I WAS delighted to watch our president and the prime minister attired in the national dress sherwani on the March 23 parade.
Is sherwani our national dress or just a ceremonial one? People watch on TV screens their politicalleaders and the top state functionaries taking the oath attired in sherwani. They also include judges besides the political leadership and some others.
The people also observe with greater shock and lesser surprise that those who are sworn in wearing sherwani, hardly wear it while discharging their official duties and/ or while attending state functions.
Like the sherwani, many other things are also dubbed official. Constitutionally, Urdu is the national and official language of the state. But our so-called ‘highlyeducated’ leaders and many others prefer to speak and deliver their speeches and messages in English, both at home and during visits abroad.
Jasmine is said to be the national flower of Pakistan. Very few people know this. It is because the species is found only in few areas and also in little quantity. Similarly, hockey is said to be our national sport. I donot know who declared it so, but our performance in this game has been disastrous for the past few years. This is because we have stopped treating things as our national obligation. We have lost our national identity.
The spirit of nationalism is fast diminishing. Parochial, ethnic, linguistic and sectarian considerations and lots of prejudices dominate our actions over the national spirit.
We must stop this mocl(ery if we want to be identified elsewhere as Pakistanis. We need to think and act with a national spirit.
Anis Siddiqui Islamabad