No Man-Istan

I have some things to be happy about. The strike is over (and yes there was some violence and destruction of property in Karachi because, apparently, the MQM feel that refugees in Swat don’t deserve aid from Karachi, despite all of the power given them, a party founded by refugees!). After experiencing the hottest May, probably the hottest month, in my life, I now have workable air-conditioning once again in my bedroom. This week there was also a carnival at a beach near my house, so I actually had somewhere fun, close by, and inexpensive to go to at night.

But that’s not why I feel satisfied. I feel vindicated because this recent article in Time (Asia edition): www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1898251,00.html has validated my observations, pin-pointing the problematic mentality itself instead of just laying out another general laundry list of the country’s overall problems. It mentions Dr. Houdboy, a man I deeply respect (I have not talked to him, but I have conversed with his brother at length). And going by what the Pakistani ambassador, after some gentle but well-executed prodding by Jon Stewart, seemed to imply as a guest on the Daily Show last week, it seems that the need for earnest self-criticism may be getting through to some. I’m tempted to gloat, but that won’t solve anything. Instead, I’d like to illustrate my feelings with a parable -

Somewhere, in an isolated kingdom, something strange happened to the water. It contained an undetected chemical that, when ingested, made the drinker gradually lose their sanity. At first it only affected a few people near the well, whom everyone dismissed as village idiots. Then the poor were affected, who were dismissed as lunatics due to starvation. Then the whole kingdom, save for the king, who had his own private water, started going mad. The king warned them not to drink the water, but everyone dismissed him, wondering if he was insane because he was not acting like them or saying the kinds of things they were. Eventually the kingdom totally ignored the king because they decided that he in fact was the crazy one, and they were all sane. Tired of uselessly warning them, having his edicts ignored, and having his sanity called into question, he decided to drink the poisoned water himself. When he eventually became like them, they said: “Ah, the King has finally come back to his senses!”

The obvious meaning is that when you can’t beat them, you join them. Not that you should do this, but simply that this is what people typically end up doing when facing extreme social pressure to conform and not be judged wrong simply because you are different. It means, in a sense, that one’s reality is at least in part socially constructed. And while your senses might be working just fine, and your logic in order, it makes no difference if the majority routinely distort their own reason when it comes to politics (owing much more to psychological and emotional factors, rather than a lack of intelligence or even access to education).

To wit, the ideology of Pakistan has always been very skewed.  Thus it’s not a big surprise that the creation of this state has been, overall, a disaster for most people involved (including those it was supposed to help). Zia-ul-Haqq was not entirely to blame, but the seeds his regime planted were so destructive that over 20 years after he was killed Pakistan has not fully recovered, and will likely continue to reap this bitter harvest for decades to come.

Nothing short of a major overhaul of the entire education system is likely to produce long-term results, which is as likely to happen in this country as going a full week without rolling blackouts.

As I’ve more or less said goodbye to the first place that hired me in Pakistan, a school I’ve taught at for three years, I’ve been in training for a new job that will, hopefully, hold me over until I secure another position. At any rate, I’ll be qualified to teach at any Inlingua center in the world. During the past week I’ve been training for Inlingua (it’s like Berlitz) as an English instructor, and while it’s sometimes been stressful, it’s been an enjoyable experience overall. Anyway, it’s not as stressful as tramping around town, interviewing at different schools. Indeed, training in this facility has been like a trip back to the U.S. – well-organized, corporate environment, friendly and professional atmosphere, reliable air-conditioning, American accents, and long days.

Tomorrow there’s going to be yet another planned strike in Karachi. This one, I think, is related to the two-year anniversary of the May 12th massacre. Yes, violence plagues the country as a whole (duh) but the splashy, headline-grabbing events usually occur hundreds of miles away from me. But there’s been some blood-letting in Karachi a few weeks ago, which, strangely, I didn’t even find out about until the next day (it happened, as it usually does, in parts of the city I never visit). I suppose that tomorrow will just be another day off from work for most people. First a strike was called, then a holiday declared by the government in response, and then the strike was supposed to be called off because, apparently, a holiday would make it ineffective. I’m sure there’ll be demonstrations, and if there are riots, things are bound to get ugly. I hope it’s not too hot, as I’ll be spending most of the day indoors (my AC still needs to get fixed!).

With so much to be angry about and so much chaos and confusion, it’s sometimes difficult to know what people truly think and how they truly feel. Last night I watched Fareed Zakaria on the Daily Show pontificating about Pakistan. My first thought was, wow, I bet most Pakistanis watching this, knowing who they are, would get angry at this show before a word was even spoken (featuring, as it did, a pro-American Indian Muslim being interviewed by a liberal American Jew). I agreed with everything Zakaria said, but one comment surprised me. He claimed that, despite anti-Americanism being at an all time high (true) in Pakistan, the majority are now actually in favor of the drone plane attacks! I’ve never heard any Pakistani express support for that, so I looked it up. I did find this blog article in Wired: http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/03/pakistanis-hear/.  

Support for military campaigns against the Taliban is probably not growing, but the creation of refugees, now close to 900,000, certainly is.

It’s hard to know what to make of all this, but I think we need to be cautious before coming to hasty conclusions about public opinion. The U.S. has a long way to go before it wins Pakistani hearts and minds. The best thing to do is the limit any violence, come up with a comprehensive, well-planned Afghanistan policy (including plans for an exit), and consider how to assist Pakistan constructively in a way that minimizes: interference in their government, support for fanatics, aiding corruption, wasting American tax-payer money, threats to India, or jeopardizing our troops or civilians. In other words, it’s the same damn story as before!