Dance. Let’s dance and sing like they do in Indian movies. Let’s dress like the actors and actresses. Let’s talk like them. Let’s be them. We are Pakistanis and our foolish forefathers made our country to be the true Islamic state on Earth. We say this in the majority of our wedding parties, tv shows and celebrations. We say it with action.
Let’s be the first to be a secular state forsaking shariah law and being ‘modern’. Is this not what we say indirectly?
This, ladies and gentlemen, ends the reason for the very existence of Pakistan if indeed Islam was the reason for its creation! If we are to be secular then why are we not India? Why did we separate? And if breaking India into parts was so that populations could be organized, then what have we been fighting for, dying for and spending billions for? Billions on defense budgets?
I sometimes wonder: did the Brits really leave? And what good did their leaving do anyway?
I love Pakistan. But I am concerned..
The simplicity of a culture based on the principals of the Quran is now gone. Genuine care, communal activity, proper distribution of resources, healthy lives..all gone.
To be educated is to speak english with an accent and behave like trailer trash of the west! To be noble is to be ignorant and backward!
I don’t know what my people are moving forward to?
Bribery, deception, shameless minds, rejection of truth, mockery of kindness, ego worship..this is what guides culture now…apart from Media- the drug of the masses.
Pakistan today accommodates everything. It is a free country. And so it should be addressed.. and not as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Let’s end this charade. It is only Pakistan. Like Thailand, like India and like Indonesia, there is Pakistan. And we are Pakistanis, we have all religions and we follow British Law..don’t we? I mean, even the Indian government’s legal system deals with Muslims under Islamic law..! Yes, I am being sarcastic but also realistic.
What hurts is the claim vs reality. Why claim to be an Islamic country when most of what goes on is unislamic?
I mean, I don’t want to hear: you are from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan but look at your policies and lifestyles!
Separate religion from State if you cannot implement a religion. That’s what I say. Claiming to be an Islamic state, then having a different law with the majority being totally indifferent towards sharia, makes absolutely no sense to me.
Thus, the state of confusion. Where is that original culture of the Muslims of the sub continent? Dead or almost dead!
I am not even against this so called ‘modernism’ .. I should just have the flexibility to choose my way and be able to shut people up when they tell me things about my country. Pakistan is confusing me at the moment when it comes to my expectation of it.
In a real Islamic State, governance is Caliphate, Sultanate or even Monarchy but the judiciary is purely based on Sharia with few thought of and agreed upon laws developed as per circumstance.
How are we an Islamic State then? I am not talking about a psycho mulla regime, I am talking about being Real. Being what one is and not pretend. If we are to be an open and free country, I am fine with that..and if we are to be a Real Islamic Republic, then I am happy with that too. But, currently, what are we?
Yes, and I wish Imran Khan comes to power! Soon.
Love you Pakistan, where ever you are!
Real Talk Blog : ali shah 
Firstly, look in your heart for Pakistan.
Secondly, does forsaking shariah law make a country modern? I think Bahrain, Jordan, and the UAE use shariah law to some extent and I consider them fairly modern. Whatever ‘modern’ means.
Thirdly, “The simplicity of a culture based on the principals of the Quran is now gone. Genuine care, communal activity, proper distribution of resources, healthy lives..all gone.” Oh, my darling, the days of a simple culture are long gone with globalization. Countries can no longer isolate themselves. Unless you live on a small far away island. Then we’d call you a hippy. We non-Muslims wonder why Muslims (or maybe it’s the religious leaders) seem to want to step back into a previous century. Is it impossible to be a good Muslim and be modern? Do you really think that Muslims aren’t devoted enough to Islam to withstand temptations? Are there not different degrees of faith in every religion? Isn’t that acceptable to the gracious and merciful Allah? And I am not being snide. Bribery, corruption and other un-Islamic actions will always exist. It’s who we are. People and religions aren’t black and white, all good or all bad.
There are many countries that meet your criteria and aren’t Muslim. Islam does not have a ‘corner’ on your criteria. Think of Scandinavia, Canada, Iceland, New Zealand, or different cultures within those countries such as the Inuit, the Lapps, the Bedouin and the Dalai Lama – all gentle, kind, noble people who are shepherds of the earth and it’s people.
Do you really think we in the west are all trailer trash??? Like I think all Muslims are terrorists? I argue for and have lost friends because of my positive attitude towards Islam. I feel insulted. I’d like to show you my three-story ‘trailer’ with the pool and hot tub, our successful, well educated children, our huge library, the money we donate to charities, our community activities, and our close knit family. We don’t own a truck with a gun rack or drooling hound dogs. Wouldn’t have supported Sarah Palin if we were American. Huh, trailer trash, indeed. Shame on you for painting everyone with the same brush. Maybe you’ve been watching too much ‘Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo”.
I think you’re afraid. You’re afraid of the unknown and the ‘what if’s’. Isn’t it all in Allah’s hands? And if it’s not get out there and work to get Imran Khan elected.
Trailer trash….mutter, mutter, mutter…..
Trailer trash is a kind of people, not the whole western population..sorry if it sounded like that.Trailer trash is a kind of people, not the whole western population..sorry if it sounded like that.
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They are actually a class of people in a so-called classless society where everyone is ‘equal’.
Interpretation – the scourge of understanding.
Yes, exactly. What I meant to say was that the role models of our nation are that class of people of the west as opposed to the better classes that still have good values and upbringing.
Does better class equal better values and upbringing? Lower classes can exhibit the same values. Methinks we have different interpretations of ‘class’. Trailer trash are poor, not well educated and lack motivation. Like water, they take the easiest course. Maybe that’s the key….motivation. Upper class as in Donald Trump? He’s motivated but is a money grubbing arrogant idiot. Give me the Obamas or Mohammads or Rachel Carsons or Terry Fox’s of the world. Who are our nations’ role models? An interesting question. Pakistan – Benazir Bhutto? Muhammad Ali Jinnah? Now you’ve got me thinking. Great essay question.
I would say the decent and the successful. People that are the backbone of any society. As a person, Donald Trump maybe what you say he is, but nevertheless a good businessman. My point was that if we ARE to be influenced by Western Society then why not be influenced by the best and productive and not the ‘failures’.
Absolutely agree.