Yvonne Ridley – Experiencing Real Pakistan A Tale #5

			The other images that I saw were angry
		

			men pouring out of the mosques on Friday.
		

			My very first contact with Pakistan was sending
		

			a letter to General Zia al-Haq because
		

			he had locked up a number of journalists
		

			and I was a member of the National
		

			Union of Journalists which has an international network
		

			and is part of an international federation of
		

			journalists and I wrote to him on behalf
		

			of my union branch and urged him to
		

			release the journalists who were held in prison
		

			at the time and this was I think
		

			in the late 70s early 80s when I
		

			wrote that letter.
		

			Pakistan, I know, I know, it's full of
		

			Islamic radicals, nuclear weapons, ambitious generals and corrupt
		

			politicians.
		

			I was amazed when I went to Pakistan
		

			because it was not what I expected.
		

			All I had seen from Pakistan was the
		

			fighting of the mujahideen during the Russian invasion
		

			and occupation of Afghanistan and Peshawar was a
		

			great focal point of the mujahideen men.
		

			The other images that I saw were angry
		

			men pouring out of the mosques on Friday
		

			and setting fire to a flag, usually an
		

			American flag, sometimes an Indian flag and that's
		

			all that I ever saw.
		

			So women were invisible, you know, they were
		

			just airbrushed from the news and this is
		

			the western media and I'm sure it's in
		

			some ways it's been quite a deliberate tactic
		

			but I was amazed at how visible
		

			and prominent Pakistan women are in public life
		

			and I think that the Pakistan government is
		

			one of the few governments that positively discriminates
		

			for women during elections in as much as
		

			a number of seats are guaranteed and, you
		

			know, this is very important.
		

			I can't deal with spicy food but I
		

			love the Pashtun cooking and the best fish
		

			I've had in the world comes from an
		

			open-air restaurant at that point when you're
		

			heading up to Peshawar, at the point where
		

			the river is brown and green or blue
		

			and green and the fish in that, it's
		

			just a little road restaurant.
		

			Whenever I return to Pakistan, if I'm anywhere
		

			near there, I go to this restaurant.
		

			I love the fish and I try and
		

			get to Pakistan at least once a year
		

			and I have lots of friends there.
		

			I love the country.
		

			The thing that makes me sad is the
		

			lack of resources, the lack of education and
		

			this is a country, I think, that could
		

			really launch if it wasn't being held back
		

			from within by some politicians and from the
		

			outside by the international community.
		

			Tourism, you know, you've got the seas, the
		

			sands, the mountains, the rivers.
		

			The country is just waiting to be discovered
		

			by the outside world and the Pakistan people
		

			themselves.
		

			What I love is this can-do attitude.
		

			You know, never have I gone to Pakistan
		

			and had a problem where somebody has just
		

			said no.
		

			Just the such positive, can-do attitude and
		

			it's from the smallest child in the street
		

			to the oldest person, you know, it's just
		

			there.