A Common Man Of Pakistan

Whether anyone agrees or not, the biggest liar and the biggest thief in this country is the common man. This common man, whose collective is the public, is extremely shameless and dishonest. This common man is neither in politics nor in the establishment! He is neither a bureaucrat nor a general! Yet, he is the greatest tyrant; he is the biggest enemy of other common people like himself!

When he sells fruits, he deliberately puts rotten ones in the bag. When he rides a motorcycle, he becomes a curse for pedestrians and drivers. When he drives a wagon or a bus, he drives it like a harbinger of death, causing people to flee! When he drives a tractor-trailer or a dumper, he becomes an angel of death. When he sits as a clerk in a government office, he hisses like a snake and bites like a scorpion. When he goes to pray, he does not come back. The applicants wait in vain and leave disappointed.

When this common man is a shopkeeper, he considers customers his slaves and himself a master. Buy shoes in the morning and try to return them in the evening—he will not accept them. Forget returns; he won’t even exchange them! This common man throws household waste into the street. When this common man works in the gas department, he takes bribes to provide illegal gas connections. If he goes to the electricity department, he sits at home reading meters. If he is a telephone operator, he won’t even answer the phone. 

It is this common man who has corrupted the habits of politicians. He gladly serves these politicians, their children, and families. He spends his entire life laying out carpets at their rallies, shouting slogans, running alongside their cars, and arguing with friends and relatives in their support, even breaking relationships, but he shows no mercy for his own plight or demands his rights from the politicians. This common man inflicts pain on millions of ordinary people like me. When he starts praying in the mosque, he considers the imam his servant. When he does business, he shortchanges. If he is an employee in someone’s house, he is not loyal to the owner. 

This common man runs after spiritual leaders and beggars, becoming wretched, yet he does not serve his parents at home. The day this common man transforms from a mere man to a true human being, everything from society to the corridors of power will be set right. And the hope of him becoming a true human being is almost nonexistent.