Recently the political environment in Pakistan has taken a very interesting turn with the suspension of the supreme court chief justice and the incredible outpouring of support he has received from the public for standing up to the dictator. This is the best time to be in Pakistan, I am sure the environment is electrifying, there’s revolution in the air. I miss it very much, this is the time to join the struggle, be part of a nation desperately trying to find a purpose, to justify its existence, through this perhaps I’ll be able to find my destiny too. I am pretty sure there won’t be a revolution, the most I can hope for is a victory for people as that would set a unique precedence in Pakistan where ordinary pakistanis defied a sitting dictator and won. This would be a reference point for future struggles. Remember the four minute mile, it was thought to be impossible. When Roger Bannister ran a mile in less than four minutes for the first time in recorded history in 1954, the psychological barrier was lifted. For all self-respecting athletes in the world the fundamental limits were redefined, it was no longer, “can it be done?” but “if he can do it so can I”. Within 6 weeks, John Landy broke Bannister’s record, read it again, it took only 6 weeks once the psychological barrier was lifted. If Pakistanis win this fight, next time instead of bending over to a dictator, they like any self-respecting nation might just be able to say, “How dare you!”

What is a revolution anyway if not an attempt by a subjugated people to regain respect. It’s the self-respect, the khudi that defines us as human beings. Dictatorship is an insult to our being. No matter how benign a dictator is, how quickly he increases the GDP, how fair he is to his people, his very existence relegates the people to the status of subjects. A dictatorship, thus more than anything else, is an insult to its people’s humanity. Democracy is the only way a self-respecting nation can survive. Let us all join hands and proclaim in unison that we as a self-respecting nation shall never again allow any individual, group of individuals or another nation to suppress and subjugate us the way we have been humiliated in the past eight years.