By Asadullah Raisani
In one of my previous articles, “A Whole Lot Has Failed”, I argued that the first two generations of Pakistan have failed to get the country on the track to stability and ultimate prosperity.
It was urged in that written piece that this generation should not repeat their mistakes and get the country on track before it is too late. However, it seems an elusive idea and a distant dream with present credentials and low ethics of the generation to mention a couple of reasons. Therefore, this article highlights a few common trends among youth that are deadly for any nation on Earth and recommends a future course of action to amend that.
As per the most recent data, a great number of the American population is bookworms, a reason, that nation is the superpower on Earth. In Asia, India tops, on average each Indian citizen spends 10 hours and 42 minutes per week reading books. Thailand ranks second with each citizen spending 9 hours and 24 minutes on average every week in reading in the country, China stands at number three with each Chinese spending an average of nine hours in book reading every week. When you notice their progress, India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the last fiscal year neared $4 Trillion, Thailand’s over $ 500 billion and China’s nears the GDP of the US at $19.4 Trillion. All these three nations are counted as economic giants, even China and India are making efforts to make an impact on the global political landscape.
On comparing Pakistan with these countries one finds disappointment. Pakistan’s GDP despite being a country that has all the ingredients to be a political as well as economic giant is hardly $350 billion. It, every now and then, depends on the IMF bailout packages to survive and escape from bankruptcy. With many other reasons, one clear reason is that readership in the country is one of the lowest in the world. One out of every three Pakistanis aged 10 and above lacks the ability to read and write a paragraph in any language with understanding, let alone book reading.
In one of the recent Gallup Surveys, it came out that 75 percent of the population of Pakistan, 3 out 4 Pakistanis, have never read any book. Less than 2 percent spend 4 hours reading every day, some 16 percent Pakistanis spend an hour or less on reading books each day. Youth in particular is disinterested in reading books and so lacks wisdom, emotional intelligence, patience and is easily vulnerable to false propaganda, extremist ideologies and lack of understanding of political ideas and religious scholarship and philosophies. Hence, redundant habits of the nation have quite visibly contributed to the lack of progress of the country.
Overall, the youth of the country are more concerned about opportunities abroad. Though they are less to be blamed in this regard, it is not solely the ruling elite that is responsible for the poor conditions of Pakistan. Most of the country’s youth wish to seek government jobs, primarily because they offer old-age benefits and a less challenging working environment. As the saying goes, “Sarkari Naukri mein kuch kaam nahi karna hota” (There is nothing to do in a government job). Even the passionate ones often become part of the corrupt structure or prefer to stay away from anything effective as they cannot challenge the corrupt culture in the system.
A great number of young people only have grievances about the country. They can do much to improve things at the individual level, but either they are lethargic or too shy to start something of their own. You can easily find people in their late 20s or even 30s who roam around all day, wasting time and doing nothing, literally nothing productive to improve their or their family’s lives. Of course, some young people are doing jobs and engaging in other productive activities, but unfortunately, the number is far less than the former ones.
As already mentioned, the reading culture in the country is virtually nonexistent on a domestic scale. A great majority of young people rely solely on their matriculation, intermediate, or graduation degrees for job opportunities. However, in this technologically advanced age, depending solely on jobs that mostly require clerical skills is not wise. The internet offers a plethora of resources for free, ranging from learning new skills to finding employment. All one needs to do is dedicate some time each day to acquire a new skill. With options such as pursuing a career in blogging, YouTubing, securing remote jobs, learning skills online, making effective use of chatbots like ChatGPT and CoPilot, or starting a small business using social media applications, there are thousands of ways to channel one’s energy and earn income for their family.
There is also a lack of proper understanding of religion among this youth. One can easily find mosques almost empty during prayer times, except for Friday prayers, but almost every second person in the street is ready to issue decrees of blasphemy against someone. There are hardly any graduates who know their subjects well, yet they seek jobs regardless. A great number of young people, like the previous lot, are more concerned about their stakes and interests, which is detrimental to the country. In short, this lot is also failing, and this is not a good sign for the nation.
Therefore, it is time to realize that these habits cannot make any nation great on the face of the Earth. Reading habits need to be cultivated, as Quetta serves as a remarkable example where people have a great craze for reading books. Instead of wasting time on futile activities, young people should invest their time and energy to make the most of it. They should utilize all available resources to create a positive impact.
The government is also to be blamed for not providing proper facilities in many areas, such as electronic and gas load shedding, and banning social media sites will only add more burden to this already burdened nation. For this reason, the youth should take more interest in politics and engage in it no matter how much time they can spare.
Politics does not mean borrowing grace from someone and being a slave to them for life. Politics is about service; serve people in any way and capacity you can, educate whom you can, respect people’s rights, and if possible, join politics and contest elections. If you cannot, at least do not abstain from voting, no matter how common political engineering is in the country; you must do your part, because winners are not the quitters.
Author: Asadullah Raisani – Research Fellow Balochistan Think Tank Network, Quetta.
(The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views of World Geostrategic Insights).
Image source: Dawn