Lighting up a million paths

It does not often happen that you encounter something that not only brightens up your day but generates a kind of hope that refuses to fade away. Such are these exceptional incidents and experiences that they leave behind an indelible mark that lingers with you for a lifetime.

Aliya Hamza and Sanam Javed have now been incarcerated for over a year. Not only have they refused to capitulate before the brutal state apparatus, but the smile adorning their faces has lit many a path. They wear that smile stepping out of the prisoners’ van or the courtroom after being denied bail. They wear that smile as they are carted from one town to the other facing trumped-up charges. They wear that smile among their friends who cheer their bravery and in the death-like silence of their cell where they are closeted.

They wear that smile faced with the daunting thoughts of their future, their children, their families and the physical agony and pain they incessantly suffer at the hands of their captors. But that smile – it refuses to wear off.

Their message to their leader is laden with boundless courage: “Tell Khan sahib that he should not compromise because of us. We have not wilted under pressure in the past and we will not in the future no matter what we are subjected to. We will not ever become his weakness. We are his strength and will always be”.

Then is that iron-willed lady, Dr Yasmin Rashid, who wears her own brand of smile that jettisons arrows piercing the hearts of the oppressors. She, too, has been incarcerated for over a year now as she is immediately re-arrested on fallacious charges whenever she is granted bail. Fighting cancer, she has not wavered even for a moment in her determination to move on till the mission of a genuinely independent and sovereign Pakistan is accomplished. Her steely smile has sent jitters through the adversaries’ ranks who have failed to find an antidote to her unwavering courage and perseverance which has reignited faith in many a faltering soul.

Then there is Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Senator Ijaz Chaudhry, Mahmood ur Rasheed and Omar Cheema. They have bonded together like an inseparable group wedded to a cause that is dearer to them than their own freedom. They, too, have been in prison for long periods, but their persistence in the righteousness of their pursuit and the truthfulness of their mission has not wavered. They have borne the brunt of the state tyranny in a million ways, but they have remained firm to secure their country from the clutches of despotism and restore the sanctity of the constitution and rule of law.

Despite suffering immensely, hundreds and thousands of other activists and workers have also remained firm in their resolve to espouse the cause of ‘Haqeeqi Azadi’. Some of them are locked up in jails while others are out narrating gory tales of suffering that they endured as they refused to give in to the inhuman treatment they were subjected to by their tormentors.

The smile spread across the faces of Aliya Hamza and Sanam Javed, the steely determination of Dr Yasmin Rashed, the boundless perseverance of Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Ijaz Chaudhry, Mahmood ur Rasheed, Omar Cheema and the sacrifices of scores of PTI supporters in the face of state torture and brutality have lent life to a struggle that everyone thought will wilt away with time. On the contrary, it has blossomed further with each day bringing in tales of immeasurable resoluteness. Together, they constitute the nucleus of what the PTI is today. They provide a solid foundation on which the party stands, growing stronger with each new day of pain and suffering.

This camaraderie of faith is the most precious treasure the PTI family has earned and nurtured. This is singular in its essence and unfathomable in its measure. This is embedded in the vision of a caring and progressive Pakistan that would be committed to guarding its sovereignty under the most daunting of circumstances and ameliorating the sufferings of its people by creating conditions where they could live with dignity and self-respect. With time, and with more followers joining the flock, this camaraderie of faith continues to grow formidable.

Pakistan has been used to being marshalled along a predetermined path strewn with countless pitfalls. The state has often plunged into them bringing immediate setbacks as well as long-term challenges. Yet no lessons have been learnt as the country wobbles along, struggling to come out of the quagmire that is only deepening with time. While, in certain cases, wrongs done in the past have been acknowledged, but, instead of learning from these grave mistakes, these have been repeated ad nauseam.

In this environment of despondency, the smiles and steely nerves of PTI adherents have generated hope that things may, after all, begin to change. Pakistan needs a new path to tread. It must divorce the sordidness of the past with its crime and corruption and replace it with people of character whose hearts beat with the love of their country. Trying the same old recipes, hoping that these may deliver different results, reflects a flawed thinking that is only likely to further aggravate the existential challenges that Pakistan faces at this juncture.

In addition to looking at things differently and banishing the tendency of inflexibility, change is also rooted in institutions and their performance. Because of the sacrifices of the PTI, winds of change have started blowing across the national spectrum. The judiciary, the key pillar of the state, is showing signs that, with unprecedented courage exhibited by some of its judges, it could lead the country towards espousing a culture of justice and freedom. If that happens, as it seems likely to, it will drastically alter the dynamics that shape the state policies. It would also impact the working of other national institutions as they would then not be able to hide behind judicial cover and protection.

Principally, sanity must sneak back into the reckoning as the major ingredient to drive the human mind in place of recklessness. A continuation of past indulgences, or a reformatting of the same approach with cosmetic changes, will not help. A drastic transformation beckons. It must be welcomed.

The smile, the steely determination, the faith and perseverance constitute the other elements for nurturing change. Spread across the faces of Aliya Hamza, Sanam Javed, Yasmin Rashid and so many other unknown silent warriors, it is rewriting the political history of Pakistan by digging it out of the dungeons of the past and putting it on course to salvation.

Soon we shall see this smile spread across the face of Pakistan, lighting up a million paths.

The writer is the information secretary of the PTI, and a fellow at King’s College London. He tweets/posts @RaoofHasan.