Pakistan Today – Embesat Khan

Ms Embesat Khan was born in Lahore, the capital of the Punjab province in Pakistan and was elected Member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab in General Elections 2002, a year when the election of women to the Assembly reached its highest figure in history (74 members). Of the 371 seats in the assembly, 66 are reserved for women. Embesat Khan worked closely with Benazir Bhutto and then became affiliated with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). On a visit to Sydney, Embesat Khan addressed The Sydney Institute on Thursday 21 January 2010.

PAKISTAN TODAY

EMBESAT KHAN

Thank you for inviting me. Through me, I hope you will be able to experience a side of Pakistan you might have not yet known. Thanks also to Gambhir Watts for making this happen.

I have been an MPA (Member of the Provincial Assembly) for the past eight years. I was born in Lahore to parents who migrated from India and am the granddaughter of Khalil ur Rehman who lost his life in the war of Independence in 1947.

What is Pakistan? Let me try to explain. We are 63 years old – that’s very young for a nation. Let me today focus on the good things we have, to throw the spotlight on growth which will make us and the world around us better.

Pakistan’s birth was very violent and I believe strongly that we are still suffering from it. We are 180 million people, all under a very small roof – much smaller than in Australia. Pakistan has a very tolerant, open and liberal constitution with full rights for minorities and all religions. We have a democratically elected government and are constantly influenced by the world around us. We have a beautiful geography with huge rivers and the world’s highest peaks.

The image of Pakistan today is suffering. What we are seen to be today is not who we are. The image has been decided for us and projected on to us. Pakistanis want to find a way to build and realise the right image for us. But what is that right image and how, by projecting it properly, can we build a stronger more secure nation?

We have to have better health and education plans, a promotion of the arts, empowerment of women and eradication of poverty. All roads must lead to education and health.

But there are problems we face. We have no social security; we have no enforced intellectual property laws; and our economic growth is slow because our challenges are enormous. We have suicide bombers targeting kids in school, innocent families and threatening our way of life. We have been in a state of war for over 40 years with external elements. We have gone through a tremendous judicial crisis. And now we are wrapped up in a war against terror which started in Afghanistan and is now at home on our streets. The people were never prepared for this war; it took us all by surprise. This has made the masses very insecure.

And we still continue to fight and want to be better. That courage has to be admired. There is a vacuum in leadership and with heroes, and we are concerned about this. We need heroes like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King. There is no infrastructure for creativity and its promotion. We don’t have huge film or music schools. Through education one gets awareness and it brings vision. Lot of focus needs to go into this area.

People have ceased to feel secure on the streets, not because of random crime, but as a result of terrorist activities. This hinders everything. Tourism is dying and we have some of the world’s most beautiful geography. Population growth is a huge issue; it’s an enormous burden on infrastructure, resulting in a shortage of electricity, gas and water.

I prefer not to focus on the bad. I try to consider what is good and how to make it better. In the past 12 years we have achieved a lot in terms of stabilising democracy. Women in Pakistan are playing a role in every sector – in the parliament, the education system, human rights, as political activists, in the medical and health sector. Rural women are essential in the fields. Pakistani society respects women and their courage. In our homes, women play a very dominant role. We are one of the few countries that have had a woman as head of state. And it is sad that we lost her.

In 2005, after the earthquake, we saw our nation come together. People volunteered and showed genuine honesty and care. Hundreds of thousands of young men and women got on buses and trains to go to the affected areas and helped night and day. The nation became one. So we do have character and caring elements. We just need to promote and highlight that.

In the years to come, Pakistan will go through a massive building process and we are very excited about this. As soon as this war is over, we have a beautiful challenge to provide infrastructure, to build bridges, roads and connect our cities like you have connected yours.

We have to build bigger and better schools and hospitals. Our railway needs modification. We have to build airports and our tourism industry will wake up to a brighter day. Child security is a huge concern and we have to provide better care for our kids and elders alike. We hope to eradicate disease and premature deaths.

We are blessed with a very tolerant religion and we can, through education, highlight the goodness of Islam to the people. We have to make exemplary moves to acquire the credibility as a nation.

We have brilliant agricultural prospects. Pakistan is similar to California and is loaded with minerals, oil and natural beauty. Everything grows there. We have an abundance of farmlands and hard working people, generating crop after crop amidst all this chaos. We have beautiful and unexplored real estate, from the beaches of Balochistan to the K2 base camp. No other country enjoys such diverse geography and we are thrilled to visualise a day when we can enjoy it all and have it for others to experience it as well. We really cannot wait to show you how good hosts we are. We know how to put our heads down and work diligently and we need to exploit this goodness to bring about miraculous results.

Pakistani foreign policy will become more specific and tolerant and there is a lot of room for growth. We are surrounded by emerging nations. With stability in Afghanistan, we know we can grow exponentially. We have learned a lot from China and admire the skills China displays.

