Nobody in this state can get up and think of wearing any traditional dress to his office. Because every time people show up in that attire they are underestimated and devalued. So, we choose to appear in western garments at all events considered important. These westerns clothes although conceal our individuality, but help us bear resemblance to our colonialist and imperialist masters.
Not only clothes but in all walks of presentation the standards of being notable and worthy are set in comparison to their closeness to non-indigenous behaviors. Anyone who fails to become so-called modern, in consequence, fails to gain regard. And not only today but throughout this clash of civilizations, this nation has been drenched in this self-contempt and indignity. From the brand of our socks to the color of our hair we have been soaked in the admiration of those who shattered our indigenous cultures in the guise of cultural appropriation.
The war of independence is yet not over and wears the masks of 5th and 6th generation warfare. And no matter what forms the war takes ‘we’ always decide to affiliate ourselves with our defeaters by finding any common link possible. Religion, culture, geography, economy all have served as these common links depending on the type of conqueror we are dealing with. We as a nation have been by borrowing from invaders whatever we could. Let it be the structures of education or the frameworks of globalization, the models of capitalism to the ideas of communism, or the models of nationalism to the slogans of anti-nationalism.
The democracy we yearn for or the globalization we look up to both are nothing but a scratch of ideas ‘they’ bestowed upon us. As a result of our ever-changing loyalties and associations, we stand today as an ugly amalgam of pseudo capitalist, pseudo communist, pseudo-secular, pseudo-religious, pseudo-liberal, pseudo-conservative, pseudo-democratic, and pseudo despotic people with no distinct identity.
If one recalls the pre-partition scenario and our submissiveness to the British rulers it becomes transparent that they not only overwhelmed but dehumanized us in the name of the industrial revolution. When Sir Syed Ahmad Khan convinces this nation to learn ‘their’ language he is mainly just providing the people with a link through which they can extend to affiliate with their conqueror. This link of association kept changing shapes and sizes but the functionality was retained. After being an independent state, once again we looked up to the mercy of the superpowers controlling the globe. We passionately adored America in the cold war and how hard they punched in the face is no new story to tell.
Today, China stands as the single conqueror of the globe, and we beg every single association to it. From the ports of Gawadar to the panels of the orange line the Chinese sit, controlling, whatever belongs to us. And we all should know that this 19th-century imperialism or 20th-century globalization holds for us no peace, no justice, no liberty, no equality, no integrity, no civil and labor reforms, no laws for minorities, no reforms of climate change, and no treaties of nuclear non-proliferation.
What we need to understand at this point is that we will have to look for ideas based on self-reliance and ponder again over our anti-nationalist movements if we want to thrive, or basically even survive. If we did not manage to escape this labyrinth of dependence we will forever be the slaves who tremble in their quarters when the maddened king stamps.
