Nation of merrymaking

M AKRAM NIAZI: After Quaid-e-Azam, no political leader has urged the nation to be honest and work to build Pakistan, second to none. Election manifestoes promise remarkable facilities of life without mentioning honesty and hard work. Simple voters do not question how and blindly vote for the false promises. This has been going on since the 1950s but voters have yet to become wiser. We know that a few families have been ruling and looting Pakistan for a long time, which is a certificate of our incompetence, because we allow them to continue doing so. It sounds unpleasant but it is a ground reality.

Gladiator fights were regularly held in Rome to keep Romans busy and happy but they had an empire created with sacrifices to enrich and enjoy life. Our leaders are keeping the nation busy and preoccupied through cricket, show business, boisterous celebrations and other such diversions from the miseries of life surrounding us — but no empire to enrich.

There is no hard work policy for self-reliance and with corruption at its peak, the nation of merrymaking is now dependent on other countries for aid, loans and expertise for survival. Rulers publicise foreign loaned and engineered projects as great achievements, thus sinking the country deeper in debt. They are also now taking foreign loans to pay back existing loans, just like France before the revolution.

Remittances made by expatriates are squandered without considering what if they come back and seek jobs? Foreign direct investment (FDI) is proudly presented as an achievement without realising that ultimately, most FDIs are foreign exchange liabilities for transferring hefty profits abroad.

Who will actually follow the teachings of Quaid-e-Azam, and practice honesty while striving to build Pakistan second to none?

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2016.

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