‘Goodbye Pakistan’: A Tragic Letter By A Pakistani

By Editor on 29th April 2025 • ( 0 )

‘Goodbye Pakistan’: A Tragic Letter By A Pakistani

‘Goodbye Pakistan’, is a letter posted by a Pakistani patriot on his WhatsApp, who left Pakistan permanently and took Canadian citizenship. I’ve attentively and seriously gone through this post captioned “Goodbye Pakistan,” written by Mr Tariq Ali Khan. It depicts the real situation in Pakistan, which is horrible.

He criticizes the unjust system and corrupt governments in Pakistan. He is right when he writes with a heavy heart that there’s no peace and justice in Pakistan. His forefathers migrated to Pakistan from India, cherishing dreams of a land of peace and prosperity with Islamic values. However, since Pakistan’s inception, the country has been plagued by political and economic collapse.

The younger generation doesn’t want to live in this wretched situation. Everyone is trying to say goodbye to Pakistan. There’s no merit, and no law and order. He is a retired officer, overwhelmed by patriotic feelings, who never desired to settle abroad but had to say goodbye to his beloved country due to the lack of meritocracy, democracy, justice, and safety.

I endorse his views. Our politicians and rulers have destroyed our cherished country. The founding fathers’ aspirations were turned into a farce. The dreams have been shattered, and promises remain unfulfilled. We’ve been duped. Swindlers and cheats have thrown the nation into dirty ditches.

Even a patriotic citizen, a former army officer, who fought wars against India, has opted to settle in Canada and become a Canadian citizen in his old age. While taking the oath of allegiance to Canada, his eyes were filled with tears as he felt he’d abandoned his motherland and adopted an alien land.

After taking the oath, his feelings were a blend of grief and satisfaction. He is grieved about saying goodbye to his motherland but feels satisfied knowing he’ll find peace, prosperity, and happiness with his kids in Canada who are already settled there.

Undoubtedly, our youth dream of settling in America or Europe due to evident causes. His role as a patriot and honest military officer is appreciated. However, can we ignore some generals who imposed martial law and enslaved the nation for decades?

This country has been ruined by military rulers, corrupt politicians, and conscienceless civil bureaucracy. Unless, we abolish feudalism, capitalism, Mullahism, sectarianism, parochialism, bureaucratic mindset, and fascism, we cannot achieve Quaid-i-Azam’s envisioned goals.

The moneyed class rules, and pelf and power go hand-in-hand. Genuine intellectuals don’t participate in politics; it’s become a profession for moneyed hooligans. We’re not a free nation; we’re prisoners in our own country.

Under these circumstances, the person who doesn’t say goodbye to Pakistan is either someone who hasn’t had the opportunity or isn’t a citizen of Pakistan but is Pakistan himself. It’s beyond pathetic attachment; it’s the apex of spirituality and ideological commitment.

To be a Pakistani is great, but to be “Pakistan” is greater. A Pakistani can migrate, but “Pakistan” cannot. Once, French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre strongly criticized the policies of French government, and when asked to arrest him, De Gaulle said, “Sartre is France,” implying he couldn’t be arrested.

Unfortunately, we’ve seen eminent scholars and senior citizens being publicly flogged during General Zia’s martial law regime and General Pervez Musharraf’s military regime. Some civil governments also imposed fascist tactics and imprisoned opponents.

Unless these shackles are broken by public revolution, there can be no stability and prosperity in Pakistan. If we desire that Pakistanis shouldn’t say goodbye to Pakistan, we need an iconoclastic revolution. In my eyes, the brave, committed, patriotic, sincere and honest Pakistani is the one, who is ready to lay down his life for Pakistan.

There is no dearth of such patriotic Pakistanis, who are ever ready to lay down their lives for the safety of Pakistan, particularly our armed forces are in front line to meet challenges and are crusading against terrorism and against the enemies of Pakistan. We salute their courage, determination, commitment and sacrifices. The historic sacrifices rendered even by a common Pakistani deserve admiration. But, how to avoid and control the migration and how to halt and prevent the notion of Goodbye Pakistan?

