Lost Honor of Pakistan by Hareem Fatima ; Review by Kashif Nasir

Lost honor of Pakistan, by Hareem Fatima, A review By Kashif Nasir:-

Greetings,

I recently read Hareem Fatima’s book, ‘The lost honor of Pakistan’.
As a person who mostly reads fiction, it was a unique experience for me.
Although history is a dry subject but the author has added humor in certain parts, the chapters about Pakistani etiquettes and her analogies are hilarious.
The book as the title suggests is about Pakistan’s lost honor.
Hareem Fatima attacks the root of Pakistan’s lost honor in the first chapter, she cites problems as nepotism, corruption, unaccountability and numerous others; the author looks back to the Mughal Empire, she is aware of Mughal era’s short comings but makes her case by stating that even under the worse of Mughal rulers, nation at least had some honor, the honor which is lost now. Parallels between Hareem’s arguments and Aitzaz Ahsan author of ‘The Indus Saga’ are striking, as they both present us with facts. Those prove that although Pakistan’s history started from 1947. The history of this geographic area dates back to world’s oldest civilizations like Harapa and Moenjodaro.
But how do we get back that ‘Lost honor of Pakistan’. The author purposes practical solutions for Pakistan’s problems 1) To regain our lost honor we must turn back to our simple past.
2) Monetizing education started in west. It is against the ethics practiced by our elders she makes a suggestion that A levels should be free. (A suggestion which has earned her hostile criticism.)
3) Constitution of Pakistan should be amended. Read the author’s humorous analogy, she writes “Take the analogy of Imran Khan being an expert level driver but has a rickshaw to compete with sport car race drivers. Our constitution is the rickshaw.”
4) Pakistan must look inside to save itself, blaming other nations is useless.
Old school Patriotism in this book is heart touching. Consider her sentence “In Pakistani context, when I see wasted potential and talent, especially of teenagers, I feel deeply saddened.”
Experiences of author Matthew Vaughan and Matt Vaughan are shared in Hareem’s book to prove that Pakistan is indeed misunderstood by the western countries.
For those who are new to history the author has added a brief historical account of East/West clash. This could be called clash of civilizations in a nut shell.

According to Hareem the reason Pakistanis are seen as potential terrorists in the west is because of Islamophobia. She says that Islamophobia isn’t new but has its roots in thousands of years of history like crusades and division of Ottoman Empire.

Hareem has finally asked the questions lot of patriots have wanted to ask.

“Who killed Zia ul Haq? Who killed Benazir Bhutto? Who was supporting Musharraf? What is India doing in Balochistan? What is happening in Kashmir? Who is supporting the terrorists, and why?”

The most enjoyable chapter for me was Pakistan’s social etiquette for example when the author says “Pakistani’s talk in roundabout way,” she is on point, when she writes, “when Pakistanis say, we will see, it means, ‘no’.

Hareem has simplified rules of courtship for foreigners or visiting over-seas Pakistanis:

1) You may arrive up to one hour later than the stipulated time when invited to party.

2) Men should avoid giving flowers to women.

3) If a man must give a gift to a woman, he should say that it is from his wife, mother, sister, or some other female relative.

I was impressed Hareem’s frank criticism of Jamaat-e-Islami. The present generation barely knows anything about the party’s past and its leader’s enmity with Jinaah. In Hareem’s view that JI and Jinaah rift has shaped Pakistan from its first days to its present form.
The last chapters discuss role of Pakistan’s parliament. The author gives brief account of rulers from Ayub khan to present day. Predictions are made about Imran Khan’s first government. The last chapter ‘Final Thoughts’ sums up all the points in the book.

I would suggest book to everyone who has a genuine interest in Pakistan’s history.

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