The only way to soft revolution

Most of citizens who own small houses face financial problems when food and fuel prices surge beyond their imagination. This happens almost every two years.

What did the citizens do last year to meet such situation? They undertook backyard farming to live without borrowing money from others.

Wives helped husbands actively in growing vegetables. But they felt the kitchen problem was not solved as desired because cooking oil remained sky-high like sugar and milk.

“So how to be self-reliant and self-sufficient was another problem,” said many residents of model towns like Bhara Kahu and Rawal Town.

Interaction with citizens revealed most of them still seem allergic to the way in which the word ‘revolution’ is often used by leaders to gain common man’s support.

There are people who sometimes predict a ‘bloody’ revolution, which in their sight is the only elixir of social and economic miseries reportedly afflicting the common people for a long time.

But there are senior citizens who argue: “We need a change -- a change in our attitude, in our Westernized style of living, and the way we elect our representatives setting aside the teachings of Islam. We abuse them when prices soar and there’s no check on profiteers; why don’t we first subject ourselves to accountability and then raise voice for a change in any exploitative system.”

Elders say old class system is a bottleneck in our basic social and economic development. Earlier, our society was divided into three segments: upper, middle and lower. The upper one dominated the others in most fields of life.

As a result of political ups and down, we’re now split into five groups: upper, middle and lower middle, poor and below the poverty line. The main problems we’re facing are disunity, illiteracy, unemployment and poverty in the wake of overpopulation.

The exploited common man seems more conscious of his social and economic rights. He is blaming his mental discomfort on the soaring food and energy prices, unabated load-shedding and lack of security of life.

Eventually, having lost trust in the administration, he says human values are evaporating and self-interest is taking their place. “We’re, in fact, inviting revolution, but how it will come, only God knows.”

— zasarwar@hotmail.com