Unfit to breathe

How bizarre it is that for the past many years, we Pakistanis have been listening that better days are coming and the crucial time is just the beginning of a beautiful bright morning to glare. With back-to-back promises, the government has only the bolts from the blue to be dished out for the people after its takeover as it has been customary in the country to criticize the predecessors and to claim that the incumbents have been striving hard for the “better days”.

The common man has now been pushed to deal with the day-to-day matters of electricity cuts, skyrocketing commodities, fuel prices, unemployment, and extreme mental distress in essence. It has been a dilemma that the country has been left at the mercy of a group of convicts and absconders focusing on paving their way towards a second NRO and getting off scot-free.

Inflation is back in the country causing increased food insecurity and unemployment and the nation has been striving hard to carry the burdens on broken back. The low-income households have been the first to suffer from the skyrocketing commodities and the so-called “people-friendly budget”. The drama doesn’t end here and the worst part of the script is that the people have been tricked out of the basic necessities. The electricity shortage has left the citizens and businesses in the dark with no hopes of recovery. The power cuts remain common in all major cities of Pakistan amid the scorching summer. The businesses have been suffering de trop causing a dent in the already in dire straits economy.

The deserted markets and shopping malls just days before Eid have been depicting the story of the empty-handed nation. The shopkeepers in the cities have been shedding tears over the clueless situation of the industry. The government has time and again vowed to overcome the excruciatingly extended power outages but all in vain. The shell-shocked nation has all its eyes set on the sky for some miracle to lessen their miseries. Seemingly, the decisions have been in the hands of a couple of impassive rulers who have no empathy for the moribund nation.

It has been crucial for the policymakers to consider the plight of the citizens, their needs and their aspirations but surprisingly the lawmakers and the rulers have more interest in bad-mouthing their predecessors. A stage has been reached where the people have been suffering from all the ends. With no electricity at homes, a perilous situation on the economic front, unemployment and a jacked-up crime rate due to economic crisis, the country has gone beyond control and is unfit to breathe.

If no clear policies will be considered for the common people, the country would further sink into the pits.