Recently US President Donald Trump wholeheartedly abused us, accused us of being liars, cheats, frauds, dishonest, etc. There followed some mild public outcry, but our rulers immediately started advising us to calmly swallow all the insults and try and resolve our differences through negotiation.
Never before have leaders of over 200 million people, armed with nuclear weapons, missiles and conventional weapons and an almost a million men army at their disposal been insulted like this. When President Carter offered $400 million to General Zia, he refused to accept them saying they were mere peanuts. We were then offered billions of dollars; without selling off our sovereignty and self-respect.
Only the All Knowing Almighty knows why this country has been saddled with such corrupt and dishonest rulers throughout its history as an independent nation. An Arabic word, Ghairat (self-respect), cannot be accurately translated in any other language. The word has connotations of self-respect, pride, honesty, impeccable character, etc. Self-respect is a God-given characteristic passed down from generation to generation. By possessing self-respect I do not mean that one should assault and/or kill people for no good reason. What I mean is that as a nation we should have cordial relations with all nations on an equal footing and not as beggars or mercenaries. We should always keep in mind that nobody shows sympathy or respect to a beggar.
Coming back to Trump’s insult to our rulers and the public; he said that the US had foolishly given Pakistan $33 billion (under the Bush and Obama administrations, I guess) and that we were liars, cheats and frauds. Knowledgeable people know that most of the money, the cost of Pakistan’s freedom and sovereignty, was used by General Musharraf to let the Americans make use of our airfields, airports, roads among other infrastructure. Some people say the government hardly received $22 billion which comes to about $2 billion per year.
During the same period, our patriotic expatriates sent home remittances of $157.44 billion. But on their return to the country, they are often treated as criminals, forced to pay bribes and also sometimes have their goods confiscated. However, we are willing to lick the shoes of the Americans for a mere $2 to $2.5 billion per year. I have never heard any of our leaders talk of rejecting the US’ demands or restricting their freedom of movement in our country. One needs to have national pride and self-respect – unfortunately rare commodities in Pakistan – to give such orders.
US aid is not a game-changer. Our nuclear and missile arsenal and the support of the Chinese in the defence sector is more than enough to safeguard our security and independence. But our rulers turned us into beggars. As our soul, sovereignty and pride was sold by a dictator to the US in 2001, our disgraced body was trampled on and buried in broad daylight by the CIA agent, Raymond Davis, in Lahore in 2011. On the contrary, he was treated almost like a state guest, well looked after and departed as a distinguished dignitary.
Some Divine edicts about the kind of people our rulers are maintain: “Such were (also) the A’d people, they rejected the signs of their Lord and Cherisher, disobeyed His apostles and followed the command of every powerful, obstinate transgressor. And they were pursued by a curse (lanat) in this life and on the Day of Judgment. Ah, behold! For the A’d rejected their Lord and Cherisher. Ah behold! Removed (from sight) were A’d and the people of Hud.” – (11:59-60). Another verse of the Holy Quran states, “When We decide to destroy a nation, We first send a definite order to those among them who are given the good things of this life and yet transgress, so that the word is proved true against them. Then we destroy them utterly.” – (17:16). In a third verse the Quran states, “And We have placed leaders in every town, its wicked men to plot and burrow therein. But they only plot against their own souls and they perceive it not.” – (6: 123).
Email: dr.a.quadeer.khangmail.com