KARACHI:
According to the Constitution, all state institutions are required to serve Pakistan’s citizens. No political party, individual or group is more important than the welfare of the country. During the partition, millions of Muslims lost their lives or were displaced and slaughtered while migrating. Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Allama Iqbal and others leading the freedom movement created the country so that people could live in a modern democratic welfare state, and not under a monarchy, dictatorship or theocracy. A country created to be ruled by the people for their benefit with the freedom to practice their faith.
No political leader is more important than Pakistan. Every individual is mortal and dispensable, which is exemplified by all the graveyards in the world. The country has to survive so that our future generations can live in peace free from extremism and terrorism of all shades and opinions. Unfortunately, in their struggle for power, Pakistani politicians are senselessly advocating rumours that Pakistan is on the verge of default. This is doing no service to the country.
What’s the purpose of continuously propagating the idea that Pakistan may face a Sri Lanka-type situation? Collective efforts need to be made across the political divide to bring the country out of the impending crisis, instead of spreading disharmony, which is likely to impact foreign direct investment and bail-out packages. There is no doubt that Pakistan faces an economic crunch because of years of continuous misgovernance, financial indiscipline and conflicts of interest among the ruling elite. This has not happened in the past 6 months but is the cumulative impact of abuse of powers by successive governments.
Ali Malik
Lahore
Published in The Express Tribune, November 23rd, 2022.
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