Democracy in Pakistan
By Mustansar Khan
The experiment of democracy in Pakistan has rather borne disappointing results. Since the making of Pakistan even after 75 years, the average Pakistani has yet to see the faintest image of the fruits, the rights as a citizen he deserves. Cases pending in courts have dealt a death blow to litigants with many meeting demise on way to various courts, spending whatever little amount they saved from hard earned money.
The promised land of the pure has made the life so difficult for the persevering downtrodden masses, that quite a few chose to go to the other side rather than making appeals and bickering for the rest of their lives. The bureaucracy especially the health department has dealt another death blow to the people. The callous doctors eager to make an easy buck from the affluent are the least interested in tending to the poor patients. I know how the medics working in government hospitals shun the patients who suffering a multitude of ailments are made to stand in queues for hours only to find out that the time for getting a check up has passed and they should try again the next day. So it should not come as a surprise if one finds out that the office where he had to meet someone for his work is empty because the job is not lucrative and no palm greasing is involved, on the other hand departments where corruption is involved, one can find officials sitting a long time after office hours.
All governments good or bad promised jobs for the educated but not even one fulfilled its promises, the result being a steep rise in crimes. Hardly any effort has been made to create jobs for the educated youth, the result being that hundreds and thousands of highly qualified youth have gone abroad to get a chance for better opportunities.
After Independence the first thing we departed from was law and order, various mafias raised their heads at the behest of politicians and groups in or out of the government. Laws were ignored while allotting pieces of land to Qabza groups. The result being that there has been a mushroom growth of residential colonies around the city of Lahore. The agricultural land has been turned into a concrete jungle destroying the weather of the City of Gardens. Once the food basket of the subcontinent now the province of Punjab has to import foodgrain and vegetables to feed its population at a staggering price.
Massive corruption has eroded our ethics and morals and those at the helm of affairs are constantly playing with and tampering with laws to get a clean chit. The aforementioned is brief is a description of the experiment of democracy in Pakistan.
