It’s been 35 years. Bhutto was hanged on April 4th 1979 but he died the day Zardari took oath as president and an era of seemingly endless corruption and criminal ignorance began. The only target was that there was no target. Besides, of course looting as much as possible in the five year term. From "Islam is our faith, democracy is our policy, socialism is our economy. All power to the people" to “Dishonesty is our faith, corruption is our policy. We have no economy and all power to the rich.” From “roti, kapra aur makaan” to “beghairat aur behis siyasatdaan” Few could have imagined that the Bhutto’s ideology would be replaced so soon. Five years.
But those five years passed, leaving all troubles, grief and pain with the people to deal with. It’s no longer Zardari’s Pakistan. But is it any better?
Nawaz Sharif’s PMLN won the majority in the May 11th elections. How? That is still debatable. But people moved on. They always do. That’s why we’re Pakistanis.
Anyway, so the mandate of Pakistan’s Peoples Party was clearly rejected, even with all the rigging and “punctures”. Sindh, however, was still theirs to loot. And guess how it turned out? Horrible is such a small word. Decide an appropriate one yourself.
You won’t be surprised to know the provincial government’s priorities. Saving “Sindhi culture”. That’s right! The Sindhi superman walks in. With his very own “Sindh Festival”.
*No comments*
Keeping aside the debate on whether the logo was stolen or not why don’t we move on to the Tharparker drought? Not saying that it’s directly or indirectly related to the festival at all. I’m just trying to point out that it was no doubt more important in every way. Because when the tax money of these poor people was being blown up in fireworks in Mohenjo-Daro, their children were starving to death in Thar.
Kamal hai… awaam mar gayi lekn Bhutto zinda hai!
Moreover, it wasn’t an event. It was a process. 200 children did not die in a plane crash or a car accident. They lived through every moment of pain and hunger, begging for something to eat until it was not bearable anymore. Their screams must have echoed. Their mothers must have wept. And in contrast, millions were being wasted on the Sindh Festival in the name of “saqafat” (culture). Basant was celebrated, shown live on television. The music and songs played in full volume during the festival were heard. But the screaming children were not.
Sounds disgusting, doesn’t it? The government was busy sleeping. Bilawal was busy with Sindh Fest and bashing IK on twitter, of course. But where were you and I? In the shelter of our comfortable houses. Living life to fullest. Enjoying food from five star restaurants.
*Jaisi qaum wese hukmaraan*
We deserve all of this! We deserve being looted and plundered. Yes. Us. The “bechaari awaam”. Because when those poor children were dying because of the shortage of food and medical facilities, we were busy throwing away food from our plates into the garbage. The food leftover in plates in weddings, parties and restaurants was not because of Bilawal Bhutto or Sharmila Faruqi. You can’t blame democracy there. The example fits:
“Gandum ameer shehar ki hoti rahi khraab
Beti magar ghareeb ki faqun se mar gayi”
Easy way out… Blame the politicians and there politics . No doubt, they are here to loot and plunder. And loot and plunder they will. They’ve set records of corruption and bad governance. What more do you expect from them? It’s not their life to live; it’s not their battle to fight… IT’S OURS! No matter what goes around, we will always be the ones to suffer. So why not do something and change that? Instead of sitting around waiting for government to change why don’t we try and change ourselves? Nothing will change unless we do! Think about it…
