Some disorganized thoughts on Pakistan's 70th anniversary of independence, framed by the ongoing events in Charlottesville:
Pakistan is still deeply shaped by its history as a British colony. The government is modeled on a parliamentary system. The legal framework often still includes laws that were enacted under the Raj, including the constitution, which is based in part on the Government of India Act of 1935. And white supremacy, in the form that the writer Sara'o Maozac called "white idolatry" in an essay that should be more widely read than it is, is a daily fact of life here. When SRB and I were at the Khunjerab Pass last week, around a dozen young men asked if I would take a selfie with them over the course of 20 minutes. They don't know me or who I am, I am (obviously) not a famous person. But I'm white, and so, as SRB put it, they "spotted one!" Seeing a white person is exciting. My foreign friends of color here do not have that experience. This jibes with Maozac's description of going to Ghana as a young African-American man and being bewildered at the attitude of young Ghanaians, who were thrilled to be around his white classmates but didn't have the time of day for him.
White idolatry is present in the US, too, although in a different way. For example, white people getting cast to play characters of color in movies. Tilda Swinton as the Tibetan teacher of Doctor Strange comes to mind, or Emma Stone playing a quarter-Chinese, quarter-Hawaiian person from that movie "Aloha." But no black or Chinese or American Indian stranger has ever asked me to take a selfie with them in the States. It's an uncomfortable experience, especially when the person reacts negatively when refused (I almost always refuse selfies). And I wonder if it's akin, in some way, to the experience people of color have in the West when they're the only one in a room full of white people. Slight tangent: it occurred to me that we had a moment like that with Linc at the beach this summer, when we were talking about anarchism. He said, Listen, I'm not an expert on anarchist theory. But we were all expecting him to be a representative of this group we don't know much about or have much experience of. Interesting parallel.
Pakistan is also deeply shaped by Partition, the creation of separate states for Hindus and Muslims out of the Raj that resulted in a massive human tragedy and ultimately the dominance of the military in Pakistani politics. There have been times in the last 70 years when 90% of Pakistan's state budget went to defense. Antipathy toward India drives nationalism here, as I saw first-hand at the Wagah border crossing last November. And much of the violent trouble Pakistan finds itself in is exacerbated by the inability of it and India to make peace with each other. The neocolonialist adventures we've been on in Afghanistan for the last 15 (!) years ran right into the teeth of Pakistan's use of proxies all over the region to counter India's influence. That use goes back to the founding, long before 9/11 or the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
But US involvement in Afghanistan and our bombing of Pakistan mean that many people here are furious with us, and that we make a good boogeyman. And that means there are places here I cannot go because to do so would endanger my life. There are spaces in the US that are closed off to me, and rightly so in many cases, but the worst that would happen to me in them is some social awkwardness. Here my employer prohibits me from driving to or through certain places, for my own safety.
I need to take a break from writing, so in conclusion, Pakistan Zindabad.
Pakistan is still deeply shaped by its history as a British colony. The government is modeled on a parliamentary system. The legal framework often still includes laws that were enacted under the Raj, including the constitution, which is based in part on the Government of India Act of 1935. And white supremacy, in the form that the writer Sara'o Maozac called "white idolatry" in an essay that should be more widely read than it is, is a daily fact of life here. When SRB and I were at the Khunjerab Pass last week, around a dozen young men asked if I would take a selfie with them over the course of 20 minutes. They don't know me or who I am, I am (obviously) not a famous person. But I'm white, and so, as SRB put it, they "spotted one!" Seeing a white person is exciting. My foreign friends of color here do not have that experience. This jibes with Maozac's description of going to Ghana as a young African-American man and being bewildered at the attitude of young Ghanaians, who were thrilled to be around his white classmates but didn't have the time of day for him.
White idolatry is present in the US, too, although in a different way. For example, white people getting cast to play characters of color in movies. Tilda Swinton as the Tibetan teacher of Doctor Strange comes to mind, or Emma Stone playing a quarter-Chinese, quarter-Hawaiian person from that movie "Aloha." But no black or Chinese or American Indian stranger has ever asked me to take a selfie with them in the States. It's an uncomfortable experience, especially when the person reacts negatively when refused (I almost always refuse selfies). And I wonder if it's akin, in some way, to the experience people of color have in the West when they're the only one in a room full of white people. Slight tangent: it occurred to me that we had a moment like that with Linc at the beach this summer, when we were talking about anarchism. He said, Listen, I'm not an expert on anarchist theory. But we were all expecting him to be a representative of this group we don't know much about or have much experience of. Interesting parallel.
Pakistan is also deeply shaped by Partition, the creation of separate states for Hindus and Muslims out of the Raj that resulted in a massive human tragedy and ultimately the dominance of the military in Pakistani politics. There have been times in the last 70 years when 90% of Pakistan's state budget went to defense. Antipathy toward India drives nationalism here, as I saw first-hand at the Wagah border crossing last November. And much of the violent trouble Pakistan finds itself in is exacerbated by the inability of it and India to make peace with each other. The neocolonialist adventures we've been on in Afghanistan for the last 15 (!) years ran right into the teeth of Pakistan's use of proxies all over the region to counter India's influence. That use goes back to the founding, long before 9/11 or the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
But US involvement in Afghanistan and our bombing of Pakistan mean that many people here are furious with us, and that we make a good boogeyman. And that means there are places here I cannot go because to do so would endanger my life. There are spaces in the US that are closed off to me, and rightly so in many cases, but the worst that would happen to me in them is some social awkwardness. Here my employer prohibits me from driving to or through certain places, for my own safety.
I need to take a break from writing, so in conclusion, Pakistan Zindabad.
No comments:
Post a Comment