Dung Cakes Reality!

Pakistan In Picture

Asem Mustafa Awan

She is as old as Pakistan and has for decades pasted dung cakes for cooking and staying warm, first as a child and now as an old woman. Nothing has changed for her and her loved ones; all the hollow slogans for poverty alleviation by the government failed to reach her when she was young, and now at present she prefers to have selective retention so that she doesn’t get caught in the war of words. Nothing has changed; her day starts from sun up to sun down. Her state of misery attracts the world, and slogans like life, liberty are aired by people who show her to the world and later gobble down all that is given to her from philanthropists for changing her life.

The truth is that nothing ever changes for her and people who sell her misery have their lives changed. This has been going on for decades and no wonder Pakistan has very poor infrastructure despite having an abundance of resources, but nothing changes for the ‘commoners of Pakistan’.

The slogan Pakistan Zindabad, ‘meaning long live Pakistan’, has been changed to ‘Pakistan Say Zinda Bhag’, meaning getting out of Pakistan alive. The poor economic state, with millions below the poverty line and the least priority given to health and education, is taking its toll. International reports state that 80 percent of Pakistanis have no access to clean drinking water. When a simple glass of water is unhealthy and unhygienic, the government’s talk claims of taking Pakistan to new heights appear to be trash talk.

There is no second opinion. Pakistan leads the world in many things, but this lead is limited to a select few and a ‘blessed lot’ that take the maximum benefit from it. If middle-aged people doing odd jobs are asked, “What did you achieve in life? Their answer is very curt and terse: running out of Pakistan had hurdles that required ‘herculean strength’,” which with adulterated and contaminated food was not possible. The malnourished, rather undernourished, children and youth of Pakistan have little hope as those who feed them adulterated food for decades have never been caught, and this continues to this day.

Pakistan’s neighbouring countries over time evolved and changed rules besides punishing those who dared to do food adulteration, and the quality of life improved along with overall national health. Pakistan’s policymakers will take many decades to make these basic needs available for the commoners of Pakistan, as the life of Pakistan is far more nutritious than the common lot that is faced with disease and hunger.

The writer is a journalist based in Islamabad and writes on a wide range of issues.

Photo credit: APP