A Breath of Fresh Air

In many ways attending the PTI Minnesota dinner on 01/29/12 was a breath of fresh air. Unlike the politics that at least some of us have witnessed at some point in our lives in Pakistan, this was not about swearing an undying allegiance to a leader promising a brick for a stone against another ethnicity, nor was it about our tax-payer money sponsored billionaires claiming to be a God-sent gift to the beleaguered lot of Pakistan. It was an educated lot of people who have found a home away from home in Minnesota, but remain connected through what they have left behind or what they have brought with them, be it material or recognition of what their country has given them. They are every bit as Pakistani as their brethren back home.

The loud applause that broke out in acknowledgment of PTI struggling to win the expatriates their right to vote was a testament to this infallible bond we share with Pakistan. Each one of us is pained by the state of affairs in the country. I am constantly reminded of a comment in the many political talk shows that come our way, “Pakistan is not a poor country but a poorly governed country.” I admit that until a few days ago I used to wonder of the “electability” of PTI candidates. Resilience can masquerade as helplessness only for so long and it seems that the "critical mass" of change is gathering. The massive crowds PTI has drawn in Lahore, Karachi and a list of cities that grows with time, is a harbinger of the hands of the deprived reaching out to reclaim the coffers that keep the future of their children locked away. Be it the notorious Swiss accounts of Mr. Zardari or the exponential growth of the assets of the Sharif Family in years of power. When the latter were handing out yellow cabs to literate able-bodied men, Imran Khan was bringing world-class cancer treatment to some of the most under privileged in the world. When they were boasting of the motorway project as their vision, even decades after it was completed and nothing further to offer, Imran Khan was bringing world-class education in the form of Namal College.

PTI promises to empower the people of this country and not beg and steal their allegiance based on ethnicities. In the impressive turnout by the Pakistani community tonight, there were people of all ethnicities, different backgrounds, the old and the young – many among them the children that we would want to grow up proud of their identities. At a time when the fault lines in our society lay exposed and exploited by vested interests, PTI promises to restore the cohesiveness that can place us among the best of the best by the Will of Allah SWT.

Pakistan lacks not in its geography, climate, agriculture, resources for energy generation or potential for industrial development. Unlike the caricatures we see of ourselves in the Western media we are a nation that desires peace. Our foundations lay in our desire to break free from persecution and live with dignity. As Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah said in his speech on 15th August 1947 “Our object should be peace within, and peace without. We want to live peacefully and maintain cordial friendly relations with our immediate neighbors and with the world at large."

PTI is in all likelihood our last chance to correct course. A handful of elite families have sucked at our veins long enough. It is our duty to speak up against the decades of injustice and I hope the Pakistani community in Minnesota and the US rises to the challenge.

Ameen!