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Capturing national identity

By Urooj Zia

KARACHI: Who are we? What forms one’s identity? These, and other related questions were examined at a workshop titled “New National Identities” at a local hotel Sunday.

The workshop was part of a project by the British Council, which aims to look at the views of the younger generation in seven countries regarding national and personal identities. Countries participating in the project include Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kenya, India, Ireland and North Ireland, Poland and the UK. The event kicked off in Karachi, and will be followed by similar workshops in Lahore on November 13 and Islamabad on November 14. Opinions, thoughts and feedback from the sessions will be compiled and included in a publication which will be composed by the project writer, Vron Ware.

All of the participants on Sunday, mainly undergrads and high schoolers, with a smattering of graduate students, PhDs and professionals, were first asked to display an item that denoted their identity, after which they were divided into seven groups to discuss and present skits that best explained the theme assigned to them.

The themes provided were extremely interesting: place identities, national identities, multiple identities, passion and patriotism, the role of the new media in national identities, the role of the government, and on the move—how migration affects identities.

Most of the skits that were thought up and then enacted were creative, to say the least. The first team discussed place identities and depicted the ingrained racial biases of western college sophomores. The team rightly concluded with “home is where you’re accepted unquestioningly—where you’re most comfortable at.”

The second team had to discuss national identities. They presented a 10-minute skit that made humorous jabs at bias against stereotypes, and concluded that symbolism does not an identity make. The third team (multiple identities) spoke of social conditioning and the resulting association with a specific culture, language or citizenship. “Everyone has an individual identity,” they said. “No matter where you live, you will always be associated with what you (as a person) portray yourself as.”

The fourth skit was undoubtedly the best of all. The team discussed passion and patriotism from the point of view of desis living in the west. The fifth team presented a skit about the role of the media in national identities. Stressing on the importance of marketing nationality and culture, the team said that in order to be accepted, one needed to make some sacrifices (presumably those of culture and values). “The media creates stereotypes,” they said. “We have to prove as a nation that we are not terrorists.”

Discussing the role of the government, the sixth team made a good attempt by showing how Pakistani government representatives generally behave when their thoughts and opinions are challenged which was exemplified by a laudable piece of acting by the “government representative.”

The last topic for the day was “on the move.” The team was supposed to show how migration out of the country affects Pakistan and Pakistanis, and they did justice to the topic by showing all possible facets of emigration.

British Council Karachi Director, Marcus Gilbert, lauded the performances, and the articulate nature of the skits. Everyone is different, every culture is different, and that is not a bad thing—“it makes the world a more colourful and more interesting place to live in,” said Gilbert. “We should learn to celebrate our differences and individual identities. There should be no stereotypes. Be different, but work together.”

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