Adil Najam
Tomorrow we will all celebrate Pakistan’s Independence Day – Yom e Azadi.
Today, let us take a moment to think about just what ‘independence’ – Azadi – means.
Azadi – independecne – is not a destination, it is a journey. It is not something that we ‘achieved’ on August 14, 1947. It is something that we must earn, and preserve, every day.
On this particular Yom e Azadi, there can be no better reminder of just what the continuing journey that is Azadi really mean than the daily struggles of internally displaced Pakistanis (IDPs). Those who remain homeless in their own homeland.
Some IDPs have indeed begun to return to their homes. That is good. Too many, however, remain displaced. And even those who have returned home continue with the struggles of displacement with their lives dispersed and the ugly shadows of Talibanism hanging heavy over their every move.
We at ATP wish to take a moment today to reaffirm that we have not forgotten these displaced Pakistanis. And that we will not. It is far too easy to get distracted by the hot news of the day and to forget the sacrifice that these Pakisatnis are having to bear in defense of their own and of all of our Azadi. We have not, and will not, forget.
Over the last many months ATP has had two separate fund-raising efforts for IDPs in Pakistan. During the first our readers contributed US$ 4,780; during the second they contributed another US$ 1,806. To this we at ATP have added, in various tranches, an additional of US$ 3,414. In total, therefore, a total of US$ 10,000 (Pak Rs. 820,000) has now been sent to support IDP relief works on behalf of you, our ATP readers. As we have mentioned before, this amount has been equally distributed between the Edhi efforts in Pakistan and UNHCR.
Today, we wish to take a moment to thank all of you for all of this.
As we all prepare to celebrate our Azadi, it is your Pakistaniat that reaffirms our own. It is your passion that ignites our hopes. It is your commitment that gives us strength.
The IDPs remind us today that the struggles for Azadi are always hard, but never futile.
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