A calm and Composed accused stood in front of the aged judge. At no stage did he make any effort to defend himself. The verdict was pronounced and he was sentenced to death for not proving himself a patriot
LET us overcome the invisible barriers of time, and travel back into the realms of the forgotten past. Let us enter an era of quick trials and quick executions during mankind’s transformation from savagery to civility. Each citizen was required to testify his patriotism, failing which the person had to die at the guillotine.
A calm and composed accused stood relaxed in front of the aged judge. Irrefutable circumstantial evidence was clearly against the accused. At no stage he made any effort to defend himself in the rapid trial. The verdict was pronounced. The judge sentenced him to death for not proving himself a patriot. The convict did not show any emotions. He neither hung down his head, nor did he tremble. Being assured of himself, he took the verdict calmly and gracefully.
Before executioners could take away the convict for beheading, the conscientious judge felt pity for him. He raised his hand, and restrained the executioners from leaving the court. He gave the convict a last chance to defend himself. The judge addressed the accused, and asked, “Are you not afraid of dying?”
“What is preordained is preordained. It can’t be either altered or avoided,” the convict replied. “We all are destined to die someday.”
“Do you love your country?” The judge asked.
“I love the entire earth, the common abode of mankind,” the convict replied.
“A specific question requires a specific answer.” The judge repeated his question, “Do you love your country?”
“Is my country excluded from the entire earth I love?” The convict looked at the judge, smiled, and said, “Sir, I am a citizen of the world.”
“Primitive man was a citizen of the world,” the judge said. “This is a civilized society. Earth has been demarcated between countries and nationalities. One is compulsorily required to be a citizen of a country.”
“Compulsions enslave a soul,” the convict said. “I shall not compromise the liberty of my soul for saving the transitory life I am living.”
The judge leaned back in his seat, and looked vacantly at the convict.
Love for mankind, and sense of belonging to the entire world ultimately proved detrimental for the convict in a civilized society. His head was severed in the presence of several onlookers.
Patriotism is a kind of love. When you feel imbued with love for your country, you are called a patriot. Similarly, patriotism signifies emotional concern for the wellbeing of one’s country. Before we discuss patterns of patriotism, let us first look at the Creator’s greatest gift bestowed upon mankind, called love. In a very ordinary sense, love is narrowed down to infatuation between a man and a woman. They hold on dearly to each other. Togetherness lifts their spirits to the heavens. When separated, they plunge into abysmal gloom.
Love can further be bifurcated between conditional love, and unconditional love. In the concealed conditional love, a lover eyes beloved’s family background, wealth, and earthly possessions. Unconditional love rejects any kind of tags. The compatible mental association, mutual understanding, and sense of belonging to each other keep lovers together.
Love is infinite. It can’t be restricted to emotional attachment between man and a woman. People love their children more dearly than anything else. There are persons who collect books, antiques, paintings and sculptures, and hold on to them with utmost care, love and affection. Haven’t we seen persons in love with nature, flowers and fragrance?
Taking good care of something or someone people adore is a common factor between each type of love. They keep their prized possessions books, antiques, artifacts and music collection neat, clean and away from harm. People endlessly strive for the healthy growth of their children. A lover always desires that someone he/she loves must be cared for and protected. The one they love should appear attractive, charming and beautiful.
Keeping the aforementioned common factors in perspective, let us now examine patriotism and the attitude of a patriot towards his country. A true patriot desires that his country should look neat, clean and attractive. Law and order situation in his country infuses confidence among foreign tourists. Teeming tourists throng neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives and India. Have we ever thought why tourists do not come to us? Why are we detested?
A genuine patriot feels dismayed at the sight of swarms of beggars, starving children, vagabonds, broken roads, chaotic traffic, filthy toilets, land grabbing, drugs, mercenaries, kidnappings for ransom, cold-blooded murders, white-collar crime, corruption at each level of administrative setup and the dwindling law and order situation in his country. If someone clandestinely takes over the country by flouting the democratic norms and harm to the country from within appears imminent, the patriot, without any hesitation, denounces the authority of such a ruler. If attacked from outside, the patriot lays down his life in the defence of his country. Such patriots are hard to find in Pakistan.
We are amply abundant in other type of zealot patriots. They exploit the chaotic socio-economic conditions in the country and take full advantage of the corrupt officialdom, amassing wealth. They put on the shimmering garb of a loud patriot, and proclaim themselves avowed champions of patriotism, and invariably they attain elevated position in the society. Such dubious patriots sit in judgment upon the patriotism of other persons in Pakistan.
