Their Last Wish Was Milk!

Asem Mustafa Awan

Islamabad: Hungry and crying, their last wish was milk, and what happened next was the family of four ending their lives owing to the tyrannical system prevailing in Pakistan.

Help was sought but it was simply not there. Residents of Hasilpur, the couple was faced with financial difficulties and found no work; their children, both under the age of five, demanded milk. The little ones’ wish was granted as parents go to extremes to fulfil their children’s demands and after feeding them, poison struck and all their lives slipped away. It is believed the milk was also borrowed.

The house rent added to the electricity bill resulted in a tragedy that should serve as an eye-opener. The removal of the electricity metre in sweltering heat due to non-payment, combined with the nagging of the landowner, made the young couple end their lives.

The welfare departments, with fudged figures and fictitious reports, paint a rosy picture on paper only, but the truth is that an ocean of corruption flows unchecked and uninterrupted.

Who is to blame? is a question that has remained unanswered to date. There are many reports appearing in the media day after day where families are committing suicide.

The people have no means and the good to be at work’ slogan is simply non-existent in the ‘land of the pure’ that was created and envisioned by the great Quaid Muhammad Ali Jinnah as a welfare state.

Where is that thought and vision of Quaid, where people continue to take their lives day after day? The answer lies with people who are at the helm of affairs.

The word ‘welfare’ is used in many departments and is limited to a select few who benefit from it through manoeuvring in their respective departments.

Welfare for the public exists in getting grants and funds, but its association with the public in general is nowhere to be found. The models adopted by other countries where welfare in its actual ‘word’ is seen and practised are run by people who have unimpeachable character. The trait is sadly missing in the leadership that rules the land of the pure, both past and present.

The corrupt practises of the ruling elite, if written about, will have many volumes and the lives that have been lost owing to their decisions will number in the millions.

The deceased family of four clearly states how the system has collapsed and failed its residents who try to break free from the shackles by all possible means using air, land and sea.

The Greek boat tragedy happened last month, and the land route from the countries bordering Pakistan has many skeletons and scattered identities. There have been incidents involving people hiding in the space that is for aeroplane tyres and then falling off the skies to meet their end. All risks were taken just to get out of here.

There is a lot happening in Pakistan and a commoner is at his wits end. How many more will take their lives to make policymakers review their publicly unfriendly decisions? Only time will tell, but at present it is their fat bellies and accounts that are getting full.

According to the report from Switzerland, the state elite of Pakistan has stashed over 190 billion US dollars that, if brought back, can change fortunes for the entire nation and people will live with heads held high. It has never happened until now and there is a possibility that it will never happen.

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