Time has come to bury personal prejudices and interests in the larger national interest.
ISLAMABAD: Politics of agitation, everyone would agree, hasn’t done any good to this nation before; it wouldn’t do any good in the future as well. It has, in fact, done more harm than good. Demonstrations and long marches against a sitting government by the political demagogues in the opposition is a phenomenon well known to the people of this country.
Traditionally, the leaders sitting in the opposition have always tried to influence the downtrodden and ignorant masses through their firebrand speeches focused on lambasting the government in power, justly or unjustly. However, in the process of doing so, a very important factor that they have always overlooked is the immense damage that it has caused to the country.
Unfortunately, things have started moving in the same direction yet again. Of all that is happening now one could say with full confidence that we have not learnt from our past mistakes. The people of Pakistan are partly to be blamed for all that has happened in the past and for what is happening now.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is in the list of agitating parties who are ardently engaged in this kind of criticism. Now, the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief, Tahirul Qadri, the Chaudhrys of Gujrat, Sheikh Rashid of the Awami Muslim League (AML), and lately the Pakistan Peoples Party, have also jumped onto the bandwagon of Mr Khan. These political groups have ganged up to create unwarranted anarchy in the country at a time when unity is direly needed. In fact, the lust for power has made all of them turn a blind eye to the multifaceted and most intricate predicaments of this country.
The Pakistani nation makes a fervent appeal to the agitating political parties, particularly the PTI, to stop agitating and creating anarchy in the country. By doing so, they might succeed in attaining their personal objectives, to some extent, but the country may have to bear damages of inconceivable magnitude. Pakistan is passing through one of the most critical times in its history. Time has come to bury personal prejudices and interests in the larger national interest and to make sincere and concerted efforts to strengthen Pakistan economically, socially and democratically.
M Fazal Elahi
Published in The Express Tribune, July 21st, 2014.
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