The Sacrifices We Don’t Make

By Mahvish Akhtar, MMNS Pakistan Correspondent

As the social and political situation worsens in Pakistan many questions arise. One starts to wonder about the future of the country and in turn ones’ own future because every Pakistani’s future is tied to the future of Pakistan. Most young adults who have the opportunity to get higher education want to leave the country. The ones who don’t want to leave or are not leaving are ones who don’t have the opportunities and the finances to do so. Of course everyone knows how things are in Pakistan and while things may not be as bad as they seem on TV the living standard still is very different then what it is in most Western countries where most  people are going for education and careers.

Looking at the past statistics very few numbers of those who leave come back to live in Pakistan after they are done getting their education or after getting some professional experience.  Even if some do come back the number of people doing that isn’t significant enough. The same goes for professionals that are in the prime of their careers. If they are able to leave they never want to come back

Even if they say they want to come back they most likely will not after settling abroad and having children there.

This leaves the country in the hands of those who are either not qualified or not competent enough to lead the country. Just recently we had the fake degree fiasco which goes to show the incompetence of our leaders and the lack of educated and level headed people who can run the show. Political meetings and assemblies often end in shouting matches and sometimes even physical fights erupt. The sad things is that the people who are watching all of these things taking place are not educated enough and have not seen anything different to be able to recognize that the situation of the country and the condition of our politicians is not the way it is supposed to be.

Many say in the light of current events people cannot be blamed for wanting to get out since the country is in shambles. However this statement begs the question, what is in the future of Pakistan? What does the country need right now?  What needs to be done to make these fresh graduates and professionals stay in there country?

This brings us to the most important and eye opening discovery, which is that the new generation does not have the same emotions and attachment to the country as their elders did even though they have been raised in Pakistan. The generations that came before were ready to give up everything, and a lot of them did, to benefit the country. Why didn’t they instill the same feelings in their children? Why are the younger people ready to leave the country on a whim? What went wrong that the parents stopped telling their children that this is your country and you will live and die for it? They did it themselves why don’t they now ask their children to do the same?

Is it that they saw what the results were of them trying and when it was time for their children they realized that it was a hopeless cause? Somehow they taught their children that it is okay to be selfish and think only of themselves and not of the interest of their nation.

Whatever the reason without the same motivation and the same feelings we cannot excel in any field and cannot fight the ills of our society; we see the smartest and the most capable people of Pakistan sitting outside of Pakistan and talking about that country like it is the most horrible place to live. Who wants to go back to that? When I start spreading the blame around I start with myself. I left my country at a young age, lived in the US, got my education from there while I kept thinking that one day I will go back but I didn’t really want to leave. I finally left but I will always be willing and ready to go back. I wanted to help my country; I had left the States with a lot of dreams and aspirations about how I will change things. I got here and realized it wasn’t as easy as I had imagined. How can one change a people when they don’t realize that something is wrong? So what to do?

Should one give up opportunities for their own selves and their families to fix a place that everybody else has given up on? Or should one forget about a hopeless cause and work on the betterment of his/her family? Is there a way to do both in Pakistan? If there isn’t a way to do both which is more important?

The patriots of Pakistan say learn from abroad but come back and use that knowledge to help your own country. If thinking from our hearts this sounds like a great idea but when one is not able to find a job there and not able to feed the family what then? Is sacrificing for the country more important then feeding one’s own children?

Some people are going to have to put the needs of their own families aside and make sacrifices for the country to make some changes. Who are those people and where will they come from?

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