A few days ago I was watching a TV Program in which the host was collecting money for her unfortunate guest. The guest happened to be a poor working maid who was struck with a sad tragedy. The people she worked for ran away with her 4 Lakh money which she was saving for her daughter’s marriage which was few months away. The poor woman was so devastated because all her life’s savings and hardwork gone in a wink!
But it was her words that moved me to tears of shame and I had to bow my head.
She said she didn’t want money; all she wanted to do was to ask all the educated and well-off people just this:
“I admit that am poor, uneducated and illiterate but I wasn’t begging or stealing. I was working honestly. You all educated and civil people label us “labour class” as robbers and thieves. Okay there are robbers and thieves among us but that’s because of the general poverty, frustration and deprivation. But the thing is, you all rich and middle class people have created us like this, you have forced us to be robbers and beggars. Does your education, your high life style give you the right to run away with my money?? Then you all are no different from us!! I was working honestly but now you force me to beg and I feel so helpless and frustrated.”
Her words struck me and the Studio in which she was literally shouting was quiet. No one knew what to say because she was 100% right.
Keeping her story in view let me pass on a message regarding the pathetic condition of Pakistan and who is responsible for it.
We all want so many things in our country to be replaced by a better substitute and Mr. Zardari being number 1, followed by corrupt government and its elements and the incompetent Judiciary System. We all want many things to end, like: corruption, terrorism, Drone Attacks, inflation, Power failure unemployment and foreign hostile interruptions and the list goes on.
And in every matter we blame the Government, President and Prime Minister and in every talk show we conclude by shifting the matters on other person. I know our government is big time blamable but let me ask you, isn’t it time that we should look into our own collars? Aren’t we all responsible for the state in which our country is today? And please don’t roll your eyes and say that we are common people, what we can do, everything rests with our Superiors.
For a moment please forget about bigger problems, the terrorism, corruption, drone attacks and etc, this isn’t our headache for now.
Just ask yourselves this, the condition of Pakistan do we really deserve to live like this? Hmmm??
My answer is a big fat YES! Yes, we deserve to live like this.
We think of doing great things for Pakistan to stabilize it but why don’t we realize that this great things start from a series of small things which we ignore.
We complain that our leaders are corrupt but are we honest ourselves? Are we without corruption?
We complain that our government doesn’t care for us anymore but do we really care for others?
The fact is we all have grown so selfish, self-centered, materialistic, and egoistic and think only of our pleasures and comfort. When our own lives, house and family are disturbed how we will do great things for Pakistan?
We all say that we have been a victim of this civil terrorism. But why we? We are innocent people right? But no we are not innocent. Little it may be, but each of us is corrupt, dishonest, liar, cheats and steals. Don’t agree with it? Let me give you a few examples.
When there is load shedding and the whole neighborhood is dark but your house is lit, how come? Because of the Phase System or the “Kunda System” in which you just switches from one phase to another while everyone is suffering, isn’t this cheating?
And during water shortages, installing heavy duty motors to suck the water of the whole neighborhood, don’t you think that you are being a little smart, huh?
And during winters, when gas shortages occurs, people install compressors in their gas pipelines that pull every house’s gas to yours so that you can have “speedy gas”, isn’t this dishonesty?
And these are just few examples which people don’t even consider dishonesty rather they say that its fair plays. From the hawkers to the businessmen, everyone is engaged in corrupt activities, so I guess we should stop blaming the
Government for their corruptions because we are as corrupt as they are. The only difference is that we are doing it on small scale and they on big scale.
When school children can exchange marijuana then I guess the Drug Mafia has a right to exists.
When we can flirt shamelessly and forget our moral values then it is okay for our President to flirt with Palin.
When we don’t care about our relatives then it is okay for our Leaders to forget us in times of floods.
we forget that our collective deeds and activities shape the characteristics of Society. all this cheating, dishonesty and unfairness that we do with others comes back to us in the shape of inflation, poverty, general discontentment, Power shortages, target killings an other problems.
Our Country's system of Justice may have failed but why do we forget that Allah Almighty's doors of fairness and Justice never closes.
We all say that we are one united Pakistan, is that so? We couldn’t even eliminate class and rank differences. The rich doesn’t want to mingle with the Poor and keep them at arm’s length. The Poor are scared of Elites. Then there is this modern and open minded class who thinks that the religious sectors are backward and conservative.
We say we will support our country at all times but if anyone of us is given an opportunity to live in the States, we would be the first to run. Wow!! “So much for our bleeding green”!
We all say that we hate India and yet there is no Life without Star Plus, NDTV Imagine and Bollywood. Indian Culture has seeped deeply, slowly eating away ours.
And then there are so many people among us who thinks that Subcontinent Partition was a grave mistake for which Pakistan is paying dearly. I was shocked and aghast when a friend of mine said that what did we get from all this Independence??!!!!
And we forget that our Pakistan is “Islamic Republic of Pakistan” whose foundations are based on Quran and Sunnah, where everything is supposed to happen according to Islam and Shariah but Religion has been put aside replaced by what people say “modern thinking”.
We have shut our eyes to the evils of the society and ignoring our part in eradicating it. We see so many vulgar and cheap things going on and yet we don’t do anything. Take a recent example, AMIR LIAQUAT"S VIDEO. We don’t even know if it’s true or fake but we are promoting it. Have a look at all those pages that have been made within one night in which his words are repeated shamelessly. Now stop and ponder where are we going?
“The tragedy is not that things are broken.The tragedy is that they are not mended.”
First we need to become good human beings; good Muslims then we are truly a Pakistanis. It’s our duty to serve others, to help our fellow beings. And charity begins at home. First we should focus on our domestic lives and polish them, love our relatives and be humble and God-Fearing.
And we should always remember that there is a greater Power silently working all things for good, so we should behave ourselves and never mind the rest.
Never forget that Allah Almighty is with us, watching and counting our every move. The hatred we spit out will come back to us. So it’s better to give love and do good and spread a message of peace.
Lastly we should frame our lives keeping in mind the teachings of Islam. We should follow the destiny that Allamah Iqbal laid out for us and should strive to become “IQBAL'S SHAHEEN” and live up to “JINNAH'S DREAM”.
