Politicians Frustrating Youth

Published in Frontier Post on 04-11-2011

A friend of mine sent me a text message regarding Shahbaz Sharif’s speech during the Go-Zardari-Go rally in Lahore organized by Pakistan Muslim League-N. He also brought into my notice the statement of Shahbaz Sharif, the Chief Minister of the largest province of Pakistan, in which he labeled President Zardari and his team as Ali Baba aur Chalis Chor (Ali Baba and the forty thieves). When one listens to these sorts of name-calling and mudslinging by the so-called fathers of the nation, one can only hide his face under the blanket due to embarrassment.
Cracking of horrendous jokes and jugat-bazi on each other has become a norm recently and all our politicians, from leadership to a worker, have left no stone unturned to go after each other and malign each other in any possible manner they can. Words like siri-paye rally, jhooton ka IG and sher baradaraan, etc. have been a regular instance in the press conferences of these politicians nowadays. It looks as if our politicians have come straight out of the comedy theatre. I remember that these kinds of jokes are used by my very close friend to tease me and in return we call each other theatre comedians but we never knew that our politicians also share the same trait after carrying the responsibility of driving this nation towards development and prosperity.
Name-calling apart, trend of singing poems and horrific gestures during the speeches and photo-shoots for banners have also been touching our sense of hearing and sight nowadays.When Pakistan came into being, no one would have ever expected that the land of the pure would be facing this situation. A situation where we are blessed with politicians, who are greedy and self-centred, who take politics as business rather than a divine duty. Regrettably we are as miserable as a nation can get right now.
Before the current regime, we used to put all the blames on dictatorship and used it as a scapegoat for all our ills and during that nine-year long dictatorial rule, TV channels and newspaper editorials were full of calls for democracy. And when we got the much prayed democracy, it felt as if everything will be turned on its head and the wand of democracy will weave a magic to change our fortunes. Three-and-a-half years have passed and that wand has been unable to do its abracadabra. In fact that spell has been counter-productive. National assets like PIA, KESC, Railways and even Cricket Board have portrayed pictures of sheer mismanagement, corruption and bad-governance. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan’s report suggesting that 1600 people committed suicide due to poverty this year is just a reflection of the disbelief people have in this system.
The problems, we are surrounded with, are mammoth in stature but these problems look more gigantic when we see our politicians involved in measuring their power through rallies and count of attendees determining their stronghold. Surrounded with severe and ever increasing international pressure, two provinces are virtually under war and insurgency, domestic turmoil in the shape of inflation, power crisis and ever present financial crunch, our political parties are more interested in pulling their socks up for upcoming elections of both the legislative houses. Rewind the television broadcast of last two weeks and you’ll find majority of time devoted to two rallies in Lahore rather than focusing on public issues.Leaders of two mainstream parties have been saying to each other that both of them haven’t learnt anything from the past exiles and jails. But I’d say that they haven’t learnt and are not learning anything from the present. Arab uprising and removal of Hosni Mubarak and Col. Qaddafi have a lot in it for our rulers to learn from but somehow broadcast of these news has got no reception in Bilawal House, Raiwind, Nine-Zero or any other political headquarters. Our rulers are unable to see the fact that the West detaches itself from its puppets after getting the things done. They are still very rigorous in implementing their agenda after knowing what they did to their predecessors.
Put the broadcast of Arab uprising aside, our Presidency was not even able to glance out of its luxurious window when its own voter, came from Sindh by borrowing 1000 rupees from his father for travelling expenses to get a job as promised by the President, put himself on fire after not getting what was promised. Raja Rind, who died on the same day his wife gave birth to his son, committed suicide but was it a suicide? For me and many, this was a cold blooded murder and if there ever has to be any FIR, then the government has to be the main accused without any shadow of a doubt.
Our leaders have forgotten that still there are Tahrir Squares in Muslim countries. Every state has a meniscus and when that meniscus is touched, the water starts falling down. Patience of Pakistani people like their brethren in Arab world is also touching the meniscus and it is anytime that the water flow will cross the meniscus and start spilling out. One day we will have to wake up, stand in front of the mirror and before opening the cap of toothpaste, gaze at mirror and question ourselves that do we really deserve this humiliation? Should we do anything about it? The sooner we see the mirror, sooner the better for us.

