The End Has Only Begun….
The End Has Only Begun……
Struggle for independence and now survival
BY
UMAR YOUNIS
Some 60 odd years back when Jinnah took up the spear to head a separatist movement aimed at providing a homeland for the muslims,he gave the insecure and gullible people a new emotion,to struggle. Long after independence, Pakistan has not given up the legacy although the means of channeling have withered away with rust and the goals have become ever vague. Struggle for human rights,struggle for stability,struggle for justice,struggle for democracy,struggle for the very survival of the generations whose fate hangs in a balance while those in power toss the blame ball in each others court.
God Almighty has blessed the country with abundant resources and natural wealth,but the things that we missed out on were unity,faith and discipline , the attributes that Jinnah would stress all his life but did not succeed in incorporating into the heads of these masochists.The nauseating irony in the prevailing curse is that the people are so fed up of the uncertain conditions like the frequent suicide attacks and the Northern Areas Massacre that they do not consider their lives to amount to anyhting anymore. As you walk on the streets of this forsaken land, you will see that the individuals on the streets are no more than zombies,as if being forced to breathe against their will and so helpless that it would make you break down and cry. A whole different storyline can be seen among the elite beureaucrats who consider plundering the country as their sole right of citizenship and work diligently to build houses in the Middle East and the US and buy Beamers and Lambos and Porsche while driving the rest of the population into Über chaos. The government has just completed its 100 day programme for salvation, which meant nothing but buying more time to blame the doings on the previous people in power. Its like a script has been distributed among the upper echelons that keep repeating the same lines with the only thing changing being our economy and development that has reached its lowest ebb which could never have been imagined and the worst part is, there is no Jinnah to get us out of this mess this time.We have walked right into a cess pool of quicksand and every movement is sinking us deeper.
The Musharraf Situation??
As the blame game continues and Musharraf is being portryed as the only hurdle in our redemption, we have to realize on ground rules that the damage has already been done. Kicking him out would not achieve anyhting at this point ,and that too with the reins of the state to be given to proponents that the people have already tested,not once but twice in the past. Mian Nawaz Sharif of the PML-N,the one responsible for bringing Musharraf into power in the first place,has served two sessions as the premier and although his reign brought some relief to the masses especially Punjab,but he could not tackle the growing animosities among the provinces and definitely would not have amicably tackled the post 9/11 situation with the US. Musharraf,being a pragmatist as how the professionals in the army are taught to be,took hold of the situation which would have been a disaster if Nawaz been in power, due to his right religious parties leanings. Although Musharraf did what he was supposed to but he gave into the US government in toto which could not have been acceptable to the populace who look up to the army as source of defiant energy entrusted with their security and territorial integrity. Asif Ali Zardari,cannot ever be considered as a politician;he has one of the darkest and most corruptive pasts with absolute notoriety worldwide and has used the BB assassination as a way to wash away all his doings.How can someone be the kingmaker of all policies when he is not even elected to the National Assembly? He has made a joke out of our already moth-eaten democracy and has shrewdly used BB’s popularity for his own advantage. But the irony is that people knowingly have let him take the chair just like how the world knowing about the US quest for global dominance,still quietly lets it have everything it wants.Its a curse living in such a world where likes of Bush and Sharon dictate the terms of you living in your own country.
The Economic Plight…
The virtual embargo that has been existing in the country after the Nov 3 unrest has proved to be venomous for the general population. There is a serious decline in the energy reservoirs that have led to nation wide load shedding for upto 8 hours daily in the big cities and even more in the rural areas. This combined with the never settling increase in oil and petroleum prices have proved to be a recipe for disaster for the economic condition of the country. Further to aggravate the situation,the prices of basic commodities like sugar,cooking oil,wheat,rice and pulses have sky rocketed and have led to desperate moves like the mother that made the front page by stepping in front of a train with three of her kids to put an end to her suffering. Who shall be considered responsible for this demeanor??? Shall we blame this on the rogue capitalist system that has destroyed our self reliance? Shall we blame the US for carrying out another Guatemalan disaster? OR Shall we blame our politicians who can waste time and money conspirating against one another but have no time to listen to the cries of the 160 million residents of the wasteland they have made? I would blame this on the general population who are not prepared to stand up for justice that we so badly need, we have turned into such numb puppets that no matter how much we are tortured,we choose to sit on our bottoms and remain subservient to the tyrants. This is our lives that we are letting them play with, and have no reaction against whats going on. I always considered as the American population as the most dumb founded people in the world,so made busy in their jobs and bars and fast food restaurants and fashion that they never speak up against the government ,but i would say that the rural Pakistan is far worse. The Americans atleast have an illusion of welfare society created for them and propaganda,but we do not have any such blinding veils. We do not see because we choose not to. And thats pathetic.
The Judiciary Question???
The lawyers did show strength and unity after the sacking of the CJ and the adulteration of the constitution,but their movement has been diluted or more appropriately polluted by the politicians who are desparately trying to win the hearts of the people that have been broken quite a few times. Iftikhar Ch has now made the entire incident a problem of self esteem and just wouldnt let go adding to the turmoil that we are facing. The puritannical Constituion in its complete form should be implemented with the responsibility of a Ministry of Justice to be set up and adulteration in any form would be liable to death penalty. Democracy is a sham system of administration with no heed payed to the thoughts of the masses enforced by a few who consider themselves worthy by beating their opponents on a false game colored with cheat and deceit. Nobody has the right to enslave the rest on any pretext. Our elders sacrificed everything possible for us to enjoy freedom and freedom entails us to stand against the oppressors and fight for justice,fight for our rights and fight for our children’s future.
Our Future…
From the scope that i am looking through,the future does not look pretty good. I think the Pakistanis are frustrated beyond repercussions, the only way a positive change can come through is by creating an awareness among the people about the energies they have and to give them a direction.Fidel Castro said”No one should be forced to do something he does not understand”, but once he does understand the power invested in him by God Almighty,he can never be conquered and he would be willing to sacrifice all his life for his ideals. Che Guevara gave his entire life a new meaning to serve the poor people and to give them a future they deserve. All this can be made possible if the masses are ready to do it,they have insecurities at the moment but if God wills,they will all go away and we would be paving a new path on the road to a revolution,writing new pages in history books and giving our children a life that we could only imagine.Pakistan is going through the worst possible scenario at the moment and this would be our end if we do not take responsibility and act quick!
COPYRIGHT 2008
umar000@hotmail.com
About the Author
ELCA Song
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