Absolutely NOT the End! By Saad Saeed

A heavy fog was descending and lonely trees around the park were looking increasingly grim. A crime had been committed. A crime against innocents. A crime against those who cannot fathom the meaning of the word “crime”. A crime against those who, in every religion, are considered to be very close and dear to God. God’s dear ones had been defiled and Man, with abated breath, feared that a divine wrath may descend upon him any moment and exterminate everything.

It looked as if nature itself had requested the heavens for the thick pall of fog that was shrouding every tree in an eerie darkness. Whenever a drop of water fell from some leaf I felt as if the nature was weeping and mourning. Nature wept at the crime of man against the innocents.

Walking alone in the deserted park, I received a message from a friend asking me whether I was listening to IK. I said no and before he could send me any further update regarding Imran Khan, I had already deciphered it, and his next message just corroborated me. So, we, the followers of IK and PTI, have reached that stage where the leader and his followers have a heart to heart interaction. Leader knows the reaction and the pulse of his followers and the followers know the actions and the thought process of their leader.

So the sit in that started in the steamy heat of August came to its end on a sad and chilly December night. Who would have thought that it was destined to end like this: In the wake of a national tragedy on the day which already evoked the memories of a sad chapter in our history. On that day, some 43 year ago two decades of injustices broke Jinnah’s Pakistan. On this day, an attempt was made to break “Pakistani nation”. 43 year back we failed Jinnah and Pakistan broke. But today, it appears that Pakistani nation has refused to bow down or retreat.

In the hour of this national tragedy, the container, from where emanated hope, energy, determination, will to fight against oppressors and the dream of a better Pakistan, had already taken a back seat. What was relevant on the night of Monday when we danced on the roads of Lahore on the tunes of all those familiar party songs, no longer appeared to be our main concern now. The black Tuesday had changed the dynamics of Pakistani politics forever.

So the great Khan was playing his final innings from the container. His score being 126, he opted to declare his innings for the greater benefit of his team (read Pakistan). Was it a wise move? Will the over-enthusiastic Insafians accept it? Who knows? But this much has been cleared (for the distrusting ones) that he was playing for his country and not for his personal statistics or his ego as some of the loathsome media pundits would like us to believe. Had he been doing it for the sake of a petty prime ministership or to satisfy his ego, he would have stuck to his guns because his rallies were drawing unimaginable and unmanageable crowds and his street agitation was giving sleepless nights and mental disorders to the pharaohs of Punjab and Sindh. His personal popularity was at its highest. The movement which he virtually created out of nowhere and that too single handedly, without the support of any other party, had become a national outcry against the corrupt regime. But, Lo and Behold, he sacrificed all of this for the sake of national unity. Read again: He sacrificed everything when his party’s success was in sight just for the sake of his country whereas some other opposition parties provided support to this regime in its weakest hours to avoid the specter of an investigation in the electoral malpractices and possibly a “reelection”. We fought and sacrificed for our country, they for their individual and party interests.

His left the container with a moral victory so high and so sound that his worst critics started praising him and in unison they demanded from the government to reciprocate by establishing a judicial commission to find out the truth about the farce that was named by some as election. Behind what excuse will the government hide now? Although in the heart of our hearts we know about the intentions of this government but our leader stands vindicated. In the days and weeks to come when the nation will come out of this grief, Truth, in the shape of trash, will start emerging from the ballot boxes of the constituency from where the speaker National Assembly had won. Now he has put his case in the court of the thinking and unbiased citizens of this country and has moved on.

Will I be able to see a leader greater than Imran in my life? A leader who can sacrifice his personal comfort for the sake of justice and who can leave behind his party interest for the sake of national interests? Perhaps not.

As of now we have a greater and more dangerous enemy to be dealt with wisely and forcefully. Let us unite in this hour of national catastrophe to avenge the blood of our innocents. Let us come together and chalk out a plan to annihilate this enemy once and for all. The blood of innocents demands unity against these barbarians.

But the struggle will continue. The fight against injustices, be they of any shape, will continue. We will start our movement afresh after three months if we are denied justice or our good intentions are misinterpreted as our political naiveté.

And lastly, do remember that these hard, chilly and cold winters are nothing but just the harbinger of a fast approaching spring when flowers of peace and justice will blossom in our land (which we call Naya Pakistan) Inshallah

We have won our battle on this front and now we have to close our ranks to fight on another war front: “Extremism”

by webmaster@insaf.pk (tkiadmin)