Pakistanis for Gaza

As 2008 came to a close, the world responded with as much fanfare and celebration as the recession/depression/bankruptcy/'whatever economic crisis condition your country is in' allowed. However, for the unfortunate people of Gaza, there were no celebrations. Instead, the city was turned into a war zone by an invading Israeli army. Hundreds of people lost their lives in the assault. Throughout the Muslim world, enraged protesters took to the streets of the big cities, showing their solidarity with the plight of the Palestinian people in the face of wanton destruction. The people of Pakistan were not to be outdone. Scores of people turned out for protest marches around the country, even including a children's protect in Karachi. Organized by the Islamic political group, Jamaat-e-Islami, the protest in Karachi was quite a sight as scores of young children held imitation corpses and placards expressing hatred for Israel and the USA, while chanting violent slogans. Both the compassion and anger of the Pakistani people was there for all to see. Seeing the level of passion with which Pakistanis were willing to come out on the streets, in support of their Palestinian brethren, was admirable. It did not matter how distant the conflict was and how the conflict had next to no impact on the people of Pakistan, these committed folk were out there, showing the world, that its problems mean more to Pakistan’s people, than Pakistan’s own problems.

To these angered protesters, it did not matter, that a war was taking place within the heartland of their country. The people have responded with silence and disinterest to the fact that one of Pakistan’s most breathtakingly beautiful and serene regions has been transformed into a zone of chaos, bloodshed and persecution. These folk are not going to be restricted by the concerns of their own country. The daily news of scores of people being killed in Swat does not faze them. Word of dozens of people being torched alive solely on the basis of their political affiliations does not concern them. The stories of local leaders being publicly executed and then their bodies being left hanging in the middle of public markets for days on end as an example to others, does not worry them. The alarming news that the local government cannot even stop the burning down of schools all across the region by these militants does not sway them. These men and women of Pakistan are far too focused on the problems of Gaza, to take heed as the Taliban continue their drive to bring their own version of hell to bear upon the people of Swat, and soon on the rest of Pakistan.

The Pakistani people have clearly shown their unparalleled level of selflessness and sense of self-sacrifice to the world. It does not matter that our nation faces an existential threat, that our peoples are being put through untold suffering, and that a cancer of unprecedented malignancy is spreading through the body of our country without any hindrance. This sacrificial middle and upper class of our society, the only segment of our country that can resist the danger from the north, will ignore its own plight to show support for others facing difficulties. We are a nation to be proud of, a people characterized by such empathy, such commitment, such selflessness. Let it be known, around the world, the people of this crumbling state Pakistan are willing to give themselves wholeheartedly for any just cause around the world, except for their own. Truly with this attitude, I am sure God must be smiling down upon us and our nation will live long and prosper. Pakistan Zindabad!