WHAT HAVE WE DONE FOR PAKISTAN AS A NATION? HAVE WE MADE OUR QUAID PROUD?
“Formed will be Pakistan, divided will be Hindustan!”
“What does Pakistan mean? There is no God except Allah!”
If I take you back in the reminiscence of the era of pre-mid twentieth century, you will see an environment of hustle and bustle in South Asia. You will be able to hear the aforementioned slogans quite clearly. It will be seen, right in front of your eyes, the very events which were leading to the ultimate division of Hindustan or the joint-India. After many struggles and blood-shed, Pakistan came into being on 14th of August, 1947. Yes, this date resides in our cerebrums quite vividly. Every year, we embellish our homes and streets with green and white, arrange ceremonies and pay a ritual visit to the grave of Quaid-e-Azam on this day. Indeed, these are signs towards a patriotic nation as a true nation never forgets the day of its independence.
Approximately, 74 years have passed since this auspicious occasion. Let me take you on a voyage in our own country. Let us see with our very own eyes the situation of our country and prove this statement which we recite while resting our hands on our hearts:
“O the soil of our Country! You are great and greater we are making you to be! Be a witness!”
1. Pakistan And Us:
The tiny seedling of our country which was sown during the times of severe hardships has grown up into a mature and sturdy tree after facing many challenges. It has endured numerous calamities and battled with many parasites who have tried a lot to weaken its roots but somehow, it is still surviving, and will till the Day of Judgment. But the question arises here that how will we face our Creator, our Quaid and all those people who sacrificed themselves and their families to nourish the roots of our country, on the Day of Judgment? Shall we not be held accountable of what’s going on in Pakisyan today?
If we have a bird’s eye view of our country today, and have a close look on each and every department, we’ll find numerous heinous crimes, faults, errors and loop-holes. You got me wrong! I am NOT talking about the departments under the rule of governing bodies, but the departments under the hands of general public are meant to be discussed here. Let us see some of such examples:
· In the Streets:
If anyone has to roam in the slums of our country, he’ll feel some empathy for the dwellers of that area. Even in majority of the roads and streets of small towns and cities, one finds it nauseas to see the putrid dumps of garbage lying next to a wall chalked with “garbage dumping is prohibited” . The saddening part of the tale is that there is no one willing to volunteer and clean it up. I recently came across a news headline which said,
“Pakistan is drowning in waste!”
Yes, I agree with this fact that the state has allocated some departments for the picking up of garbage and negligence is from the other end as well, but we do have a small responsibility to keep our home clean and play a role of being its citizen, don’t we?
We admire West a lot. If one wanders in the streets there, one will hardly find any garbage or even see a person throwing a wrapper on the clean roads and streets. It is a point of shame for the Muslims who have ignored the principles of Islam which state that:
“Cleanliness is half faith.”
It may sound absurd to hear at first that patriotism, to a small extent, does include the spirit to keep his dear homeland clean and neat. But as per my acumen, one may not be an enthusiastic vocalist or a zealous fighter, and still, can prove patriotism towards his country by trying to keep his country clean and fresh.
· In the Markets:
We have inculcated the spirit of “profit-seeking” so deep in our veins that we have, by long, forgotten our morals and ethical principles. We hear numerous incidents almost every day, while swiping the news channels on our television screens, that fatalities and life-threatening sicknesses have occurred after ingesting expired and contaminated food. Various investigation teams, while debunking the falsified slogans of marketeers, telecast the condition of their rotten stores and decaying goods. I have always felt while watching these shows that the marketeer is, surprisingly, calm and keeps on justifying his heinous act. I am unable to apprehend this calmness and this attitude.
Our Prime Minister, Mr. Imran Khan, spills the beans over milk providers and its purity by saying:
“Millions of our infants are suffering from malnutrition and under development of vital organs because of contaminated and ‘fake’ milk which is being given to them.”
I have witnessed milk being synthesized in washing machines and also how milk providers increase its volume to gain more profit. This is not the case only with milk, but almost every item in our homes is somehow contaminated. This can be proved by the increased rate of cancers and young-age fatalities which are a serious crisis to public health.
How can one lighten his house with green and white lights on 14th of August, after paving the ways of darkness for his country? Words can end, but the immoralities being practiced in the markets cannot. How can one close his shop, hastening for the prayer while selling contaminated goods in his market? Even though he knows this Hadith:
“He who mixes (contaminates), is not among us.”
· In Workplaces:
We all know the reason behind the creation of Pakistan. It was made for the Muslims to live independently and practice their religion without any external influence. Having read my article till here, you would have come to know that we have forgotten this reason and, shamefully, malevolent deeds which defy our religious principles and the spirit of creation of Pakistan are frequently under practice.
Today, our people, especially women are not safe at their workplaces. Workplace harassment is a common thing to observe and this matter is completely eccentric to me that why are we silently enduring this hideous act, rather than voicing against it. I recently went across a book by Razia Butt, named “Bano”. That book was the plunge for me to write this article and specifically highlight this issue. On the way to Pakistan, it is said that thousands of women could never make it to here as those poor souls were subjected towards this act which is an ugly mark on the face of humanity.
It breaks my heart, how our people have forgotten that Pakistan was made so that no evil-eye could be lifted towards any daughter of the nation. This discussion cannot be completely covered under this brief heading of this brief article, but my purpose is to awaken as many people as I can to uproot this sin. It is true that we are not directly responsible for the blood-shed of those innocent women, but if we close our eyes and zip our lips towards this matter, we will be held answerable for some questions on the Day of Judgment, won’t we?
2. What Can We Do To Improve the State of Our Country?
I have no hesitation in admitting that whatever I have mentioned above is not even 1% of the total issues which our country is facing, and for which we will be held accountable, not the government. We can sit in our drawing rooms and discuss the deteriorating performance of the government, no matter what or whose government it is, or complain about decrepit state of the country, but if we don’t gear ourselves up for doing for the betterment of our country, no power on Earth can prove to be an effective medicine for wiping off these serious and deep-rooted infestations, our country has been infected with. As every dark cloud has a silver lining, we can still save our country and make it one of the leading countries of the world. Let us discuss some of the ways:
· By keeping our country clean, we can keep any outsider to point his finger towards us and say anything to our country and our nation. By supporting cleanliness, we can get rid of the issues which we are facing in our hospitals. Even if the allocated department from the state may be non-functional in some areas, if we work for the cleanliness on our own and dump our garbage in dustbins rather than dumping it on roads, this will be a huge milestone our nation will achieve.
· It may be easy to talk about someone else’s corruption and faithlessness, but it is quite hard to admit one’s own misdeeds. We must learn that corruption cannot be confined to some particular personalities in politics but we can also become a subject to this crime. If the marketeers learn that purity of goods can earn them more profit rather than selling contaminated items, a fraction of the issues our country is facing from can be solved.
· Our country will prosper if the environment of our offices and other workplaces is improved. It is our duty to abide by the law, religious and moral values and refrain ourselves from performing any such activity which can be shameful for ourselves, our country and for our people.
Celebrating the auspicious occasion of our independence is indeed a great act. True nations celebrate their independence with pomp and splendor, but we must not forget the duties of a responsible citizen. We must remember that the government or a great leader, alone cannot fix a country but with the help and co-operation of the public. Will our present state, as a nation make our Quaid feel proud? You decide!
