Patriotism through the Graphic Pictures of Soldiers
By Syed Kamran Hashmi
Westfield, IN
“But you know as well as I, patriotism is a word; and one that generally comes to mean either my country, right or wrong, which is infamous, or my country is always right, which is imbecile” — Patrick O’Brian, Master and Commander.
You must have noticed the picture of a young, handsome army officer on your facebook page, his face covered in blood, his khaki uniform soaked in mud and his machine gun tightly gripped in his hands ready to rush. Other times, it is a photograph taken during the funeral of a soldier lying peacefully in his coffin, his eyes closed and his body wrapped in the white shroud. Usually, these snapshots emerge on your wall, out of nowhere, every few weeks with a note, which may sound like this: “Our Shaheed (martyred) soldier who sacrificed his life to protect this country.”
Real or fake, they are powerful pictures to reinvigorate patriotism, a tool to convince people about our vulnerabilities as a nation, and an instrument to emphasize the importance of our freedom. Immediately, in the hearts of most patriotic Pakistanis including myself, the snapshot helps us to recognize the people who are protecting our country. Moreover, it also implies whom we should respect for doing their job.
Even though the message is unambiguous and may in fact be inspiring for many, the pictures are still gory and disturbing. Most people, I suppose, for that reason would not look at them for a long time and attempt to diverge to their usual facebook activities: status updates of their recent travel and self-taken, self-appreciated ‘amazing’ snapshots of themselves. But not all of them would be able to get that bloody image out of their minds for a while. They would be thinking if this is indeed an honorable way to preach and promote patriotism. And, if there is any other occupation in Pakistan that is revered as much for its dedication to the country? Is Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan as honorable as Major Aziz Bhatti Shaheed or Dr Abdul Salam as estimable as Rashid Minhas Shaheed?
Nonetheless, the phenomenon to sanctify war and war-related ideas is neither new nor is it limited to Pakistan. It is a well known practice, and a common observation in those rather small states, like ours, who are obsessed with the idea that their security is continually being threatened by a powerful ‘enemy.’ People in these countries are therefore prepared for the worst-case scenario and encouraged to sacrifice their lives as part of their mission and prove their patriotism. In Pakistan, the problem has been compounded because religion — unlike many other Muslim nations — has been used in a systematic way by the state to protect its strategic and geographic interests. Unaware of the ‘Islamic Just War Theory and Practices’, we intentionally galvanize a lot of people through the concept of jihad when clearly we had limited political objectives in our minds.
There is no doubt that the devotion of our brave soldiers who sacrifice their lives for the security and wellbeing of our country is beyond doubt and above any criticism. For sure, they need our support and appreciation from all segments of society, irrespective of party affiliations and political inklings. It is also true that sometimes their commitment is undermined, and in the worst-case scenario, it is even belittled by the people who have never been exposed to a battlefield. It goes without saying that soldiers are the true assets of any nation, much more precious and way more important than any other natural resource any state can possess. And that is, in fact, the point: they are extremely precious, really important and priceless for every nation and for every country, not only ours. Their suffering is similar to that of any other human being; their parents lose an equally lovable child when a soldier from any side takes a hit; the agony of their siblings is also identical after their loss; and their spouses mourn their loss in the same way. Then, how can one soldier, who while obeying the institutional policy with a perfectly legitimate intention of protecting one’s nation, be better than the other? And how can one man’s suffering be a source of jubilance for another?
We can all agree that it is the just cause of the war that provides the moral grounds for any nation to engage with another. It is under no circumstances the responsibility of the troops on the ground to come up with its justification and bear criticism. If that purpose is obscure or imperfect, the soldiers who take the casualties for their nations do not get as much respect as they deserve, and sometimes are even criticized and rebuked.
It happened in the US during the Vietnam War when people were protesting on the streets of Washington DC against the war and soldiers were dying in huge numbers in South East Asia. To some extent, it is happening in Pakistan today too. Truly, we do not know that the injured soldier in the picture to get our sympathy has been attacked by the insurgents in Pakistan; he was fighting against one of the militant groups supposed to be active in Kashmir; he was injured while he was battling with one of the sectarian terrorist organizations or he was actually the victim of an attack by a real and foreign enemy. This situation, because of our loss of focus, has made us look ineffective and pusillanimous to fight any war, including the war against terrorism. A courageous nation like ours can still turn things around from here, if we focus on a clear objective and a fathomable plan for our just war instead of relying upon disturbing images to evoke emotions.
(The writer is a US-based freelance columnist. He tweets at @KaamranHashmi and can be reached at skamranhashmi@gmail.com )
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