Optimism demands that we should keep faith in our country
MELBOURNE: On July 5, 1977 Pakistan plunged into the darkest era of its history. A democratically-elected government was overthrown by one of the worst dictators of recent times. The Pakistani nation was taken hostage by a group of thugs who mutilated Pakistani society to unrecognisable levels. Anyone who lived in the pre-Ziaul Haq era Pakistan, can never recognise the Pakistan of present day. At the behest of foreign selfish imperialists, Zia, along with a coterie of generals, destroyed the very fabric of our society. The concept of Pakistani nationhood first got uprooted and then replanted, watered with extremism and fertilised with a concocted ideology. The plant grew and now it’s a tree, bearing the fruits of killings, intolerance, drugs, illegal arms and so forth. Opportunism driven pro-establishment politicians of larger provinces embraced Zia and conspired to transform society through the strings of religious seminaries, the nexus then interpolated with education systems that defiled young minds with manufactured history. The distortion was so complete that after so many years in post-Zia Pakistan, the confusion about the creation of Pakistan is widespread. Younger Pakistanis of today are not sure what makes a Pakistani. What comes first, faith or land? This is the question most young Pakistanis are grappling to find the correct answer to. The murder of Amjad Sabri has further complicated the situation. Faith has been turned into a commodity. So-called custodians of faith are more worried about beating women instead of widespread corruption, rising costs of living, unemployment, and the state’s failure to deliver essentials like protection of life and property of citizens. The day that changed it all was July 5, 1977. Pakistan should declare the day as a “Black Day”.
Bravo to those law enforcers who are striving to restore sanity in the Pakistani society. Optimism demands that we should keep faith in our country. There will be a dawn of peace and harmony.
Malik Atif Mahmood Majoka
Published in The Express Tribune, July 9th, 2016.
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