Today, August 14, 1995, we have gathered here to celebrate the 48th anniversary of our independence. This independence was achieved thru the sacrifices of those millions of men,

women, and children who were unable to savor the fruits of FREEDOM. Let us begin this day by paying homage to their memories and let us resolve with a firm commitment that their sacrifices were not in vain.

Ladies and gentlemen: May I request that we all stand up and devote a minute in silent prayer for those whose efforts made PAKISTAN possible.

Thank you !

August 14, fellow citizens, is no doubt a day to celebrate and rejoice, but, more importantly, it should also be a day of Stock-taking. We should get away from the rituals of the day and spend a little time in drawing up a balance-sheet of what this nation has gained and what we have lost.

Let us begin with the plus side. In 1947, the cynics and those who did not accept the idea of a separate homeland for the Muslims of the sub-continent, presented their doomsday theory that this fledgling country will not be able to survive as an independent nation for more than six months. Let us visualize the scenario at that time. We had to start from scratch. We had no industry to speak of. We had no workable banking or financial set-up. Our civil services and the armed forces were yet to be organized. Refugees were pouring into the country in droves. Infra-structure was non-existent.

Inspite of all these adverse circumstances, including those which I have not even mentioned, the initial nation building effort commenced. The motherland had amongst her fold those dedicated, motivated, and courageous men and women, who believed in the philosophy of this independent entity, and who took upon themselves the Herculean task to build this country, piece by piece.

Today, 48 years later, inspite of the turbulent eras in this nation’s chequered history, inspite of the loss of a major chunk of this nation, and inspite of the fifth columnists who looted, corrupted, and plundered the vital resources, this country is still an important part on the world map. The green and white banner of the country proudly flutters over the globe. We are still existing and Inshallah, will continue to exist and survive.

Ladies and gentlemen, let us venture into the gloomy area of the proverbial balance-sheet. I will not dabble into the flimsy issues that are a continuos source of irritation and frustration in the minds of we, the people who constitute the Silent Majority. The harsh reality today is that we face the worst socio-economic and political crises in our 48 years of history. Let us talk about the economy. In plain, simple English, ladies and gentlemen, we are a bankrupt nation. Even if we accept in toto the government’s manipulated figures as correct, we are still bankrupt. To highlight this point, let me quote Humayun Gauhar, the Editor of Politics & Business, in its latest anniversary issue : "Our external debt now stands at an astronomical figure of US$ 29.50 billion which means Rs 914.50 billion or Rs 91,450 crores ! Pakistan’s population is supposed to be 120 million, which means that each one of us is indebted just to the foreign lenders to the tune of Rs 7,620 and increasing ; whilst the average annual income of each one of us is only US$ 450 or Rs 13,950. So if each one of us foregoes about half a year’s income and lives just on hot air and rhetoric, we will be able to pay off our foreign debt" (unquote) ! Ladies and gentlemen, let me remind you that the majority of our population survives on much less than the per capita income stated by my friend Humayun. Do I need to speak any more on the economic scene ?

The next bad news is the social sector. I like to shorten this by quoting reliable figures provided by the UNDP in its last Human Development Report. Ladies and gentlemen, I wish the organizers of this function had also provided seat belts for you because what I am about to reveal should jolt you out of your seats, and may leave you bewildered.

45 % of us have no access to healthcare. That’s nearly 55 million people. Half of Pakistan has no access to safe drinking water. The remaining 60 million of us, including the urban residents, drink water which is flavored with sewage, effluence, and the Aga Khan Hospital Lab knows what else we are imbibing in the name of safe water. 80 % or nearly 100 million Pakistanys are deprived of any semblance of sanitation. The access to sanitation by the rest of the 25 million people, dear friends, I leave it to your vivid imagination. 45 million or nearly 37 % live below the poverty line, an imaginary line so hard-heartedly devised by the statisticians. 52 % of our children, the future of Pakistan, suffer from malnutrition. 52 % ! And what to talk about the education syndrome ? Only 50 % of our children enter the ghetto-type shanties, the government calls as schools. This figure tapers down to a dismal 0.75 % who enter the portals of higher education, we call colleges. This, friends, is the horrifying truth which I term it as PYRAMID OF IGNORANCE.

By the way, do not be further depressed because we have another thing to consider too. We are a nation of 120-130 million people depending upon which figure suits you. In less than 25 years we will become 250 million and then the sky will be the limit. At the same time, the yield of the agricultural farms of the Sardars, Waderas, Zamindars, and the Chaudaris, etc. is so pathetic that we keep on importing a new item every year. From a cotton exporting nation, we look now to the Central Asian Republics for the silver fiber. Wheat, sugar, and other food items are now imported. Allah forbid, but we could mess up the rice crop and contact Myanmar to cater to our daily staple.

Ladies and gentlemen : It is time to contemplate what we, the citizens, and especially those of us who are considered the intelligentsia can do to bring forth pragmatic change. What can we do on an individual basis and on a collective basis. Where do we go from here, so that on August 14, 2000, we may gather at a function such as this, and do some extensive soul-searching to determine whether we have paid our dues to society. Have we contributed in invoking the conscience of our friends, families, the rulers, and even our ownselves to do something positive and unselfish ? Let us look into some possibilities of what we can do in this respect. However, whatever we do, please note, and I stress this seriously, that we will only be partially returning the debt we owe to our country !

