Saturday, August 29, 2009

Pakistan Independence Day... A brief dialogue

14th Aug. 2009. Pakistan's 62nd Independence day.

As it was a local holiday across Pakistan, so some of my relatives from Kasoor visited us in Lahore. I had a brief discussion with my uncle, who is quite fond of the politics as he is a regular reader of the Editorial columns in the newspapers. Following is the dialogue that we had.

Uncle: Jawad. What do you think about Quaid-e-Azam?
Me: He is a great man and a great leader


Uncle: But people, rather his own daughter, say that he was a selfish person.
Me: I do not think so. As far as his private life is concerned, he may have been. But as far as his public life is concerned, I have found him a loving leader, great enthusiast and a person with inspirational motivation


Uncle: People say that he was a stubborn person, as he did not listen to the advice of even his friends.
Me: How can you say that?


Uncle: Many people gave him the advice that he should not create a separate country (Pakistan), but he did not listen to it.
Me: If I give an advice to you, it is upon your discretion that you either accept my advice or reject it. Based upon my advice, you are the one who has to take the decision. Givig an advice does not mean that I should accept your advice

Me: If we see the life of Prophet Muhammad (SAWW), he always took advice from his fellowmen (RA). But following are the 3 ways by which he took decisions:

I- He took advice from all of the people, he listens to all of them, he ponders over the views of all. But in the end, he took his own decision. (Here, none of his fellowmen ever argued that why did not he adopted my advice?)

II- He took advice from all of the people. And he took the decision with the majority of the advice (something like the Democracy that we talk about)

III- He took advice from all of the people. And he took the decision with the unique advice of any one of the advisors.

Me: One thing, which you would find common in all of the 3 ways is, that it was Prophet Muhammad (SAWW) who always took the decision, whatever it may have been


Uncle: But in the later years, it was proved that those reservations about which the advisors have been talking about, proved true. What would you say then?
Me: When a person takes a decision, he tries to ensure that he takes the best possible decision in the current circumstances, trying to envision all of the possible aftermaths possible... But Decisions could be wrong, as we are all humans and we can make mistakes


Uncle: (with a cunning smile) Jawad, you have wrapped the discussion very well. There is no need to carry on this discussion.


This is perhaps the dilemma of many of us. It has been 62 years that we have got independence, and still most of us are talking about the fact that whether a separate country is required or not?

Nobody perhaps want to address his/her personal responsibility to this country. What have we done for this country?
- Why have the public not taken to Roads when the first ever Martial Law was imposed?
- Why has the public not stormed the President/Army house when Fatima Jinnah was deliberately defeated in the elections?
- Why has the public not hanged Gen. Yahya as he was responsible for the defeat in East Pakistan?
- Was the public sleeping when Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged?

Where the hell are we all? Perhaps all of us are looking for someone to come from the Sky and be our Saviour. Nobody of us want to get ahead against the atrocities being committed against us

If we cannot initiate a Civil Disobedience movement, we can atleast speak, and speak loud, for the wrong doings being carried out near us

Please please please. As a single person, we can make a difference. The only thing that we are lacking for it is the Self belief