The land you reside on is like your mother. It feeds you, allows you to play, learn, and grow. Like a real mother, it teaches you and helps you grow into an educated or skilled young man.
Dr. Munawar Aziz
But suddenly, the young man, attracted by the charms of the West, decides to leave his mother when she needs him most. He starts criticizing his own mother, calling her dirty, stinking, and ugly!
This is what is happening today. Our young generation, instead of going abroad to learn and then returning to implement the good things they’ve learned, start blaming the older generation for all the faults and problems. When asked why they don’t come back to face the challenges and help bring about change in their fields of expertise, their response is almost always: “We will come back when things are better!”
Why don’t they realize that if everyone thinks the same, how will change ever occur? There are, however, many young people who go abroad, learn new techniques, and return to face the hardships. Ultimately, they succeed and contribute positively to their motherland.
When we talk about medical doctors, there are countless examples of those who, after studying in their homeland, went abroad to further their education and acquire the latest skills. In the end, they returned to serve and earn in their native country.
Medical care in our country is much cheaper than in many other parts of the world, especially the West, where for simple tests and procedures, one has to wait months, sometimes even years!
Recently, I had the opportunity to meet patients from abroad who came here for tests like MRIs. According to one patient, “I couldn’t wait six months for the test and remain anxious all that time, or I would have gone mad.” His tests were completed to his satisfaction within two days.
It is never too late to reconsider and plan to contribute your skills to the motherland, which made you capable of being accepted abroad in the first place.
I agree there are issues at every level of society and government that discourage young expatriates from returning and settling here, despite the government’s big claims. But one must be present to help rectify these problems; otherwise, things will never improve.
The West also faced such hurdles and difficulties for centuries before implementing a workable system. But instead of going through all that hardship for so long, we can adopt the good things from their system.
I would like to conclude with the famous verses of Allama Iqbal from Bal-e-Jibril:
حور و خیام سے گزر بادہ و جام سے گزر
گرچہ ہے دل کشا بہت حسن فرنگ کی بہار
طائرک بلند بام دانہ و دام سے گزر
کوہ شگاف تیری ضرب تجھ سے کشاد شرق و غرب
تیغ ہلال کی طرح عیش نیام سے گزر
*Dr. Munawar Aziz
Abbottabad, KP, Pakistan
aziz.munawar@gmail.com
Sir, this is a tricky balance. It depends on your resilience to withstand pressure and determination to bring your expertise to your motherland. Unfortunately, for many, the playing field is not level and opportunities for growth limited. Add to it the current trends of repression in the country, enormous cost of living, no security and no inward investment. I am not surprised that people prefer to leave for an easier and respectable life for their families.
It’s all about how we perceive situations . Some see the glass half full ; others see it half empty. And people then react accordingly .
Assalamualaikum sir . Wishing you a good day.
Just to say “thanks” for the thoughtful article that you shared .
Sir, personally I agree with you and in my own life , I went abroad to the UK in 1995 but then returned home , though I had a teaching job offer there ; and from 1996-97 I started teaching fulltime in Pakistan , first in Islamabad, then Lahore. I felt that there were many people who would be ready to get good jobs in the UK, including teaching /lecturers , but who would offer good teaching standards to poor Pakistani students ? I thought that it was my duty to return home and play my part in Pakistan. Alhamdolillah, I was able to teach many students at college and university levels and even today some of them have made a good name for themselves in Pakistan and in other countries, too; sadly , things were not that easy for me otherwise , as you know with other additional problems , and after 12-13 years of fulltime teaching my health began to deteriorate and so I returned home to Abbottabad and since then I have been caught up in my present issues.
However , I don’t regret my decision to return to my country and I don’t blame anyone for whatever I have faced or am facing in life .
At the same time, Sir, today I do understand why many young people want to go abroad to seek new lives there. Of course, for a few professions like medical doctors etc, financial issues are not that much, they can manage , but for 70% of Pakistani youth , they have to struggle hard economically here today . And unemployment and cost/price inflation are both extremely high, the governments have failed to address these issues since a long time. So maybe, that’s the main incentive (better economic conditions and opportunities) for many youngsters to leave the country.
It’s still a very depressing thought , very sad to see the huge ‘brain drain’ but the small 1% rich and powerful elites don’t care at all, they don’t want to change or improve things. These people are just filling their own pockets and sending billions of rupees to their offshore accounts.
Who will bring about massive and much-needed reforms ? These would be necessary to change the date of the country and its youth . I think even elites and governments can’t do much now, our population is growing rapidly and it’s become unsustainable to manage anymore in this land and with the limited resources.
Thanks again for sharing your article , as always it makes me think .
Regards
Omer
Very good article sir but actually the stack holders have different priorities as now a days there is discrimination in every field so the young people don’t see any future here as they are not in position to change the system so they goes for escape. And by the way due to this disappointment foreign office receiving around 30 thousand application per day.
This is the ground reality of our country. No matter what other countries offer but my point of view is very clear whether someone likes it or not. Whatever rizq is written for the person he will definitely get it no matter where he resides. Leaving parents alone for brighter future has no justification at all. These days one can see around parents living alone in big houses while grown up children are abroad happily facing hardships of that country.