Growing resentment

Byadmin

Dated

July 24, 2022

Growing resentment

Pakistan is currently growing resentment & engulfed by intense resentment all around. Everything is under fire and no quarter is given to any aspect of life. Pakistanis are beset by disillusionment and vociferously resent that they have been taken for a ride for far longer than they could tolerate. The darker side of the fact is that the resentment is genuinely true and cannot be brushed under the carpet. In fact Pakistan is going through an unraveling phase and things are breaking down. Unfortunately the silhouette of things to come has not been clearly spotted yet and that is causing resentment. No one wants to live in a limbo as longer spells of uncertainty not only breed frustration but also give rise to resentment.

Pakistanis have no picture to paint of what is in store for them. The leading forces formulating opinion in Pakistan portray things in contradictory colours. For some everything is rosy and for others nothing is right. The situation is so murky that even shrewd observers cannot predict how the future will turn out to be. Gripped by resentment Pakistan is on the cusp of real change of governance as in all probability the third civil administration will be given a chance to take over the reins of power without a break since a full decade. Instead of raising hopes, such spectre has heightened resentment as the people agonise at being subjected to the tried and tested political elements that will lord over them once again. People are quite certain that the present political groupings are completely incapable of bringing about a positive change.

The people are very resentful about the administrative machinery of the state that has continuously let them down. The callousness of the official set-up has reached new heights and they totally ignore their responsibilities and have nothing to do with public welfare. The administrative agencies have touched their lowest point endangering the lives and property of people. Pakistanis resent that their hard work does not pay. Despite gruelling hours their economic situation has failed to improve. They often are told that their futures are mortgaged with foreign donor agencies that provide financial succour to sustain the economy of the country. The rising cost of living has far galloped beyond their ability to pay.

The population of Pakistan desperately resents the service delivery of everything needed to live these days. There are shortages and deprivation faced by them day in and day out. They fail to understand why the state is unable to meet their demands for basic facilities that are otherwise taken for granted. The current scenario is that Pakistan will shortly go to polls and the people who will elect new assemblies will be different from those who chose the ones that will go out of business. For the first time in the country’s electoral history, the electoral results will be dominated by the young segment of Pakistani population; a generation that is seething with anger and is hopelessly disappointed. It is estimated that between 20 and 22 million young people will have the right to cast their vote for the first time.

During the last decade Pakistani politics has categorically veered towards intense competition between forces that may be termed utilitarian in the most basic sense of the term. In the coming elections Pakistan will lack presence of one large party operating in the country. The vibrant media will try to prevent it but the chances of political engineering are ever present. So the future appears to be a combustible mix of a flood of youth highly resentful of the lives they are condemned to live and the expectations they may have with future governance arrangement. The developing situation must be an eye-opener for the status-quo political elements that face the danger of extinction. The simmering resentment will tear apart the ability of the political apparatus to mutually design coalitions as the successful representatives will be under tremendous pressure of the youth vote to resist individual temptations.

It appears plausible that everything from voter turnout to voting patterns will surprise political pundits. The winds of change have the potential of sweeping away both rural and urban areas as the levels of information have been formidably substantiated by the vigilant media in the last five years. It looks ominous that the future national assembly will not only be a hung parliament but that it will face the prospects of being hung upside-down if it fails to ameliorate the situation. The surge of youth is relentless and that too of a resentment-driven one. The only way forward would be that the future governance should be based on solid principles of public welfare otherwise it will become very cumbersome for it to survive. The state apparatus in its present shape has very little chance of survival and it has become mandatory for the future leadership to alter it for good.

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