Pakistan - Punjab CM is building his Disneyland on the graves of the country's youth's dreams

By Rida Zafar Ghumman

CM Punjab Shahbaz Sharif has introduced another plan for the “beautification” of Lahore: the construction of Lahore’s very own Disneyland. Hailing from an industrial background, his actions can easily be predicted. Handing out laptops, investing in infrastructure – his focus is ultimately on capitalism.

As a matter of fact the extremely high poverty rate of Southern Punjab is not unknown, even to a common man. The families residing in the same city face eviction and destitution. The working class of the area is suffering one breakdown after the other. There is nothing that can be done except to sit and wonder who those people are who are too blind to see and realize the fundamental necessities of these poor souls.

I request the CM to just for once go out on the streets and ask a common man about his priorities. He must go out and see if building bridges, distributing laptops, celebrating festivals, running metro buses and now, establishing a Disneyland would make the common people’s miserable lives better. He might be surprised to hear the answer.

These city lights disgust me. This city is full of fake luminosity and high standard gewgaw. How can someone appreciate this deceptive model of advancement knowing that there is someone out there in the corners of the town’s dark streets, wailing, with empty stomachs, minds and souls? They are unable to cherish this fancy structured town because they have been wrecked on the inside.

How can you enjoy the cool breeze blowing around, when you know that there is someone out there for whom this air is too heavy to breath? How can you build bridges made of solid concrete when you know that there is someone out there whose has to eat concrete to fill his empty stomach? How can you think of building a Disneyland when you know that you are killing a million dreams every day by depriving people of their basic right of education? 

Sorry, but not sorry. I can't pretend to appreciate these city lights until the deprived 95 percent of our country have the lives to appreciate