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Business Recorder

14th August Independence Day: A Dawn of Independence

Seventy-nine years ago, a frail yet determined and resolute man led a nation to freedom—freeing us from the double yoke of colonial British domination and Hindu-majority Congress tyranny. The British Raj and Congress conspired to suppress our aspirations, yet the will of the people triumphed. The ballot prevailed over the bullet. A homeland was won —Pakistan—envisioned as a welfare state where the common man, the real architect and author of freedom, would steer the wheels of destiny. But alas, that dream remains unfulfilled. Faiz's stained dawn still lingers--a freedom incomplete, a dream deferred. Despite the passage of nearly eight decades, the life of the common man-- the very soul and architect of Pakistan, remains unchanged—his pain multiplied, his miseries deepened. Betrayed and ignored, he has been reduced to a rhetorical figure—celebrated in speeches during election days, then discarded like torn posters in the corridors of power. Lofty promises evaporate the moment power is secured. Women with malnourished children wander hospitals, only to find absent doctors and missing medicines. Justice is a mirage—expensive, delayed, and often denied--remains out of his reach, especially in lower courts. Police stations designed to protect him, often serve as hubs of power, where only connections and currency speak. In rural Pakistan, children walk miles to access distant, dilapidated schools; public services are practically nonexistent reminding common man of his insignificance. When the skies pour, cities resemble stagnant rivers for days. Water remains accumulated till such time, it gets naturally evaporated. Infrastructure crumbles. The billions borrowed in the people's name for uplifting them vanish into a black hole of inefficiency and corruption making no visible difference. Instead, every rupee borrowed adds weight to the shoulders of the poor—who pay taxes only to endure humiliation, inflation, insecurity, and systemic decay. Those who gave blood for Pakistan now beg for bread in it. Democracy, once promised as the guardian of rights, has been repeatedly derailed by power-hungry generals, exploiting the incompetence of corrupt and opportunist politicians. Parliament—meant to be the voice of the people—has often been silenced. The judiciary, rather than questioning usurpers, has offered them validation—starting from Justice Munir's infamous verdict in the MaulviTamizuddin Khan case of 1955. Since then, dictators have ruled while courts have looked away. Even when democracy returned, it remained controlled, diluted, and elitist. The arrival of Imran Khan was celebrated as a change, a breath of fresh air—a departure from dynastic politics. But that hope, too, proved illusory. He mirrored the very practices he had vowed to end. The man who rallied against begging bowl and slavery shattered past records in borrowing. Political adversaries were hunted and jailed; language unbecoming of leadership became routine. The reformer became just another name in the long ledger of letdown. The change he promised was swallowed by the status quo. The common man—the one who labours, toils, sacrifices—is still shackled by poverty, unemployment, hunger, disease, crime, and injustice. The Constitution guarantees his rights. Parliament claims to represent him. But in truth, he remains marginal—talked about, never acted for. Why, after 79 years, is he still food insecure? Why does poverty, unemployment, and disease haunt every street? Why do a few enjoy palatial homes while millions live in slums, their children pulled out of schools to earn bread? In rural areas, the feudal lords thrive, their opulent havelis towering over peasants shacks. In cities, slums fester beside skyscrapers, a monument to inequality. What did freedom mean if the multitudes remain shackled? This glaring inequality pushes disillusioned youth towards crime, drugs, and extremism. What have we achieved if our people still grope in darkness while nations born after us touch the skies? Nations that rose from ashes--Germany, Japan, South Korea stand as titans. Even Bangladesh once poorer out spaces us in growth. We are still here with birthday problems, and wallow in misgovernance and mediocrity. Our Parliament unites only when it comes to increasing its own perks and privileges. Why not show the same unity and urgency for solving public woes? Why not brainstorming for breaking begging bowl and reviving a moribund economy? Why don't they mourn their failures instead of picking up quarrels in parliament, to take us out of the abyss? Let our legislators burn the midnight oil—not for personal gains but for national salvation. Let them tackle staggering foreign debts, tax evasion, bloated administrative spending, and the burden of unnecessary advisers, SAPMs and parliamentary committees. Let them shrink the cabinet to a functional size, cut elite privileges, and redirect the saved funds to education and health. Let the rich parliamentarians lead by example—living modestly, earning only daily allowances when in session. Let the judiciary be truly independent. Let the Election Commission be powerful and free of political manipulation. Let institutions serve the people, not power. We have a right to ask Parliament to be accountable—to be the house of the people, not the elite. Our struggle for freedom did not end in 1947; it remains unfinished. Real azaadi will come when the people are freed from hunger, fear, debt, and despair and Constitution's promises and fruits of independence reach out to the street, the village, the slum and to the vulnerable. Let us, on this 79th anniversary of our independence, solemnly pledge to fulfilFaiz's dream and vision of a radiant, unblemished dawn worthy of those who gave their all for this land. Let us strive for that 'bright and shining dawn' we once dreamed of—a Pakistan where the common man is no longer betrayed, but finally empowered. Ye daaghdaaghujala, ye shab-gazidasahar Who intezaarthajiska, ye who sahar to nahin… (This stained light, this night-bitten dawn— This is not the dawn we had waited for…) — Faiz Ahmed Faiz Copyright Business Recorder, 2025