Where does one begin…!?
For years, as far as I can remember, and during all previous regimes there have been during my life, Pakistanis have always whined about the ultimate need for a revolution of one sort or another. Of course the reasons and types of the revolution differ from person to person, party to party, ideology to ideology. Some want it Khomeini style, some want it Taleban style, some urge for an Attaturk, more wait for a Che and Castro, some dream of a French Revolution that swallowed even the pioneers of that revolution and used the guillotine to its best.
For some even too much liberalism is never enough, and for some even too much extremist interpretation of religion is also not enough–each wanting more and yet more of their favoured ideology implemented throughout the nation. That confirms one thing, that no matter which way the situations ever settle, a considerable section of society will always have huge reasons to foresee a grim future.
As a rhyme goes;
As a rule man’s a fool
when it’s hot he wants it cool
when it’s cool he wants it hot
always wanting what is not
So perhaps no leader, ideology or government ever could satisfy an entire nation together at the same time.
With that accepted if we still move on to finding out what ails Pakistan, there’s still always great anticipation for a revolution.
When Gen Zia left, BB was a messiah, when she left Mian was a messiah, this took turns once more before the greatest messiah came back in different shape; people danced with joy and thanked the Almighty for ridding them of the evil duo. But the khaki messiah too had serious mix-ups and again there was no revolution in sight.
SO now we have the liberals wanting a liberal revolution that would allow hem to air porn movies on satellite channels if it is good for better revenues, the extremists wanting a severe Islamic revolution that would send barbers, media and fashion packing home, mothers and sisters appearing burqa clad near sons and brothers, while another section of society more concerned with the issues and problems rather than ideologies and perceptions want the guillotine; starting from either the bottom or the top and slaughter whatever corrupt germs of any sort that may be left; they want to skin the govt employees alive who work for nothing but bribes, they want to torture the police in their own lockups who stir fear in public instead of a sense of protection, they want to blow the many cars and luxurious homes ad offices of all senior officials, ministers, they want to bury the zamindaars in their farms and grow wheat over their graves. They want to hang the immoral, double faced mullahs by the beards on electric poles. They want to kill murderers and rapists that roam free at city centres after every friday prayers for all to see and heed. They want to paint the black and white lawyers and judges black and white in ICI Dulux and push them off cliffs.
So I wonder, for Pakistan with loads of problems and even more personal and political ideologies, a revolution, if ever at all there is one that gains momentum and brings about change, will there be any valid reason for it to be started by none but burqa-clad baton charging women raiding an alleged brothel and CD stores?
Or a few hundred lawyers and a handful of political leaders of the opposition riding their backs to make use of a judicio-political blunder for anti-govt political use?
Is this all there is to Pakistan’s problems that our common Pakistanis have suffered for 60 years? An alleged brothel in G-10 and a CJ sent home on corruption charges?
The millions the poor have to spend each year in bribes never stirred the burqa-clad or the blackcoat-clad, the many innocent killed by the merciless police in fake encounters or torture cells without cases never stirred them, the many losses of pvt and public property due to riots staged by political parties and their hooligans never stirred them, the misery of the many murdered and raped never stirred the burqa & blackcoat clad messiahs of righteousness. The many oppressed laborers and unpaid slaves on the jaagirs of the zamindaars never stirred them, the liberalism of media strangling Pakistani values never stirred them, the govts’ inability to stop ethnic and political terrorism/bomb blasts causing massive loss of life and property never stirred them, the lying and deceiving mullahs who send innocent kids to false jihad while their kids live in western countries never stirred them. The widening gap between the haves and have nots never stirred them. The divide between the educated and uneducated never mattered this much to them and the Prado-BMW-Merc-Hummer driving lifestyle in the face of the semi-naked semi-hungry half of the population of Pakistan never stirred them or inspired them to begin a revolution, help Pakistan and Pakistanis, begin a certain Jihad, create and implement their own laws and take matters as well as batons in their own hands and take to the streets.
Apparently an alleged brothel in G-10 did.
As did the sacking (or what you may call it) of a Chief Justice who nevertheless has cases of corruption and misuse of authority against him if not anything else more serious.
So where does/could a people’s revolution for the benefit of the people and state of Pakistan actually begin…? And where is it ideally supposed to begin…?
Over non issues? Over extremist issues? Or like everything else, over personal/sect’s agenda based issues…!? Or once and for all over the issues that really matter to the average Pakistani at grass root level; the issues which damage Pakistan and all its systems…?
