Pakistan was established Aug. 14, 1947 on the principles of unity, faith and discipline. There is a huge misconception about my country; Pakistan is not a terrorist nation. In fact, Pakistan is totally against terrorism and has been in a war against terrorism ever since it started, working in total compliance with our allies from around the globe, including the U.S.A., the U.K. and Australia, trying to totally eradicate it.

My father has been in the Pakistan Army for more than 27 years, of which he has spent 20 fighting against terrorism. Due to this, my family and I have seen terrorism up close and have been deeply affected by it and despise it on a personal level. We have lived in places where missiles would fly over our heads at nighttime, bullets would rain for countless hours, where you could not even leave your home due to various threats. However, like most people in Pakistan, this does not scare us. On the contrary, it inspires us to be more courageous and to stand against those who are destroying humanity.

I too joined the army, albeit for a short time to oppose these wrongly guided people and pledged my allegiance to always oppose these tyrants no matter what.

It pains me how misunderstood we are as a nation. Many Pakistanis have sacrificed and lost a lot for the sake of this righteous cause, having a deep hatred for this savagery. Along these disturbances, since Pakistan is a developing country, think of it as a place trudging through the dark ages battling this carnage.

Slowly but surely, the situation in Pakistan is getting better day by the day and terrorism is now at an all-time low. All this cruelness and these atrocities contradict our values and beliefs. Rather, the people of Pakistan are really peaceful, friendly, respectful and freedom-loving. To be labeled as a terrorist state just because of a few miserable individuals who are hell-bent on defiling who we are and what we stand for is agonizing and unjust.

There is a verse in the Quran which sums up our stance and point of view on all this rather nicely: “He who killed one killed all of humanity and he who saved even one saved all of humanity.”

Neither Pakistan nor Islam have ever supported terrorism and will always oppose it. We are all in this war against terrorism together.

This column was submitted as an assignment for an INTO Marshall writing class.

The instructor, Saba Gebrehiwot, can be contacted at [email protected].

“Common Misconceptions” is a weekly column series that gives students, faculty and staff the opportunity to address common misconceptions and misunderstandings of and about their culture, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity.

Columns may be submitted to [email protected].

Submission does not guarantee publication.