Sab se ooncha
ye jhanda hamaara rahay!

By Ali Suleman

A few days back while I was on my way to university after a week's leave, a strange sight caught my eye. Just as I reached Islamabad Club Road, my jaw dropped suddenly at what I saw there on the street-light poles: the ruling political party's flags! Not just on one or two poles, but the whole highway poles held them gracefully, much like ostentatious showpieces! The incredulity that I had at seeing the sight left me speechless for a minute or two, after which I pointed out this queer discovery to a classmate of mine sitting next to me in the car. What he told me left me more annoyed than amazed. He said that the whole Islamabad was full of such poles! Faisal Avenue, Jinnah Avenue, Islamabad Highway, Murree Road, 7th Avenue; you name it! And this was all just to celebrate the birthday of a party's former chairperson.

Our dear rulers claim that their former chairperson was a national leader. She was not only the leader of one specific political group or party, they say, but was the most popular Pakistani national leader worldwide, citing the evidence that the whole nation was engulfed by a deep wave of grief and anger when she died, and whole world expressed its sorrow on her sad and untimely demise. If this is true, and she really is the representative of the whole nation, then why hang a specific party's flag to remember and honour her? Why not hang Pakistan flags instead, as a symbol of national unity in memory of the great leader? Ever witnessed a Muslim League flag on Quaid's birthday?

Similarly, when the National Cricket Team landed at Lahore Airport after bolstering the spirits of the whole nation by bringing home the T20 Trophy, political workers of various political parties literally destroyed the whole to-be-national event by waving flags of their own respective political parties. Can anyone please explain to me the need of a political party representation at such an event that is to politics as Atif Aslam is to paratrooping?

This was just one example. From protest against load shedding to the concert of the revolutionary musical band Laal; be it any event, Pakistani national flags are nowhere to be seen; the only flags dominant are those of the political parties! Once I witnessed a minor protest against the imprisonment of a certain trader, where political workers (good God knows what they were doing there!) were carrying their flags and were desperately searching for a suitable spot to fix them. From their appearances it was evident that they didn't have the faintest idea of what was going on there, but were only ordered to represent their party wherever there was a gathering!

This is so pathetic that the so-called leaders of the nation can't even have a consensus on any national issue no matter how serious it might be, and are always adamant on pursuing their personal political benefits without any consideration of how dreadful it might turn out for the country. And this no-Pakistan-flag scenario is a glaring proof for that! Are the political parties here to promote nationalism in the country, or just to advertise their own political brands?

Where our so-called national leaders will lead us to, no one knows. Unless we, the people, do something about it, the situation will keep on deteriorating. After all, we are the ones who make these self-centered beasts our leaders. We vote for them, and we bring them to power. Now, it's our duty to teach them to mind themselves. We have to tell them that this is not their country; this is our country, for we, the public, are the real owners of this country, not some specific egocentric politicians! If you are a national leader, then try doing something for the nation. Later that week, a couple of my classmates, Rashid and Yousaf and I took a rope and a Pakistan flag, went to the Jinnah Avenue, and with the help of two very patriotic labourers already working there on a construction site, hoisted the Pakistan flag on a street-light pole, higher than the ruling party's flag. It was a difficult task, given the height of the pole, and we didn't have a ladder, but we still managed to do it. The joy we felt on seeing that one lonesome flag wave and sway above the dozens of other vapid flags evaporated all our fatigue. We didn't touch the party's flags; we just hoisted another one there, higher. This was the only thing we could do!

Before leaving, I cast a last look at the flag, and the glorious sight reminded me of one of the national songs that was composed soon after the first display of the Pakistan flag by Liaquat Ali Khan, in the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, at the time when even the national anthem wasn't composed; this song was:

Chaand roshan, chamakta sitaara rahay

Sab se ooncha ye jhanda hamaara rahay!