The distanced relationships between US & Pakistan

Many years ago a nation saw a dream and was lucky enough to realize it. The dream was nothing but equality of rights, of freedom and justice for everyone. Salute to the leaders who gave such a humanitarian vision to their nation and bravo all those heroes who enacted to realize it! Indeed USA became dream nation for the whole world for this vision as heroic steps were taken to fulfill this mission. Pakistan was an emerging nation and could not resist the charm of such bold heroism and fell for it. Those were the ideal times when being democratic and liberal was the ideal of every creative person and the common man believed that they would be able to realize their personal dreams in that land of dreams…USA in reality had become Disney Land for the aspiring youth of the world …a land full of magic and charisma. There are millions of stories of personal success from people all around the world regardless of their race, religion or ethnicity. Should we believe here that the strength of USA was its diversity and its success lied in open access?
Maybe Pakistan is also a tiny drop in that huge ocean of diversity. I remember the earliest days of consulate, which used to attract young liberals and intellectual minds and use to polish them. US visas were rewarded to them and their families. With time the relationships was strengthening and growing. I do not remember standing in queues or appearing in tense interviews for my 1st multiple visa, though I never used it. Then times changed it became difficult for common men to approach US visa…yet there was a privileged community who faced no hassles in getting the visa and that community comprised, doctors, engineers, business and IT professionals and not just the families of distinguished politicians.
Then after 9/11 times changed; there were rigorous rules for scrutiny, profile checking…etc. etc. and there was a subtle change in the attitude of personnel as well. People are not treated with courtesy and politeness any more. Everyone is believed to be a strategic partner of Al-Qaeda or a potential threat to the stability and integrity of USA. I wonder that such a great nation can be threatened through such petty means? Any how I remember getting my 2nd multiple B1-B2 with some tension, but I was satisfied with the fact that at least I’ve passed a security test. I had visited USA twice in 2007 and 2010 for 20 days and 10 days respectively. I hardly experienced any discrimination or anything which I could smell as serious. I was very confident that I will get my visa renewed easily because I have not violated any rule or law of that country myself personally.
After getting a temporary refusal … I’m in state of unbelief…I don’t know how to describe it …humiliation would be a serious allegation…but seriously I feel deeply hurt inside…my ego is bruised and I feel belittled… a carefree and arrogant attitude of personnel and staff, which showed little empathy or concern is something serious….I feel dehumanized. Yes for sure every country has right to admit some people and refuse others based on their personal preferences….but then what is the difference between an open and a closed culture? Being a humanist and valuing personal freedom and liberty all my life and idealizing values of great humanists like Maslow and Carl Rogers….it becomes something difficult to digest. I see not humans but humanity being disgraced. What does a prejudice or a stereotype mean? What is racism? How could any vision be liberal if somebody is seen in the perspective of nation (larger part of which he/she is not familiar with and is at greater psychological distance), family (which is increasingly becoming nuclear and segregated and being married and living in different countries you have seldom any contact with). What is the worth of my personhood…my individuality…my values…my beliefs and my concerns? What is the value of intellectual life I’ve pursued?
I neither belong to any suspicious clan or tribe, nor do I have some strong political associations. However, I’ve free mind and personal will. Are they challenged by my free will…? Then what is the value of liberty and assertiveness? Can anybody claim that these values are personal possession of some race or nation or group of people and not to humanity as a whole? I witnessed simple and innocent desires of people being rejected who want to meet their families and friends….why? Whether harsh attitudes and refusals are creating a distance in two nations or other political activities? I deem that relationships between any two countries are not indispensible especially when they are geographically distanced? … Then what is globalism and why the world is global village? In village there are no distances that cannot be parted. How will US protect the rights of its citizens if it does not grant them satisfaction of their affiliation and belongingness needs? What is then free will and what is Fascism?
Then why did whole world celebrated the breaking of great wall of Germany? I know that relations between Pakistan and US are severely uneven these days. Embassies are not closed but hearts of people are closed. Maybe in history, sooner or later, time comes when we would like to renew relationships among us…how it will start…by exchange of peacemakers… artists… philanthropists… missionaries…. poets… and may be university professors? Then why refuse such people now to further deteriorate the relationships? Why USA wants to close doors to such peacemakers?
One may wonder…why I’m so damn serious about it? Seriously my personal visit to US doesn’t matter at all to me? Some uncouth and harsh attitude of some people matters a little bit but not much. What matters to me is the ruining of universal cause of peace…liberty and justice. These universal values are to be served universally and not to the selected few. These universal values lay foundation of great cultures and civilizations. Nations are not built in days but are ruined so. It is the loss of humanity…of human purpose and not my personal loss…at all.

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