We, as a nation, suffer from amnesia. We have forgotten the objective of creation of Pakistan. Before partition, people of the Indian subcontinent were subject of the British Empire, not citizens. Most people depended on the segment of society which accumulated wealth from dubious means, by working as informers of imperial power. Against this background, Mr. Jinnah fought a constitutional war to get freedom from the foreign power. Unfortunately, he did not live long to complete his political agenda. We lost unity and the society fragmented into ethnic groups. We as a country went on without a constitution for years and people adopted the culture of lavish lifestyle on foreign aid and borrowed money from foreign financial institutions. Our top leadership and powerful elite were so consumed with their own interest that they failed to realize that to live on borrowed money was wrong and the masses were left to bear the burden of time.

The political leaders who captured power treated citizens as raw material for the magnificence of their soul. As old habits die hard, borrowing became an instrument to gain power. This ugly practice became the currency of the day and country was driven to a vicious debt trap difficult to get out of. Meanwhile, politicians belonging to all parties instead of finding solutions to public problems tried to prove their supremacy over each other. Alas, we fail to harvest fruits of freedom achieved on 14 August 1947. We need to revive pledge of transforming Pakistan into a progressive, welfare state, where everyone is respected, and no one is idolized and there is no discrimination on the basis of religion, caste, creed, and color.

RAJA SHAFAATULLAH,

Islamabad.