On this day, Pakistan gained independence from British Raj. I used to celebrate this day until I read “Sapiens”. The book just changed my point of view for good.
“Evolution has made Homo sapiens, like other social mammals, a xenophobic creature. Sapiens instinctively divide humanity into two parts, ‘we’ and ‘they’.”
― Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens
This prejudice that humans have against other countries is just so dumb. Now, one can argue that nationalism is just about loving their own homeland but it’s not that simple. Nationalism actually contributes to other horrible issues such as racism. It limits people’s perspective just to their own country.
Just look at what every country has been trying to do. Making more nukes, trying to gain more territory, and all the things that put not just other countries but the whole of humanity in a bad position.
Apart from nationalism, I don’t think the creation of Pakistan is worth celebrating anyway. It might sound quite pessimistic but I think it needs to be stated. Religious people wanted a separation and British people were in kind of a rush so they ended up drawing this zigzag line on the map which caused so many problems for these four countries and put Pakistan in the worst position.
If the goal of Muslims was to get a separate land for their own deeds then they badly failed. India has still more Muslims than Pakistan. Bangladesh was at the other end and was kinda meant to be separated. Pashtun people got divided into two which made things worse for them. So many wars have been fought for territory between Pakistan and India but still, Kashmiris are suffering. What’s there to celebrate again?
As far as I have learned people from different religions were quite socialized with each other and this whole idea of separating them between two nations was just so impractical. This was the sole reason why it was so hard to draw a line on the map for them.
People from both countries left their assets and migrated to other parts of the continent. Now people from both countries celebrate their independence because they think only their elders sacrificed everything.
I am sick of how countries brainwash children via the education system. I read Pakistan Studies realized how they only talk about their successes and never failures. Like, in Pakistan Studies, they have mentioned the war of 1965 but never mentioned what happened in 1971.
I posted something similar back when I was active on Facebook and one of my friends got triggered and told me how was naive to forget all the martyrs of my country. But I don’t get what’s the point of remembering your martyrs when you are gonna forget about all the other humans that died in those wars. What about the other side? More importantly, what about the bigger picture?
Even though the Internet has turned this world into a global village but I think it’ll take a while before globalism takes place of nationalism. Nationalism will stay here for a while because governments will keep trying their best to keep it alive. Take ISPR as an example, why do you think it exists if not to release songs about nationalism?
So yeah, there were a few reasons I don’t like to call myself a nationalist. I don’t think there’s any point in limiting your perspective to just your country.
Meanwhile independence scenes at my place 🙄.
