AS a nation, we find ourselves caught in a profound tragedy: for 79 years, this God-given state has been wandering in search of its true destination. We have always raised the slogan of La Ilaha Illallah, yet we have failed to manifest the practical essence of that oath or implement the system of the Prophet (PBUH). Allama Iqbal’s dream and Quaid-e-Azam’s vision for Pakistan centered on a free state where democracy flourished, where the government remained accountable to the people and where sovereignty and human rights were anchored by unwavering justice. The question remains: what happened to the welfare-driven democratic system the Quaid envisioned?

Talk of systemic change has echoed through Pakistan for decades, yet our legal and administrative institutions continue to fail the people. Under successive regimes, ordinary citizens have struggled for their rights while official narratives portray an illusion of peace and prosperity. In the name of the World Bank and IMF, the common man bears the burden of unbearable inflation, soaring fuel prices and crushing taxation. A society may survive disbelief, but it cannot survive injustice. The time has come to question and uproot this obsolete system. Those who consider democracy the ultimate solution must also examine its failures worldwide. As Allama Iqbal cautioned, “The demon of despotism dances in the robes of democracy and you mistake it for the fairy of freedom.” Today, democracy increasingly resembles government of the elite, by the........

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