Apathetic No Longer

How can Pakistanis sit back and watch all that is happening in our country today and not want to do something about it? How can they ‘disapprove’ but still fail to take actions to rectify what is wrong? How can they be so apathetic? These and many others like them have always been the criticisms hurled at the Pakistani public but today, on the eve of a revolution that is taking the country by storm, such criticism can no longer apply, these insults can no longer be aimed at Pakistanis. In a feat of unprecedented defiance, judges of the Supreme Court refused to take oath under the PCO, lawyers boycotted the courts, and Pakistani lawyers, students and activists protested in the streets of Lahore, Islamabad, New York and London. The very fact that the police and its cohorts resorted to breaking into the High Courts and arresting the peaceful protesters enmass is proof enough of the fear that this unexpected uprising, this wave of protest, is instilling within the government. When those that pretend to be our rightful ‘leaders’ made the decision to impose yet another martial law upon us, they made the grave mistake of underestimating the power of the people. They thought that they could impose this illegal martial law under the guise of a ‘state of emergency’ and no one would dare raise their voice against it. They thought that like always, the majority of Pakistanis will take what is given to them without lifting a finger to correct it and the few who will protest will be easily rounded up and safely tucked away.
How wrong they were.
For the first time since the revolution that created our country in the first place, the majority rather then the minority of Pakistanis have sat up and taken notice. More protesters then ever have taken to the streets and voiced their objection. This country was wrestled from the hands of oppressors by the sweat and blood of our forefathers and today it is time to once again raise our voices against those that seek to oppress us, those that dare think that they can snatch from us those freedoms that we are born with. They think that they can stifle us, that they can take our rights from us, that if all else fails they can at least prevent us from getting our voices heard: when will they realize that they can never do this. As long as there are people left standing, there will be protests, as long as there are those left that can hold a pen, the revolution will be documented and word will be gotten out to people all over the world.
This is not the time to be apathetic, because in the end we need to realize that the worst has already happened: we are living in a state where even the basic human rights and freedoms do not apply and a person can be simply made to disappear, without any explanation given, if the government so sees fit. Now, that the worst is upon us, how will be as Pakistanis react? Will we sit back and let it happen like we always do? Or will we stand up and voice our objections till the world echoes with the defiance of our nation? Will we join the thousands that are peacefully protesting this blatant disregarded for human rights, or will we be too apathetic to bother? We cannot now sit back and say that this does not affect us: of course it affects us! As long as we are living within this country, as long as we are citizens of Pakistan, these events affect us. The choice before us a simple enough: do we choose to realize this and take action, or do we choose to not see it and let our country crumble to dust around us? The choice is ours, the power is ours.