Putting Humpty Dumpty together again
It’s time for us the citizens of Pakistan to take a stake, to field our own candidates and it's time we changed.
A couple of days ago I overheard a conversation among a group of people at least a generation older than me. They were talking about how bad things had become, about this rot that had set in and was eating away at everything. They talked about falling standards, ethics and moral values. They rabbited on about security and rising prices, about garbage on the streets and in positions of power. They talked of better times and wondered how it got this bad and who would put Humpty Dumpty together again?
What is truly amazing is how generations of Pakistanis have allowed the rot to set in and eat away at the wall making it so unstable that Humpty Dumpty fell and broke. Of course if you say this to them you are met with blank and vacant stares. It’s difficult for people to understand that the government, the cricket board, the sugar mafia and all the other mafias are not the problem; they are symptoms of the disease that has overtaken this society.
Inordinate amounts of time are spent finding fault without actually identifying the fault. It’s mostly our own fault. We sit back and allow things to happen. If the crime rate becomes alarming we raise the boundary walls, put in an alarm system and hire an armed guard. If it hits too close to home there is always the Canadian option, which can be exercised until things quieten down. However, there is always a danger that things could flare up again at anytime. What we don’t seem to realise is that each flare-up only accelerates the rot and eventually makes Canada the option. But that’s an option for the ones we like to call the ‘privileged few’. What happens to the rest, do they just continue to fight and struggle to keep their heads above the poverty line? Or will those of us in a position to affect change move out of the bubble we have taken up residence in and do something?
Doing something sounds vague but it’s definitely doable. All of us, reading this newspaper, have one very powerful tool — education — and with that the ability to articulate our thoughts and make ourselves heard. A few years ago a scheme was floated to build Karachi’s new US consulate in Clifton next to the Karachi Grammar School (KGS). Alarm bells went off and much protest later, including a march led by grandparents and parents of students, the consulate was moved to another location. A few weeks ago the parents of children attending KGS managed to stop the building of a high-rise tower. It wasn’t that they needed to use influence or favour, it was purely on legal grounds that they argued their case so eloquently at the public hearing. In doing so, and probably without realising the impact of their actions, they have created a precedent whereby other illegal construction can be stopped.
This is the power of those who are in a position to do that vague ‘something’. In the case of the illegal high-rise their collective energy and intellect was channelled by a group called Shehri — Citizens for a Better Environment, who have been trying to keep Karachi’s unchecked developments within the law and make it a better place for all of us to live in. The KGS precedent can now be used by Shehri to stop illegal use of amenity plots, stop the construction of unregulated buildings and more. So having discovered that things can change perhaps we will all be convinced that we can do much more than just stop the construction of a high-rise building.
It looks like Humpty Dumpty has taken a really bad fall and so far all the kings horses and all the kings men, their financial advisors and their friends in Washington have not been able to put poor Humpty together again. It looks like they need our help. Surely our stake in Pakistan runs beyond personal concerns, if we claim to be stakeholders its time to take a stake. It’s time to change the way we look at the political landscape of this country, time to field our own candidates and it's time we changed.
A version of this article appeared in The Express Tribune, November 12, 2010.
What is truly amazing is how generations of Pakistanis have allowed the rot to set in and eat away at the wall making it so unstable that Humpty Dumpty fell and broke. Of course if you say this to them you are met with blank and vacant stares. It’s difficult for people to understand that the government, the cricket board, the sugar mafia and all the other mafias are not the problem; they are symptoms of the disease that has overtaken this society.
Inordinate amounts of time are spent finding fault without actually identifying the fault. It’s mostly our own fault. We sit back and allow things to happen. If the crime rate becomes alarming we raise the boundary walls, put in an alarm system and hire an armed guard. If it hits too close to home there is always the Canadian option, which can be exercised until things quieten down. However, there is always a danger that things could flare up again at anytime. What we don’t seem to realise is that each flare-up only accelerates the rot and eventually makes Canada the option. But that’s an option for the ones we like to call the ‘privileged few’. What happens to the rest, do they just continue to fight and struggle to keep their heads above the poverty line? Or will those of us in a position to affect change move out of the bubble we have taken up residence in and do something?
Doing something sounds vague but it’s definitely doable. All of us, reading this newspaper, have one very powerful tool — education — and with that the ability to articulate our thoughts and make ourselves heard. A few years ago a scheme was floated to build Karachi’s new US consulate in Clifton next to the Karachi Grammar School (KGS). Alarm bells went off and much protest later, including a march led by grandparents and parents of students, the consulate was moved to another location. A few weeks ago the parents of children attending KGS managed to stop the building of a high-rise tower. It wasn’t that they needed to use influence or favour, it was purely on legal grounds that they argued their case so eloquently at the public hearing. In doing so, and probably without realising the impact of their actions, they have created a precedent whereby other illegal construction can be stopped.
This is the power of those who are in a position to do that vague ‘something’. In the case of the illegal high-rise their collective energy and intellect was channelled by a group called Shehri — Citizens for a Better Environment, who have been trying to keep Karachi’s unchecked developments within the law and make it a better place for all of us to live in. The KGS precedent can now be used by Shehri to stop illegal use of amenity plots, stop the construction of unregulated buildings and more. So having discovered that things can change perhaps we will all be convinced that we can do much more than just stop the construction of a high-rise building.
It looks like Humpty Dumpty has taken a really bad fall and so far all the kings horses and all the kings men, their financial advisors and their friends in Washington have not been able to put poor Humpty together again. It looks like they need our help. Surely our stake in Pakistan runs beyond personal concerns, if we claim to be stakeholders its time to take a stake. It’s time to change the way we look at the political landscape of this country, time to field our own candidates and it's time we changed.
A version of this article appeared in The Express Tribune, November 12, 2010.