Mustafa Qadri

Pakistan is an incredibly divided society. Most of those divisions relate to class. Even within a class there are several different subclasses. Here’s one example. The neighbour’s servant, who’s a top bloke, came over today to give me some yummy desert. I offered him most of the food in my fridge because I’m leaving for Lahore tomorrow and it’ll go off before I return in 4-5 weeks time. He looked at me for a moment and then suggested I give the food to Lakshman (who took me to those Hindu temples), the sweeper who picks up the rubbish every morning. It would be beneath him to accept much of my food because it would suggest he’s not getting enough food to eat. He didn’t actually say that last bit but that was the vibe of the conversation.

Pakistan is a great place to be Marxist in your thinking. With most people, especially the poor, so divided and looking down on the social rung below them there isn’t a hope of collectively challenging those at the top – the army, the businessmen, the land owners – who control everything not through personal skill or merit but merely because they’re powerful and intend to remain so. I need to find time to investigate this further…