MM News

In the 20th century and the 1940s, Muslims were filled with enthusiasm and zeal after achieving the creation of a free homeland. They were willing to sacrifice their lives, and history witnessed the day when Pakistan was established.

Today, the citizens who have been breathing in this free homeland for the past 76 years often wonder if we are truly free. Believe me, if the founding father, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, was alive today, the people who had supported the freedom movement with him would cry out, saying that this is not the freedom that Jinnah or Allama Iqbal had dreamt of.

Dreams can come true, but when they are twisted for personal gain and self-interest, even true dreams take on the horrifying guise of reality. Such a reality that cannot be shaken, moved, or swallowed.

Pakistan was declared an Islamic Republic, but the process of creating a cohesive constitution for the country took so long that, just two years before the 1973 constitution, which we are operating under today, was adopted, Bangladesh separated from us in 1971. This separation had been predicted earlier because the Muslims of East Pakistan did not identify themselves as a single unit; rather, Jinnah had created a single entity. It was taught that they were Sindhi, Punjabi, Pashtun, Baloch, or Bengali. This prejudice was suppressed, but we see that even today, East Pakistan has separated from us.

Whether it’s getting loans from the IMF, rising inflation, or an energy crisis, everywhere you look, there’s a series of mismanagement based on personal interests and foolish agreements that make it clear that even after 76 years of freedom, we cannot honestly claim to be free.

Freedom is a blessing, and instilling this belief in today’s youth, who spend decades in pursuit of education and then employment, is extremely challenging. They all share the belief that economic freedom is the real freedom.

It is evident that if you are constantly struggling for basic necessities like food, clothing, and shelter, how can you even dream of progress and prosperity? The scientific and technological advancements that our neighboring country achieved, sending missions to the moon, are dreams that Pakistanis haven’t even begun to dream.

Until dreams are not dreamed, their interpretation remains elusive. Undoubtedly, the economic hardships and human rights violations in India are far more devastating than in Pakistan. Still, the biggest question today is whether we have achieved economic freedom, and if not, when will we?

Our wait seems endless, and one after another, incoming governments keep us busy with dreams of a better future and lush gardens while making us look foolish.

In the current era, the electricity crisis has brought people’s lives to a standstill. Especially due to the heavy electricity bills, a large number of people have taken to the streets and burned their bills. But will this solve their problems? Previous governments promised to resolve the electricity crisis, but they couldn’t deliver on their promises.

The good news is that the current government hasn’t made such promises. They have straightforwardly stated that until the prices of petroleum and the dollar decrease, there’s no possibility of cheap electricity. In the words of a poet:

“Yeh intezar nah thahra koi bala thehri, Kisi ki jaan gayi, aap ki adaa thahri.”