The strings of the violin are broken now; one cannot sense any rhythm. No need to act like one cares or that you care. The casual attitude of the time was taken insensibly. We got a lot to fantasize about the history of Pakistan and South East Asia. Our Pakistan Studies syllabus will go through a significant change. At least we’d know our children were going to study something relative, even remotely, and even consequently. The tide that was stuck behind the gigantic wall of cemented egos, the tyrannical compartments of lamenting successes, was finally seen cracking. The phrase ‘Mitti say mahahbbat’ has been penned down so many times that it appears to have lost its meaning, or perhaps…it was never perceived in its core value? Struck a chord?
Another year of celebrating Pakistan’s Resolution Day The day that commemorates our beloved country’s foundation exhibits a promise towards a better future and trails back the leftovers of the dreams sought by the millions of pioneers, including our ancestors. It is indeed disheartening if we sit back and play the reels for the past 70 years in front of our eyes just to realize where we are standing today.
Being considered a major stakeholder in the Muslim world and a self-proclaimed keeper of Islamic values and its leadership, it will not be unfair to say that Pakistan is fighting for its existence today. The instability of the past year (read 70 years) has brought the institutions and the torchbearers of peace to their knees. Inflation is at its highest, the poor class feels abandoned, the youth seem utterly disappointed, and the unemployment index has skyrocketed. Where does hope find its place in between all this bitterness?
‘Pakistan is nearing default’ is a common phrase nowadays, like we are waiting for a miracle in the form of rain, looking desperately and wistfully towards the sky after burning our own house in a wasteful effort to start afresh. We started from “a place where one can practice freedom and breathe openly” to thinking twice before expressing ourselves. Minorities are finding it hard to sustain themselves within the so-called Muslim majority. The difference between the elitists of society and the working class is growing further apart with each passing day. The middle-class? No, they just need more and more problems to keep them occupied in their thoughts, making them believe that a solution to these problems is insufficient, so that a problem with no plausible solution is tackled by one bigger than that. It’s simple.
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Women are not safe; every day is a new struggle for their rights. When it comes to giving our opinions and narrating the plights of the ordinary man, we find ourselves experts in the matter. The talented youth have lost their voice in this deafening silence. The battle of egos continues, and there seems to be no end to that. The foreign reserves are at their lowest with no prospect, and there is no plan to cope with that except to pile up the IMF’s money. All we are able to do in these immensely trying times is label others as traitors, call them names, and create a bullfight scenario for an international spectacle. Another point of contention is the humiliation we have received from the rest of the world. Very few of us realize that internal wars and a lack of unity have made us a laughing stock for the world. There is no bigger purpose at the moment. Our policymakers and those in government are delivering lengthy lectures on how important Pakistan is to them and for their survival, but no one actually means it.
Any spectator would be flabbergasted by the current trends being followed and propagated in the country amid all the hustle. You should not allow anyone to speak because it is a new cool. Have we really made following the new cool trends our standards? Is it cool to follow your connections everywhere, leaving the merit in tatters even after spending millions of dollars’ worth of time and effort? Is it cool to think one has to survive even if the ship is sinking, without knowing the very reason for your existence has been the ship all along? Is it okay to not allow the children of your fellow countrymen to study in the same school with the children of patriots and nationalists only because they do not belong to your religion? When did Islam set such difficult boundaries that have made it tough for humans to breathe?
It is a challenge for our political leaders to unite the nation in such turbulent times and to make something out of this mess. Rather than blaming and smearing each other, it would have been preferable if the nation was brought together once again under a banner of hope to reaffirm forgotten promises and dreams. We cannot just wait and trace forward the steps from the landscape of the past in a manner that is both diminishing and misleading. Moving forward is the only option left to us to redeem ourselves, especially if we don’t want historians to write about how time fell short for this blatantly intelligent and highly self-insufficient nation.
Author name: Fatimah Tuz Zahra
I’m a graduate of King Edward Medical University, have completed my house job last year from Mayo Hospital. I love to read and write occasionally. I was part of English and Urdu literary societies during my university years. Furthermore, I was Editor/Sub-Editor KEMCOL (Annual Magazine KEMU). My various English Articles and poetry have been published in The News International magazine, and an Urdu article in Dunya News. I also post blogs, poetry, book reviews, and articles on my WordPress site. I simply adore penning down my ideas and imagination on the paper.
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