Let The Change Begin!!!...

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed…” The words of Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK Jr.) echoed in my ears like a restless soul wandering in the wilderness. And it pierced my heart akin to a Spartan spear, as I was thinking about my nation’s future. For, I belong to a nation which is long awaited for a savior like him.

Though he was the son of a pastor and a pastor himself, and a doctorate in philosophy too, but yet he was a common man, a NEGRO. It was only with the faith that he had in himself and his cause, and the courage and perseverance which he showed, that he became the icon of liberalism and civil rights.

He based his movement on ideals of Christianity and the operational techniques of Gandhi. And although, he was jailed several times, his home was bombed and he was physically assaulted on many occasions. Yet, his protest remained peaceful and non-violent.

America, in those days, was faced with more racial and cultural differences than Pakistan in these times. As Luther said, there was discrimination and segregation between the blacks and the whites, the Catholics and the Protestants, the Jews and the Gentiles, the Natives and the Immigrants. Thus, USA was in the deep quagmire of ethnic tensions. But, her citizens did not pick up weapons, did not burn markets or kill the bystanders. Their leaders did not provoke the masses to turn against each other.

However We, the Orientals still think that we are the superior race. We are proud of our religion, faith, social system and our family traditions. And we feel pity for the West. We talk about their selfishness and materialism, with reference to their old parents, their illegitimate kids and their single moms. But while listing their weaknesses, we forget ours.

We forget that we kill our brothers in Islam for being too ‘tolerant’; we destroy a person’s property just because of our bursting fury for unrelated reasons, we can’t withstand ‘others’ living and prospering in our cities, we kill people on ideological, lingual and ethnic basis, and we don’t just kill, we massacre them.

When it comes to patriotism, national solidarity, human rights and personal restraint, I must say that the West seems a lot better than us.

So why can’t we stand together? Why are we silent and afraid? Why do we fear the Americans, the Taliban, and the state police? Why do we fear our own army as much as we fear militants? Because we don’t fear THE ONE who is to be feared. And, that is why we are oppressed and weak.

When we look towards our masquerading leaders, they claim to be our saviors, but they are not! And quite interestingly, when we are asked to choose a leader, we always make the same wrong choices. And we justify ourselves by saying that we didn’t have any other choice.

Albert Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different outcomes” and if that’s true then we are all insane.

But let us not despair. For, out of chaos, comes order, and out of oppression, appears resistance. When the nation grieves but the hope remains, only then does God send a Messiah. He sent all of his prophets in difficult times. And then, when poverty rose, Marx was born. When a civilization was subdued, Iqbal was sent and when oppression became unbearable, MLK Jr. emerged. They might not be prophets but they were definitely better than millions.

Sooner or later we will find someone like them. And then it will be our courage, perseverance and faith that will bring us glory.

So let us all have a dream that one day our nation will also rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed.

It is said that the change begins at hearts and it creates a butterfly effect which goes on to alter the world map. And fortunately, it has begun for many of us. It won’t take long to make that change obvious.

My motivation to write this article was a friend’s facebook status. His frustration and pessimism was quite evident, just like that, which is building inside the rest of us. And, it’s a good sign because it means we are sensing the pain. This is the first step to progress.

However, I will request the youth to stay patient and have faith in themselves. And if we keep advancing, then inshAllah one day, we’ll get to the Promised Land.

Long Live Pakistan