14th August : Have We Forgotten Its Purpose?

14th August, 1947 marked the end of British rule on the Indian subcontinent and the creation of twosovereign states, India and Pakistan. This was the fruit of the long struggle of Indian Muslims to getrecognition and equal rights under the british rule. The creation of Pakistan, however, was only the first step in the right direction. Nearly 7.2 million Muslims had to migrate from India to Pakistan and the journey was marked with bloodshed. These sacrifices were made because the people wanted to live according to the Islamic values peacefully in this separate piece of land. Despite facing countless  problems, the people of Pakistan were united, they had a dream and they were determined to do everything they could to make that dream come true. Fastforward 66 years, people are celebrating another 14th August with full zeal and zest. From buildings and streets to clothes and facepaint,everything is covered in green to mark the anniversary of independence. The energetic youth take to the streets to show their gratitude for the existence of this country by aerial firing, going to concerts, dancing on the streets and onewheeling etc. Overall the atmosphere is filled with joy. The Pakistan of Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Iqbal, however, is nowhere to be seen in these celebrations. It seems that the people have forgotten the reason this nation was created for. After 66 years Pakistan is still stuck on that first step. The country is plagued with illiteracy, ignorance, terrorism, corruption, sectarian killings, economic downfall, Inflation, foreign loans, lack of utilization of natural resources to name a few. The recent attack on Jinnah’s residence in Ziarat is an example of just how bad the situation is in the country. The people blame the government, the government blames the opposition, the opposition blames the army and so on. The aforementioned problems have stopped the progress of the country completely, and we seem to be heading backwards as the authorities and the people are busy in exchanging accusations. It is true that it’s not all doom and gloom and that there are a lot of positive things happening in Pakistan. But that does not give us an excuse to keep ignoring the negative things and allow them to grow and make the situation even worse. National days such as 14th August and 23rd March are supposed to remind us of all the hardships the Muslims of India went through so they could acquire this piece of land. They are not meant to be celebrated by aerial firing, onewheeling and listening to some national songs. To celebrate 14th August in it’s true spirit, we need to look at the dream of those who sacrificed their lives for this country, and we need to carry on the hard work where they left it to fulfil that dream. It is a divine law that the condition and the leaders of a nation do not change until that nation changes itself. We need to start following the Islamic teachings. We need to unite as a nation and learn to live with each other’s differences in peace. We need to start learning in schools instead of memorizing, we need to earn our jobs instead of getting them through some relatives or resources. We need to stop bribing the authorities and we need to stop taking bribes. We need to bridge the gap between the poor and the rich by including them in our activities instead of treating them as outsiders. We need to start respecting the law. We need to start saving electricity and other natural resources as much as we can. We need to let the government know that they will be held accountable for their actions. In short, if we want to put this nation back on the track and make the dreams of our forefathers come true, we need to take some responsibility for the current state of Pakistan and do something about it instead of blaming each other.