Syed Ali Raza Naqvi
The current state of affairs in Pakistan brings a sense of deep sorrow. Those who love the country are distressed by the recent crises. Despite the ongoing uncertainty in the country, no signs of political stability have emerged. In fact, all the disasters befalling the country are a continuation of our past mistakes. Our greatest tragedy has been repeating past blunders. We did not even learn from the tragedy of East Pakistan. By following the old path of stubbornness, we have made arrangements to lose much.
By declaring patriotism as treason, we keep harming ourselves. Our intellectual stagnation has given rise to various problems. Pakistan, which was rapidly developing since its inception and its resources were increasing manifold, was then affected by some evil eye. Even after the tragedy of 1971 when the country was split, we did not change our ways. Bengalis were pushed to the wall, and the poison of hatred surfaced so much that no political party from West Pakistan could win a single seat in East Pakistan in the 1970 elections.
We completely forgot this fact and the refusal to hand over power to the clear winner of the 1970 general elections Awami League added fuel to the fire. Indian agencies conspired to break Pakistan with poisonous propaganda, but we also made a grave mistake by not understanding the enemy’s move. We did exactly what the concerns were about. Today, we are again falling prey to a conspiracy similar to that of the 1970s.
The most popular party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), despite its clear victory in the elections, was not allowed to come to power. The current government has failed to achieve the desired results by imprisoning the most popular leader of the people and filing numerous cases against him. The country’s situation continues to deteriorate, and there is no understanding of the demands of the circumstances. The government established by the miracle of Form 47 has continued the tradition of wasting time and money, without paying serious attention to the country’s real issues.
All the problems are being blamed on the opposition leadership, and a campaign is underway to remove them. However, all the intellectuals, writers, experts, journalists, and patriotic citizens of the country are openly opposing the narrative that calls the opposition enemies of the state. Politicians continue to accuse each other, exacerbating Pakistan’s problems. In these circumstances, the issues and difficulties of the nation have been put aside. There is no immediate relief in sight for the people; problems are multiplying, and the rulers, claiming everything is fine, are pushing forward the plan to sell national assets. When industrialist rulers declare industries a loss-making business and sell them off, what will be the fate of the remaining institutions?
The mere thought of it is soul-crushing. To save Pakistan from destruction, the tradition of addressing the grievances of the deserving must be established. Politics must be made transparent to reveal the true face of democracy. Concerns of electoral rigging must be eliminated. By implementing a system of meritocracy in every sector, we can move forward based on the principles of national unity. Suppressing the truth and denying the deserving their rights will only create more problems. Therefore, to improve the future of the nation, their opinions must be respected. Otherwise, we have already opened the path to destruction.
