We appreciate friends not masters.

The dust settled after yet another drone strike in the village of Angor Adda lying there amidst the rubble, slouched in the corner was 14 year old Gul Goti. The dim light of the setting sun showed her silhouette as she lay there helpless in the dusty and gloomy playground. As she fought for her life gasping for breath her sweat, tears and blood rolled down her face dripped onto her dress and added another stain….Another reminder. Another reminder of the life that she had spent as it flashed in front of her eyes. She was reminded of the playground in which she used to play in her childhood the same playground which would now become her burial place. She is reminded of the choices she made and the choices her government made her end up her and all she was left with was WHAT IF?

·         What if she did not hide in that playground that day maybe it could’ve saved her?

·         What if she was born in some other city and avoided this brutality?

·         What if she had not done a crime to deserve such a harsh punishment?

·         What if this death was the reward for her perseverance and patience?

·         What if her country’ government had not given consent to its master ?

WHAT IF?

Ladies and Gentlemen Gul Goti died with all these thoughts because of a decision made in a far far place with which she had nothing to do.  We are also left with what if that missile strike did not take place and an innocent life could have been saved? What if we had appreciated friends rather than appreciating masters?

CONFUSED? THOUGHT SO!!! (little giggle).

Ladies and Gentlemen, Passion, respect, understanding, guidance, trust and loyalty are all the traits that are usually referred to friendship. You may ask? What is friendship? Why do we need friends? Everyone here would have you believe that friendship can exist only between individuals or countries.(sarcastic laugh) Friendship is way more than that. Friendship in reality exists with anything that guides you, enlightens you and makes you crawl out of darkness but with the struggle of scrapping YOUR OWN KNEES. Because every individual wants to know the purpose of life and this is the need why friendship is that beacon of light which gives you hope and motivation to help you find that very purpose.

·         So Martin Luther King had passion for his friend known as Anti racism which led to the freedom of Afro Americans.

·         The judiciary of Pakistan which developed respect for its friend justice which ended the trust deficit with people

·         China had loyalty for its friend Pakistan and still stands up for us in every thick and thin.

·         Allama Mohammad Iqbal had a trust in his friensdship with poetry which awakened the muslim spirit.

·         Jony Ive had respect for his friend Steve Jobs which brought a technological revolution in the world today.

This is what true friendship is which made these people and countries struggle to be productive for the society. These friendships do exist and they are the ones which need to be appreciated.

Ladies and Gentlemen Masters are not only individuals who dictate you but it is anything that diminishes your ability to believe in your own self. Things like greed, lust for money and power, selfishness, and all these things are examples of masters who rob your conscience, who dictate you who instead of guiding you do your work instead of you, who makes you dependent! Yes ladies and Gentlemen these masters who take away your freedom of choice. Who hijack your creativity and instead of being productive and a blessing you end up being harm to the society. We don’t want these masters to dictate our life. We want to struggle with our friends to achieve our goals.

·         We don’t want masters in the form of greed which results in the tarnishing image of Pakistani players

·         We don’t want masters who brainwash their innocent disciples to carry out terrorist attacks.

·         We don’t want masters which make us accept things like the Kerry Lugar Bill.

·         We don’t want masters in the form of drugs which lead to thousands of deaths annually

·         We don’t want masters like lust for power which leads to the preposterous laws like the  NRO

We don’t want masters which dictate you and make you forget your true self. These worldly masters should never be appreciated.

Ladies and Gentlemen ask yourself is Pakistan bound to make a compromise? Pakistan being a nuclear power, having the 5^th largest standing army in the world, being the 2^nd largest muslim country, having the 5^th largest gold mine, having the largest deep sea port, having the 5^th largest coal reserves and having 7^th largest population of doctors scientists and engineers.

·         With these vast resources should we bow down to these fake worldly masters? NO!

·         Should we give in to their demands? NO!

·         Should we let them rule our lives? NO!

Ladies and Gentlemen with these resources we just need to make a choice of selecting a friend rather than a master who ruins us. And it’s not JUST about PAKISTAN making its choices but it’s about each and every PAKISTANI making and appreciating friends to be part of a prosperous society. For Ladies and gentlemen let’s answer those confusing what ifs. Gul Goti’s father an honest man and innocent man fell prey to the master of extremism and intolerance and instead had he let Gul Goti study in a good institution it might not have driven him to that tribal area it might have saved her life coupled with that the government of Pakistan had given consent to its master for the drone strike which led to her death. We don’t want another Gul Goti to be born in the society we don’t want another innocent girl being killed for a crime she never committed. So it’s not just about individualism but instead about collectivism for we need to start appreciating friends and not masters. The life we live and the death we die are dependent on the choices we make. Will you let another 14 year old innocent girl die? Will you let your country bow down? Or will you stand up on your own and appreciate friends which help you become prosperous? The choice is ours. Let’s make the right one!

Saad Sohail