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Image Problem: I come from Pakistan , omg Pakistan , thats scary !

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Changing Times
by Fazal Khan on 09 14th, 2010 | Comments (19)

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These days just about everyone in California knows Pakistan, well at least in Southern California where I’ve lived for the past 13 years. When I tell people I’m from Pakistan I often hear responses like, “Pakistan? Isn’t that where Bin Laden is hiding? I hope your family is safe!” Or “Pakistan? Oh that’s where the flood happened isn’t it. Is your family safe?” And my personal favourite as of late, “Pakistan? Wasn’t there something about a gambling scandal with the cricket team?”

Wait this is the United States of Baseball, err … America. Why do people here even know what cricket is, let alone the scandal our team is mired in? (ICC you can thank us for the free publicity in this market, which you so desperately want to break in to).

It wasn’t always like this though. Back in the good old days when I’d tell people I was from the Land of the Pure, the exchange would typically go something like this:

Them: “I’m sorry, where did you say you were from again?”
Me: “Pakistan.”
Them: “Oh, Pakistan … umm … where is that again?”
Me (exasperated): “It’s right next to India …”
Them: “Oh India (face lights up)! How cool!”
Me (resigned tone): “Yes, how cool…” (Take it as a compliment, dear neighbors)

Those were simpler times. Back when hardly anyone in California knew or cared much about Pakistan. It’s sad that in my 13 years of living here, the best impression most people have had of Pakistan was that of its relative obscurity. Does anyone care that we have some of the tallest mountains on earth, or that we’re home to one of the oldest civilizations in the world?

In fact we’re one of the few countries in this world to actually be led by a woman, twice. But no one seems to care. Instead, Americans get bombarded with images of mullahs cheering in the streets on 9/11, yelling death to America or some other similar anti-western rally. As a result, many Americans have started questioning why their tax dollars (in the form of foreign aid) are going to a country that “harbours terrorists and hates America”.

It’s clear that we have an image problem and a severe one at that. While our neighbors to the east have perfected the art of exporting their culture, we Pakistanis keep getting hampered by the likes of Fasial Shazad and our now-world-famous cricket team. But sadly, the image is not the only problem – where one can boast about plenty of things in Pakistan, such as the geography or culture, it needs to be acknowledged that like dozens of other countries problems do exist here and as a result of those, the image of the country has been tarnished. The sooner the damage is fixed, the sooner the perceptions are likely to change.

Essentially, Pakistan needs a major image over haul. There is a lot of good in our country, which I hope will someday be reflected in the image that we present to the rest of the world. And then, when I tell people in California I’m from Pakistan, maybe they’ll respond with a genuine ‘COOL!’ as opposed to blank stares and negative perceptions.

The views expressed in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.

The Dawn Blog Blog Archive Changing Times
 
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Wait a minute, people in California know about Pakistan? Here, in Michigan, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and Kashmir are all the same. And no one can point them out on the map.
 
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Man, not to derail the thread.. People in Dallas ask me.. "are you a muslim?". I have to explain that I am a Hindu from India.

A negative perception of Islam hurts us too.. and all you guys have to understand about it. There are many times I ended up defending Islam, than you guys may expect from the "typical Indian guy".
 
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Few years back even Russia,China and Mexico had image problems in America but they have worked hard to develop their country and their image... Even India was looked down in all over the world a decade back,,, But we have carried on right policies(even though results are slow) to make a mark in the world....
 
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The problem with pakistan is that they dont accept their mistake, they either put all their mistake on foreign countries or they put all the blame on their President...

First step to correct a mistake is to accept it and second step is to find out the ways to correct it... Fortunately or Unfortunately Pakistan has not taken the first step till now then how can you expect that mistakes will get corrected...
 
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Few years back even Russia,China and Mexico had image problems in America but they have worked hard to develop their country and their image... Even India was looked down in all over the world a decade back,,, But we have carried on right policies(even though results are slow) to make a mark in the world....
Mexicans still have a problem due to the drug cartels and illegal immigration. Same with China, but China is more comical tease then anything else. Russia never had much of any problems.

Indians have some problems, but mostly comical, like China. However, because of outsourcing, both India and China are taking more serious damage to their reputations.

Pakistan, well, we're just screwed.
 
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Just work hard and improve your country

China too had image problems,but all that is replaced now,with made in China tags and Awesome Skylines.


India's image too changed over time.

ancient and medieval era -land of riches,spices

1940s-land of snake charmers

1970s-sick man of Asia,Hare Krishnas

1980s-monkey brain eaters

1990s-eat up your food there are hungry children in India and China

2005-potential superpower,curry,call centers,smelly ppl

2010-slumdogs.
 
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Man, not to derail the thread.. People in Dallas ask me.. "are you a muslim?". I have to explain that I am a Hindu from India.

A negative perception of Islam hurts us too.. and all you guys have to understand about it. There are many times I ended up defending Islam, than you guys may expect from the "typical Indian guy".

Same situation happen with me , I was working in parkland hospital, and I have to get a house nearby, I went to Evergreen hills in house of some gora , and there first question was What is your religion.
 
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I wonder if the Americans really know, that it is Pakistan which has the weapons of mass destruction & not Iraq ;) , Osama Bin laden is actually from Saudi Arabia & yes it was America that helped Pakistan in creating the monsters they now fear as Talibans..........:rolleyes:
 
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Its not my place to say but ,quit ruing the thread please!!!!!!
The thread is about American perception of Pakistan & not India or Indo-Pak history. all the historical landmarks that lie in pakistani territory are part of pakistani culture & heritage just like Taj Mahal belongs to India.
 
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If any more off topic posts are made, you will be send packing.

If Indian members can't post as per the topic, then log off or do something else, no need to derail the thread.
 
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I wonder if the Americans really know, that it is Pakistan which has the weapons of mass destruction & not Iraq ;) , Osama Bin laden is actually from Saudi Arabia & yes it was America that helped Pakistan in creating the monsters they now fear as Talibans..........:rolleyes:

And what exactly are you trying to say???:what:
 
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In China, there is no image problem with regards to Pakistan. We know that Pakistan is our time-tested friend. :cheers:

Surprisingly there is not much negativity towards India or the USA either.

The nation that gets the most negativity from China, is JAPAN... and yet Chinese people (including me) still love to buy Japanese gadgets, watch Japanese television programmes, and buy Japanese cars. :lol:
 
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In China, there is no image problem with regards to Pakistan. We know that Pakistan is our time-tested friend. :cheers:

Surprisingly there is not much negativity towards India or the USA either.

The nation that gets the most negativity from China, is JAPAN... and yet Chinese people (including me) still love to buy Japanese gadgets, watch Japanese television programmes, and buy Japanese cars. :lol:

I have in fact seen this sentiment from Chinese ( both mainland and Taiwan). Is the discomfort historical? the common complaint I have heard is that Japan will still not modify it's history books to reflect reality.
 
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