Pakistan, Independence, and The Price We Pay

My ancestors migrated from India to Pakistan in 1947. I was in grade 6 when my paternal grandparents died, 4 years ago my maternal grandfather died and my maternal grandmother still cries when she talks about migration, leaving behind everything they had, losing their loved ones, and starting a new life from the beginning.

There are far more similarities between people living in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh than we grasp. I don’t know what everyone exactly thought this independence would mean but unfortunately, after 77 years women and marginalized communities in these countries still suffer. I’ll talk more about Pakistan because that’s where I live but my fellows from the other two countries face similar issues.

Today Pakistanis around the world are celebrating Independence Day and I am sitting in my office thinking are we independent in reality? Pakistan is facing internet outages which is resulting in not only a disconnect from the global village we live in but businesses, small vendors, freelancers, and everyone whose work revolves around the internet is suffering. People from different parts of the country are protesting, some for their right to express themselves, others to ask where their loved ones are who have been forcibly disappeared, and some just to ask for their right to live and survive.

A few days ago, a 31-year-old trainee doctor was brutally raped and murdered in Kolkata India while she was on a 36-hour duty in a hospital and it made me realize how unsafe are we, no matter what the profession, time, place, dressing, or any other factor. This made me go down memory lane and remember all the times when I faced harassment, when someone forced themselves on me, when I narrowly escaped such a horrific situation, or when I had to go out and work. Even after more than 7 decades, we are unable to walk freely on the streets let alone reach anywhere near 1^st world countries in terms of progress.

This doesn’t mean that I don’t recognize what problems pertain in those developed countries but for us, it has been an uphill battle forever. I used to be a hopeful person, and in some regards, I still am, but every day is a new setback. I don’t know how to continue living when every other day we must fight a battle we don’t even want to. We are becoming more radicalized as a country with every passing day and sometimes it becomes hard to even breathe freely.

I still wish that we move forward, progress and we make this world a place where every person can live peacefully and happily. Till then, we’ll keep paying the price of merely existing.