Understanding Independence

 

-Muhammad Abrar

August 14, 2021

Today we see the flags in the hands of children, atop homes, the batches on the chest, the ribbons in the hands, mili nagme on social media and vehicles disguised in white and green colour. The whole nation is celebrating the 75th independence day of the beloved mother land. But at the same time we are forced to think about the challenges of high infation, extreme poverty, raging unemployment, and corruption. Moreover, the tough terms and conditions of internationl institutions like IMF, World Bank, FATF etc. So, a question floats in the mind how can we be an independent nation when are entangled in the clutches of doreign domination and internal chaos?

A lot of reasons can be given to explain the negligence of nation as well as ruling junta in undermining the true picture of freedom. Here are some important of them:

Firstly, our Pakistan Studies talks about the Pakistan Movement in a highly doubtful manner. For it, the becoming of Pakistan was the result of the Muslim League of Quaid e Azam whereas there are many heroes that have been labelled "rebels" just for 'interest game'. For example, the killing of hundreds of Muslims Ullema has not even been mentioned in any page of the book. Moreover, there were many freedom fighters who played a significant part in their contribution towards freedom movement but not a single page embraces their contribution.

Secondly, one obvious reason is also the wrongly-delivered notion of 'independence'. For the common people of the country, independence is attached to having a separate homeland. But the case is not simply so. With the changing geo-political, geo-economic and globalised world, the real independence lies in being sovereign in your national decisions. For a country like Pakistan where the ruling elites hail from the Western countries, the decision are, in most of the cases, in the hands of international institutions like IMF, World Bank, Amnesty International, FATF, UNO or its sub-institutions. Because the hold on these institution is of today's dominant powers, they actual articulate the decisions. That's why we see that in spite of being ripe and rich with natural and human resources, Pakistan still faces the perennial challenges of inflation, poverty, strained health-care system, low-quality education, shambling infrastructure, ravaging unemployment and unsympathetic government.

Thirdly, there are very strange facts that have never been brought to screen. For example, Pakistan is considered to be an Islamic state, but why was it established on Christian paper, by the British government? Moreover, Pakistan, until 1956, was operated upon the Indian Act of 1935, despite being an independent state. Even today most of our laws are derived from the British laws. The laws which the British parliament formed to enslave the people of India, we are still using them to govern our people. It means we are slaves in the colonial clutches of the constitution.

Fourthly, the real threat to the Indians was the British dominance. They looted the wealth of the 'golden sparrow' and exploited the people. But we still never considered the British our enemy and developed hatred against the people who have been living with us for hundreds of years.

Fifthly, one another point can also be given on our un-attained 'freedom' that our rulers have always been the students of the foreign universities. The incumbent prime minister has its education from the expensive and Western dominated institutions. So, how can the pople_ who have spent their childhood to youth in the developed countries_ understand the problems of the underdeveloped country?

To sum up, I would say there is a dire need to understand the true-meaning of independence. Only then can we struggle in the direction of a glorious time.