Before I now proceed to make a few concrete suggestions, please allow me the liberty of bringing the memory of our Father of the Nation and relate to you what some of his innermost thoughts were for a better Pakistan. In a speech in 1941, while talking about the soul of the nation, he mentioned a very pertinent Dutch proverb which is even more pertinent in these present circumstances :

Ladies and Gentlemen, sorry to state, but today we have become insensitive, we have adopted a "couldn’t-care-less" attitude, and we are totally oblivious to the suffering and agony of those around us who need our solace and support. In other words, we are on the verge of losing our very soul.

Meantime, what do our leaders do on this auspicious day ? I’m sure most of you have glanced today’s newspapers and maybe had a big laugh. The dailies are filled with hypocritical sermons espousing the ideals of the Quaid and harping his watchwords of Unity, Faith, and Discipline. Tell me, do our leaders really believe, understand, and practice these golden words ? Then also, do we all present here preach and practice this motto of the Quaid? Certainly not ! Like our exalted leaders we too only give lip-service to it.

Coming back to my desire to present some practical proposals, let me confess that I was truly grateful to the organizers for giving me this opportunity to make an attempt to motivate you to make a positive contribution to this nation and society. I know that in this fast moving world with our own personal problems and our own priorities, I still would be a proud man if I can convince even one of you to take time out and respond to any one or more of my suggestions. I honestly mean it!

Ladies and gentlemen, I have a few proposals and I think that the best way would be to start from our city, a place that really needs us more than ever. The first thing that this City of Lights needs is PEACE! As you know, violence begets violence, and this vicious cycle must be broken thru the process of sitting across the negotiating table. Without being partisan, and considering earnestly the combined 39 points of both the parties to the dispute, let me state that as residents of this City, our welfare, and our rights do not figure at all in these disputed points. It seems that we, the people, just don’t exist or matter in their scheme of things!

Can’t we, the Karachiites, do the same to bring peace to this city ? I say we can. Yes ! we can do it if we plan, organize, and act. When a people are deprived of their socio-economic rights for a prolonged period of time, and ultimately are also deprived of their political rights, we have a Bangladesh in the making. Let us wake up before we make another Bangladesh out of Karachi. How do we go about overcoming this logjam ? We have to build public pressure. This can be done thru the press media, thru peaceful demonstrations, thru corner meetings, and thru asserting ourselves strongly to all concerned parties, especially thru our elected representatives. For your information, recently an organization under the banner of Citizen’s Alliance for Peace has been formed thru the amalgamation of about 50 NGOs. The CAP is meeting again on the 25th of this month at the Karachi Press Club to mobilize public opinion. I look forward to meeting you there. If you need more information, please contact Ms Talat Tayabji or Ms Nafisa Dossa of the Aga Khan Hospital.

The second area where I strongly feel that public opinion needs to be mobilized concerns the social sector, such as education, health, justice, public transportation, civic amenities, etc., which are of immediate concern to the citizens. Let me speak my mind. I am a great believer of democracy, a system of government where there is maximum participation of people at all levels right down to the grassroots. It is a known reality that nowhere has democracy ever worked well without a great measure of local self-government. The governance of a modern society is an enormous task. The major portion of the nation’s annual income flows thru the hands of the Government, which is also the largest employer. The government is, therefore, "Big Business". For this reason, most developed countries find it necessary to decentralize their administration, in other words, to arrange for services to be provided and decisions to be made away from the center or capital, and "in the field" or locally. Many of you must have traveled to other countries, where you must have noticed, without a second thought, and where you took it for granted, that everything works smoothly. Have you ever thought why ? Because all these countries have local governments or authorities.

Here again the CAP is going to raise this issue. In fact, the present government in 1988 and 1993 is committed thru its election manifestoes to initiate devolution of authority and evolve a new social contract. Regretfully I state that the government is busy in pursuing more "personal" matters, and this important issue that concerns us and our well-being is gathering dust under the carpets in the corridors of power. Again without being partisan, and speaking as a Pakistany, let me reiterate that we must force the government to hold the local bodies elections throughout the country, without any further delay. This is our constitutional right and we demand it. To the cynics, let me tell them that this is possible even in this tottering and infant democracy, and it is never possible under Martial Law or autocratic regimes.

Ladies and gentlemen, so much so for the macro level solution. While we make efforts to induce and provoke the rulers towards the concept of GOOD GOVERNANCE, our own responsibility does not end here. I want to now briefly take up the case of what we can do on an individual basis and also collectively. We should take advantage of the expertise available in our midst, say in the field of education and heath, and utilize this knowledge and experience for the betterment of those in need. This is our moral duty and religious obligation.

I have identified three important areas where the pressure groups can collectively embark upon. I have talked about the education sector, health, and the local government. I believe we should start from here. Let me warn you that it is an uphill task and requires commitment and persistency. However, let me tell you that there will be no savior from the beyond. We, the thinking people, can be the saviors if we really take up this seriously. Would you join me in this noble cause so that together we can pay our debt to society, a partial debt. I will be awaiting your response. Do call me on 257-4037 or at the CPLC Cell on 568-3333.