Pakistan’s state emblem was designed in 1954; we see it often but don’t take the time to realize that most of what it presents has been lost. It is a quartered shield, depicting supposedly four major crops of the country, surrounded by a floral wreath, and based on a scroll showing the words “iman”, “ittehad”, “nazm” in Urdu. On the top is a small crescent and star, in reverse compared to what appears on the national flag.
It probably made perfect sense in 1954, as back then Pakistan was an agriculture-based country with jute, cotton, tea and wheat being the main crops, but today Pakistan is not an agricultural country, as it cannot boast of any agricultural heritage, and above all the two main produces, i.e. jute and tea are not produced in today’s Pakistan. In my opinion there is a need to redesign the emblem to make it representative of our country. There is a need to remove jute and tea, and by doing this we will be putting the final seal on the ‘glorious’ defeat of 1971 when we lost half the country. Or, shall we wait for Bangladesh to wake up and lodge a protest, for showing their main produces in Pakistan’s national emblem?
SYED SAYEF HUSSAIN,
Karachi, July 27.