A New Year message

YEARS come and years go bringing joy, pains, failures and unfulfilled dreams, yet we always wish to see the best of everything in a New Year. 2017 is not an exception too. On one hand, like the previous years – 2016 remained somewhat unchanged in our relentless struggle for ensuring rule of law, hold free, fair and credible elections, fighting corruptions to hold our government institutions accountable for their dubious actions, while on the other the country marked improvements on socio-economic indicators with a shining national cricket team committed to re-define our sporting capabilities. Laurels and awards followed unanticipated accidents and sorrowful deaths. However, where did we leave the most important aspects of our national life, politics and governance, in the year that was? How did our state fare in establishing democracy and an exploitation-free just society? How far could the government ensure peoples’ constitutionally granted basic rights like the right to health and education? What was our record of maintaining human rights? Could we rid our administration of the curse of corruption?

Perhaps the worst among all the vices last year was – the unprecedented rise of big-scale and frequent militant attacks carried on foreigners and ethnic communities in our country. By stepping into the New Year, perhaps the last thing we want to see this year is the same old poisonous politics taking lives and wrecking havoc on people on newer dynamics. We neither want death in mindless politics nor in extra-judicial measures. We want an end to this violent culture right away. Expecting our politicians to reform their unhealthy political practices, aiming to work only for people’s welfare, we want to believe that this year would be markedly different from all the previous ones.
Like the old saying, an optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in and a pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. Very much in tuned with the former, with the crack of dawn of 2017 we want to look forward. It’s time we collectively take a pledge to hold ourselves accountable to our personal courts. Therefore, take a solemn pledge to change for the greater good for the nation.

Last but not least, a New Year stands before us, like an unwritten chapter in a book, waiting to be written. Nevertheless, how it will be written depends solely on us. Hope we write our best, on that count wishing a happy New Year to all our readers.