OP Founding Post
My greatest regret is that I only have one life to lose for Pakistan
A nation build on faith, unity, discipline and the rule of law has decimated into a nation where the rule of law is selectively applied and the writ of state nonexistent. Pakistan is the muslim homeland envisaged by the great Allama Iqbal tasked with solving the issue of bread for the poor. So a nation built for the poor has become a nation where the poor die a new death each day whilst the rich and powerful, the feudals and the fatcats of industry continue to prosper like never before. The Pakistan of today is one where the poor subsidise the rich, where clean drinking water is still a dream and where the landed elite and feudals govern their personal fiefdoms as demigods.
Pakistan has become the capital of corruption; both financial and moral. No institution has been allowed for develop and flourish except for the army hence we are told with great fanfare that the three A’s of ALLAH, America and the Army reign supreme when only ALLAH should do so. Pakistan is a proud nuclear state with the best army in the world. Yet even this great institution has been slandered against and disgraced by its senior generals and their lust for power. One wonders sometimes whether we live in Pakistan or ‘Faujistan’ given Pakistan has lived under military rule for most of her existence yet even then our great army has failed to establish the writ of the state and good law and order save for the VIP’s and their entourages in government and their clones enjoying power and privilege in the upper echelons of power in our great bureaucracy.
It is true that Pakistan has failed the Quaid so far and that the despondency and gloom we feel in Pakistan is only too real. However we must never lose the hope of a better tomorrow and of a better Pakistan. Other Pakistan is a website that aims to bring together Pakistanis inside and outside of Pakistan by providing a forum for discussion and debate on how to create the ‘Other Pakistan’ by bringing together as many diverse voices as possible. It is so important to get dialogue started and to open up a space where different ideas and world views can be shared and conversation started so that we can work towards building a better, more just Pakistan. The Quaid and his vision must guide us, so let us together create the Other Pakistan.
I am Wasim Arif and this is my Pakistan.
- Originally posted on 22 June 2007, 20.29 PK Time