We Pakistanis are a highly progressive, resilient lot: Javed Jabbar

“What is Pakistaniat?” was the topic of a talk by former senator Javed Jabbar, based on his book on the subject at the Jamshed Memorial Hall on Saturday morning under the joint auspices of the Al-Furqan Welfare Society and the Theosophical Society of Pakistan.

The term Pakistaniat could be broadly interpreted to convey the sense of national identity.

He defined the positive elements of ‘Pakistaniat’ as a combination of identities: individual, collective, evolving and assertive.

He defined individual identity as all the physical features that differentiate one human being from another.

Talking about collective identity, he said that Pakistanis were born resilient despite unrivalled odds in 1947, the 50s and the 60s.Despite that, he said, they not only managed to survive but made astonishing progress.

Pakistan, he said, was today much better off than in 1947. “We have to be proud of the fact that we are the citizens of a country with a global geo-strategic location.”

“Despite repeated bouts with martial law, Pakistanis are a very democratic people,” he said and referred to the people’s clamouring call for elections and the holding of elections at all fora.

Jabbar, who is also a former federal minister for information, referred to the way a cricket Test victory welded the nation in jubilation and everybody was proud to be a Pakistani.

The majority of Pakistanis, he said, preferred moderation, pluralism and diversity, and thousands of Muslim children went to mission schools.

As for philanthropy, he said, Pakistan could be rated as the most philanthropic country, given the large number of philanthropic organisations that we had all over.

As a tribute to the intellectual magnanimity of our people, he cited the fact that Pakistan had taken up Urdu as the national language even though it was the language of not more than seven-to-eight percent of the population.

“Our society is marked by ingenuity and innovation,” he said and in this context cited the example of Arfa Karim Randhawa, a child certified by Microsoft as a computer professional at the age of nine, a beautiful life cut short by an illness when she was only 16.

Talking about evolving identity, Jabbar talked about inter-marriages across the ethnic, regional and provincial divides, and quoted his own case where he himself was a Madrasi, his wife a Kashmiri and the children would have a new brand of identity incorporating the characteristics of both, and a purely Pakistani identity.

“We pride ourselves on the fact that we’re a nuclear power,” he said.

Coming to the not-too-good features, he cited the obsessive interest in politics along with indifference, low standards of education, unease about political-military ties, decline in values and ethics, crude conduct in public places, continued suppression of women and children’s rights, especially in the rural backwaters, lack of tolerance as regards religion, and indoctrination of children.

Talking about the decline in values and ethics, Jabbar cited the rampant corruption and dishonesty in each and every sphere of activity and regretted that there was no attempt by the quarters to nip the evil in the bud.

Earlier, children of the PECHS School presented a tableaux and a musical programme, which unfolded their immense musical talent. They presented patriotic national songs.

They were all children from an underprivileged background. and, thanks to the unprecedentedly philanthropic spirit of the Al-Furqan Welfare Society founded in 2012, the schooling of these children was being subsidised wholly and solely by the welfare society. The children did not have to pay a single penny for their schooling.

Videos were screened showing the medical camps being set up for the children by the society and the outdoor activities sponsored for the children. They all are the children of labourers who otherwise just couldn’t afford to send their children to school. All the children exhibited extreme promise proving beyond a shadow of doubt that talent and intelligence had nothing to do with affluence and that the children of the poor coud be equally accomplished.

Yasmeen Minhas, founder-principal of the Foundation Public School, who also spoke, said that the Al-Furqan society was providing education totally free to 2,000 children.

She firmly believed that those who went overseas for education must come back and serve their country and society, and cited her own case in this regard. “No country can progress without giving impetus to education,” she said.