Reputation of Pakistan precedes realities, accomplishments

Disclaimer: This post was originally published in TechNews on April 13, 2014

I come from the land of pure, where we are told on every step to live your life for others. But unfortunately recently my homeland Pakistan, is known as a place where people are not safe and they are being killed for no reason. And trust me it hurts me to see my country name like this because my country is "my country" after all, I belong there and I can’t hear anything against it. We all hear and read about how people criticize and insult Pakistan, and unfortunately there are times when we cannot blame most of the reasons due to the increasing violence. But if there’s one thing I’ve been taught, it’s never to generalize. The good points of Pakistan have been hidden in this layer of violence.

But what we can do is that at least change our perception and try to look for positivity in it. Let me point out some good and interesting facts about Pakistan; in the last five years, Pakistan’s literacy rate has grown by 250 percent, the trend of early and arrange marriages has almost vanish and women have started to come out of their boxes and grow.

Abdul Sattar Edhi is running the world’s largest ambulance network, we produce about 50 percent of the world’s footballs, we are known as world’s seventh largest pool of scientists and engineers and we are ranked as the second largest gas infrastructure in the world.

In medicine, not only have we produced world class doctors that now practice all over the world, we also have state-of-the-art medical facilities that offer services at a fraction of the cost that is charged for similar facilities elsewhere. To name a few, these facilities include Aga Khan, South City Hospital, Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT), Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital, Burns Center, Kidney Center, Services Hospital Lahore and Indus Hospital among others.

On the other hand, we also have some of the South Asia's master musicians in every genre. Whether it is the world famous qawwali of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the ghazals of Iqbal Bano, Farida Khanum or Mehdi Hassan. The pioneers of pop music in the subcontinent such as Nazia and Zoheb Hassan or bands such as Junoon, Fuzon, and Atif Aslam all come from Pakistan.

Apart from this, Pakistan has produced master artists such as Sadeqain, Abdur Rahman Chughtai, Ustad Allah Baksh, Shakir Ali and others' whose work is not only recognized in this part of the world but is the predominant feature of many art auctions all over the world at Sotheby's and Christie's.

Our artists are the product of a rich cultural heritage that dates back thousands of years. We are the one who value our families and relations more than ourselves. For us our parents always come first and no matter where we are we never forget our culture and tradition. Because that is our identity and that is what makes us a Pakistani.

Despite all the mishaps, destruction and loss, we’ve shown a lot of progress. One of the most amazing facts which we are seeing is that a majority is protesting against the violence. We still have time to improve more, and I know we can if we try to look for motivation and positivity within ourselves not others. We should get united, and stand up for one cause, and that is that we want to change. And guess what since we’re still living let’s bring out the best of us and our country. Long live Pakistan.

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