In recent months, due to real inflation comparisons and passage of bills for the voting rights of overseas Pakistanis, an argument has emerged that somehow overseas Pakistanis are oblivious to the ground realities of Pakistan and in a way should not be included in the national political debate.
This argument is beyond foolish due to many reasons but I will list a few.
This argument is beyond foolish due to many reasons but I will list a few.
- Someone being outside of Pakistan does not mean that he or she has no concern or worry for the well-being of their country. Most overseas Pakistanis have a close family, property and all kinds of connections with Pakistan, yes, maybe some Pakistanis have forgotten their roots but more than 99% of the people still call Pakistan their real home.
- The fallacy of thinking that if you are sitting in Pakistan somehow you are more eligible to understand the problems our country is facing. This idea is really funny because people don't realize that the expat Pakistanis are comparatively more interested in the ongoings in Pakistan. Yes someone sitting in Pakistan is impacted more by a problem but it does not mean that he has more understanding of that issue, It just means that he's more impacted. It is the same way as a patient feels the pain more than the doctor but it does not mean that he understands the disease better than the doctor. Of course, overseas Pakistanis are not the doctors but at least they are interested and invested in this country so diminishing their role would be foolish.
- I can argue that somehow overseas Pakistanis have a more substantive understanding of Pakistani problems because they have seen how things can be done right so they know how things are being done wrong and this makes them even more eligible to be part of the national debate.
- If you compare, academically, a huge number of expat Pakistanis are people who are experts in their own fields, They are scientists, doctors, engineers, successful businessmen, and all sort of other impactful professions. On AVERAGE expat Pakistanis are more likely to be more educated and more professionally successful than a Pakistani in Pakistan so giving a platform to a comparatively expert group in the national debate is always a good idea rather than shunning them to the sidelines.
- I also think that these seeds of division between inland Pakistanis and expat Pakistanis were sown by some parts of our media and those who are themselves mostly invested in the UK, US, and Dubai but somehow they don't want normal expat Pakistanis to be politically involved in Pakistan.