Happy Independence Day to all Pakistanis out there! After saying this these days people then often ask, are we truly free? I don't know actually. May be with the tons of problem we have at home, we are not that free. May be with the injustices with commit against each other, we are not better off than pre-independence. May with the economic, social, cultural and religious realities on the ground entrapping us we are not as free as we wanted to be. May be our perpetual mistakes have rendered us incapable of making the right choices and we are toiling under the burden of this handicap.
Yet, there is the feeling of independence. The feeling that comes from one generation's effort to seek the place for us that will give us all the opportunities, that will let us be who we are. It is the feeling of living with that ideal, that we remind ourselves of every year on this day. This is like the mixed feeling of being hungry and uneasy during a fast, but not unhappy or dissatisfied because you are very aware of the ideal that this unease is borne for.
So on this day, let us all be free in spirit even if we are chained in body. Let us remember the ideal this day stands for and let us remind ourselves of all the efforts that were made. Let us remind ourselves that we are still better off. At least we have the prospect of success, if not success yet. This is the land of opportunities where everything is possible. This is what we have to celebrate.
So let us forget our differences. Stop thinking in kith and kind first and think Pakistan first. Only then our choices will be conciliatory and not contradictory. Our efforts will become focused and one directional. Our energies will transform us rather than cancel each other and maintain the status quo. We will stop fighting over one bread and bake enough for everyone. Its is time to think Pakistan first.