The choice is ours to make

It is time to shun hypocrisy and decide once and for all what sort of generation we want to have in the coming years.

Irfan Ghauri May 31, 2011
When I go out reporting I come across politicians and bureaucrats sitting in chilled rooms but agitated over the post-OBL scenario. At the same time I also get to meet members of the general public who vent anger at the current state of affairs and seek to interpret the information we provide them through our media outlets 24/7.

Needless to say, it’s not just the chopping of trees that has made the city hotter but there are certain policies that our mighty establishment pursued since the 1980s, which have certainly added to this heat and it is now becoming unbearable.

With more and more flights landing from Washington and other western capitals, there is a never-ending stream of foreign visitors here. It would seem that to deal with this mess we are once again hoping for solutions from abroad: Washington, London, Riyadh or Beijing. Either we are incapable of finding some indigenous solutions or lack the will to hunt them, remains a moot point.

On top of all this, the load-shedding, price hike, lawlessness, injustice and much more adds to the misery. When the lights go out, we instantly think of the phrase ‘power failure’ — the phrase speaks for itself and represents the sorry state of the country. When my toddler complains about the heat, I tell him that he might have to bear this pain for some time like all of us did.

But I am speechless when he asks why there are so many blasts and killings every day in the country. He is too little to understand what has made his country an absolute mess. All I tell him is that the future of this country will be in the hands of his generation if they get a proper education and are raised as responsible citizens.

It is time to shun hypocrisy and decide once and for all what sort of generation we want to have in the coming years — a confused one with no clue about the future of their country or a generation with a clear road map in their heads to compete the rapidly changing world through intellect and not guns. The choice is ours. Time is running out and if don’t make the right choices, the mess could be irreversible.
WRITTEN BY:
Irfan Ghauri
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (8)

ani | 12 years ago | Reply In making choices about the future, you need to clear the confusion about your past. Pakistan needs to address its history and its narrative. You cannot keep denying your roots that lie in the culture and traditions of the subcontinent and embrace something you are not.
Waqar | 12 years ago | Reply and once again you expect kids to solve the problems you created.....
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