Role of Youth in Pakistani Model for Democracy: To start up my essay, First of all I would like to talk about youth of Pakistan and their role in the democracy of Pakistan. In my point of view Youth are like the running water that can tore any hard rock coming its way. Youth are a supremacy that can really make a difference in any circumstances. Youth are the backbone of any country. With this high percentage we should not forget there is a chance of either falling to dark results of failure or the golden opportunity towards success. It s not only up to the State of Pakistan who will provide a right path to the young generation but a lot of that responsibility depends upon youth s shoulders itself. Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal thoughts about youth: "Your world is (only) the one which you create yourself, not these stones and bricks, which are in sight" "I have love for those youngsters who pull the stars down" These are the lighted words of our National poet, a great philosopher, a great leader and a great Muslim. If we only follow them then no doubt we will not be the one what we are. We will be a responsible citizen as well as successful person. Now what to do to change the Youth s attitude & behavior for success? This is a very important question that doesn t belong to youth only but to whole Pakistan s prosperity. Youth should be the agents of behavioral change to bring a change in society. It s only possible if they bring change in themselves first then they can influence others with their positive attitude and behavior. Attitudes can change majorly through personal contributions to Pakistani society by the youth and adult population of Pakistan. Attitudes grow in and make trends and these trends get so deep rooted in the society that it is very difficult to change them. Societies are not perfect. Why? Because the wrong attitudes continue to be experienced without curious, without the willingness to bring change, without thinking about improvement and without reflection. We all have to do something for this uncountable power of youth. Youth are the future of Pakistan. Experience is something that you collect, a one valuable asset. Experience is neither good nor bad. It is just Experience. It is a result of growth. Pass your experience to those who will mostly likely be involved in benefitting from it. Pass it to children, youngsters and the youth. Adult learning in our society is not appreciated. Change that. You don t have to give classes and trainings to achieve this. When you meet some-one casually, at parties or other gatherings, bring up the discussion. You will find changes in yourself within some days. Media needs to focus more on airing free programs such as distance learning and adult learning to bring about change by discussions, by free sessions on TV focusing on changing societal attitudes in Pakistan to build cognitive and intellectual skills of Youth. They should invite youth from all segments of life in a
roundtable conference or a show and let them discuss about issues of Pakistan. Go ahead and AIR ON their discussions so that the one who are in power and the one who are in dark can come to know our thoughts. Volunteers and councilors can set up free courses by asking the youth of the area to participate to educate the women in their area making them realize the importance of building a child s wide-ranging comprehensive abilities. Volunteers should inspire others with their good work. Volunteerism is a great spirit that can really make difference. Teachers should encourage students to ask questions during lessons and also ask students analytical and opinion based questions at the end of the lecture. Adults should encourage youth to ask questions not vice versa. And the youth should also remember to ask questions with respect for elders in mind. Make the youth in the society realize that bringing a change towards a positive direction is essential. Letting go of old ideals and attitudes is very difficult but reflecting on them will make them realize that they are wrong. Positive learning to change mindset is as important as youth s change of perspective and realization of a collective vision and drive. Volunteer is any person who helps others without any personal gain and profit. One of my favorite saying about Volunteerism is: Volunteers are non-paid not because they are worthless, It s just because they are priceless. I request youth of Pakistan to volunteer yourselves for your own future and save Pakistan from these corrupt political robbers. I used this term because I have serious concerns on them due to their character showed to fool the nation by them. They are the one who ruins the future of youth. They are just exploiting youth for their political benefits. What are we youth getting from them?? Any benefit as individual or as a whole?? This is not a one handed show. We all have to contribute our part for a positive change within ourselves and a country that blessed us with so many things. Humans have the power to influence, power to reason, power to bring about positive change. We should focus on how to change attitudes to build intellectual and leadership abilities. In the end, as they say the only constant in life is change. Change is happening the very moment I am writing this, the very moment you are reading it. But to determine the direction of change, whether positive or negative is in our capacity and on the shoulders of the youth of Pakistan. Actions can bring attitude change and over a period of time, the change would be visible and measureable in the form of a trend. Be the Trend setter, be the change. Act Now for this is the only moment you have. Live the moment, they will be memory tomorrow.
