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I often ask myself this question: are we a free nation? My answer, usually, is no. We might be a free nation for 74 years on the world map, but still, we’re not truly free. After the independence of Pakistan, we didn’t bother putting down a constitution for the first nine years.
Freedom – a world that has roused rebels, motivated poets, and inspired musicians to move into action against oppression and to throw away the shackles of convention. It is making teenagers in Kashmir resist suppression with pebbles; it is turning many a Baloch into angry young men against systemic discrimination.
Freedom means no one is above or below anyone; no one is superior or inferior; no one is purer or more impure than the other. Or at least that is what we understand when we proclaim that we are free — that no one owes anything to us and we owe nothing to anyone.
If we look around, we are far from being free. The military has ruled us for over 30 years, out of the 74 since Pakistan’s creation and yet, we call ourselves a democratic nation. We are amongst the largest nations facing terrorism and the security situation in this country is extremely poor.
The army became powerful, and because it believed that it was an important cog in global affairs, the Generals started looking down on the politicians, demanding their own strategic space. In order to justify its existence, it converted Pakistan into security seeking State where a strong army was considered a necessity for the existence of the country.
The army ignored the development of the people in order to control more assets. Over 40 percent of our population has no access to health and clean water for drinking, and an even larger number is deprived of basic health facilities. Under these circumstances, can we honestly say that we are a free nation? We haven’t moulded as a nation yet.
We are moving together without a clear direction, towards an unknown goal. Most of us are leading our lives without any purpose. We don’t know what will happen tomorrow so, I believe that we are just killing time.