Garth Rattray
THE SUFFIX 'stan' is an ancient Persian (Farsi) word meaning country, nation, land, or place of. It is also thought to be the Sanskrit for 'place' and Bulgarian for 'camp'. Seven countries (all located around central and southern Asia) have names ending in 'stan': Afghanistan, Pakistan Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Seven other countries have alternate names ending in 'stan'. One example is Bulgaristan (Turkish for Bulgaria). And, one region in northwest Pakistan has a name that ends with 'stan' (Waziristan).
I have often mused about what names some countries would acquire if they were to attach the suffix 'stan' to the term best befitting the people that occupy them. Perhaps Japan (a country filled with people that produce gadgets) would be called 'Gadgetistan' and Iraq (a country with a people in the throws of turmoil) would be 'Turmoilistan'.
With that in mind, I'm looking for a name for a nation that suffered and survived centuries of slavery under imperial Briton. It weathered being exploited for its cheap labour, boundless beauty and natural agricultural wealth. It won its independence in 1962 and boldly set out on an uncharted course of self rule and a new cultural awakening.
EXTINCT MORALS
It produced local and international greats. People like Marcus Garvey made an indelible mark in the history of the world when he brought pride and hope to
an ailing African Diaspora. Legendary musical talent Bob Marley made reggae internationally popular and turned this little nation into a household name half-a-world away in places like the Far East. It was a nation of peaceful, hopeful, prosperous, disciplined people; the envy of its Caribbean neighbours. The mere mention of its name used to conjure up visions of an exotic western paradise.
Now, discipline and common decency are becoming extinct. Aggression, corruption and violence reign supreme across the land. People allowed a political system that engendered dependency to take root. Two, perhaps three generations among the underprivileged are lost to criminal lifestyles. Rich and poor alike debase, compromise and ingratiate themselves in order to access a piece of the financial pie. Hundreds of thousands live on remittances. Politics and gang-sterism have transformed this little nation into a veritable killing field with friable oases of civility scattered here and there.
Now, communities once separated by mere metres have been pushed worlds apart by politics, gangs and drugs. Indiscriminate reprisal killings leave sidewalks and lanes awash with the innocent blood of men, women and even children. I don't know exactly when this nation started along this path of greed, power-mania, corruption and tribalism, but it has been brought low in the sight of all decent people and the world on a whole.
This once proud and peaceful nation is sometimes perceived as seething with pervasive corruption, criminality, illicit drugs and murder. Immigration and custom authorities view its people with distrust wherever they go.
SHOULD IT BE 'JACKASSISTAN?
What name would you give to a nation that threw away a peaceful and bright future? What kind of people let a few divisive, manipulative, exploitative and selfish individuals steer them down the road to destruction? What name would you ascribe to a nation that pollutes and destroys its natural resources? What does a country that thumbs its nose at God deserve to be called? Should it be named, 'Jackassistan'?
Tradition dictates that as the New Year approaches, lives and circumstances are re-examined. It would be good if this nation of innately friendly, intelligent and productive people would introspect, boldly shake off its stupor and eschew tribalism, corruption and violence; then perhaps we could consider a name like, 'Magnifistan'.
Dr. Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice.