The destiny of a nation is entrusted with the youngsters. These are the people if guided correctly; they can modify the course of the world. They have the might of wide-ranging thinking, hard struggle, innovation and advancement. The youth are ready to adapt changes because they are young they are in search of truth, they are open to different ideas contrary to the people who are developed and old. Today Pakistan is facing many challenges from within and beyond. Terrorism, drone attacks, shameful law and order situation, bad economic conditions, education sticky situation, corruption, energy crisis and so many others. There are many factors behind these problems, but one of the most important and vital is the foreign impact that is itching and weakening Pakistan. Pakistan is not completely independent yet. The policies both political and economic are framed partially or completely by the involvement of external powers. Their involvement is not confined to that extent but even more, they are spreading fatalistic ideas using different tools. Youth are the actual target, they are made confused and thus they start imitating the society of foreign nations. Role of Citizen to strengthen democracy in Pakistan Pakistanis citizens should work hard for the betterment and development for the strengthening of democracy in Pakistan. It is our obligation to choose our own representatives via electoral process with mutual understanding before any dictator comes and take charge. This is very bad luck of us as a nation that we citizens of Islamic republic of Pakistan always failed to indulge out dictatorship away from Pakistani streamed Politics. To understand what a good citizen is we must first understand the meaning of the word citizen. A citizen is a legal member of a political community and has citizenship. Citizenship is about understanding the rights and responsibilities you have as a member of society and learning how to exercise them. It is about knowing your legal, civil, human rights and responsibilities. Citizens of Pakistan should not ignore the democratic system of Pakistan. They should fully involve themselves in this system because they are going to face the aspects democratic process in the form of their representatives. Someone said, Democracy is the best revenge. Yes! I agree with this statement because true meaning of democracy is to give the rights of those who elect their representatives on a hope. We have seen the example of Barack Obama s campaign for the office of the President. He gave the motto, Yes! We can, this slogan was a WORDS OF VICTORY or A HOPE for U.S Citizens that if they elect Obama as President by democratic process with the power of Vote, They will get all their rights.
Struggle for democracy in Pakistan Pakistan has been under military dictatorship for the maximum time of its 65 years of after freedom. All five of the elected governments have been removed by the Army, on every occasion with the hidden support of the president. On all the tenures from General Ayub Khan to the latest version of dictatorship of General Musharraf, everyone take away the Power on the name of saving Pakistan. But they gave the greatest loss to Pakistani Nation. Nevertheless from the different disasters, they even did not care about what is good or bad for this loving homeland. After the election of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 1988 to replace military ruler Mohammad Zia-ul Huq after Zia s death in a plane crash, observers believed that Pakistan had entered a democratic phase of its political history, with the army having made a transition from the role of kingmaker to that of referee. They were getting a sigh of relief that its finished now! Democracy will be able to get through for the next period. Dictatorship returned, however, in August 1990 when President Ishaq Khan invoked a Zia-era constitutional amendment to remove Bhutto from office. Nawaz Sharif became prime minister after elections held in October 1990, with Sharif also being removed in 1993 under the same amendment. Bhutto returned for three years before being dismissed by President Farooq Leghari for favoritism and corruption. Farooq Leghari was one of important personality in Her own government but When it s all about Power Who cares? He overruled her tenure and gave invitation to Mr. Nawaz Sharif again. People call it fair elections in 1997, Pakistan Muslim League won a significant victory, and Sharif moved in April 1997 to remove the controversial Eighth Amendment which allowed the president to dismiss the government and appoint military chiefs and provincial governors. Sharif further strengthened his position by replacing the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and pressuring the resignation of President Leghari; he pressed the Lahore High Court to convict Benazir Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari of corruption. This was a part of dirty game of politicians when they wanted to ruined each other. They always register cases on political basis. And always in need of clues to demoralize each other. It s shameful for the countries like Pakistan where democracy is used as a weapon against the people. In these countries democracy has bred and encouraged hatred, deficiency and horse trading. The main cause of the failure of democracy in these countries is that awareness is not here/ People are mostly uneducated, illiterate and are unaware of their rights and duties. The people they choose in elections as their representatives, the rulers and the law makers of the country are usually the big landlords or industrialists who have no concern with education, independent thinking and pure patriotic feelings. They snatch power with the single aim of making people their slaves so that they may multiply their wealth by fair or unfair means. This wealth is then used for personal affectation, expensive living and carnal pleasures. In Pakistan, sectarianism, illiteracy, brotherly system and poor economic condition have deteriorated our social and political structure. Most of the so-called politicians and law makers are illiterate. We have seen that in the recent elections those lots of our representatives were elected on fake degrees. Their pockets are full of money but their minds are devoid of wisdom.
