Fight, Fright and Flight

By Zohair Ashir, Chief Executive at AASA Consulting

A young Pakistani today faces a fearsome future. It is estimated that 60% of country’s population of 240 million is under the age of 30 years. Whereas other countries in the neighborhood like Bangladesh, India and China have prospered on the energy and drive of their young population, Pakistan has been unable to fire their economic engine to offer bright prospects or any sign of prosperity.

Latest forecasts, surveys and buzz in the street indicates that increasingly people have lost hope, especially those on whose shoulders the future of the country should have been built. They have been beaten in spirit and lost hope due to the mismanagement and misrule in the country over the past 75 years which has brought us to a stage of ruination and deep regression.

Generally, in other countries, in times of stress and socio-economic difficulties, people tighten their belts, look skywards for fresh air and suck in the bad vibes to fight another day. In Pakistan of today, the fight has gone out because there is no promise of a hopeful future in which conditions will improve and if you are a young person, you can resolve to struggle because the tomorrow will reward your struggle of yesterday. The dissipation of hope and fight from our land of the pure has resulted in a more sinister scenario for the young.

Given the failure of the political system to deliver and its impact on a collapsing economy and social disorder, the stark choice that youth of Pakistan face today is to encounter fright at every step and to escape that harsh reality than to take flight. In short, loss of desire to fight the prevailing environment which is built on fear and fright is resulting in massive flight of our best minds and hearts. The rich and the elite are taking flight by using their resources and connections to seek greener pastures; the shrinking middle class consisting mostly of professionals are vigorously availing jobs in other markets where there is a manpower shortage or taking advantage of special work visas that they can access due to their professional standing.

That leaves the bulk of our young population comprising of the low income and the very poor. Denied any support or succor by the state, deprived of any worthwhile resources, they turn to the underworld methods of migrating. They mostly land in the lap of unscrupulous agents, human traffickers, shysters of all shades to escape from this land of no hope and broken hearth. Unfortunately, for them the search for minimal prosperity, safety and sustainability comes at a huge price of often losing life, limb and whatever little resources they possess. This is the group that will never forgive the rulers and the elite of this country for the cost they have extracted from them for their own comfort and selfishness.

Tragic and sad is the state of affairs where about over 140 million people each night goes to bed in fear, wakes up in fright and for
the rest of day plan and think of how to take flight.