Let's Save Ourselves

“Where the government or the opposition felt was some lack of trust on part of nation and/or the international community”, was the question raised by a couple of journalists to PM Gilani and Nawaz Sharif. The reply as I expected was mere diplomatic play just reiterating and emphasizing the objectives of new commission being formed.

Whenever we want to amend our ways, we first acknowledge and accept our follies or whatsoever mistakes committed by us so far. Then we can proceed to work for improvement. Without realizing what our weak areas have been and fully acknowledging the mistakes committed by us in past, we cannot expect much improvement in any process whatsoever.

As citizens, all of us have our own reasons for distrust in government bodies and other agencies. Even if we ignore the financial crunch and recession, how can we trust those who have looted our nation for years? How could we easily forget the brilliant utilization of our money in “Qarz Utaro, Mulk Sanwaro Scheme”, the scandals of Steel Mill, the rampant corruption in each and every office of the state, the utterly shameless fake degree holders and those who have backed them? The wounds of 2005 earthquake have not healed yet and we know what government has done in rehabilitation of affected areas.

Now that government and opposition want to emerge as a hero again, we wanted them all to acknowledge, at least in between lines, that they have made mistakes; that they realize the BIG blatant black sheep (let’s ignore the normal anomalies) among them, and show clear intentions of their willingness to work for rehabilitation of affected areas without political point-scoring.  As any such part was missing in the press conference, the distrust is still there rather enhanced in degree.

The distrust is not solely on part of politicians. We have very few around us to trust. From and office clerk to the milkman all of us have been involved in blatant and unrestricted money-making without any respect for right and wrong. This dishonesty and corruption is biggest cause of distrust. This has been devastating our nation.

Now that we want to rise as a united nation again, we can make the process easier if each one of use contributes positively in the process. If we start caring a little for our own dignity and respect as humans; if we think of what Pakistan has given us and what we owe to our homeland; if we take our duties as responsible citizens once again, we can make the process of nation building faster. We must realize that if we fail to act now, the menaces like terrorism, insecurity and unemployment are not going to affect all of us for coming years.

What a relief it was to hear names of Rana Baghwan Das, Adeeb Rizvi and alike, some honest and dignified personalities whom our disgruntled nation could still trust. If we could simply forget our selfish interests for a while and follow footsteps of our own heroes, we could realize real independence and liberty. Independence always brings with itself responsibility. Let's start to believe again in the universal principles our honesty, hard work, courage and persistence. This message may not be new but it reiterates and embodies the essence of 14^th August, our independence day.