The law makers are the law breakers. Now see their loyalty, they have huge amount of properties abroad. They have nothing to care about Pakistan. Only one agenda!! (Pehle tere Bari fir mere wari). Pakistan came into being as a Muslim majority state on 14 th August 1947. Nonetheless, the democratic state did not work agreeably in Pakistan; it could not perform its tasks such as providing law and order, starting economic development and developing tolerable political institutions. In 1958 the army stepped in for the first time to take over the political power and was equally welcomed by the people as in 1999. In 1977, Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto s rule was brought to an end by the army after political forces in the country had proved too weak to sort out the problems with the election equipped by the Bhutto government. What are the reasons for this repeated failure of democracy? It is quite clear that in all the cases there were foreign vested interests which did find it more suitable to deal with a military government than with a weak political one. Those external factors are left aside here deliberately. In any case it can be stated safely that the Pakistani state with its political parties and institutions has been not strong enough to tackle such emergency situations while the army has been a very strongly developed institution with considerable political power and power ambitions. After the development of print and electronic media the discussions which took place in the media were very positive. Now they ve been brought under control again. But that opening did help to transmit ideas and diversity into the country. As a whole, the entire movement to put the Chief Justice back into power would not have been possible had it not been for television, where the demonstrations were covered and people were interviewed. People were proud to be associated with that. Many illiterate people turned out to demand that the Chief Justice be put back into power. This was a struggle that had no link to religion or anything like that. It was a straight forward struggle for legitimate rights and the separation of powers. Collective approach works at great deal. Stay together, stay united will lead towards success but who cares?? If they give power to democracy they will get success for themselves. Is this right democracy? I don t think so because of false voting lists. In fact they are not false they are made deliberately fake to choose the democracy and government by own choice of hidden hands. Who are these hidden hands? We have to collectively find out the aspects of cheating and catch these hidden hands red handed and let them to come in court of justice about their cruelty and criminal thinking against Pakistan and ARTICLE 6 should be practiced instantly. We can see the one more example by current situation, the time I am completing my words, I am thinking about what is going to be happen tomorrow when Prime Minister of Pakistan will face judiciary on 13 th February 2012, on contempt of court he will be charge the (fard e Jurm). He may be go down from membership of parliament. And he will be no more PM. I beg for this Nation, Please give him one chance for democracy. There Supreme Court should not convict the Prime Minister for only one reason. 1. There are bigger issues then writing a letter as far as corruption and other issues are concerned. This will lead to the same destabilizing plane that Pakistan has been going through, let one Prime Minister complete his term please! In the long term it means a lot more for the country! Essentially anyone who thinks differently than us is a traitor, agent, illiterate or a fool. Whereas we never choose to examine our own arguments and opinions but we always think about dragging other
legs. When we choose to fight within ourselves based on arbitrary differences, we create foundations for conflict, hatred and disunity. We must, all of us, at this point look for common ground amongst us so we can cherish our similarities and celebrate them rather than exasperate our differences. One's background can never define who a person is! Live as one, if you want to move forward! But Youth of Pakistan should not give up. They should register their vote first and make the best use of their vote. It s not that old era when political leaders influence the youth with their fake agendas for just their personal benefit. Now It s time for the Youth of Pakistan and they need to get up from a bad sleep in which we youth wasted our precious 65 years. Now time is changed. Ball is in our court. We are not only the leaders of tomorrow but we are the leaders of today. We will take care of our very personal thing (PAKISTAN). (On my last words I will say whether I win this competition or not, but I am glad that at least I am able to give you my point of view. We all are patriotic but we have to struggle to give the right place to our country what it really deserves. Think positively for our Pakistan) (Hum sab Aik hain) Pakistan Zindabad!!! I certify that thoughts and ideas that I have presented in the essay are my own. I also certify that all thoughts and ideas that I presented in this essay were never presented before to any other competition/contest and I strongly discourage plagiarism.