The government recently found reserves of iron ore, copper, silver and gold in Chiniot, around 160 kilometers northwest of Lahore. Will they now utilize around 500 million tonnes of iron ore?

I was eight year old when I saw Pakistan’s former prime minister Benazir Bhutto presenting the Cricket World Cup to Sri Lankan captain, Arjuna Ranatunga. Apart from some wondrous Facebook covers, flashy DSLR cameras and more than 132 million cellular subscribers, nothing substantial has evolved during these years. However, this whooping force of around 180 million people with a crown jewel of atomic power has mastered the blame game, denying the gravity of unity and discipline.

It’s not crazy if the Pentagon spent $391.2 billion on F-35 program or if Facebook bought WhatsApp for a sum of $19 billion in 2014. Seriously, the perception of blaming others for the sins we commit is heinous. George Bancroft once said, “The measure of progress of civilization is the progress of the people.” And here we are left with political parties declaring “roads”, a symbol of governance. 

Not just the government, we all even avoid a proper queue. Our indiscipline is becoming a glaring eyesore, enervating us with a sectarian divide. A blast every Friday is a routine matter. Even with so many natural resources and a beautiful religion, we were never able to nourish the proximity with other Muslim countries. The levers of national harmony are therefore under assault from both above and below.

A young beggar collecting alms from the motorists in the streets of Lahore is oblivious of these daunting issues. He is more worried about his bread and butter, a war he fights every day. He is neither aware of the lavish lifestyle our timid leaders are enjoying. Yet I can’t blame a single person; maybe we deserve such tyrants.

The other day I saw many walls, chalked and sprayed with political and social embellishments. It seemed as if we all were assigned a mission to pollute this beautiful land. They were chaotic, just like us. We are untidy and we are content with it. The state will never bother; the state is a needle in a haystack. From our cricket team to our domestic workers, everyone looks for a shortcut, an instant gain. Let’s hope they reach the quarterfinals at least.

And unless we sync in one direction, we will remain vulnerable to a gory future.

Moving on, our Police department is a sculpture of bogus appointments. Our transport system is a demo of our endless rowdiness. We are not nervous when we break a traffic signal but we are confused on how to deal with the Taliban.

We put on tons of makeup but our wedding dinners lack decency. Our polluted environment is the rationale behind our noxious diseases. Is this our identity? Our national security is at stake with more than five million illegal foreigners in Karachi alone. We were helpless when an American intelligence officer was effortlessly permitted to leave our country after killing our innocent citizen. So, where exactly did the cookie crumble? Isn’t it worthless to write? Of course, Rome wasn’t built in a day but they had a basic inquisitiveness to know their strengths and weaknesses. They were disciplined. They built systems which gave them a forewarning, a harbinger of things to come. We wait for a disease to set in rather than screening it beforehand. Yet, we are satisfied when our salaries disappear like sugar in a hot cup of tea.

Even with all this fuss hovering over our heads, a ray of hope flickers in the sky. Our discounted education system is the logic behind many of our snags. But can education ensure self-control? I have seen educated people throwing rubbish out of the windows of their cars. We can’t stop the drone attacks in Waziristan Agency, lest we sort out our basic loopholes. We can’t close our eyes because we have more than 58.7 million Pakistanis living their lives below the poverty line. With almost 5.5 million children out of school, devious bigwigs and rapacious elite; the National Action Plan is not going to wash away the deep-rooted wickedness we have developed as a nation.

Why do they always hunt us like lions hunt a wildebeest? Are we spineless? Maybe, we need more philanthropists, entrepreneurs, artists, scientists and sportsmen. Our professions must ensure a decent livelihood to entice our best and the brightest, masterminds who left this country. Unless we act today, unless we change; these repeated faces at key positions will continue to suck our blood. I know it’s easier said than done. Still, blow the whistle.