Dawn of Change
“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality” John F. Kennedy. With all due respect, as a journalist witnessing the mainstream conflict and confusion my country is entangled in, it has become extremely difficult to remain neutral at a time of crisis when lie after lie gets exposed and when value of human rights are put on the back burner.
14th August 2014 when PTI Chairman led the Azadi (Freedom) March asking for the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, adding to the nightmare of PM, well known cleric Tahir ul Qadri also led an Inquilab (Revolution) March with the same end goal. Both starting from Lahore with the main destination in Islamabad. All this happening as a peaceful protest, the authorities did everything they could, containerized all important routes of Pakistan in order to discourage the masses; using the local police to harass the political workers to with hold their mission of joining their leaders, unfortunately nothing could save the government from a massive turnout of their opponents.
It’s almost a month, the composed and non-violent protesters have withstood heat, rain, shelling, bullets, hailstorm but nothing could freeze or cease them from standing with their leaders. It would be unfair to not appreciate how resilient Pakistanis are, when they make a solemn decision they stand by it. The general public who never spoke about politics, termed it a curse for themselves have now joined the cause of Naya(new) Pakistan with Imran Khan. The eye of the lens have captured every movement of each person en route to CHANGE, all of them have been peaceful unarmed civilians.
Unluckily, those calling themselves the custodians of Parliament and champions of democracy have not left a single chance to humiliate them, make fun of the poor to an extent calling them “terrorists”. A shameful moment for all those who elected them, Pakistanis who ask for their legal rights in a humane manner are called names. Their intentions doubted, the sight of their helplessness being mocked at. The Land of Pure does not need such soldiers of democracy who after sucking the blood of poor and weak spit venom against them.
I cannot stay neutral at such a time, the crisis have exposed all the status-quo to an extent where their morality has been drained. Each one of them agree that mandate was stolen, but nobody is ready to catch the thief while the one who has vowed to bring the complete network of thieves down is bashed at. When any Pakistani looks at the leaders speaking inside the parliament, they would wonder if all the problems of Pakistan are just because of the sit-in. Be it inflation, energy crisis, corruption, terrorism, floods, and so much more, what it actually looks like is that they all get dreams of these protests at night. How could I not mention, they are all masters in attacking a person’s character. Once a wise person said, “Your political success is determined when your opponents have nothing to attack you instead fall to character assassination”.
The Government itself is responsible for the crisis, audit of four constituencies and an FIR was all they were asking for. But the arrogance and the non serious attitude of the ministers have brought the state to this level. Every Pakistani who agrees or disagrees with the protest surely believe and have witnessed rigging in the General Elections of 2013, then what is the problem is doing a proper audit. Few constituencies that have been reopened, have seen massive rigging and fraud. Who is to blame? Who gets the benefit of doubt? Who is the beneficiary of the incoherent system?
These questions are yet to be answered, but things have gone far beyond that to a point where the conflict can only be sorted out only if the PM resigns. The sheer stamina and determination Imran Khan has shown, he has instilled the fighting spirit into his youth addressing them everyday to never give up. Families, women and girls who had never even passed by a political rally are now a part of Azadi March which is a clear indication the the working class of Pakistan has woken up for change.
Dozens of local and international media have been covering this protest, every analyst and opinion writer have an eye of their own. Some criticize him while others appreciate his stance. But my point is very clear, I stand by Imran Khan, I believe in him and his intentions, his sincerity to Pakistan is far superior to others. Very few people are born whose enemies applaud their honestly and credibility, and Pakistan’s Khan is one of them.