Stop this game of switching boats

Do you understand the language of silence? No? Then how is it my fault! In silence, there is a hidden scream, a protest, a storm. And when silence speaks, a fierce battle ensues, and no one is spared. Yes, no one. Those who live comfortably in palaces and those who suffer in huts and shanties are all the same. Just wait and see what happens after a period of anticipation; an accident doesn’t happen all of a sudden! Time nurtures it for years, then one day the volcano erupts, and the blazing fire spares nothing – wealth, honor, disgrace, the rich, and the poor, nothing at all.

An odd phenomenon has started where our rulers, in broad daylight, play with the emotions of the nation and are engrossed in trying to crown themselves as saviours. The nation is addressed as if they were sheep and goats, and their sufferings are mentioned with such heartfelt sympathy that the act of becoming a hero reaches its peak. Don’t you know that the mirrors of your deeds are scattered, and they don’t refrain from showing us our reflections? Break the mirrors into a thousand pieces; they never stop reflecting.

Prime Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif ended his address to the nation with a poem, trying to win the applause of a nation overwhelmed with sorrow and grief in a rather clumsy manner:

“The dark night shows no sign of waning,

This is the time for the sun to rise.

The Prime Minister’s address startled me, as he seemed unaware that he now holds the highest administrative position in the country, where slaves stand in queues, waiting to carry out his every command, eager to adorn the decrees falling from the mouth of His Majesty. Yet, his speech still bore the roaring opposition leader. There were emotions, accusations, wishes, and heavy words digging into the past, but nothing more! I was hoping to hear a formula for ridding the country of foreign debts, a plan to address the woes of a nation crushed by inflation, an announcement of any plan to address these issues with compassion. But he seemed more to be offering condolences for the injustices done to the nation along with expressing his own sorrows.

If only someone would inform him that he is no longer the opposition leader but the Prime Minister, and it is now his responsibility to remedy the very issues and pains of the nation he spoke of. The Prime Minister emphatically stated that the elite must reduce their expenses. But aren’t you part of the elite? If not, then to whom are you pointing? Why don’t you name them outright, and who will hold this elite accountable? Under whose order is the elite’s budget increased? Isn’t it you who increases their expenses in the budget? So, whom are you complaining about? Isn’t this the same elite with properties and plazas abroad, with billions of dollars in Swiss banks? When your brother was in power, your Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar promised to bring back $200 billion from Swiss banks. Where are those $200 billion? The nation should be informed why someone who gave false assurances and lollipops to the nation is again in such a high position? After the formation of PDM, he was brought back as the saviour of Pakistan’s sinking economy. Upon taking charge as the Finance Minister, his first act was to restore all his assets seized under court orders in Pakistan, collect full salary for his so-called exiled years spent in London, and instead of reviving the country’s economy, adopted a stance with international financial institutions that led to Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif himself admitting in front of the media that they had to bow down and beg to avoid bankruptcy.

The question is, on what merit and experience was such an incompetent person given the most important position of Finance Minister? According to the Constitution of Pakistan, or the democracy you claim to uphold, does it require only being the elder brother’s in-law? There is no mention of the Deputy Prime Minister’s position in the Constitution of Pakistan, but you participated in the World Economic Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with Ishaq Dar. During your absence, a notification was issued on a Sunday making Ishaq Dar the Deputy Prime Minister. Can the Prime Minister, who so passionately mentions the nation’s sorrows, explain why such a mockery was made of 250 million Pakistanis?

On one hand, you lament the destruction of the country’s economy, which indeed involves you and other powerful politicians and individuals. On the other hand, special privileges are being granted to the poor and destitute sitting in the Assembly and Senate, allowances for petrol, subsidies on electricity and gas bills, special concessions on air travel, luxurious hostels to stay in, yet why has their budget been increased? Were these privileges not included in the budget at your command? Or is someone else making this budget while you are still performing the duties of an opposition leader? The Parliament’s budget has been increased exorbitantly. Before seeking votes, these residents were shouting slogans of public service. But instead of serving at their own expense, why is the entire bill being paid by squeezing the public’s blood?

In your address, you complained about electricity theft. Who exactly are you complaining to? If electricity is being stolen, why are you in this position? Who will catch the electricity thieves? Who is using free electricity? Who will stop this? Give me an example of a country where there are concessions for electricity, gas, and other utilities. Do you know that around the world, Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu is heavily criticized, but even his office’s electricity was cut off three times in a year for not paying the bill on time? Yet, in your address, while expressing sympathy with the poor people of the nation, you didn’t mention that, according to the budget you pushed, 993 million rupees were allocated for the Prime Minister’s House for the current fiscal year. This amount is 267.3 million rupees more than the previous budget. For the next fiscal year, a budget of over 1.26 billion rupees has been allocated for the Prime Minister’s House, while the Prime Minister’s House has already spent 18.48 million rupees more than the allocated budget. Similarly, last year, 800 million rupees were allocated for the Presidential House, but it spent 110 million rupees more than its budget.