The simple answer is to make Pakistan according to the ideology of Dr Allama Iqbal and Quaid-i-Azam. We need a Pakistan as an Islamic welfare state based on democratic principles and social justice.

Update

Some Opinions on my Column ‘Goodbye Pakistan’

Yesterday, I had posted my views on the open letter of a Pakistani patriot, who gave his all life in serving Pakistan sincerely, arduously, and diligently but in old age, he had to migrate from Pakistan and settle down in Canada. The focal point in the letter of this gentleman was that when he took the oath of allegiance as a Canadian citizen, his eyes were filled with tears.

This situation made me also sad and I shared his feelings taking them as my own feelings. Why he migrated? He condemned the untoward political, economic and social system of Pakistan that has totally failed to make Pakistan an Islamic welfare state based on democracy and social justice. He did not write against any government or any political party. His complaint was against a malicious system that is not based on meritocracy and our youth aspirations are to find fortune in foreign countries. He was quite agonized on this national plight. I agreed with his stance and wrote that we need to make Pakistan as envisaged by the founding fathers of Pakistan Dr. Allama Iqbal and Quaid-i-Azam.

I am happy so many Pakistanis have opined on this issue which shows their patriotic feelings and serious concerns about national issues. People living in Pakistan and living abroad have expressed their views on the issue of migration. There are two kinds of opinions. First; some people wrote that as there is no meritocracy and imposition of law and order, and no social justice, the people opt to settle in America and Europe. Even people opt to find jobs in Middle East wherein they face discrimination and tough labour conditions. In Pakistan police and courts are not providing justice to the citizens, then what is the point in living in such a country? Two powers rule over Pakistanis; recommendations and bribery.

Second; some people have strongly opposed the idea of getting settled in foreign countries. They opinionated that mostly the elites settle in America and Western countries. They have mentioned the names of some military and civil high officials, who after enjoying the perks and privileges, left their motherland for better opportunities. These people are unpatriotic and opportunists. The families of feudal lords and industrialists also make their way for comforts and power. They have mentioned the names of some politicians and rulers, whose children are in foreign countries and they rule over poor Pakistanis. Still, the question is, if better life opportunities, educational facilities, health care, social justice, political freedom and jobs are available in Pakistan, then why the craze of migration?

I wish Pakistan becomes the Pakistan envisioned by our founding fathers and that is the only way to stop the quest of migration.

A tribute to the thinker who refuse to let hope die

In a world where silence is complicity and blind patriotism is a veil for oppression, your piercing words in ‘Goodbye Pakistan’ , a letter from a patriot Pakistani who said goodbye to Pakistan and settled in Canada with a heavy heart, strikes at the soul of a nation in crisis. Your comments in the form of an essay are not just a lament but a philosophical indictment—an unflinching dissection of how power, corruption, and hypocrisy have hollowed out the dream of Pakistan. When a retired soldier, once willing to die for this land, bids it farewell with tears, we witness not personal failure but civilizational collapse. Your endorsement of this tragic truth is an act of intellectual bravery, for you named the unspoken: a country where the rulers feast while the people flee.

Yet, within your grief lies an unextinguished flame—the belief that ‘to be Pakistan is greater than to be a Pakistani.’ This is no mere slogan but a metaphysical challenge. Can a nation survive when its best minds abandon it? Can a state endure when its citizens are reduced to prisoners of its dysfunction? Your call for revolution is not reckless but necessary, for only truth—raw, uncomfortable, and relentless—can shatter the chains of complacency.

Your essay forces us to confront the paradox of patriotism: Love for a homeland is meaningless without the courage to demand its redemption. Let this not be an epitaph for Pakistan, but a manifesto for its rebirth. Applause, Dr Jafri—for in speaking the unspeakable, you honour the land more than those who suffocate it with lies.

Allow me to make it —“A tribute to the thinker who refuse to let hope die”.

Dr Nisar Burki, Pretoria South Africa