poor guy just because the guy was honorable enough to consider bribe and corruption evil. Although I am talking about one family here, I have seen--and a known fact among Pakistanis--people take government jobs just because of the easy under-the-table money. Even paying large sums to get government jobs, most sought after ones from police, customs and excise and taxation (thats where the big money lies).

There is no stopping. Bribes are fixed as percentages in different departments within different government agencies and ministries.  Two percent at the procurement department, five percent standard in Sindh, and likes. Speed money starts the very second an interaction is made with a clerk for any form of government service, to the last person you will deal. Without bribe, anything you want to do--forget about it; the best million dollar advice, you would get. On the other side, with bribe, anything becomes possible from exporting Mars under the laws of rat to... I guess you catch my drift.

The worst part is corruption has become part of the society. Corruption, specifically, bribe is not a problem, in fact, for many quota filling Sindhis, Balochis, Punjabis, Pushtoons, and all others looking forward to serve the country through bureaucracy are seduced by the fact of easy large sums of money, and no body to stop them

Sure, everyone who do not have connections or are not in positions of power, talk bitterly about the corruption and how bad it is. But, the problem is, once that everyone gets a connection or is in position of power, that bitter talk vanishes into a pride. When the norm is every single moving thing around you taking brides, making hefty amount, without anyone doing, its hard to go against the current. One tries to become a good government officer, the pay isn't enough to feed even a pigeon, while a dishonest officer, with no laws or remorse, making so much as to feed the entire country, it is not a tough choice to make. 

There are a lot of honest Pakistanis, who are talking about corruption in their free time, but not one of them thinks second when someone they know helps them cut a line.

We, Pakistanis know, you throw any Pakistan in any of the ministers, chiefs secretaries, senators, directors, no matter who the Pakistani is, he or she will get corrupted. That is a brute fact, that Pakistanis have come to accept. The entire machinery or the society is so corrupted in deceitfully accepting bribery, normalizing the act by perpetually continuing it, that bribe has become part of life.

Yes, bribe has become part of our Pakistani life, terrifying reality we must all NOT accept, yet we continue; because, unfortunately, every system, counter-measure, channel, process, individual, infrastructure is continuously engaged in bribe, that the very act of bribe has become common place, even though the retrospective perception may be negative, the future act of bribery remains accepted, with no end in sight, as it is part of life, that is how things work in Pakistan. Just give the bribe, get things done.

We are no more engaged in terminating bribery but rather in a race of whose bribery gets the job done.

I guess the Pakistani Paradox here is, how does a call from superior higher bribe taking officer, triumph over not only lower raking officer's bribe but also the legal fees in return for a cup of delicious tea (coming out of lower's pocket)?