KARACHI - "Our youth is unpatriotic, self-centred and non-serious". I heard many people criticising young boys and girls of our society with such remarks. Are they right? Do our youth actually deserve such remarks? In my opinion the answer is 'No'. It is a bitter reality that there are some youngsters in our society who are unpatriotic and are desperate to run out of the country. But still, there are many youngsters who are patriotic, devoting and have passion to build the foundations of the country stronger. They have obsession to defy themselves against the stereotypical image attached to the youth. Students of Mass Communication Department (KU) endeavour to show the oneness of Pakistani youth. To spread the message of unity, they commemorated Pakistan Day in a unique style. Every student painted their hands with green colour and printed them on white papers on which their names were written. All the pieces of papers were connected to give them a look of fancy buntings with the help of which the department was decorated. Moreover, a banner was prepared on which the students wrote their warm wishes for their homeland. The students also sang patriotic songs to express their love for the country. The scene looked so vibrant that nobody could stop themselves to be a part of the activity. This event was special because very few institutions properly celebrate Pakistan day, and also because the event was self-initiated by the students which showed their enthusiasm and affection for their country. Students of MCD (KU) have always been very active in organizing unique events and initiating creative activities. Be it celebrating historical days like 14th August and 23rd March or planting trees in the University and taking care of them on daily basis, they are passionate to work for the betterment of their institution as well as for the country. These types of young boys and girls should be an inspiration for our youth. Actually not for the youth, but also for elders who indulge in sitting on cozy couches, in front of the "magic box" and criticising their own country as if they do not belong to this land. Certainly, there are so many things happening in the country which makes us feel frustrated, and sometimes we feel so desperate that we find it difficult to live within these circumstances. But one thing which we all should realize is that the major reason behind all these mishaps is that we do not love our country. The politicians as well as the masses, all of us do not love our homeland, the land that is our identity, the land that is our motherland. Many times we talk about the bad things and forget to talk about some good things happening around us. Healthy criticism is necessary, but we should avoid criticism just for the sake of criticism. Even if nothing good is happening in the country, we should not just sit and make comments merely to show our knowledge and to become the opinion leaders. The point is that we must try to find out solutions to the problems. What if we are not in a position to solve the problems? We can try on our own levels that what positive we can do for our society. Every one of us can become a good citizen at least, if he/she can't design the policy of the country. We criticise the laws and politics of the country and say that "if we were the authority we would have done this and that". We are not the decision makers, but being the masses do we fulfill our responsibilities? If the answer is "Yes" then why is there garbage lying on the streets? Why we discriminate our fellow citizens in linguistic and ethnic groups? Why is there lack of unity in our country? There is a lot we can do being common people. We 'can' at least realize our responsibilities as citizens. We 'can' create proper civic sense within ourselves and try to spread it among people of our city. We 'can' try not to discriminate each other as Sindhi, Punjabi, Mahajir, etc but to identify ourselves as Pakistani. This is all we can, and we should We should appreciate our youth who love their country despite all the bad things that they listen from their elders about the country, despite all the hurdles that they face on their way to success, and despite nobody's appreciation. We must try to leave a better example for generations to come and to teach them how to live as a nation, for it is an inevitable reality that unity is the key to success for any nation. If we try to think seriously about all these pitfalls of our behaviours, the day is no far when we find our country a better place to live in. -The writer is a student of KU Mass Communication Department