Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking announced only a few months ago that, ceteris paribus, humans have 100 years left on planet earth. Among the myriad of factors that are believed to contribute to the human race’s abrupt end, one is overpopulation. Aided by its ugly brethren – deforestation, over-industrialisation, and climate change – overpopulation is that rein-less monster that could, very soon, cause the human populace to implode.
Unfortunately, as is the case with most bad phenomena, we Pakistanis have played a major role in overpopulating the earth. The recent census places the country at number 5 in the list of the world’s most populous countries, compared to number 6 in 2010, and number 7 in the year 2000. The recent count has seen us overtake long-term population heavyweight, Brazil, with our population clocking in at 208 million – the latter’s at 207 million.
One must take this opportunity to congratulate all Pakistanis: if it hadn’t been for our steely, incredibly imprudent resilience, and endless ignorance, we, as a country, would never have been able to outdo the population of a country ten times our size. Ten times! It has taken one multiple takes to grasp the truth of this very statement.
It takes a huge, unanimously heedless collaborative effort of a unanimously stupid population to achieve that feat. One hopes the maulvis are giddier than ever at having increased the Muslim population of the world by so much that it might just break the back of the proverbial camel, shoving us ever closer to the Day of Judgment that they covet above all else! Their interpretation of religion has led us to this fate – how long before Pakistanis gain the strength to call out these religious quacks and their outdated ideas in unison, and tread the path of enlightenment that our founders wanted us to walk upon?
In a 1994 piece for UK’s The Independent, Benazir Bhutto expresses words that now seem ahead of their time: “Since demographic pressures, together with migration from disadvantaged areas to affluent states, are urgent problems transcending national frontiers, it is imperative that in the field of population control, global strategies and national plans work in unison. Perhaps, that is a dream. But we all have a right to dream. I dream of a Pakistan, of an Asia, of a world, where every pregnancy is planned and every child conceived is nurtured, loved, educated and supported. I dream of a Pakistan, of an Asia, of a world, where we can commit our social resources to the development of human life and not to its destruction. That dream is far from the reality we endure. We are a planet in crisis, a planet moving towards catastrophe. The question is whether we have the will to do something about it. I say we do. We must.”
The melancholy in BB’s words – “Perhaps that is a dream”; “That dream is far from the reality we endure” – would pinch any thoughtful soul, giving us the grim reminder that we may strive to slow this ticking time bomb, but we may not succeed in altogether stopping it. However, even impending failure does not warrant inaction. Unlike BB, none of our national or provincial leadership has dared to speak boldly and openly – let alone enact legislation – on the issue, so far.
Where are our current leaders’ statements condemning the growth of population in the country? Where is their reaction on the results of the 2017 census? Where is the PMLN leadership? Still busy begging for votes while an issue of utmost critical importance goes ignored? Where is the leader of the youth, the self-proclaimed catalyst of change, Imran Khan? Has he again u-turned back to his notorious, pro-Taliban days? Where is the PPP leadership? Fighting with the centre over the accuracy of the results, are we, Mr Murad Ali Shah? One knows better than to expect good administration from him, and others like him: to devise plans for the reduction of population of the country instead of playing politics over what I would term another national catastrophe.
The answer to all the above is: they are all afraid and hiding under the turbans of those who deem themselves the torchbearers of religion, in the country and outside of it. None of them wants to step on the toes of our religious mafia, who thinks that population control is haram and that family planning is unneeded. To understand the extent of the ignorance of the matter among our so-called religious scholars, one must listen to Zakir Naik speak on this issue.
The so-called “Dr’s” logic behind the lack of need for family planning? “I am the fifth child of my parents. If my parents had practiced family planning, I would never have been born.” Well, maybe you do not know it, yet, sir, it might have been all the better for all of humanity if you hadn’t. One prays that you live a hundred more years if only to discover the gravity of your parents’ mistake.