Today for the world Pakistan is a country where government is unstable, economy is fragile and where various terrorist groups are operating to destabilize Pakistan’s and World peace. The dispersion of these perceptions about Pakistan is enormous in scale via electronic media. Therefore electricity starved victims of stagflation and sufferers of bomb blast Pakistanis are starting to deem that they are breathing in a time bomb which can be detonated any time to a failed state status. Despite all the above perceptions, Pakistan is still on the world map and has celebrated its 66th years of existence. In my humble opinion it is because of few qualities and achievements of our nation, which I would try to mark today.
Resilient Society: Pakistan is a strong society with resilience power. Mainstream media always disregarded the fact that Pakistan has a vibrant and tough society. In reality, Pakistan is the resilience of its 180 million citizens, who continue to struggle to make Pakistan superior and stronger. For the charitable cause, Pakistanis donate 5% of their GDP, which is more than the GDP percentage of USA, UK, Canada and India. When the government was not efficient in 2010 floods which impinge on 20 percent of the nation, then common man of Pakistan responded immediately. That’s when world saw a national spirit where doctors, housewives, students and especially military was immediately organized to the affected areas to deliver assistance. The People of Pakistan have shown amazing strength and resilience throughout the disaster, supporting each other to defeat unexpected adversity.
Thriving Economy: Pakistan is one of the largest Muslim states in the world and the27th largest economy in the world. Despite all negative indicators of economics, it is one of the top 15 emerging economies picked by Goldman Sachs (American multinational investment banking firm). As per Goldman forecasts Pakistan is going to be among the top 20 biggest economies in the world by 2025. Today for the world, Indian economy is the hot buzz therefore it will be interesting to compare poverty lines between world’s largest democracy and Pakistan. According to 2011 World Bank statistics, Pakistan’s poverty rate of 22.3% is lower than in percentage of India which is 29.8%.
Backbone of Pakistan’s economy is always its agriculture but now Pakistan is driving its economy towards industrial form. Therefore Pakistan is the fifth largest exporter of cement in the world and has a strong heavy industry. Also the noteworthy industrial developments in Pakistan are autos, motorcycles, tractors, buses, trucks, steel and Nuclear Reactors (Khushab) etc.
Education: In-spite of all the mismanagement and lack of commitment of government in education sector, Pakistanis are determined to provide education to their children. According to the UNICEF; a closer examination of literacy data by age groups in Pakistan shows that the literacy rates are rising by every generation. Literacy rate from 15-25 age group of Pakistanis have acquired 79% with a ratio of Male 80% and Female 60%. This increment in literacy rate provides Pakistan an edge, to be heard in science and technology internationally.
Pakistan has been contributing vastly in scientific papers, published in various international journals. Also Pakistanis are among those few nations, who are working in the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) which is a high-profile Super-Collider Project and even some of the Super-Collider components are manufactured in Pakistan. Moreover Jinnah Antarctic Station which puts Pakistan among a dozen nations doing research in Antarctica; Pakistan has the world biggest biometric database; Blackberry application was manufactured by a Pakistani company Pepper.pk. These are only few examples out of copious achievements in field of science and technology by Pakistan.
Robust Defence: Most vital accomplishments by Pakistanis are in defense and military sectors. Pakistan has one of the best and world’s seventh largest Army. Pakistan is competent to manufacture aircrafts, ships, unmanned drones (UAVs), army tanks, ballistic and cruise Missiles. According to a Gilani Research Foundation Survey; carried out by Gallup Pakistan, majority of Pakistanis considers nuclear capability as the most important achievement of their country. While restoring nuclear deterrence in the region Pakistan has reinstated the stability in South Asia which was disturbed after the nuclear explosions of India. It is remarkable that despite a troubled and crises prone political history, Pakistan has managed to make significant strides in defense sphere.
These are the facts that never make the headlines in the mainstream media anywhere. Though Pakistan is opposing numerous contemporary problems but its resilient people, will find an approach to get rid of the crises they are facing. The People of Pakistan undoubtedly driven by patriotism, which runs deep despite the nation, is facing numerous predicaments. So media should highlight positive side of our nation, and not only the negative deeds. A Pakistani Entrepreneur Monis Rahman appropriately said to international community,
“You tend to hear the worst 5% of the Pakistan story 95% of the time.”