By Mehar-un-nisa
The month of August is full of ironies. It is the month when Pakistan came into existence. We see lot of patriotic fervor in this month. But that is not all. It also brings to the fore so many unpleasant things prevalent in our society.
The month begins with patriotic texts circulating throughout the country. Every soul tries to express earnest gratitude for the country. However, over the past few years, it has been witnessed that the patriotic messages are interspersed with sarcastic messages highlighting the plight of the nation. Problems facing the society are articulated or depicted in these texts messages. One gets to know about a new problem prevailing in Pakistan each time a message arrives.
Here is a message, which would be of great help to recall many others:
“14 August qareeb hay. Piyaray watan say muhabbat zahir karnay kay liye haray rang ka hath wala pankha khareed lain aur us par chand tara kud bana lain. Jhanday ka jhanda aur hawa ki hawa. Lehratay jao aur kehtay jao …………….. ‘Main bhi pareeshan hon tu bhi pareshan hay, bijli ka buhraan hay yeh hum sub ka Pakistan hay!”
It’s high time to take stock of the situation when national songs are altered to show the level of shame & sorrowfulness for being a Pakistani. The low self esteem reveals how frustrated people are in Pakistan fighting with issues like energy crisis, terrorism, illiteracy, poverty, food insecurity, and the list goes on.
Apart from this high dose of ‘Patriotism’, politicians of present age try very hard to make the nation believe that they are really doing something good for this land. Politicians are playing cards to increase their worth by raising issues without any planning or answering any questions. It works like a slow poison to destroy the society.
Time was never as bad as it is now. Politicians, being aware of the art of lobbying and hypocrisy, are treating the nation like puppets. Switch the TV on and one can see how easy it is to create a drama in the name of ethnicity or revolution. Recent long marches say it all.
The present turmoil is the result of PTI and PAT’s marches. Both parties, in their opinion, have taken this step to break the chains of fake democracy to create Pakistan as a democratic state.
This month is supposed to be one to show the world the strength of Pakistani nation by promoting talent. Media should have focused on projecting glory of this land rather covering 24/7 long marches for achieving the highest ratings. March could be a part of bulletin but not itself a topic of transmission.
The more the coverage the more it would catch public interest hence results in differences in society. Element of unity will surely vanish with such activities.
This year the frivolous behavior of Politicians in the form of Marches has truly disgraced Pakistan in the eyes of the world. Instead of showing unity every politician has contributed to destroy the image of Pakistan globally.
Moreover, Instead of unifying nation, media along with politicians, tries to divide them; both tend to manipulate the Nation and it seems like Pakistan still isn’t independent as many other external forces in combination with local factors exert pressure in a way that reshapes the Nation’s agenda. Perhaps the soul of independence is nowhere to be seen.
Addressing Nation, Quaid-e-Azam, the founder of Pakistan once said:
“We are all now Pakistanis. We must develop a sense of patriotism which should galvanize and weld us all into one united and strong nation.”
One wonders where the sense of patriotism is gone. Why there is paranoia instead of trust, love, and unity?
This year in particular, 14th of August is not the date to celebrate independence but it seems like celebrating Nation’s dependency on violence, gossips, drama, chaos, injustice, and instability – a day when politicians use their tactics to make nation fool. This is not Pakistan, which Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had envisaged.
Keeping in focus the vision of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah said to the Nation in an Address on 15th August, 1947:
“[The creation of Pakistan]… It has placed tremendous responsibility on the citizens of Pakistan… It gives them opportunity to demonstrate to the world how a nation with containing many elements can live in peace and amity and work for the betterment of all its citizens irrespective of cast or creed… Our objective should be peace within and peace without… We have no ambition beyond the desire to live honourably and let others live honourably…”
Focusing the vision of Pakistan it is crucial time for nation to decide what to do next. Good future of Pakistan is dependent on the right decision taken by its people whether they want to be fooled by believing in things blindly as told by politicians or take some practical steps to bring a change. Its time to break chains! Lets unfreeze the mindsets and adopt changes and move forward!
Rising Thoughts... 