I was at Minar-e-Pakistan on 30 October with a bunch of my lady friends, none of whom had ever dreamt of attending a jalsa without a chaperon in Pakistan. My husband went with his friends, and we actually left a will behind as our four-year-old was being watched over by my parents.
Words cannot describe what we experienced at the jalsa. I speak for all of us when I say that we witnessed history and felt a new-found hope rising in a nation that we thought had given up.
However, the real test of PTI’s credibility started post-30 October. PTI stands for the ideology of freedom of expression, justice and rejecting status quo. I am taking this opportunity of using the first one here to talk about the other two. The ideology can come true with fresh faces, not the old tried and tested ones. Yes, PTI needs polished politicians to understand and help with the political scenario, especially the rural areas. No one can be stopped from joining a political party. But their overnight switch in ideology from another one to yours should not be rewarded with positions of top rank. They do not represent the true spirit of PTI. The old PTI patriots, who have faced the music and ridicule but stood fast; those who have given their heart and soul in bringing PTI where it is today, represent the true spirit. The new members need to first prove themselves and earn that position.
Sir, I don’t see Bilawal Bhutto or the Gillanis in the PM House bringing a change in Pakistan. I don’t see the Sharifs managing to change anything while pulling the strings from their mansion. I don’t see Altaf Hussain bringing a change over a telephone call. But I do see the hopeful common man, the passionate youth, the true Pakistan we saw at Minar-e-Pakistan, bringing a real change from your platform. If the PTI is not capable of considering and revising a decision that is causing unrest and anxiety among its loyalists, I fear the ideology of justice, freedom of expression and rejecting status quo may lose its true essence sooner than the critics have forecasted.
MAIRA OMAIR RANA
Lahore