By Sadia Shah
Be it our government, politicians or media, they are quick to take pride if an American or British of Pakistani origin achieves a distinction in film making like that of Sharmeen Chinoy or Amer Khan in boxing but they are not ready to own when Faisal Shahzad type tries to explode explosives at the Times Squares.
Ask any government official, politician or anchor about Shahzad or five Pakistani origin Americans who were arrested in Sargodha for planning to take part in terror attacks, our media persons would be ever ready to disown them and claim that they are not Pakistanis. They are American citizens.
Ask about Sharmeen, a US national having Pakistani origin, they would be overwhelmed by her earning Oscar for making ‘Saving Face’ and also term it to a ‘Pakistan’s achievement’.
Will our government, politicians and media ever come out of this hypocratic and lost identity syndrome?
Today we are confused about our identity, what we want to be and what we actually are. Born Pakistani desi’s are suffering from split personality disorder. Is a country which has given them citizenship is actually accepting them? Does a green card mean that they have equal rights as the natives of that country have? A guest can be a guest and cannot be treated as a family member is the real thinking of this world.
Pakistanis having citizenship of any other country still are Pakistanis. They are responsible for all their good and bad deeds.
Why are we so proud of only those Pakistanis who are living abroad and achieving something?