Went to the #StudentsSolidarityMarch today in Islamabad and came back with a lot of things to think about. Sharing a thread with you in that regard.
Pakistan is a country at the brink of a complete change of dynamics. Let's forget about the economy, militarisation, polarization

etc for a while and think about our demographics. It the time when the country is transitioning from the hands of one generation down into the hands of another. Now if I were to wish the best for this country, I'd rather strengthen the hands that this country is going into

but is that the case?
Since the last thirty years, there's been a constant state of war around me. First it was the Afghan war, then the militancy, then the war on terror, then more militancy, then the military operations, now another wave of militancy from where I hail.

People my age have seen nothing but trauma. Bloodbaths, razed homes, refugee camps, weapons, bombs and what not. I went to a hostel seven hours drive away from home because there were no good schools around and that too because my family could afford that. Most of the friends I

have in village didn't go to school beyond grade 5 and 6 in a government school because they were forced to act like grown ups and earn. The school's they went to subsequently got destroyed in the wars. There are millions of children still out of schools today and if it

seems like a small thing to you, more than half the population of Pakistan is now youth. You might have noticed that I only mentioned boys above because girls were not even considered worth taking into consideration. The other day a friend made a very scathing but

eye opening remark to which we all have somehow remained blind and said that back in his village in rural Punjab when someone's wife dies he isn't as sad as when his cow or buffalo dies. With such sorry situation, if a chunk of the middle class population has managed to make

it to colleges and universities, it should have been considered a moment of extreme happiness for us. Look at these boys and girls, despite the state's inability to provide for them as much as it should have, they're there. Making their parents proud in their classrooms and

their countrymen proud in the world. We make fun of politicians who don't have formal education. Yeh dekho jaahil logon ke haath mein mulk chal raha hai. Yet we contradict ourselves by saying yaarrr student ka syasat se koi kaam nahi hona chahye. Wah!
Bhai Jan wake up!

Lest you're forgetting, your papers, your TVs and your usual industrial age propaganda tools have done their time. It's a time and age where a country that's as hard on social media as China can't stop news and videos from Hong Kong making it to the rest of the world

it's a time when the Arab world was shaken from a slumber over twitter and WhatsApp and it's a time where the people you couldn't educate in schools you owed to them are educating themselves on YouTube and Google. Their reliance on you is dying. They're now a part of a

global union of a catalyst of change. If you open the gates of information and education to them, if you open your pockets to their welfare and if your open your mind to their opinion, they'll not only respect you but they'll elevate you to a status where the world will keep

you in high regard too. Otherwise, sooner or later, you'll become a fodder of your own not-so-funny jokes. Have you heard the slogans they're raising? They're against all of you! Whether you're a civilian or you're from military or bureaucracy or judiciary, if you were given a

chance and you didn't make it count, they're saying murdabad to you! If you're the one who has put a tape on their mouths and a blindfold on their eyes, they're asking for azadi from you. Their number doesn't matter, their courage does. Every change starts with the courage of

a few. Every change takes time. But change is inevitable. In human history, change has been the only constant and will remain so. If you become the facilitator of the change, you'll be remembered in history in good words, otherwise you're destined to be on the list of

the countless people who F'ed up. The choice is yours till the day half the population of this country realises that real power belongs to them. It would be too late for all of you by then. Phir raaj karegi khalq e khuda!