I have a dream...

I have a dream…

Farhat Akram
The triumphant members of Pakistan’s maiden legislative assembly dazzled the corridors of the Parliament House after much of heated electioneering marked by spilt blood followed by intrigues, so as to materialise the dream of a modern republic state aspired by our forefathers. They took oath to follow the Constitution formulated by the architects of our national sovereign characteristic. People chose their representatives with the hope to foster a future that could mark the beginning of a new era of belief, enthusiasm and prosperity. Since the independence we all have been witnessing continuous abating of our belief in strong self-determination, hence allowing state institutions to mature. Our history of over six decades is marked by political discontinuity, breakdown of power, rise of bureaucratic-military elite, direct and indirect military rules and absence of much enchanted federal structure based on power sharing and mutual respect along with an increase in economic disparities. This momentous era began with great hope that our nation would breathe again after the hollowed era of military dictatorship and despotism. While beholding sparkling faces of MNAs beaming with triumph, as a citizen of Pakistan I have a dream to aspire for.

My dream is based on the genuine inspiration I drove from the dream of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), expressed by him during the climax of a march from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln memorial in Washington DC. It has touched many hearts as it had came out of the heart from the person striving supreme to dig out the African-Americans out of desperation. The speech delivered by King in August 1963 inspired a nation to move towards the path of glory with hand in hand and struggling together for the future based on egalitarian principles.

My dream is acutely related to the momentous triumph of democratic forces that have set the stage to foster ahead under the guidance of the magnificent words of the Constitution and promissory to provide justice, independence. Now is the time that components of civil society belonging to all caste and creed march with their heads held high denouncing irritants that have rattled democratic forces for years. The new parliamentarians have pledged their desire to make egalitarian forces to rise and enlighten the path of justice and democracy with passion and dedication. The opposition too has pledged to play an effective role.

My dream is deeply rooted in the common citizen’s aspiration based on the vision of our magnificent forefathers nearly seven decades ago. I have a dream that my nation would one day be able to take pride of itself as Pakistanis, from the mountains of Hindukush to the shore of Karachi and Gwadar, with the firm resolve to continue believing in the sovereignty of this nation till the end. I have a dream that politics in my country would never be littered with self-interest ever again.

I have a dream that every citizen of this nation has access to basic necessities of life without having to stand in long queues and be free from the slavery of economic disparities and entanglement that the citizens of our land had been facing since independence. The responsibility lies on those standing at the threshold of power to implement and render all economic dividends and trickle them down to the lowest level. Freedom from all these social evils is inextricably bound to the responsibilities of the elected candidates in the legislative assembly.

I have a dream that the people of this Land of Pure would live in a state free from terrorism and fundamentalism, where they can drink the water from the stream of emancipation. Today, terrorism stands between Pakistan and its socio-economic development. With winds of change blowing in our political arena, with the strengthening of the democratic forces, the dream of living peacefully is bound to see the dawn of reality. We have witnessed that in our political history that the parties that are in opposition most of the time resort to violence. Democracy must play its part to filter out ills of the political culture that we have been witnessing since the beginning and let the current government work for the prosperity of the state.

I have a dream that every child of this land lives with dignity and has all those rights that have not only been placed in the splendid words of our Constitution, but also taught by our religion. Educational standards and law and order would be enforced without differences between provinces. This has long been a dream of the people of this land of ours from the valleys of Swat to Waziristan and from the beaches of Sindh and Balochistan to the oasis and lush rich lands of Punjab. Hence, every single citizen now celebrates the dawn of an era where there would be genuine democracy, justice and tolerance.

As a Pakistani this dream is our faith that can surely hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. This inspiration is of everyone from the very nook and corner of Pakistan. It is the burden of faith and trust that we lay down on politicians who have been elected. I hope this faith will be able to transform jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith and hope we will all work together, to pray together and sing with new meaning and aspiration the lovely song written by Hafeez Jalendhary years ago:

“Blessed be the sacred land,

Happy be bounteous realm,

Symbol of high resolve,

Land of Pakistan

Blessed be thou citadel of faith.

The order of this scared land

Is the might of the brotherhood of the people

May the nation, the country, and the state

Shine in glory everlasting

Blessed be the goal of our ambition

This flag of the crescent and the star

Leads the way to progress and perfection,

Interpreter of our past,

Glory of our present,

Inspiration of our future,

Symbol of Almighty’s protection.”

This dream struck in resonance with the dream that had been visualised by Allama Mohammad Iqbal. Both Iqbal and Quaid-e-Azam were two great spiritual catalysts for the Muslim ummah in the subcontinent. They shared aspirations that had their roots in the soul of the nation. As we all have started off our walk to the summit to prove our worth with a new legitimised political democratic government headed by Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani, let us not forget what we have achieved and what we have lost. Like the Swedish statesman and diplomat Dag Hammarskjöld once said that never let success hide its emptiness from you, achievement its nothingness, toil its desolation. And so keep alive the incentive to push on further that pain in the soul, which drives us beyond ourselves. Do not look back. And do not dream about the future, either. It will neither give you back the past, nor satisfy your other daydreams. Your duty, your reward, your destiny are here and now.

If we fancy making our dreams a reality, we have to struggle tremendously hard with continuous toiling upward. It should be kept in mind that this walk towards our great summit of prosperity must not be solitary, but with all those who are scrawny and feeble as a result of the burden of inequalities. We must also allow the freedom, inspiration for future and realms of tranquillity bow their head over the sparkling forehead of my motherland. If this comes true, then one can have strong belief that there would never be any impediment to our triumph to rise as the glorious of all nations. Let us just pray that all these wishful inspiration could come true and let our objective be our country, our whole country, and nothing but our country.

The writer is Assistant Research Officer at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute
http://thepost.com.pk/OpinionNews.aspx?dtlid=151990&catid=11