By Murtaza Haider Khan Khakwani
Sleep escaped me last night after reading about a young boy, a few years short of adolescence, hit and trampled to death by the cavalcade of Pakistan's ousted Prime Minister. According to witnesses and news reports, this child's body was driven over by a multitude of vehicles escorting the PM. There was a 'mobile health unit' in this motorcade too, which sped away without a care. The boy's father overcome with grief and horror, fainted as he witnessed this scene. Some say he suffered a heart attack.
Following the incident, the PM's stooges rebranded the murder of this child as 'a sacrifice for Pakistan'. They had the audacity to call him their 'little worker' in an attempt to dupe the masses into believing that this innocent bystander died for their cause. Their cause? Trying to reinstate a man who was disqualified by the country's Supreme Court for having amassed wealth (>$1 billion) beyond his means and following his rise to political power. They used the death of this child as a slogan to perpetuate their nefarious reign. If you think ousting this PM was an attack on democracy, allow me to burst your bubble of ignorance. No democracy would stand for this. Pakistan however, conducts a countrywide election to bring in self-proclaimed monarchs. Supported by a swarm of greed-ridden locusts that have sold their souls for a step up in society, wave after wave of such plagued individuals have been at the seat of power. The rot has set in, and nothing highlights institutional and moral failure more than the death of this child, and what followed.
The man whose parade trampled this child drove on to address a crowd of loyalists. During his speech, amongst other things, he uttered the following words, "Let's write a new history for our country.." Let's not. Let's hold you accountable for this death. Anyone with the slightest idea of how things work in Pakistan understands that every civil institution is subservient to the ruling party. The negligent drivers following this civilian acted this way because they did not have a choice to do so otherwise. Their oaths were to serve their masters over their country (evidenced by the saluting policewoman not too long). This dwindling loyalty is forced out of them as different governments serve their terms, and a failure to do so is a failure to provide for their families. A common trend nowadays, the collective West is immediately blamed for not covering the suffering of humans in the third world. Just the thought of it provokes fear and fury in complexed minds, forever thirsting for validation while pointing fingers, yet eternally blind to the value placed on human life and human suffering by these third-rate 'leaders'. It's easy to find glorified scapegoats when you are unable and unwilling to find the root cause of the problem.
True Western democracies will hold you accountable for taking the life of an innocent animal, let alone a human being. Try campaigning for political office after a hit and run that caused the death of a 9-year old in Canada, if the people don't rip you a new one the legal system certainly will.
If you don't find this to be one of the most damning and shameless acts in Pakistan's history, I implore you to revisit your moral values. Redirect your support, take it away from these inhumane clowns, and preserve the future of your country by educating yourselves and educating the masses. Only literate and critical minds can sIft through the mockery that has been made of your institutions, and it falls upon us to design a system of education that is enlightening, far-reaching and perpetual.
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