Prime Minister, in your address, you spoke about reducing the lavish expenses of the elite. Doesn’t this fall under those lavish expenses? Will these expenses be paid from your own pocket or from the nation’s taxes? So, who are you complaining to? You are very concerned about the heavy burden of increased taxes on the poor people of the country. Tell me, by whose order were these taxes imposed on the people in the budget? Your government presented the budget, or did Imran Khan come from jail to make this budget?

There is a fire burning in the house, and people are being slaughtered with a blunt knife in broad daylight. What concessions have you given in your presented budget? An ordinary citizen, seeing your lavish protocol, feels that you, the ruling elite, are like beings from another planet who come here only to rule us, take their turn, and then leave, while another comes with a specific agenda. Just yesterday, a renowned English professor sent me a video showing President Asif Zardari going to Eid prayers in his area with a convoy of 42 vehicles. I was ashamed because, on one hand, we are begging in front of international financial institutions like beggars, and on the other hand, we see such extravagance.

The democracy you claim to uphold, do you not know that you frequently visit the UK, where the Prime Minister has no protocol, doesn’t even have a flag on his car, and lives in a three-bedroom flat at 10 Downing Street with no staff for household work? Ministers and other officials here travel on public transport like ordinary citizens. It doesn’t end here; the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was fined for not wearing a seatbelt in a moving car and apologized to the entire nation for his mistake before the fine was imposed. The police confirmed the entire incident. Have you paid attention in your budget to how to get rid of the millions spent annually on protocol? When you are not in power, you don’t have such a lavish protocol, so why is it considered essential now?

But an ordinary person like me cannot even express the pain and agony that might change your lavish ways or make such an outstanding address on media to garner the nation’s sympathy like you did. Despite years spent wandering in the desert of journalism, having the skill of expression and an old relationship with the media, what can I do? Pain is pain, which exists in every person’s heart and chest. Where should one take this pain, to whom should one express it, and who should be shown these wounds? Prime Minister, if I speak to you, you might say there’s nothing new in it. But, your excellency, every pain is different, and everyone is alone in their sorrow. It is said that sharing pain lessens it, but here, it seems the opposite is true.

For many decades, I have endured immense suffering. It feels as though my pen no longer possesses the strength to lighten this burden. Every day, the television presents such heart-wrenching scenes that I ponder if it weren’t for the prayers of the beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), our nation’s specific group would face Noah’s flood and a rain of stones daily. Yet, thousands like me are compelled to think, how long will this continue? For those earning an honest living, it seems like the breath of life is slipping away.

On the other hand, in the scorching, blistering heat, from one end of the country to the other, over a dozen women, innocent children, and their relatives march with large pictures of their missing loved ones. They are now preparing to involve the United Nations in this matter because they have no hope of justice here. Meanwhile, hundreds of overseas Pakistanis, whose properties have been seized by the mafia, are also preparing to present their pleas to the United Nations.

I used to think about how the nation endured the trauma of the fall of East Pakistan. How did they survive such a massive trauma? How did they live, dying every moment? I always admired their resilience. The Bengalis of East Pakistan used to call us the occupation mafia. Whenever I feel that pain, I think that the nation felt the same in 1971. This pain, this prick, this depression, living while dying, or dying while living – call it what you will. We are alive; we have to pay our share of the debt. We have made sacrifices to save Pakistan before, but this time, the signs point to a greater sacrifice – one that involves the entire elite, for the nation’s patience is not infinite. Remember, the French Revolution was born from the dying endurance of the helpless and exhausted public, and every person with soft hands and a white collar was beheaded.

History bears witness that writers can change the destiny of nations. Appreciate those writers who are trying to build a dam against such dangerous floods today. If overseas Pakistanis like us stop sending remittances in protest, what will happen then? The flames are rising rapidly. Warning of danger is to prepare for it. It is my duty to inform you of these dangers. This elite, the land mafia, which is looting the nation with the collusion of influential people in various positions, is far more dangerous than the Pakistani Taliban, terrorists involved in actions in Baluchistan, contract killers, and extortionists who have made every institution their puppet. Prime Minister, please rise, for God’s sake, save your Pakistan from further destruction. It is your responsibility, solely yours. This is not the time for sermons like a preacher or a school headmaster; practical steps are needed, and this must start from your own home.

Does the respected Prime Minister know that when he was in a critical condition in a hospital in America, unaware of the world around him, he made a promise to Allah SWT: “If I survive, I will sacrifice my life for the justice of the rightful in Pakistan”? I am here to remind you of that promise made to God.

I do not believe I need to tell you that you are now the Prime Minister, running the country’s affairs with your orders. You yourself say that the people have elected you to this position. Should we also tell you who elected you and why? Believe me, the nation is no longer ready to be fooled by your speeches! Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif! With the verse you ended your speech, I let you curse in the next two verses!

Before the sea carries everyone away,
End this game of changing boats.
If the map gets distorted by the hands of greed,
No one will be able to set it right again.

Wednesday 26 June 2024