My interviewee, ‘RC’, came to me through a very odd route, a celebrity blog which we both frequent. A discussion about Pakistan and Greg Mortenson led both of us to talk, and my offer for an interview. RC accepted.
This is going to be a two-part interview. I hope it was as interesting to you as it was to me.
Emily: I suppose the first thing to ask is where you went, and what brought you to each of those places?
RC: Both of my parents are Pakistani and we try to visit family in Pakistan as often as we can. It’s been getting increasingly difficult since 9/11 and the more recent conflict in Pakistan, but I think seeing family is worth risking it. Most of them live in Lahore, a relatively peaceful city that is the second largest in Pakistan. I stayed there this June for about a month. The year before that we traveled to a place called Cherat, which is located in the North West Frontier Province, to visit my cousin who works for the Pakistani services. It’s probably too dangerous to go up there anymore.
Emily: How have your relatives been impacted by the changes post-9/11?
RC: Well to be honest, I feel that I’ve probably been more affected than they have because I live in America where most people don’t really understand the complex cultural/religious issues that have created the conflicts that area is seeing these days (growing up in America, a lot of that is past even my understanding). But the only thing I can think of is that they’ve been affected the same way most other people of South Asian and Middle Eastern backgrounds have all over the world — by prejudice and discrimination. My cousin who is 16, for example, was held at an American airport for hours for questioning and was asked ridiculous questions like “have you ever held a gun?” “have you ever killed someone?” “do you want to kill anyone?” In the grand scheme of things, things like that are pretty minor inconveniences but I guess they add up. If someone has never had any interaction with America other than the bias that he has heard through the local media in his country, treating foreigners with complete mistrust only confirms those preconceptions and is not a very good first impression at all.
As far as effects from events that are not necessarily directly related to 9/11 but have impacted my family in Pakistan, they’ve avoided most violence since they live in Lahore which has always been very peaceful. There have been several attacks on the city in the past year though, mostly random car bombings. The city has had to tighten security by creating checkpoints and blocking off everything but main roads. When I was there this summer, we’d wake up and a brick wall had been built overnight blocking off a street, and we’d be stopped for security checks every few minutes. It was definitely a very different experience from the peaceful life I’ve been used to during visits ever since I was young.
Emily: What was Cherat like? (landscape, the people, the experience, etc.)
RC: It’s a mountainous area, but the terrain isn’t quite as rugged as more northern regions such as the Karakoram range where K2 is. I unfortunately can’t talk much about my experience inside the base because that area is off limits to the public and because of that, my interactions with the people were very limited. I basically enjoyed myself as a vacationer would because it was an extremely secluded area with beautiful views and trails. Outside the base, I did notice some changed from the other places I visited in Pakistan. I was told to avoid appearing too Western (no skinny jeans, t-shirts, etc.), and my aunt who had been driving us at one point switched with a male family member just to be on the safe side. I could definitely tell that it was a more conservative area.
The most memorable thing, however, was probably the last day. My cousin woke us up early and kind of hurried us out of the house and into the car. We started our journey without me noticing anything out of the ordinary until about half an hour later, I asked if we could stop for a snack or to use the restroom. My cousin refused, which I found a bit odd. Later, I found out that a “miscreant” (I always find the term a bit humorous, but that’s what they call terrorists or suicide bombers) had gotten past one of the checkpoints at the base and it had been a really close call. I guess my parents hadn’t told me because I would have only been 15 at the time and they wanted everyone to remain clam. The experience really caught me off guard because the area a year ago was nowhere near as conflicted as it is now, so I wouldn’t have expected it at all.
