[Reader-list] Minar-e- Poverty

[asad abbasi]

Dear All, 
Minar e Pakistan, is situated in Lahore. It signifies the importance of the place used to show faith in the idea of Pakistan in 1940. It was used as a platform to express something that mattered most then. Ironically, rather sadly, it is still being used to express one's feeling. 
Concurring, KITNA BADAL GAYA INSAAN.

But we have to question, is this change evolutionary or a self created Frankenstein? And as many believe it is self created than, Where did it all go wrong? Is terrorism main cause of Poverty or is it Islamic Fundamentalism?
Regards,
Asad


http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Opinions/Editorials/17-Aug-2009/Povertys-fallout
Poverty's falloutTHE Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore's Badami Bagh, not many would know, is a
favourite spot for suicides. So much so that the authorities had to
close it to the public for a while. Poverty seems to be a recurring
issue behind these suicides. As was witnessed several days ago when a
man jumped to his death from the monument after shouting, "long live
Pakistan, down with poverty". He was holding the national flag in his
hands at the time. 
Other lamentations of poverty there might be,
like the mother who deserted her three daughters in a market in
Gujranwala the other day but the incidents at the Minar are most
ominous. The tower was erected in commemoration of the day a political
party demanded, on behalf of the Muslims of India, an independent
homeland where they could live their lives according to their own hopes
and aspirations. They wanted, in other words, freedom. But what is this
elusive term called freedom? What exactly does it mean? The great
Indian economist Amartya Sen famously gave - or should we say, made
popular - the concept of development as freedom. That the shackles of
poverty can be fetters as cruel as the authoritarian control of a
dictatorial government. It turns out Pakistan has not fared well on
freedoms, economic or political. We have replaced colonial masters and
circumvented the prospect of Hindu domination only to replace it with
the domination of undemocratic forces right here. But in the struggle
for political freedom, we should not forget that freedom is not be
limited to the polls and that of worship but should also entail one's
right to a decent and respectable life.

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