A Generation's Choice

Dr. Sarfaraz K Niazi (e-mail: niazi@niazi.com)

A minor debate in these pages about whether to live in the US or not prompts me to write the perspectives of someone who has lived in the US for good part of his life and now happily settled in Pakistan. Isolating the issues how living in the US relates to preserving cultural traits, religion and nationalism is not easy. It is also not right for those who have not experienced it all to expound their views. Most early philosophers of life such as those just coming out of medical and engineering colleges often confuse values with realities. I wish to clarify it and then give a simple advise to the young generation of Pakistan.

The world today is a global market place: for commodities like people. Should a person work and live in the US depends entirely on our objectives of life. All other considerations such as religion, family connections, social customs and nationalism should be secondary. Cruel and selfish as it may sound, this is the only system that works in the world. If you have income, you can afford the luxuries of taking care of your parents and enjoying your social customs. Broke and penniless you are a burden on society. ("You are only as good as your bank balance or the next act of greatness you can perform." The US Personal and Corporate Dictum Part 3, Section 4, Paragraph 68, Line 5, enacted continuously since CC landed.) One of the largest sources of foreign exchange for Pakistan is its people--not the products. Had it not been for the people who decided to give up their abode and venture the hard pavement of foreign lands, Pakistan would have gone bust a long time ago. The per capita income of Pakistani is only $350 after recent devaluation of Ruppee. This compares with about $25,000 in the US! Viola! The entire gross domestic product (per capita income multiplied by the population) of Pakistan is earned by one-half precent the American population. The total budget of Pakistan is $5 billion, which is smaller than the budget of the city of Chicago. It does not take a genius to figure out where are the opportunities to make a fortune.

Yes, you may want to come back and serve Pakistan but you can also serve it by living abroad. And I will only quote one example to rest my case: the Jewish lobby of America. (There are only 3% Jewish-Americans.) Today, Israel has all sort of concessions from the US, not because there is any special love between Christians and Jews but because of Jews living in the US. Had these highly qualified people moved back to Israel, who would have carried their cause in the backyard of Uncle Sam.

An oft quoted reason for not living in the West is their cultural values. Culture is what people make; it is when we consider it stagnant that it begins to smart the conscience. There is more than ample exposure to the Western culture in Pakistan, blame the tube for it. The primary question is: what does culture do for us. Actually nothing. It is just what we are used to and feel comfortable with. There is no elation in claiming that we stick to old cultural values. Good values are current anywhere but just to stick to a culture because it is ours or it is old is fetish. What is American culture? It is a blend of all religions, cultures, languages and geographical differences. Every nationality on this globe is present in the US with their own bit of culture. Yes it is not a desi culture but then it is also not an alien culture. This culture allows you total freedom of expression of your values. There are more problems in accepting cultural values in Pakistan than there are in the US. Tell me honestly, how many of you accept the cultural traits of the Pakistanis living in different provinces. What makes you think you cultural lineage is any better than theirs. Would you like to be called a Sindhi if you parents had migrated 50 years ago from Allahabad? Would you adopt a Sindhi dress? The cultural dichotomy is so great in Pakistan that it is a farce. A total farce. A Texan hat is not very popular in the Midwest but nobody gives a boo if you wear one. Trying wearing a typical Sindhi dress to a formal party and everyone will be curious to know who is your master. One of the most important binding factor for culture is our language. What is the language of Pakistan. Forget about what QA said or wanted. Is it what the 60% of the people speak (Panjabi), or is it a dialect you mother forces you not to forget? There is no cultural harmony in Pakistan. If you live in the US, you have only two systems to face. The one you have been raised with and the one you are now living in. Human beings are remakrable in adapting. A blend of cultures is not difficult. And let us not confuse religion with culture. Let us blend it in and call it the Western-Islamic culture. The best values of the West with the convictions of your religious teachings. It is totally possible and widely practiced in the US. Not every 15 yr old girl from Pakistani parents is running out on dates every night. But then it is also true for many American Christianns families also. In just about every major city in the US there is a Islamic school where parents get together with children to pray together. How many such schools can you name in Karachi? Cut the crap about not being able to live with the deteriorated values of the West. What values? When you live there, you make your own values. There is no law forbidding you to keep your ailing parents with you; there is no law that forces you to alienate with your children. The US is the land of opportunity; it remains. Not only for finding your living but also perpetuating your values as you see them fit.

Qualified doctors and engineers are dime a dozen in Pakistan. These are brilliant brains; let them go wherever they want and let them earn a decent living and honor for their families. There will be enough people left in Pakistan to work for almost nothing and live a life of hypocrisy. Sarcastic as it may sound, it is true. We are hypocrites. We talk about religion and Pakistan is the place where religion is least practiced--do not confuse it with how loudly it is preached. Just about every dictum of Islamic teaching is violated at all levels. Take politics, take business, take what ever and you can write books about how not to practice Islam. This may be an Islamic state by charter but it is absolutely not. You can use the facade of religion to fool masses because they need fooling when they do not have food, education and health care. And in this society of feudal lords that's what we do best and it works. I think Islam has much better chance of survival and perpetuation in the US than in Pakistan. I will only quote you one argument. An unequivocal law forbids discrimination based on sex, color, religion, political affiliation, age and nationality in the US. This is an Islamic law. In Pakistan, the written as well as the unwritten laws totally contradict this.

I do not know who we are trying to fool by saying that it is better to live in Pakistan and serve it. No one is served by your staying in Pakistan, not even you or your family. There are about one hundred million too many people living in Pakistan. No one will miss you if you leave. And frankly, nobody gives a damn. I have done my time and now wish to enjoy life in Pakistan. For early nesters, Pakistan is a rough place. Go get your life in order. Get the education the West offers; get exprience, make and save a lot of money and then in your later years if your heart desires for a comfortable living in the place of your birth, come back. Pakistan will still be here to welcome you. There will be a yellow ribbon tied around the old Oak tree. After all it is your first home. Look what the Greeks, Latins, Italians and others are doing. They still love their country and some return to it when they feel they can best live there.

For God's sake do not confuse values with realities. And the reality of today's life is having enough means to buy bread with honor. Never forget that. Do not get swayed by the emotional nationalistic rhetoric of recent college graduates about why you should not work in the US. Go, fella, go.

[03 September 1993 The Daily Dawn]