If there is one thing time has taught me, its to never – and I mean never – underestimate the power of the desi network. No matter what happens and to whom, news travels so fast that before the couple that decides to make it official has a chance to hold hands, their uncle's cousin's brother-in-law's best friend's sister will have the chance to gasp at the juicy scandal. What's more, the network has grown stronger with time and with the ease of texting it has the potential of wildfire! You don't even have to bother with talking to people you don't like anymore!
That said, my heart sank on September 11th as I read ‘11,000 US troops to enter Pakistan – have you heard anything about this?’
See with it being 9/11, every American channel was broadcasting supposed patriots and no one here had really read / heard / seen anything about ground troops entering Pakistan. So we – that being me and everyone I mass sent the text to – searched frantically, from GEO news, to BBC online, to just about every channel on cable – nothing. And then finally, flipping impatiently to a CNN talk show with Senator McCain going on about how Americans are the better then the rest of the world – in all seriousness mind you – I saw a tiny news flash scroll across the bottom of my dinky television; ‘Bush authorizes ground troops to enter Pakistan.’
So what does that mean for a country about the size of Texas? Granted they are entering from the far north, areas that most of us haven’t even seen – out of sight, out of mind right? What most people don’t realize though is the gravity of having foreign soldiers on your soil with the common buzzing opinion being that the next 9/11 attacks may just come out of FATA. With General Kayani’s response to retaliate and defend our borders, foreseeing a potential mess, especially with Iraq still being a hot issue, even NATO has decided to step away. Tensions are increasing and everyday there is buzz about how Pakistan is going to be the ‘next great challenge’ for the world and the next US president. So why then, is there so little discussion from the general Pakistani?
The only retort I have heard about is reaction with diplomatic fury – what does that mean exactly? – regarding attacks on militants without prior approval from the green-and-white nation. But the helicopters continue to land and civilians become pawns weekly – the BBC reported 20 last week – in this grand war, o forgive my err, I meant ‘attack on a militant area’. What’s more, the tribals who were for the most part supporting the government against the militants who insist on blowing up their school, are now just about being forced to take up arms to defend their homes and families. And even though the Pakistani army has allegedly warned the US that their aggressiveness will ‘widen the insurgency by uniting the tribesmen with the Taliban’ (quote BBC Sept. 16th), the tactic does not seem to change.
Don’t get me wrong, I am in no way in favor of war – but I am very preachy of my belief that people are most important that policy. Why does the world not learn from history and past mistakes? Why do we not realize that you cannot always fight fire with fire? From Vietnam, to Afghanistan, to Iraq and now Pakistan, when has bombing the crap out of any given enemy worked? All that is lost is life and the sanctity of life – and in the meantime the ‘problem’ continues to grow. How can the first ever female candidate to run for Vice President support the Iraq war by stating ‘We are winning the war on terror because we have not been attacked since 2001” – mind you this is the same candidate who can see Russia from her front porch. What about all the lives lost in countries she cannot even pronounce? Of homes lost and scars left permanently, all I can say is that its very easy to sit back with a drink in your hand and discuss policy when you never have the time to research and understand the plight of the people.
But then, we as Pakistanis are guilty of this too. We sit back in coffee shops – home and abroad – and talk about policy just like the rest of the world. The average educated person knows which governments at home are corrupt – in their alleged nicknames and embezzlements in the billions – but we don’t do anything about it. We have lively debates about the sanctity of our nation but find it hard to unite – peacefully mind you, I really am weary of what I have read and witnessed in visits back home of student political groups burning tires (go figure the point of that) on highways. What we need is a peaceful voice, uprising, whatever you want to call it, against foreign boots on our soil. Pakistani’s – and the rest of the world – can hardly deal with another crazy war. Maybe its time to use the desi network – and that’s not exclusive to color or cast – as a tool that makes a change for once.
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