Pakistanis must have felt proud watching Prime Minister Sharif sitting between the US President, Obama and German Chancellor Merkel during the opening session of the nuclear Security Summit in Hague. World leaders expressed satisfaction at the strict measures taken by Pakistan to ensure fool-proof security of its nuclear arsenal and curb illicit trafficking of radioactive and nuclear material. Pakistan is one of the eight sovereign states that has successfully conducted nuclear tests and believed to be in possession of nuclear weapons in three digits.
Obviously for many, it’s a matter of pride, for Pakistan to excel in technological advancement, which many states, with all sort of resources still dream of. However, when we see the conditions in Pakistan and how the general public is living, we wonder if Pakistanis has its priorities right? The other day WHO officials certified India and 10 other Asian countries free of polio, declaring it a momentous victory for millions of native health workers, who took the pain to reach each and every corner of their respective countries to ensure eradication of this menace. But where do we stand, next to Afghanistan and Nigeria!
During the last few weeks, a number of health providers and their guards were gunned down, while serving this thankless nation. This week one anti-polio health worker, a mother of five, was kidnapped and murdered in cold blood in Peshawar. Recently UN issued a report on child education in Pakistan which should have triggered alarm bells, but a country which spends less than 2% of its GDP on education cannot expect miracles. As per report over 6.5 million Pakistani children are not even getting primary education, one may imagine the drop-outs at secondary and higher levels. Pakistan is far behind many Asian and African countries in imparting basic education at grassroots level.
For the last few days, we have been celebrating the breakthrough in talks between Pakistani state and Taliban, a shadowy umbrella organization of different terrorist outfits holed up in the remote and unreachable tribal area. Perhaps we have missed something somewhere; PM Sharif is negotiating with world powers on nuclear security in Hague, while his government officials are talking of peace deals with rag-tag terrorists sitting in a caves.
Pakistan is still looking for a leader to lead the nation; not a representative of those who have high jacked this nation with guns. We all need a strong person who would ask “Who is killing the health workers?” rather than just send messages of “taking notice.”
MASOOD KHAN,
Saudi Arab, March 28.