Oh yes, Freedom! Precious, irrefutably necessary for the soul, a means to self-identity. We were granted this jewel by Mohammad Ali Jinnah in 1947 in the shape of a nation called Pakistan. Alas, that nation no longer exists and neither do the principles upon which was laid the foundation of its existence.
Leaving aside the nightmare of the separation of East Pakistan, we as a country have driven ourselves into a downward spiral; morally, ethically and physically. All norms that our forefathers and the civilised world hold dear have been thrown off as if they were nothing but yokes. The life of a true Muslim starts with truth as its foundation and we discarded this first. Once truth was out of the way, everything else was easy pickings. Corruption, loot, plunder, safarish, kabzas and if all this was not enough to break all records of a lost tribe, we started manufacturing fake medicines, started mixing fertiliser in milk and to top it all, donkey meat was being sold as goat meat.
Yet we call ourselves free.
Free from holding or being held accountable, free from fear of the law, free from all those barriers which stop us from driving ourselves to the depths of depravity. Oh and how proud we are for having won this war against civility. I sat watching a few months ago a very popular TV talk show, where a certified lunatic in the garb of a professor pontificated that the society rots from the bottom and not from the top, that if the ordinary person was honest, leaders cannot fathom being dishonest. I felt like throwing my chair thru the TV but stopped, since doing that would have only destroyed my TV, and no one would care if I got insanely mad.
Yes, it is a mad mad world when it comes do the goings-on in Pakistan. Nothing, absolutely nothing makes sense anymore. What is right is considered wrong and vice versa. Plundering the wealth of the nation while sitting in the chair of the Prime Minister is being justified, looting and murdering people by police in the most populous province is being passed on as ‘good governance’. All this is topped by an ex-military ruler saying he has a ‘soft corner’ for the younger sibling. Come on give us a break, speak truth to us, do not manufacture ‘alternative facts’. Is there no shame?
While the whole nation awaits the ruling of the Supreme Court on the Panama case, the brothers, two uncouth and totally bereft of any fear of Allah and any other rule that governs a just human, are busy in discrediting the superior judiciary and the armed forces, so that if the judgement comes against them, for it cannot be any other way, they would have a ‘cause celeb’ for having been wronged. Let there be no doubt in anyones mind, the Sharif house is nothing short of a corrupt, morally bankrupt and the mafia. The Don sits on the PM’s chair while the younger brother rules over Punjab with an iron fist. To those who have a ‘soft corner’ for the younger mafioso, let me clearly state that he is nothing short of the enforcer for the House of Sharif. The two have had this ‘good cop bad cop’ routine down to a tee, but nay, it all is going to unravel very soon.
If truth be told, there have been more deaths by police encounters and plain disappearances in Punjab than in any other province. All lucrative business’s have either been wrested away from their rightful owners by the CM’s two erstwhile sons, or driven to bankruptcy thru victimisation. If the PM’s children hoarded their fathers ill gotten wealth abroad, the CM’s children have used it to bring the industrial sector of Punjab to its knees, or rather at their feet. Corruption rules Panjab like no where else, even those ruling Sindh are envious of the amounts being swallowed in the form of commissions from non-existing projects or those projects that have quadrupled in cost from their original estimates.
Moral turpitude is but a very polite word for describing the mentality of the Sharif family, they live with no rules, every action, every deed is justified by their own asinine rules. But now at last, one hopes, that their day of reckoning approaches. Let the Judges of the Supreme Court wash away the mistakes of the past with one courageous and detailed decision. Let there be no doubt left as to laying bare the shenanigans of these looters and plunderers. Let Pakistanis breath the air of freedom thru your momentously important decision, so that the fear of Allah and those of the laws of the country runs thru their veins. Let the people of this country know, that the corrupt and corrupter shall all be behind bars, that this society will once again value truth, honesty, hard work and a sincere love for the country.
One final word for those who conduct the elections, rather selections, in Pakistan. The unanimity of opinion that the election of 2013 were stolen from the people is not to be repeated. There will be consequences for those planning to do a ‘job’ this time around again. The Supreme Court should ensure that elections when held, obviously after the census is completed and constituencies defined, are free and fair and that the actual votes are counted and results announced thereof.
