Outlook 2008

Shabir, the mali (gardener) lives with his wife and three kids at the end of our street. He moved to Karachi from a small vilage in Punjab 8 years ago. Our neighbourhood is Shabir's workplace. Among other things he cleans all the cars, does grocerries and in short, is man-friday of our street.

His average monthly income stands at Rs. 4,000 per month. This is what he is able to make after working 7 days a week, dawn to dusk. He is content that his children go to a near by school, eat 2 meals a day and have shelter.

What Shabir, like many other Pakistanis, does not know is what he should expect for himself and his family in 2008. It's one of the many questions that a number of Pakistanis asked themselves on the new year's eve.

Riots have left thousands of people jobless for 2008 thanks to the factories, shops, etc that were set on fire. Images in the local newspaper showed children stealing grocery items from general stores. This is a clear indication that the poverty gap is widening. What greater evidence do the state economists need than the growing number of street children in Karachi, rotti (bread)prices raising up to Rs. 4.0, which was a mere Rs. 1.0 five years ago.

It was heart breaking for me to see Sydney enter 2008 with a lot of festivities. Fireworks, opera and cheerful crowds were the common images that flashed across my television screen last night as I watched the world welcome 2008. The sentiment was more or less the same across the developed continents. In Karachi, there was an hour long session of arial firing. You could sense that it was a display of who has the best guns than a gesture to welcome 2008!

Despite all of the above, I would still like to believe things will get better for good. The prevailing unrest across all 04 provinces is proof that we have actually started to think and voice our concerns towards growing social and political injustices. I cannot exactly pinpoint the end of it but an interesting start to 2008 is reported in the predictions made by Financial Times.

Here is to hoping that there are simple changes that contribute towards a stable and peaceful country. Where a common man feels safe when he leave for work everyday, where no one fears burning of godowns, shops, and factories as an outcome of political violence, where we are not forced to recite the Qalma (prayer) out of fear while driving up a bridge or flyover. It would be wishful thinking to ask for the perfect leaders. I've grown up to believe that such things are a fallacy atleast in case of Pakistan.

So when neighbours like "Ift" say that, 'Mein nay to apnay beta ko keh diya hai kay yahaan kuch nahee rukha aur tum forun Canada janay kee tyaree rukho...' ('translation: I've told my son there is nothing here [in this country] and that you start preparing to leave for Canada) I feel sorry for his limited vision and more sorry for the son who is being kicked out of his country by his own father.

No, there is nothing wrong in going to Canada. I say go travel the whole world. Learn as much as you can; with learning comes growth. But bring some learning home and share it with people around you, how else would we grow as a country?

2008 - may this be a year of peace and progress for Pakistan.

May our people be more tolerant to each other while driving on the roads.

May we learn to form a queue and wait for our turn at the bank counters.

May we rush to help each other in hours of trouble; and not stone, burn or break.

May we learn to honor the lives that have been lost in rescuing Pakistan.

May we learn to respect everyone's belief, opinion and right to disagree.

May we become less insecure of other nations and more confident of our own existence.

May our governments understand that this is the age of economic wars and not nuclear wars.

May we invest in our people and not on arms and ammunition.

May we create possibilities for Pakistan.

Happy New Year everyone!