Religious festivities are a time to celebrate and relax, but in Islam, particularly, it is emphasized that those who are underprivileged should not be denied the opportunity to join in. Though I am one fortunate person to be surrounded by people who feel the pain of others. Just a day before Eid, my elderly mother had a fall, and the excruciating pain made me suspect a fracture in her hip joint.
I have many doctor friends, yet the kind and noble Professor Dr. Yasir Khan from the KRL hospital was the first person I reached out to. He was kind enough to coordinate at the emergency and even ensured that the head of the orthopedic department, the honorable Dr. Abdul Basit, detected the fracture that even the X-ray technician and the doctor on duty failed to detect, despite critical analysis of the image.
I owe both of them my heartfelt gratitude for sharing the pain of my elderly mother at the cost and convenience of their own well-deserved Eid holiday, and that too on a Sunday, after being drained of their energy through their hectic schedule due to their demanding job.
Nevertheless, this spirit of sacrifice is something I have never observed in our privileged rulers, who ensure that the underprivileged are kept at bay. The city of Islamabad remained blocked, including the road to Faisal Mosque, the only venue where the underprivileged from the twin cities converge to celebrate their holiday and find some peace away from their hectic lives, struggling to make ends meet due to the luxurious lifestyle of their rulers, from which they continue to pledge the lives of these hapless Pakistanis to international lenders.
It is these very hardworking poor people who keep the Pakistani economic wheel in motion, whether they are laborers, masons, mechanics, electricians, or farmers. Nevertheless, the only hospitality that the state accords them on such religious festivities is free prison vans awaiting them to be transported to prison, all in the name of an Islamic Welfare State.
It is this compassion and empathy of the rulers that is increasing the gap between the haves and have-nots, taking us on a dangerous path of national disintegration, with Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa being a glaring example of how we continue to chop off these two hands from the body of Pakistan without even feeling the slightest pain.
Eid Ul Fitr Mubarak to family and friends. One can only hope that we feel the pain of others to avoid suffering the enduring pain of dismembering our own limbs, leading to a permanent handicapped life, as if losing East Pakistan was not enough of a traumatic life and emotional pain that the nation suffers to this day. Long Live Pakistan 🇵🇰🇵🇰
