When we reach lunch time in Pakistan today, every child in Norway is up and dressed in his or her best clothes, ready for all the excitement a child can wish for. Because it is the Norwegian National Day or Constitution Day; the day in 1814 when Norway broke loose from 400 years as an appendix to Denmark in a state known as Denmark-Norway. Denmark had been on the losing side in the Napoleonic wars and had to cede land to Sweden, which was on the winning side. The Norwegians, who had become quite nationalistic, managed to get their own Constitution and their own Parliament, but were forced into a union with Sweden. The King was Swedish and all Embassies and trade missions abroad were Swedish, eventually contributing to dissolving of the union in 1905 since Norway was already one of the world’s largest shipping nations, in addition to doing well in fishing and fish export, timber and meat export, and in other fields. The union with Sweden was dissolved peacefully.
Today, I sometimes wonder if it, perhaps, had been better if the two countries had stayed together, to include the advanced and innovative Swedish industry and its neutrality staying outside the military alliances. Currently, the traditional Norwegian strengths in trade and culture, and the newfound wealth - North Sea oil, makes a country with a population of just five million people an economic power, yet with less experience than Sweden. The two countries might have managed the enormous resources better together, and their international affairs, including in development aid, human rights, peace building and other fields could have had more impact. However, I should perhaps not suggest this on the Norwegian National Day as my countrymen and women may think it unpatriotic. In addition, countries can cooperate closely without having to be one state. The Nordic countries are examples of this.
Thirty-forty years ago, there were efforts to strengthen the Nordic Council and build a stronger trade alliance outside the European Union. But then, Denmark and Sweden joined the EU, and Finland followed suit later, leaving Norway and tiny Iceland with less than half a million people outside, feeling better off that way. Iceland is entirely dependent on fishing and would hardly be a viable state if all the EU countries’ trawlers came into its waters. Norway, too, could not have maintained its agricultural sector, and with that settlements all over the country, if the land had been flooded with cheaper farm produce from Southern Europe where the agriculture conditions are more favourable. In good weather and times with a very strong Norwegian economy, Norway is not likely to join the EU as a member, but Norway has excellent trade and cultural agreements with the EU, making it a close EU partner in any case. But it cannot vote. Norwegians would say that that doesn’t matter: what would a vote of five million Norwegians matter in the EU Parliament with hundreds of millions of people?
In the early morning hours in Norway today, there were military salutes and speeches at military monuments and graves of soldiers and civilians, who passed away in wars and on the “graves of the unknown soldiers.” There were military orchestras playing and government officials giving speeches. But that was all before the children woke up. I am glad that the main celebrations of the Norwegian National Day are not about army and military; the celebrations are like a huge, countrywide city and garden party. The activities are all-inclusive, often with the schools and the churches in the centre, but also the football pitch and the volley ball court. And there are activities in the people’s assembly halls and the school brass bands play at old people’s homes, hospitals and the market place downtown, to entertain and include all!
In every town and village, there are processions with the school brass band and teachers in the lead, and the local politicians and the “17th of May Committee”. They are all in festive mood in the spring season. They all hope the rain stays up there in the clouds and that the day can be sunny and a bit warm. On this day, the children can drink as many cokes as they like, buy as many sausages as their stomachs can possibly give room for, and as many ice creams as the kind aunts and uncles will pay for them.
In Oslo, tens of thousands of children from the several hundred schools stride in processions up the little hill to the Royal Palace. All children, who have been in such a procession, will remember it for the rest of their lives; Pakistani Norwegians no less than others.
Norway has over half a million immigrants. The largest group from Asia is the Pakistani community with close to 40,000. And then, there are tens of thousands from Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey and many other Muslim countries. All old and new citizens claim the same right to the Norwegian National Day, be it brothers and sisters whose parents grew up in Gujrat, or a family from Karachi, or refugees from Afghanistan. They are equally excited and proud of on this day, as those young and old whose ancestors have lived in this northern land near the North Pole since times immemorial. The Norwegian National Day is a celebration of unity among all, rich and poor, Christian or Muslim, descendants of Jews or Greeks, Palestinians or Poles, Pakistanis or Indians, and so on!
This year’s celebrations will, indeed, be a manifestation of integration of all people living in Norway because of the ongoing trial of Anders Breivik, who killed about a 100 young people at a summer camp on July 22, 2011. Breivik has said he did this because he was against Norway’s immigration policy. He wanted the country to move back in time, it seems, to an era when multiculturalism did not exist. But then, after the tragedy, the Prime Minister and all others joined hands to defend the openness that Norway has towards the immigrants.
On May 17, the Norwegian National Day, it is only the odd outsider, who dares question the moral ideals of the country’s key institutions - the schools, churches, mosques, membership organisations, local community groups, political parties and so on. Yes, Norwegians are sometimes a bit naïve and want things to be good for everyone. That is, probably, why Pakistanis like it there and that is why Pakistani values are also so important in the former land of the Viking warriors.
It has been a soul-searching time for the Norwegians, since the Breivik tragedy, or should we call it, senseless terrorist actions. Even if it is not worth spending too much time trying to understand a twisted individual’s mind, there are still broader questions to be answered: how could he develop into the sad monster he did without anyone pulling him into the mainstream society? Why didn’t anyone stop him, or help him? If it is true that he spent a whole year doing little else than play war games on the computer, how come none of his family and friends noticed the abnormality? We should draw some serious lessons about life in the Western societies and in big cities in particular. We should also conclude that Breivik could, probably, not have become this tragic and sick man in Pakistan without anyone having noticed it and tried to help him. The broader judgment in the case will, therefore, be about loneliness and individualism in Western societies and the large cities in particular.
On the Norwegian National Day, the old Norwegians and all newcomers behave the way we should behave every day, in openness and inclusiveness to each other. Today, no negative word must be spoken. It is a day when the best in the Norwegians can be seen. More than that, it is a day when the best in all human beings is seen and practiced. May we all draw lessons from it, may we all realise that it is a day with deep moral values, which are not only important in socialisation and upbringing of children, but also to the adults.
I don’t preach like this only because I am a Norwegian. I do so because I try to become a better human being. I am still en route, as we all are. Congratulations on the day, Norwegians, Pakistanis, Pakistani-Norwegians and everyone else!
n The writer is a senior Norwegian social scientist based in Islamabad. He has served as United Nations specialist in the United States, as well as various countries in Africa and Asia. He has also spent a decade dealing with the Afghan refugee crisis and university education in Pakistan.
Email: atlehetland@yahoo.com