I have witnessed the creation of Pakistan and the struggle our country has gone through over the past 73 years. Although Mr. Jinnah managed to get a separate state for us against all odds, we could not follow the vision of our founder. India never accepted the existence of Pakistan wholeheartedly and did not leave any opportunity to attack its smaller neighbor directly or indirectly. Unfortunately, we kept providing ample opportunities to our enemy to inflict damages on us. India forcefully occupied Kashmir and never acted on the UN resolutions to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir. We instead of setting a strong economy, went on wrong ways. The economy of our country had never been stable and our rulers instead of forging unity and strengthening the economy kept fighting and spending in royal ways to promote their personal agendas. This led to us relying on international lenders. The first government which borrowed money from the IMF did a great disservice to the people and country. From that point on, our ruling elite instead of exercising prudence, kept their royal ways rolling out projects for personal popularity. Every government that came to power followed the path trodden by its successors. The debt piled up to enormous proportions with the passage of time and now we have become slaves to lending institutions. The leaders forgot to fill the gap between rich and poor while consolidating their own financial positions. When reality revealed itself, both government and opposition started maligning each other for this sin against the nation. Now, the opposition led by Maryam Nawaz is taking out rallies in the garb of PDM to topple the existing government while the public is at the mercy of inflation, Coronavirus, and unforgiving weather. Unfortunately, our leaders have not learned any lesson yet and if they do not shun their prejudices and work for the country, we are looking at the complete disaster in near future.
Raja Shafaatullah
Islamabad
