My Beloved Pakistan (by Ahmad Babar):
Over the course of the past few days I have been criticized for not doing anything against the current situation prevailing in my country and not being a part of any demonstrations. Before I begin to state my side of the story, I want to reassure everyone that I love my country if not more than, then at least as much as anyone reading this does. I pray for it's future and prosperity every single day, I am willing to sacrifice all that I have in order to defend it but is going to protests where the authorities don't even allow us to calmly get our point across and very conveniently arrest us instead the way to go about it? Is it really prudent to show one-day heroics? I think not.
What good I or for that matter anyone else be if we are arrested or become a part of the "privileged" *Missing Persons List*? I am not a political leader, nor am I the child of one. I don't belong to a big business family, no one will come to save me, no one will be there to defend my loved ones. In a mere second, my voice will be snubbed and probably a group or two will be made on facebook/orkut in my memory. Someone will remember me for the poems I write, some for being a friend but majority will remember me as the fool who played too smart. There is a reason why our religion, Islam, has told us not to start movements against those that rule us. Yes, we should indeed voice our concerns but should not in any manner whatsoever either create unrest or give them a chance to justify their atrocities. When the Kufar of Makkah went overboard, the Holy Prophet [PBUH] and his people were told to migrate to a different land and from there try and explain to the world their purpose. Similar happened when Pakistan got independence 60 years ago. The Muslims of the sub-continent saw that protests don't you anywhere. You need leaders.
I know it's a habbit of ours to criticize our leaders and establishments and to call them corrupt but where do these people come from? Do they fall from the sky or rise from the oceans? Neither, they come from amongst us. We create them, WE ARE THEM. The military, yes it does great service for our country but was it really necessary to creat such a hype about them? To give them an out-of-this world status so much so that we unconsciouslly gave them a certificate to do anything they want to do!
It hurts to admit the fact that we are a society which doesn't know where it is headed. Everyone is waiting for the other to do something and for most, the wait never ends. And the poor souls that do try to bring about a change, don't really know what they want. For so many years now we have been hearing about how Mr. Musharraf should go and how bad he has been, I am not saying here that he hasn't been, but do we really know what we will do when he goes? We hear "Go Musharraf Go" but not about what's going to happen after him. And is he really any different from any of us? He is selfish, power-thursty, money-hungry. Now what does that definition remind us of? US!! Every single one of us. It's really sad to see that as long as we are doing something it's fine but the moment someone else does it, we blame them. We tell them just how wrong they are and we want them done away with. How can we, if we can, justify this?
Take a look at the political leaders of the past, what did they do with their chances? Some people say that they were never given their full qouta of tenure but let's suppose that the 2 or 3 years that they did have, what achivements did they make? Hardly any. Now, no one is completely good and no one is completely bad. Every one does both good and bad things. Take a look at our judges, were they always right througout their careers?? and the lawyers, have they all always been good?
Coming back to protests and demonstrations, what good is it doing for anyone of us? Children missing out on school, ill deprived of medical care, trades losing business, etc. And at the end of the day, the authorities come in and arrest those protesting, their day's job done!
We are today living in a world which is no longer private, you can't always trust those around you, you never know who might go and tell on you and what they tell is a whole different story. Leave alone e-mails, now every text-message that you send out is being monitored. The Army Act is in place, you will never know what hit you if you decide to raise your voice. Look at what happened to the Media, which I do believe had also gone a little too overboard - but then again don't we all? :-). Those like me, who aren't afraid for themselves are held back by the thought of their families and loved ones!
So, what should we do? where should we head, the simple answer is education and awareness! If we let people know what their rights are and not only just that, we show them the way to properly get them, people will rise. But when the masses see those talking about their rights not getting any themselves, their hopes will only dampen further and they will stop caring, as most already have, about who is in power. All they will worry about is the price of potatoes, pulses, rice and wheat.
In the end, the most important thing to do is to change ourselves, to improve. As someone once said, the way to change the world is to do it One Act of Random Kindness at a time. Before going and changing the face of the country/world, first help change what's around you and better things will follow themselves. Give Respect to Earn Respect!
And remember, the pen is mightier than the sword. Keep safe and keep praying. Pray for your Country, Pray for you People! And for crying out loud, start loving and stop hating! and before you criticize others, criticize yourself and rectify so that when you tell someone else they are wrong, they can't say , "Right back at you"!
Fi-Imaan-Allah.
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