A Nation in Mourning - Waiting for Morning.

*bang* - *bang* - *bang* - *bang*
*blast*

thats all it takes to bring down 160 Million people to their knees , or lets say temporarily. Some say its a sad sad day , some say it was inevitable. Regardless of the fact which camp i belong to reality remains the same. Crux of this whole issue doesnt lie anywhere but a disease which i have been talking consistently about.

'Our love for heroes'.

Its again this syndrome that has plagued this nation. Whoever masterminded this thing , just knew what he was going to achieve. Remember 9/11? Whoever was behind it did it just not to blow away some building , it was a symbolic disaster. Shock & Awe - what americans used in Iraq war as a strategy , they had gone through it already. Same thing has happened on this Thursday. It was mind blowingly thoroughly 'Professional' act of terrorism. You had to be on the street to know how much fear was around. I was walking around on the streets of lahore , 6:30 PM - its a time in this city where life is just beginning to find its place on roads. And i could see shutters going down already. Shutters going down in Lahore? This doesnt happen even at 3:00 AM in this city. This is a city which never sleeps.If a city has cafes which have 'all night long' policy , how can life desert its roads? - So i went inside one such cafe and the moments later even it was shutting down , waiting for angry mobs. I was among 4 customers. I could see terror on their faces and why not? You dont associate such moments to Lahore. I stayed there for 30 minutes , and in those 30 minutes i saw the rumor 'Mobs are coming - shut down the lights , doors and shutters' entering and leaving the cafe. It was so terrifying - that i laughed. Such is the state of our nation , we are built on fear. Oh, you must watch 'Bowling in Columbine' to know why is it so. I would just keep having scenes from this documentary and it mapped so perfectly well to the situation.

I moved out of cafe , it was becoming too stupid for me. Out on the road , i decided to walk. Why fear? THey are my country men. If they choose to kill me , thats their choice. Why should i tell them that i am even afraid of them? So i walked , walked for 40 odd minutes. With everyone coming from all directions stating something or the other. Street lights were turned off , roads had no cars , no transport. A city succumbed to the fear of unknown. I could hardly see my city in this shape. How come humans just become so fearful of their own specie? Own race? Own religion? Own creed? - So is the reality. Fear makes people forget who they are.where they come from.where they belong to.

Very night , i got calls from many people about Lahore's situation. I will depart from Lahore now, and try to see what has happened in this country , to this country.

We are a nation obsessed with individuals. You remove that person from the picture and it looks as if whole nation is going to come to an end. Benazir is just not an exception. This country has never been on the path to democracy as such. If people think , bringing in Benazir would’ve solved the issue , I am always going to disagree. Our political parties are autocratic by nature. Answer me , if you can ever imagine PML without Nawaz Sharif or PPP without Benazir. Its just because there are no elections within these parties. These are the people who are going to remain at the helm , unless they die one way or the other. So it makes considerable sense to remove the person , who becomes the nexus. What if they remove Musharraf? I am sure there will be even more chaos. Its more due to the stupidity of Musharraf than anything else. Once you hold onto an office for too long , everything starts moving in and out of your corridors. But when you are no more there , no one knows who is going to take control.

They say, In every disaster there is an opportunity. So is true for this time.

Our politicians should realize they have to die one day , and it makes perfect sense if they adopt democratic policies in their own parties. You keep a revolving door at the top. Just like democrats and republicans do. If you make it a personal politics , then you will keep facing this situation again and again.

Our military should just take a hint. They have tried their best to run this country through their ideas but how many times more they want to reach a similar situation? Gen. Ayub tried to run his own way of politics , failed. Similar fates are shared by Gen. Zia & Gen. Musharraf. I think they should accept that enough is enough – already.

Our intellectual class should just come out and talk. Talk about where to go , what to do. They go into hiding every time something happens which requires their input. If you will let masses play it out , then you are already seeing how they react. You can speak up – and you should.

Our nation should just accept that one person , one party or one group doesn’t constitute Pakistan. They don’t hold the fate of 160 Million people. They shouldn’t. Did anything happen when Jinnah died? Did any disaster happen when Liaqut Ali Khan was killed? Did we break up after the hanging of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto? Why should this be any different moment?We should always remember that we are as much responsible for the progress and prosperity of this nation as anyone else. Why being so pessimistic and turn this feeling into a stupid frenzy of burning things down and creating a havoc. Whose loss are we doing anyways? Its ours. Its not that difficult a reality to accept and understand – or are we too dumb?

Lastly my friends – its been a difficult year for this country by any stretch of imagination.

Things have happened badly, disasters have struck. But shall we remember , as a nation we have always come out. This time it should be the same. We have lost a leader – but rest assured in the process of grieving and mourning we don’t lose out on many more. Hope is the only thing which stops humans from turning into animals. Lets hope , that through these dark moments only days of glory will rise. Let’s keep working towards a better tomorrow, for only we hold our destiny.

*bang* - *bang* - *bang* - *bang*
*blast*

This is what it should take to bring us back. Together!