The Land of the Pure

Pakistan, a state situated in the most important strategic location on the map of the world, has its every citizen carrying a burden of Rs. 57,000 debt on his head. This land of the pure, besides being pure, is a tale full of corruption, bad-governance and mismanagement, puppet leaders, coups sponsored by foreign powers and above all youth without a vision.

I am among those more than 50% of people of Pakistan aged between 15-25 years, who have the immense responsibility of carrying this nation towards some sunshine. Working in Planning Commission of Pakistan, Government Office, as a support staff, I've witnessed so much in these three years of my tenure.

When I joined government service three years back, like every other member of this youth, I decided to never indulge myself into any malpractices and always stick to my principles of honesty. I received two offers of bribe in the initial first year of my tenure and thankfully I was able to ward off all those offers.

Time has passed and now I have become accustomed myself to the working of the government system. All my zeal and passion to play an honest role in the development of Pakistan, in any capacity I can, is lost. I feel that there is no difference between me and a fifty five year sitting in the office just to enjoy the perks and reputation that comes along with the package of government officer. These government officers, who fear so much for their job that they are ready to put their integrity at and honesty at stake just to please their seniors, though there are exceptions. Two years on, I feel dejected. I feel guilty as I've been an indirect part of wrong-doings and corruption. I am a part of that very system.

We see corruption, both moral and financial around us. Be it a government employee who files a wrong late sitting claim or a Government Official who take kick backs in different projects financed either by taxpayer's money or from foreign aid. I say it with sheer grief that corruption is deep inside our pants and we have to realize this. The most dangerous part of it is when the youth, expected to bring about a change in this country, is also falling into the category of corruption.

Reviewing myself, I see a person, who once set out to become a part in making this land of the pure progressive, is now swayed into what has always been done and someone who is always in support of the status quo. I have lost the cause and I see the same with some of the other youth we have around. To ask someone to behave, first we must behave the same way and my confession is just a part to motivate the youth. But we have to stand in front of the mirror and ask ourselves, what is the objective of this 5 feet 10 inch flesh on this earth? Surely we are not here to talk about the hottest girl in the town or university or talking about Big Boss. We are made for something big.

Glancing at the problems we face and the daunting task to make amends of the mistakes committed by our ancestors, we have to make sure that we as a youth don?t let ourselves to distract us from our objective. We face the fact that we inherited darkness in the form of load-shedding, our precious energy resources handed over to foreign companies and our land and military being used to fight the war of someone else.

The problems are massive and so is the responsibility on the shoulders of youth. When we say that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, then we also have to realize that it is the youth that has to be the medium to help this nation to reach the light at the other end of the tunnel. Night is always the darkest before dawn and the sunlight of this dawn can only be lit by the efforts of this talented youth which includes people like Ali Moeen Nawazish and Naveed Asif and many other success stories.

We as a youth, forget that it is ONLY AND ONLY US who can do something and if we get lethargic and let our desires overcome our objectives then there are serious problems for us. When I confess my laziness and becoming a part of the same bureaucracy, I feel gutted because we are the only hope of this Ummah and frankly speaking, if we turned an eye on our people then more misery is awaiting us. These multinational corporations and colonial system are waiting with their open jaws with sharp teeth to swallow us. The youth has to understand the role as the savior of this Ummah. We are the ones who can make the difference. People chanting slogans at Tahrir Square are from the youth who like to interact on facebook and twitter. It is high time for us to stand up and be counted. The youth residing in the land of the pure! Either we make history or we become history.