It is unfortunate that our elected PM, other public office holders proceed to celebrate Eid with their families abroad
LAHORE: Home is where the heart is — where you prefer to celebrate Eid, Christmas, Nauroz, Diwali or where your children live, where your assets are located. It is about love of the motherland, the scent of its soil, and not the glamour of big cities, which kicks in the longing to revisit home time and again — even if you belong to a village devoid of proper roads, shopping malls or five-star hotels. Every year, thousands of expatriates come home to Pakistan to celebrate Eid with their families, where they grew up, where their affiliations lie. All this drives them to undertake these trips at an enormous cost.
There are hardly any heads of government worldwide, who celebrate their religious festivities in a foreign land, except when they may be visiting troops fighting a war in a foreign land. It is unfortunate that our elected prime minister and other public office holders present the flimsiest of excuses to proceed on foreign junkets to celebrate the religious festival with their families who reside abroad. Every American president, since 1935, has gone to Camp David for vacations. When it comes to our leaders, they always often opt for the lavish and grand — their camps seem to be located in premium cities such as Dubai, Jeddah, London, France or Spain — anywhere other than in Pakistan.
We are supposed to be in a state of war and extreme political unrest, yet our elected prime minister, in all his wisdom thought it appropriate to celebrate Eid in London, where coincidentally, his children were present. It would have boosted the morale of our troops and citizens if he had spent the day visiting troops or attending to the sick, wounded and the underprivileged. Does anybody remember the last time our elected prime minister celebrated Eid in Pakistan? I don’t.
Malik Tariq Ali
Published in The Express Tribune, September 30th, 2015.
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