Ruckus on roads

As the clock struck midnight amidst snarled traffic, our Independence Day was marked by a ruckus of motorcycles one-wheeling on whatever lanes were available, marking their presence with piercing sounds that are inevitable when the silencer has been taken out. The noise on the roads was matched by equally raucous and uncoordinated fireworks endangering both lives and property. If the noisy bikers and their accompanying pyrotechnics weren’t enough for an average citizen’s auditory sensibilities to be hurt, there was the usual and in all probability — illegal — celebratory firing not to leave any stone unturned.

14^th August marks the day that the people of this land were able to regain the helm from colonial powers and end nearly two centuries of exploitation and were able to have the opportunity to bring better governance to their ‘Land of the Pure’.

However, there seems to be no end to the exploitation, with Pakistan ranked among the top as far as inequality is concerned, and better governance seems to be all talk and no action. With very little left to mark the celebrations, people seem to be enveloped in another maddening trance of patriotism that seems to symbolise nothing of real worth. Should patriotism be worn on the sleeve? So much more can be done with the energies of our youth.

Instead, there is a propensity to create high-decibel commotion — the kind that triggers civic unrest, pollutes the air, and encourages road rage. The revellers blew bugles into the collective eardrums of society and shouted at everyone around them — because that symbolises what we have truly created in the last 70 years. Grand gestures and symbols hide what is apparent for everyone’s eyes to see, little has been done for actual celebration.

A German once remarked that we don’t show our patriotism by shouting we are the best, rather we just put the interest of our nation above ours. Maybe it is high time we learn a lesson or two from the Germans.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 15^th, 2017.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.