Pakistan

Pakistan has a rich history and culture and has significantly contributed to the world in various fields.

Pakistan is home to many talented individuals: it produces the largest number of Huffaz annually and probably the largest number of scholars also. It produces some of the finest scientists, engineers, and physicians.

Pakistan is a second home to the largest Islamic movement in the world, the Tableeghi Jamaat. It also has other powerful Islamic movements like Jamaat-e-Islami, Tanzeem-e-Islami, Dawat-e-Islami, etc.

Pakistan has played a significant role in world history, including its support of the Afghan Mujahideen against the Soviet Union and its defiance of the UN Security Council arms embargo during the Bosnian War. Pakistan is also strategically located and has abundant natural resources.

Pakistan is one of only nine countries in the world with nuclear weapons and the only Muslim nation among them. It is also one of only 15 countries and the only Muslim nation currently producing advanced combat aircraft that it sells internationally.

The list of accomplishments is long. But collectively, Pakistan is a mess. We have massive corruption in most public spheres, including the judiciary, politics, law enforcement, and the land records.

Injustice is rampant with feudal oppression resembling colonial times. Our public educational system is near collapse. We failed to keep our country together and lost East Pakistan in 1971.

In my humble view, we have all the ingredients of being a great nation.

Unfortunately, we are not a great nation yet!

Since moving back to Pakistan 22 years ago, I have interacted with thousands of people from all walks of life as a management trainer and consultant; life and business coach; lecturer at universities; and doing humanitarian work through multiple charitable organizations, some of which I have founded and run.

While two sets of my in-laws are city dwellers, I have a set of in-laws from the interior of Sindh and a set from the tribal Pashtuns in the north.

I have traveled extensively in Pakistan, from the shores of the Arabian Sea to the Khunjerab Pass bordering China; from the disputed Sir Creek on the border of India to the Iranian border, and all the major border crossings of Afghanistan.

Based on my experiences, my humble view is that one of the biggest obstacles to achieving the greatness of Pakistan is the prevalence of lying and breaching commitments. Unfortunately, I struggle with them as well. The majority of people in Pakistan lie and break promises, which is like a national plague that has spared very few people.

We lie to save on taxes, meet revenue targets, or gain employment benefits. As physicians, we prescribe medical tests, some only for lab commissions, and do surgical procedures for the hospitals’ revenue targets. We lie to our patients about clinical appointments, knowing we cannot meet them.

We lie to the police sergeant about forgetting our driver‘s license at home when we don’t have one, or to our parents about minor…

Complications when they have cancer and will not survive. We may even lie to our kids about consequences that don’t exist. We lie to our regulators while running businesses or to our clients about our credentials. We lie about the time of our payments, knowing well that we shall not be paying at the time committed. We lie to foreign embassies about our true motives for visiting their countries.

We lie about our status, our ages, and our degrees when we are marrying off our kids.

When I asked a person where he went to University, he said Lalam, USA. Having traveled extensively in the US, I couldn’t recall this town, and when I kept pressing the person for details, he finally admitted that he meant Lala Musa, a small town in Pakistan.

The same is valid for breaking promises:

• We tell our guests at marriage events that we shall serve food at a particular time but don’t serve at that time.
• Our imams tell us that Jumaah will be at 1:30 pm, and they delay the prayers, not realizing they are breaking their promises.
• We tell our wives we shall be home at a particular time and come late.
• We tell our kids that we shall take them to the park or buy them particular gifts, knowing well that we don’t intend to.
• We give appointments that we don’t honor.
• We give checks that are disowned.
• We make political promises that we fail to keep.
• Our Ulema tell people coming to Madrassas that they shall give them a Fatwa in 4 days and take a week.
• Pakistan is known internationally as a nation that lies and dishonors commitments. Our businesses prefer international clients over local ones.

I suggest the government establish a Ministry to fight lying, deceit, and breach of commitments (Ministry of LDBC), similar to the Ministry of Climate Change. This plague is damaging us more than all levels of climate change or national disasters put together.

The Ministry of LDBC could do the following:

1. Conduct research in all major religions, like Islam, Christianity, and Hinduism, and present the findings to the nation, explaining how LDBCs are a major or grave sin.
2. Explain to the nation what constitutes LDBCs.
3. Present statistics on how LDBCs damage us in all spheres of life.
4. Enact legislation to fight this menace.
5. Work with Ulema, psychologists, and educators to incorporate this material into the national curriculum from Kindergarten to Universities and Madaris.
6. Integrate this vision into our media, legislating the media outlets to incorporate a percentage of their productions to this cause.
7. Conduct scientific surveys to see where we stand and determine KPIs, targets, and timelines.

If we can’t do this on a national level, all of us who head or are influential in institutions, whether businesses, schools, universities, or Madaris, should set up departments to fight LDBCs with concrete programs and associated budgets. We should have an annual LDBC conference where institutions can share their experience fighting this menace.

Finally, on a family level, parents must take concrete action to create a culture that fosters truth, fairness, and honoring commitments. If you can do it yourself, excellent; otherwise, take assistance from experts.

Ready to join the fight?