Daily Times

A great Greek tragedian, Sophocles, paints the gloomy picture of Thebes — a city where famine, fires and plague have all caused widespread suffering and death among people and animals — in his masterpiece tragedy Oedipus Rex with the following touching words:

“Wasted thus by death on death,

All our city perisheth.

Corpses spread infection round,

None to tend or mourn is found.

Wailing on the altar stair,

Wives and grandmas rend the air,

Long-drawn moans and piercing cries,

Blunt with prayers and litanies.

Golden child of Zeus, O hear,

Let thine angel face appear!”

One feels as if Sophocles has written these moving lines to narrate the pathetic situation of Pakistan, where innocent people are being killed unceasingly by militants, US drones, targeted killings, earthquakes, floods and falling roofs and walls during rains; where the people — wives, husbands, grandmothers and children — wail over the dead bodies of their loved ones but find no one to give them succour and solace.

After 64 years of independence, the people of Pakistan are still not free from the yoke of poverty, deprivation, a class-riddled system, ignorance, feudalism, extremism, corruption and insecurity. They feel as if they are still living under the rule of the farangi (British). Robert Fisk, a famous UK journalist, correctly depicts the present picture of Pakistan in these words, “On the streets of Pakistan, it is as if the sun has not set on the Raj…Like everything in Pakistan, the bigger your cortège, the more important you are…these nabobs live in residence-fortresses, air-conditioned bunkers, seals of security, which cut them off from the 150 million people of Pakistan as surely as the razor wire around their electrified gates.” This division can be seen in every walk of life in Pakistan.

The ruling class is living in prosperity while 60 percent of the population perishes in utter poverty, living on less than two dollars per day. A classic example of the prosperity of the ruling class has been displayed by newly appointed Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar in her recent Indian visit, where the young diplomat’s clothes, black Birkin handbag — worth at least $ 10,000 — costly glasses and stylish shoes dazzled the entire world. Many Indian bloggers have written some very interesting sentences about Hina’s visit, like: “Pak sends a bomb to India!”, “Let us make Aishwarya Rai our foreign minister”, “Here comes Hina, a weapon of mass distraction!”, etc.

It is an irony of fate that our wealthy leaders visit developed countries clad in expensive clothes to beg for aid for the poor people of Pakistan. Is it not tragically grotesque?

The people are asking whether Pakistan was created only to protect the rights of the ruling class. What has become of the dream of the Quaid to make Pakistan a land where everyone could have equal rights and liberty? Are we free to go to our temples, to our mosques or to any other place of worship in this state of Pakistan?

The answer is no. The Quaid’s dream has shattered and our hearts are bleeding. Suicide blasts in the Parade Lane Mosque in Rawalpindi, shrines of Data Ganj Bakhsh in Lahore, Baba Farid in Pakpattan, Abdullah Shah Ghazi in Karachi and Sakhi Sarwar in Dera Gazi Khan are just some examples that show how Muslims are killing other Muslims ruthlessly in the name of Islam.

Even on Independence Day, a bomb blast killed 15 people in Quetta and militants killed three soldiers and wounded 23 others by firing rockets at a military camp in Miran Shah, while six people were killed in Karachi.

There are numerous instances of attacks on minorities’ worship places and their homes by religious fanatics. An attack on Ahmedi worship places in Lahore and the burning of a Christian colony in Gojra are some examples that show the insecure and pathetic situation of minorities in Pakistan.

Is there any hope for the survival of Pakistan? Can we tackle the gigantic problems militating against the very stability of Pakistan? Or will the country break up as the conspiracy theories leading to it are already in the air?

Wasif Ali Wasif, a famous Pakistani writer, said Pakistan “noor hai, noor ko zawaal nahi (Pakistan is light that cannot be eclipsed) and many people believe that Pakistan will tackle all these challenges successfully. They say Pakistan has been created to lead the Muslim world. Other thinkers say that this idealist school of thought is no solution for the problems of Pakistan. Moreover, Muslim countries have animosity against each other. The example of Iran and Saudi Arabia is before us.

Some say the Pakistan Army’s dual policy of protecting the ‘good Taliban’ and crushing the ‘bad Taliban’ is leading the country towards becoming a failed state. Some experts say that the US wants to destroy Pakistan. Some say Islamist revolution is coming to Pakistan.

Anatol Lieven, a British expert on Pakistan, says that Pakistan is not a failed state as it has a huge population and a large army. He says, “The Taliban could gain a meaningful political foothold in Pakistan only after a large-scale military mutiny. If the US launched sustained ground raids into Pakistan and generals ordered their soldiers not to resist, Pakistani army regulars would feel that their honour was compromised and might flock to the Taliban. The unilateral US raid to kill bin Laden did embarrass the military and garnered some criticism from the Pakistani public. But while extremists have penetrated the Pakistani military, only US missteps could bring soldiers to rebel and plunge Pakistan into revolution.”

Other thinkers believe that Pakistan will go on like that. Faiz Ahmed Faiz, a great Urdu poet, once sarcastically said, “My fear is that this country will go on like this.”

Pakistan will not go on like this as history tells us that a nation that shirks its responsibilities in the face of challenges is fated to perish. If our leaders — political, religious and military — want to save Pakistan then they will have to follow the teachings of the Quaid in letter and spirit. By following the spirit of “work, work and work”, they should serve the people. Pakistan now has a strong media and an independent judiciary, which gives some hope of survival in these hopeless times.

We should try to develop the capacity needed to meet the daunting challenges Pakistan is facing. To meet those challenges, we should not spare anything to acquire modern knowledge, technology and the spirit of tolerance. History tells us that nations have achieved progress through the miraculous power of education. The examples of Japan and South Korea are before us. Modern and developed nations have three very important weapons in their custody. One is knowledge and technology. The second is their sense of duty to serve and the third is to seek solutions for problems through the force of objectivity. This objectivity comes from self-analysis. Self-analysis is the key to wisdom. Wisdom requires patience. Patience issues from a sense of responsibility and responsibility springs from the fountain of love. Love is the cure for all ills in Pakistan and the world. But one thing is crystal clear: we are not living in the Quaid’s Pakistan.

The writer is a staff member. He can be reached at faheem.dt@gmail.com