The other day, an anchorperson told us that American diplomats are free to move about wherever they wish to go in our country. We have seen them visiting our famous shrines and placing chaddars there. They freely talk to the people there. No one knows what they are looking for? Our Quaid-e-Azam got us rid of the rule of white man in 1947 but it seems we are still suffering from the white complex. Wherever we see a white man or woman, we jump to our feet to welcome them, totally forgetting that we are a free nation now and no longer their subjects. Even our shopkeeper and taxi drivers prefer them over the locals. Whenever an American or British VIP comes to Pakistan, our rulers ignore their own protocol and his status to treat him as VVIP. President and PM invite the Gora sahib (or memsahib) for interview and (usually) a lavish banquet in their honour. I joined the British Indian Army in 1942 and stayed with it until the partition. I learned a lot from them but still remember with utter distaste that we, the Indian officers, were not even allowed to eat Indian food in the mess or hear Indian music. It is high time that we treat them now as our equal and not as a superior race. -COL (Retd) R.M. AKHTAR, Lahore, via e-mail, August 22.