An Irishman's first impressions about Pakistan

Sometimes back I was searching for something in my old emails, and came across this article, which was hitherto unread. I read and found it interesting. This resurrected to a spark and a long drawn heated discussion when I forwarded it to fellow Pakistanis and others. It was written back in 2005 and was published in The Guardian.

An Irishman's first impressions
By Finian Cunningham

Recently I had the wonderful pleasure of visiting Pakistan, the land
of the pure. Having married a beautiful Pakistani woman, I was to
visit her native country and my new extended family in a voyage that
would take us to Karachi, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Lahore and back
again to Karachi.

It was such an honour and delight for me, as an Irishman, to visit for
the first time this part of the world which is so rich in history. We
fellow sufferers of the British Empire really should stick together!

Among the plethora of delights I found was the delicious food: chilli
omelette and parathas for breakfast, achar gosht, chicken karahi,
daal, handi chicken, chapattis, biryani, samosas, and my favourite
dessert, kheer. Such an abundance of food. Every meal was a feast fit
for a king. And I thought to myself, 'no wonder, the Britishers
refused to leave here for 300 years!'

But, more seriously, it struck me that Pakistani culture has a
profoundly healthy attitude towards food, in that not only do people
eat nutritionally well, but food and eating is a daily renewal of
familial and social bonds. It was noticeable to me that in Pakistan
there is a tacit commonly understood basic right for all people to be
able to eat well. How profoundly democratic! Whereas in the West, in
particular Britain, North America, and sadly increasingly is the case
in Ireland, food is often treated like any other consumer item with
the result that a person's nutrition is proportionally related to
income, and if you are poor then you don't eat well.

I don't mean to sound naïve. I realise there are huge disparities in
wealth in Pakistan too, with many people having to struggle to make
ends meet. Nevertheless, in praise of Pakistani culture and society,
it was my distinct impression that people by and large eat well. And
for me that says a lot about the profound civility of Pakistani
people.

Another delight, and it astounded me, was the numerous birds of prey,
always wheeling in the sky, effortlessly, hypnotically riding on the
air currents. Even in noisy, bustling Karachi these magnificent birds
had the effect of drawing the observer into a calm reverie as they
graced the sky. To me these birds looked like eagles, although they
had the fish-shaped tails of another bird of prey called a kite.
Either way, these birds are rarely if ever spotted in Ireland or
Europe. Yet in Pakistan these natural beauties were everywhere. And
again it struck me, the prevalence of these birds, like the delicious
and diverse food, were another symbol of the immense natural richness
of Pakistan.

Yet another delight was discovering the layers and layers of fabulous
history in the foundations and fabric of Pakistan and region.
'Zabardast!' Visiting the museums in Karachi and Lahore were
mesmerising experiences. I was awestruck by the wealth of cultures and
civilisations stretching back millennia: the Ghaznavids, the Sultans
of Dehli, the Moghul Empire, each bequeathing immense legacies. To
give just one example, I was amazed to discover the civil and
technological achievements of the ancient city of Mohenjandero, some
4-5000 years old. To put this in perspective, at around the same time
in Ireland the early Celtic people were living in small camps made
from simple wooden structures.

But of all the treasures that I found in Pakistan, the most precious
for me was the people, their warmth and humanity. First of all my new
relatives were most gracious and hospitable, greeting me with open
arms and hearts. And this kind of spirit I was to find in the vast
majority of Pakistani people. No doubt it is rooted in the Islamic
spirit of brotherhood, and I found it humbling to watch how so many
millions of people on the streets coexist in an atmosphere of mutual
respect.

It was my habit to often go for a walk in the afternoon on my own. I
may have been dressed in a shalwar kurta and sandals but an Irishman's
fair complexion is hard to disguise so most people noticed this
stranger in their midst. Whether it was stall holders or machine shop
workers, children or just other pedestrians, I was constantly taken
aback by how friendly and good humoured people were. Even though many
of these people were obviously burdened with the daily grind of making
a living, they were invariably gracious to me, affording me a
heartfelt 'Salam alaikum' and a cheerful smile. In this way I would
say that Pakistani society is far healthier than in the West, where
the culture of consumer capitalism has eroded a sense of community and
society, and where streets are often a place of suspicion and enmity
and crass violence.

And from this experience, I discerned how brainwashing and poisonously
propagandist the so-called free press and media are in the West. You
must be aware of how negative the western media is towards Pakistan
and its people, portraying it as a deranged and dangerous place
dominated by 'mad Mullahs' and Madrassas 'schools of terror', where
people are 'crazed terrorists', wanting to wage 'Jihad' on westerners.
I must confess that I was a little apprehensive coming to Pakistan.
And I realised just how insidious this western stereotyping is because
even though I was already sceptical of it, my preconceptions were
nonetheless contaminated. I was humbled, heartened and ashamed to
realise just how grossly distorted this western media image is because
of the fraternity and kindness with which I was embraced.

Finally, I would like to conclude with a heartfelt wish for the people
of Pakistan. I wish Pakistanis peace, fraternity and prosperity. I
wish the immense natural wealth of this country to be blessed on all
its people in as an egalitarian way as humanly possible. For this I
wish for Pakistanis a government that strives to serve them with
unflinching commitment to social justice.

It saddens me to think that Pakistani leaders seem not to have learnt
from the lessons of the past when this country and its wealth and
people have been subjugated to serve foreign powers. (In Ireland, many
of my people are disgusted that our government too is also acting
shamefully in facilitating the Anglo-American war on humanity.)

I think Pakistan must somehow summon the courage and principle to tell
Bush and Blair that their criminal project is not welcome and must
stop. For inspiration, witness the independent and defiant spirit that
is now giving Venezuela and the rest of South America a much more
beneficial life free from destructive US domination. And also I recall
the fiercely independent spirit of Mohammad Ali Jinnah who refused to
be browbeaten or bowed by Mountbatten for the sake of his people. And
I wish that spirit on Pakistan today. Salam alaikum.

Finian Cunningham is a newspaper journalist based in Dublin, Ireland