"My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country"-- John F. Kennedy

"Our country is not the only thing to which we owe our allegiance. It is also owed to justice and to humanity. Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong" --James Bryce

The world today has made progress in all spheres of life, in leaps and bounds that have surpassed many centuries. Technology, science and knowledge have reached a point where nothing seems to be a mystery anymore. Those things that were once in the dreams of inventors and thinkers are commonplace items within the reach of ordinary folks. What was considered luxury is now an integral part of our everyday lives.

In short, reliance on gadgets has rapidly increased minimising dependence on human beings. As a result, our societies are experiencing a unique transformation where despite the existence of a population explosion, the distance between humans is gradually widening rendering them islands unto themselves.

The humanistic qualities of love, compassion, tolerance, helpfulness, care, benevolence are now being taken over by selfishness, apathy, callousness and disdain; with high moral values taking a back seat on the list of priorities. In other words, we are fast moving towards a semi-dehumanised society.

One could think that this type of society only exists in the West from where all these inventions and technological advances are emerging but alas, this is not true. The germs of this disease were already sowed within us some decades back and now they have sprouted into a malaise that has left everyone bewildered, insecure and unhappy.

Pakistan, which was a melting pot of diverse ethnicity, faith and ideologies; a place where people of different race, creeds, castes and religions lived together in peaceful co-existence, has now been reduced to a concentration camp where every person is becoming fearful of the other person. The atmosphere of uncertainty together with the influx of technology (too premature for the majority of this country) is stripping our society of the much-cherished values of humanity. To make matters worse, over a significant period of time there has been orchestrated, a forced degeneration in cultural, artistic and literary activities which were considered highly important for maintaining sanity as they were platforms for venting out inner frustrations. An entire generation of human beings has grown up, oblivious to the beauty and benefits of being cultured, no matter which social stratum it belongs to.

These problems could have been mitigated had the curriculum of our history books being taught in our schools not been tampered with. By cutting out chapters dating from the era of Indus Valley Civilisation right down until the British colonial rule, our young generation has been deprived of the knowledge related to its very roots.

Instead of teaching history as an objective observer, our innocent youth is being indoctrinated with a tainted theory with respect to emergence of Pakistan along with its ideological basis. Is this our only history? What happened to the past five thousand years of this region? Have they disappeared in thin air or are we too shameful of the pagan glory, the grand warriors, the Vedic legends, the Mongol and Muslim inroads and subsequent mighty empires, the Sufis, the cultural revolutions, the fine arts, music and architecture proudly patronised by different emperors? Why are we unwilling to face our true identity and most of all, why are we hesitant in owning this region? Is this change in the curriculum of history meant to alienate our young ones from their homeland which is the reason why anyone who has the opportunity aspires to get foreign nationality or fly away to distant countries?

Since we have learnt to disown our country we do not love it in the true sense of the word and so we are least pushed about the integrity of our rulers; the way we treat its villages, towns and cities; the callousness with which we view its progress or deteriorating socio-economic conditions; the contempt with which we look upon millions of children who are out of school or who are labouring in factories, brick kilns, farms and the homes of elite; the apathy we show towards our lower stratum of society comprising small farmers, labourers, the disabled, the poor, the unwell -- children of lesser gods.

Since we do not consider Pakistan as our home, we, in addition to the way we treat our people, are also abusive towards our land. Things we can never imagine doing in our house, like spitting on the floor, littering, damaging the building, breaking furniture, spoiling tapestry, burning curtains, encouraging immoral acts, polluting the environment; we do so with utter shamelessness in the open streets, the markets, localities, parks, monuments and roads of our country. In fact, the rubbish that we so detest retaining for a while when driving our posh vehicles, is conveniently thrown outside right in the middle of the road.

There is no remorse in uprooting precious trees, in marking archeological sites with graffiti, with stoning government buildings, damaging public properties, defacing billboards, damaging roads, littering the beautiful parks, canals, lakes and the sea and what not. The list is endless. All because what we call home is just a cubicle comprising four walls and not the whole country in its entirety.

Pakistan has become merely a platform for people to fill up their vaults and prepare to escape whenever the situation so requires. Those who are supposed to work for the uplift of this country do not seem to have any stakes here then what should inspire them to remain loyal to this land? Consequently, the monster of corruption let loose by vested-interest has tattered apart the entire socio-economic fabric of the Pakistani society allowing it to be poisoned by corrupt rulers, disinterested public office holders and disgruntled members of the public who are bent upon bone-drying the country’s rich resources while their monstrous assets safely tucked abroad are waiting for their double-faced masters to return when the going gets critical for them.

Where is that sense of ownership that compels one to be passionate about one’s possession? Are we any different from our British colonial masters who ruled us for more than two hundred years for the ulterior motives of the Crown? While they mercilessly plundered the riches of this region and ridiculed the natives and their culture, they at least did not have the insensitivity to distort their history. The fact is that if anyone cherished and preserved Indo-Pak’s history, it was the aliens, i.e. the British who dared not interfere with the history curriculum. They may have had their historians but they remained true in depicting facts and figures allowing the reader to judge from his or her angle, but what have we done? We have brazenly attired our youth with blinders and brain-washed them to an extent that they no longer love this country as a homeland that gave them freedom by birth as against their forefathers who had to suffer the shackles of subjugation to foreign powers.

The country is anxiously awaiting a turn-around at the hands of its people, but not before the people resolve to re-establish their confidence in their abilities to love and behold this country as a gift from God, sincerely retaining the forgotten spirit of faith, unity and discipline, upholding its cultural values with honesty and above all, restoring the pride with which our five thousand years old historical traditions were once looked upon.