Here's to the 72 years of freedom that we have
earned, wait, correction, our ancestors had earned. We, on the other hand, have
done our best jobs to damage it and we have served well. Now I apologize if I
came down on the patriotic mood of yours. I meant no offense.
Our beloved homeland has made it to 72 years,
all bleeding, all scratched, all withered but nevertheless all beautiful. Our
roads are loaded with charged patriots. We love our land. We are happy, happy
to be free. Happy to have been bestowed with the gift that our ancestors
presented to us. And what did it cost? Blood. Sons, daughters, fathers,
mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, the unborn.
See, I share your spirit too. I don't share your
way celebration, perhaps. This day isn't a happy day for me. Of course, I am
grateful for it. When I think about the ‘what ifs’, what if we never had won?
Where would we be now? Dead? Caged? At war? Maybe we'd be coexisting
peacefully. But that's a far-fetched maybe. And I am talking Timbuktu far. When
I think about the lands that are not quite free. The ones at war. The ones
where human life has no value. Kashmir, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, Iran… The list
goes on. And what breaks my heart even more is the fact that it has only just
begun. Peace takes years and years of blood to prevail and it takes one moment
to break it.
Wars, on the other hand, wars are easy. Hatred
is easy. It doesn't hurt the way caring does. Political games.
And when I think about them, I feel relieved to
be here. And I hate myself for feeling it but there is nothing wrong with it.
It's human, if not really humane.
So when the day comes, it's a blend of emotions.
I am happy to be here. But it breaks my heart because the day is always sad.
The aura is always sad. Because the sacrifices never faded. The horrors never
ceased. Maybe they never do.
Maybe someday I'd talk about the irony of this
situation but not today. Today is about independence, the happiest sad day, or
the saddest happy.
While we have the independence, that we owe to
Jinnah and Iqbal and the ones who got wrote down in the history and the ones
who never made it to be known, they all did it for us, selflessly. They knew
they wouldn't make it, but they had faith that we would. And so we did. But we
ruined everything along the way.
Happiest Birthday Pakistan. Long Live my beloved
homeland. We're sorry to have failed you, to have failed our ancestors. We're
sorry to have taken the sacrifices, that were already beyond our bearing, for
granted. And in doing so, we have made them heavier. We're sorry that our
patriotism wakes up for one day, or when we're challenged but sleeps all the
other days. Because we're so ready to defend but we are not ready yet to amend.
We can lay down our lives for the country but
that's about it because working to make it better is a bit much to ask.
Dear beloved, I wish you recovery for we have
damaged you a lot. Dear beloved, I wish you the best people because you deserve
them.
I wish we find it in our hearts to do something
for this country, and for our people suffering in our neighbor land. They came
so close to being with us, and they're still suffering. Our land maybe diseased
but it's not rotten yet. It's survivable. May Pakistan live long. May Kashmir
be free. May all the lands be safe. May we find it in our hearts to do more
than mere talk. May God be with us all.
