Making Pakistan Great Again
“I’m not concerned about whether the nation will run. I’m concerned that it might go on running like this”
Most of you may not remember but this is a part of the famous song “Laga Reh” by Shehzad Roy back in 2008. Time flies as honestly, it feels like yesterday when this song took the country by storm when every single adult and teenager was talking about it. While a minority agreed with what the charismatic singer was trying to convey, most citizens rejected the ideas floated through the lyrics of Roy, claiming that Pakistan was on the verge of something special soon.
Nearly 12 years have passed, that’s more time than Fawad Alam’s exclusion from the Pakistani team, and we need to ask ourselves that are we anyway near what we imagined? Is this the progressive, developed, flourishing country that Quaid-e-Azam planned? Are we the Muslims that can proudly claim they follow the real principles? Are we past the time where our news bulletin would be bombarded with negative, painful news that makes you feel disgusted to the core? I shouldn’t answer such questions and I will leave it for your imagination to solve the puzzle.
Where did this all go wrong?
On a micro level, you may be aware and notice that some people you know would generally tend to commit mistakes and find excuses to justify themselves while blaming others simultaneously. Have you read the story “The First Drop of Rain” in your early years at school? You see one person cannot make a difference but everyone together can make a difference be it a positive or negative change. The same goes here! We are united, but only in negative acts. When it comes to matters of national interest, our provincial identity and ethnic politics draw a wedge in coming up to constructive outcomes but when it comes to something negative such as corruption, there’s no Punjabi, Pakhtun, Sindhi as “Jinnah Sahab ki kaafi power hay” (filling pockets with corruption). A one-month internship at a Chartered Accountant Firm was enough to make me realize how corruption has firm roots in our society starting from the lowest level to the top tier of officers. The corruption made me lose faith and interest in the field of Chartered Accountancy as I changed my intended future profession immediately after the internship ended.
We Pakistanis, believe that our opinions are established-facts and if someone dares argue against them, they are unworthy of our knowledge and need to be bashed for having opposing views. And it’s not just associated with a specific class or ethnicity, we live on two ends and don’t have a middle ground. Try asking a Molvi about minority rights, and you will be brainwashed that Pakistan is a haven for everyone and if you dare argue, you’ll be labeled as “Kaafir” and “Fasaadi”. Try talking to a liberal and claim that you don’t agree with the LGBT movement and watch how they’ll murder you with their opinions and debase you at a level where you feel that you’re an illiterate. As a result, the level of intolerance and disunity has substantially increased as we seek to defend our supported ideas at all costs. We have opposites and the idea of coexisting is thrown into the trash.
At a political level, the “beauty” of our political system is that we are willing to ignore 100 flaws in our leader and boost the 10 qualities they have and hypocritically ignore 100 plus points of our opponents and highlight the 10 flaws they have to satisfy our ego. We blame politicians for every wrongdoing in Pakistan but the truth is that Sheikh Rasheed didn’t ask you to throw trash on the road, right? Nawaz Shareef told you how to properly roll with an A4 paper? Zardari asked you to search all those explicit Netflix movies that dominate the top-10 ranked movies for Pakistan? Politicians are a fair reflection of the people they rule and unless we correct ourselves, we will stay deprived of the real independence we seek to achieve.
Ever tried talking about the Army? Maybe criticizing their intervention in the political system? You will face two different groups. One will treat the institution as the ‘Holy Cow’, where even a word against them would be treated as mutiny and your loyalty to the state can be questioned. Well, it’s a free state where everyone has the right to talk even if the boys with guns send a Black Vigo for a “road trip” with you. For many years, the state has been ruled by them and it’s time to support the political system through all the obstacles they encounter as one day, we will be a mature democratic state with real autonomy for the Parliament.
Lastly, the people who leave Pakistan for foreign states and acquire their nationalities, I am honestly confused with your manner. You will comfortably stand in a queue at Dubai Airport but the moment you land on Pakistani soil, you bring out the real “Chawal” inside you which was suppressed with all the rules you were forced to follow and you greet our country by breaking lines, throwing trash and shouting abuses at those who aren’t that well-off. You compare our nation with the ones you now inhabit yet you never tell the difference in your behavior between the states you are comparing. You sound so passionate about the country you have left but all you do is tell others how bad it was at Pakistan and how blessed you are to sing the national anthem of Australia, USA, etc. Dude! If you were so patriotic, why did you flee the country in the first place? Technically, YOU GAVE UP ON YOUR COUNTRY! YOU LEFT BEHIND YOUR POOR OLD PARENTS AND SETTLED AT FOREIGN LANDS! STOP WITH THIS PLASTIC COAT ON YOUR FACE WHERE YOU SHOW EMPATHY YET YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT’S HAPPENING!
Way forward
Not all hope is lost. Depression is not an option. Throwing the towel is for kids and you’re a fighter! The journey to reestablish Pakistan may be hard and challenging but it isn’t an impossible task. We start with the basics and try to correct our selves, to begin with. BE HUMBLE AND OPEN TO IDEAS! Personally, I agree with some ideas honed by liberals yet also agree with some opinions of the conservatives. Frankly speaking, none of them claim that I fall into their category. Mutual dialogue and talks are necessary to realize that there is a common ground that hasn’t been identified yet but the diverse community can live together as one. We need to stop letting our ethnicity act as a barrier to the progress of Pakistan. You can be a Punjabi but what’s the point if Pakistan ceases to exist one day (GOD FORBID)? You’re a Pakistani first and other identities can wait.
Furthermore, you know what the white portion in our flag represents? If so, do you think we are living up to the ideology of the state that was introduced by its founders? Aren’t transgender humans too? If you criticize the Indians for their brutalities against Muslims living in their country, maybe you can condemn the kills of minorities even here?
Lastly, since most of the audience reading this belong to the top tier of citizens of Pakistan, I have a small request for you. Rather than settling in foreign lands, marrying foreigners just to get a GREEN CARD living a life where you have to prove your loyalty almost every other day yet still feel like a second-grade citizen, why not give Pakistan a chance? You are young! Oozing talent and potential! Paint your canvas in this state and make a change. If people like us leave this state, then those who are less competent than us would occupy the ranks reserved for us! If this continues, we will never be able to stand tall and compete with other nations. Keep on striving and one day, we will rise as even God promised that your efforts would never go unrewarded.
With that being said, HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY PAKISTAN!!!!!!!!
