Celebrating August 14 (II)

ISLAMABAD: This August 14 would it be asking too much of our younger generation to celebrate in a manner that doesn’t shatter the eardrums of their compatriots? The day is one where we commemorate the sacrifices given by those who came before us, and some who may still be alive, for the achievement of a separate homeland in South Asia.

This concept and this ideal gets sullied when one sees people going around driving motorcycles that are louder than an aeroplane. How does that in any way help celebrate the spirit of Independence Day? May I also please ask our youngsters, and especially their parents, to refrain from using firecrackers and the like to celebrate this day?

Also, and sorry to sound like a spoilsport, but with target killings in Karachi, suicide bombings in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and unending drone strikes in Fata, what is there really to celebrate?

Tariq Anwaar

Published in The Express Tribune, August 14^th, 2011.