Some time ago, the head of an international organisation in Pakistan, reflecting on the country's dismal ranking on global indices, remarked that social indicators only improve when the state truly values the lives of its people. It was a poignant and uncomfortable truth — raising a deeper question: have we, as a nation, come to value individual lives less simply because we are too many?

The signs are hard to ignore — increasing poverty, child malnutrition, maternal and infant deaths, and millions of out-of-school children. These aren't just statistics; they are quiet, daily indictments of our national priorities. Yet despite the mounting evidence and urgent need, we remain gripped by a kind of collective indifference. Too often, this apathy leads to a dangerously simplistic conclusion: that our circumstances will improve only if there are fewer people.

The question is not whether we are too many. The........

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