Day of reckoning.

Byline: Faizaan Qayyum

EVERY now and again, one comes across something that blows one's mind. For a short while, one ponders over what one must have done to deserve it. But what was once mind-blowing soon becomes mundane, almost to the point of banality. Then one wonders if this can continue for much longer.

Yet it continues. Sometimes it's just an appointment. Or a ruling party minion says something. Or a few good men disappear, leaving no trace of their whereabouts. Or a rampaging messiah orders the uprooting of hundreds of thousands of people's livelihoods and dwellings. Or an underling forgets the brigand's entitlements. Occasionally, the vagrant offers a roof to the landed. And sometimes, it's just the dam fund. Who, one wonders, is accepting responsibility for all that is being done so intently and with such reckless abandon? The chief? Which chief?

One can say a lot about the state, and how it ought to function. A state that came into being for a people, must solely function for its people. After all, what would remain of the moral, philosophical, or even practical basis for its very existence if a state can't even serve its own people?

Consider what has transpired in the highest echelons of justice in our land of the pure within the past few years. Accountability court judges, with their moral and ethical integrity compromised, have disqualified political leaders under pressure. A special court supervised directly by the Supreme Court was ruled illegal by a provincial high court after delivering a verdict. A former chief justice systematically dismantled institution after institution, and finally broke his promise by leaving the dam fund unguarded. Go back some more, and one finds now-disqualified politicians conspiring with unknown miscreants to bring down an elected government.

Who's accepting responsibility for all that's being done so intently?

Consider also what continues to transpire even today. Hundreds of thousands of people were rendered homeless and jobless overnight, as court-ordered demolitions proceeded in full swing across major cities of Pakistan. Thank God for the virus that allowed us to sentimentalise the 'poor' again. Oh, the virus!

Thankfully, one is now beholden to one's Lords, for the order to reopen malls didn't suggest Bill Gates was planning to implant microchips in one's brain. One is beholden to one's Lords for allowing doctors to infect entire wards by working without protective equipment. And one is...

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