I simply cannot hold back my views on this topic any longer. The reason I blog about this matter in English and not in Urdu is simple: There are a number of people out there to whom I direct this blog and they find it easier to read, write and understand English rather than Urdu. For the wider Pakistani population, I will blog about the same in Urdu later.
So is disagreeing with the army anti state? Am I an anti state person committing treason when I say that the army needs to put its house in order? Do I deserve to be burned at the stake when I question where the Rs 620 billion went that were allocated to the defence last year when events like May the 2nd and PNS Mehran take place? These are pertinent questions regardless of what anyone believes.
The fine line is that while most of us agree that the Pakistan army failed somewhere along the way in letting Raymond Davis off the hook, the continuous drone attacks take place, the rape of sovereignty by the Americans on May 2nd, the heinous incident of PNS Mehran in which we lost 10 commandos, there are people amongst us who classify even talking about these issues as being traitorous to the nation. I'm sorry, but how do they expect us to become better at our game when we simply refuse to acknowledge our problems?
Yeah I know there's always that "India's doing this, India's doing that" debate that's thrown at you in return every time you try talking about the atrocities being committed in the name of Pakistan's defence but it simply won't cut it any more. You see while there are people who will tell us that simply talking about the acts of dumbassery being committed in Pakistan is tantamount to blackening the name of Pakistan and sullying our reputation. But these hard questions need to be asked and answered in order to ensure that all the stakeholders (Pakistan nation, government and the military) are on the same page.
While there is no doubt in my mind that Pakistan needs to start standing on its feet; while I agree that the current government and the opposition is nothing other than shameless two faced bastards; while I agree that the US hasn't always been our friend, and well it doesn't appear to be one right now, I do agree that the US is absolutely within its right to want the best for itself. Might is right in the international arena and there's nothing we can do about it.
What we can do is to channel our energies into correcting our mistakes which will only be possible after the acknowledgement of our failures, our wrong policies and our wrong strategies. Once we clear that, then we will have no reason to not correct ourselves.
So is disagreeing with the army anti state? Am I an anti state person committing treason when I say that the army needs to put its house in order? Do I deserve to be burned at the stake when I question where the Rs 620 billion went that were allocated to the defence last year when events like May the 2nd and PNS Mehran take place? These are pertinent questions regardless of what anyone believes.
The fine line is that while most of us agree that the Pakistan army failed somewhere along the way in letting Raymond Davis off the hook, the continuous drone attacks take place, the rape of sovereignty by the Americans on May 2nd, the heinous incident of PNS Mehran in which we lost 10 commandos, there are people amongst us who classify even talking about these issues as being traitorous to the nation. I'm sorry, but how do they expect us to become better at our game when we simply refuse to acknowledge our problems?
Yeah I know there's always that "India's doing this, India's doing that" debate that's thrown at you in return every time you try talking about the atrocities being committed in the name of Pakistan's defence but it simply won't cut it any more. You see while there are people who will tell us that simply talking about the acts of dumbassery being committed in Pakistan is tantamount to blackening the name of Pakistan and sullying our reputation. But these hard questions need to be asked and answered in order to ensure that all the stakeholders (Pakistan nation, government and the military) are on the same page.
While there is no doubt in my mind that Pakistan needs to start standing on its feet; while I agree that the current government and the opposition is nothing other than shameless two faced bastards; while I agree that the US hasn't always been our friend, and well it doesn't appear to be one right now, I do agree that the US is absolutely within its right to want the best for itself. Might is right in the international arena and there's nothing we can do about it.
What we can do is to channel our energies into correcting our mistakes which will only be possible after the acknowledgement of our failures, our wrong policies and our wrong strategies. Once we clear that, then we will have no reason to not correct ourselves.