We look forward to improved relations with India. The similarity between our nations is a blessing and we must use it to sort out all differences. I was blessed to have received Sikhs Yatrees who come for the yearly pilgrimage to Lahore. I am proud of this heritage. I respect their religion which is based purely on peace.

There is also huge potential in Pakistani exports and heavy industry. The people of Pakistan want to work and work hard. It is our commitment to provide them with the infrastructure they need to grow. But the environment has to be created for the nation to build itself. The environment is everything and we recognise that. Progress may be slow but it will happen as I see it.

Another big project under consideration is housing. With the massive population boom, we face an enormous challenge to provide shelter for the poor. It is tough. But once we find answers and put them in motion we will face a challenge head on.

We are the dwellers of the subcontinent, a region known for its culture, food, abundance and spirituality. We need to rekindle this spirit and move on passionately holding onto strong principles our forefathers taught us, the principles that have been blurred by hunger, death, destruction, poverty, natural disasters and endless wars. Our advantage is our people and the land we live on. And the key to good people is to provide them with education and planting seeds of tolerance. It takes time but it does happen.

In terms of sports we have shown good promise. A secure home provides the mental strength required for athletes to do well. We lack in mental strength solely because of the everyday chaos we face. The insecurity at home makes it hard to focus and be the best.

In the parliament, Pakistan has passed many social reforming bills into legislation, such as the bill against domestic violence. There are many more to come. As parliamentarians, we believe that implementation of a bill is real achievement.

Since the birth of Pakistan, these have been the first eight years of a continual, democratically elected government. It has been done in stages – from 1988-2000, around every two years; then another stage from 2002-2007 and from 2008 to now. So we are persisting. We can make it last longer with governments completing their five year tenure giving us the required time to implement laws and legislations. This will enable us to provide security for the masses. We are in a process. Every day is a mission.

We also have been fighting for consistency in democracy, for freedom of speech, human rights, free media, and women’s empowerment. To make it all more complicated, we are also involved in the war against terror. Our plate is pretty full. But the blessing is that it’s these challenges, once overcome, will make a nation of character. No humans have ever achieved greatness without hurdles. We just have to be clear in our vision and instil it in people.

The human race loves betterment and security. We have to head towards it and promote it and everyone should carry this vision in their minds. Like any crop we have to sow seeds for a yield. Since Pakistanis are all natural farmers it is not hard to make them understand the phenomenon.

As for diversity in Pakistan, we have some 25 languages in the region. With each of these languages come a unique culture, understanding, awareness, interpretations and sets of challenges. The biggest challenge is to make it all harmonise, providing a fair platform that satisfies all culture within a main frame is not easy but it is doable and we are improving on this every day.

Kashmir has been a flash point. Kashmiri families live in Pakistan and when things go wrong in their homeland we bear the consequences. Pakistanis living in the tribal belt also have relatives in Afghanistan and are affected emotionally and physically by what goes on there.

Saddest of all, a lot of us have relatives in India. Going to war, or even a war-like atmosphere with India, means intense depression. We are home to millions of Afghan refugees and we have tried to accommodate them as best as we can, given the resources we have.

We had a war in 1965, another in 1971 in which we lost half of our land. Then a Russian/Afghan war brought chaos. We had another war with India recently over Kargil. And, before we were ever able to restabilise and reorganise, we were engaged in a war on terror.

This is like staying under water too long without oxygen. And the current state of affairs displays the picture of a tired and worn out nation – a nation that hasn’t had a good night’s sleep for over 40 years that craves relief. A constant bombardment and chaos has left us battered; we are clinging to hope for a better future, a future that seems far and distant. This turmoil has to give way to courage, passion and with persistence we hope to find the right way for us.

And we are a nuclear nation developed as a deterrent, meaning we had to take extreme measures to ensure our security and survival. Now that we have it, we have to protect it. I salute the armed forces of Pakistan for their commitment, vigilant courage and sacrifice. It has been rough for them especially when it is hard to recognise the enemy.

This is my first trip to Australia. I am really delighted by the infrastructure, diversity and tolerance. Our nations can learn a lot from each other. Australia can play an active role in the rebuilding of our country. I admire the principles Australia is based on. I feel a sense of spirituality when I move around here and admire the efforts taken to take care of the indigenous community here. I would love to see an Indigenous delegation visit Pakistan. As I watched the amazing fireworks on New Year’s Eve my only wish was that one day my own country will enjoy such skills and prosperity. I would also like to thank Australia in helping us restore 2.5 million people who were displaced in the valley of Swat during the war on terror.

I can assure everyone here that the future of Pakistan  looks much better than the present and we are aware of the changes that need to take place in Pakistan. The road may be long and hard but we can count on miracles, spirituality and exponential growth to make it all happen. Like Martin Luther King said, I have a dream.