Daily Times

With great confidence I can
predict bright future for Pakistan, a future that is not going to be in the hands of incompetent and dishonest politicians anymore. From now on it will neither be subdued by military generals nor will it be overruled by the Supreme Court judges. It will not be bogged down by the narcissistic bureaucrats, enslaved by feudal lords or encumbered by the greedy industrialists. Instead the time ahead for Pakistan is going to narrate the story of a prosperous and powerful country, a state that won’t take dictation from the foreign powers, a nation that we had initially committed to build on its independence but strayed from it since then. That Pakistan will be sculpted by an echelon of honourable and decent people working hard for the betterment of the suffering humanity who have rolled up their sleeves to help the fellow citizens knocked down by the natural disasters, religious extremism and political corruption. They are the ones who, in fact, worthy of our praise and trust, and only they can turn the tide to build a new and much better Pakistan.

Having introduced their remarkable capabilities to you and raised the bar of expectations so high for them, they must sound aliens to every Pakistani. Yes, I agree, in the past all of us have been disillusioned by many political swindlers. But trust me, this time it is an exception. This congregation is native, real, sincere and honest; it is indeed our dream come true. Ubiquitous and selfless, they are present in every city and every town serving people. We find them fighting against all the injustices in the society. They stand up for the rights of the minorities; struggle for women empowerment and pull out all stops against natural disasters. Some are focused on the community health problems while the others are doing a jihad to improve the education system. By now, I am sure everyone must have guessed the identity. And you are right, I am alluding to the angelic nature of non-governmental organisations (NGO) of Pakistan, the true asset of any society. By the Grace of God, there are hundreds if not thousands of them in Pakistan. Collectively, the strength of NGOs should be a little more than the number of banned organisations (Non State Actors) in Pakistan. Even though the latter is infamous for its deep penetration in the slums of the large cities and for its far reach in the remote areas of the country, the former has inspired all factions of society, including the urban elite, and covers every corner of Pakistan.

There is an NGO for polio, the other one is for diabetes and yet another one for strokes. There are several for viral hepatitis, more for thalassemia, and even more for cancer. On top, there are NGOs focused on education including the education of young, old and very old; education of females, males and also one for the eunuchs. Some NGOs aim at technical education, others address vocational training and still others concentrate only on the medium of instruction be it English, Urdu or Arabic.

I am sure you are pondering the reason for the existence of so many NGOs. It is simple: every well-known and ‘wannabe’ known Pakistani wants to initiate a welfare project and leave behind a ‘divine’ legacy, a legacy that is important and ‘beneficial’ for him in both the worlds. In this life, it should act as his glorified retirement plan, also known as Plan B. That is activated if the current profession stops being financially lucrative; and in the afterlife, it can be considered as a passport to the paradise. That is why the singers want to run their own house, cricketers wish to have their own preferences, actors follow their own dreams and physicians pursue their own objectives. All of them by now, as we know, have launched their own NGO, which carry their personal name tags embossed prominently on their organisation’s foreheads and chest walls.

As far as we are concerned, we sometimes feel that we are compelled to acknowledge the role of celebrities in acting, sports or singing by contributing in these ‘charity’ works, instead of genuinely helping their cause. Notwithstanding the real intentions, NGOs do provide service to the needy people, there is no doubt about that. The Edhi Trust is a perfect example that has helped so many people for a longtime and has saved thousands of lives. Yet, at the same time, for others many NGOs lay grounds mostly for self-projection and a means to be more famous, more respectable and probably more suitable to enter into politics based on their ‘dual qualifications’.

And entry into the power corridors is no doubt an attractive objective, much more ‘beneficial’ and ‘empirical’ than the yearning for a paradise. But, if you, being a celebrity, do really well in the industry and hit big, you can be venerated as a national icon just as much as the founder of the nation. Your own NGO can help to promote you as being eligible for the Nobel Prize too by a series of professionally spread ‘achievements.’ Once you have reached that level of fame along with some international recognition, there is no coming back. The chances are that because of your past performance in both the sports and the charitable work you are going to get a lot of votes irrespective of your inexperience, arrogance and unrealistic political slogans.

In conclusion, we can agree that the victory in elections is only possible through the formation of a NGO and finishing a couple of projects in less than five years. So, hurry up, if you want to be the next prime minister of Pakistan, this is the time to register your charitable organisation!

The writer is a US-based freelance columnist. He tweets at @KaamranHashmi and can be reached at skamranhashmi@gmail.com