From – “Jo baat apni mitti ki hai woh kahin aur nahin, ab to jeena marna yahin pe” – to – “Halaat zyada kharab huwe to bahar ka passport to hai hi” – we all grew up. The brain drain in Pakistan over the last 3 years alone stands at a significant 2 million, which is an amplified ratio of the six million number that left from 1971 to 2020.
Now the matter here is not if Pakistan suffered immensely from the human capital flight be-cause that, without a question, left a hole in the country, but what is of utter importance is the contentment of our countrymen that left for greener pastures.
Stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea, are our sons of soil who left with cherishing memories of their country in their hearts. Did Pakistan really fail them, or did they just give up too early?
History has a comical way of repeating itself, and nations who lacked the spine to stand up against injustices, always fell. It is inevitable that the price we pay for love is sacrifice, and had we not surrendered and escaped over all these years, we might, and just might, have left a more promising land to our children today.
Transitions into foreign dwellings bring about uncertainties and inhibitions, we cannot even begin to comprehend.
The constant struggle they make in their day-to-day life to keep their children’s cultural values intact, start to become overbearing in foreign lands. The interna-tional education they could have very well received, while still being in their homeland has a huge price tag now.
Making ends meet becomes a responsibility of the whole household, which was primarily only looked after by the head of the house.
I ask why the emotional and physical drain to escape the seeming unrest in the country? Have there ever been nations that promised glad tidings without their people sacrificing for it? A question Pakistan kept asking for the last 77 years, and we kept mute. It is a vicious circle that does not end, because we simply do not break the chain. I realize it is a tough call to ask our natives to return at this hour, but perhaps somewhere down the memory lane, they will look behind and always find me and the likes of me waiting. The brain drain in Pakistan over the last three years alone stands at a significant two million, representing a dramatic increase from the six million who left between 1971 and 2020, re-flecting the ongoing struggle and dissatisfaction among our country’s skilled professionals seeking better opportunities abroad.
—The writer is contributing columnist .
