Pity the nation...:'(

"Pity the nation that is full of beliefs and empty of religion.

Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave,

eats a bread it does not harvest,

and drinks a wine that flows not from its own wine-press.

Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero,

and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful.

Pity the nation that despises a passion in its dream,

Pity the nation that raises not its voice save when it walks in a funeral,

boasts not except among its ruins,

and will rebel not save when its neck is laid between the sword and the block.

Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox,

whose philosopher is a juggler,

and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking.

Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpeting,

and farewells him with hooting,

only to welcome another with trumpeting again.

Pity the nation whose sages are dumb with ears,

and whose strong men are yet in the cradle.

Pity the nation divided into fragments,

each fragment deeming itself a nation."

I share this poem, by the Lebanese, Khaleel Jibran, because it simply sets on our current state of affairs so lucidly. This poem was also cited in the Supreme Court of Pakistan's recent detailed verdict, regarding the contempt-of-court case of the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Following is a poem, modelled on the above one, and the conception of Justice Asif Saeed Khan Khosa (a Supreme Court judge), also cited in the Court's recent detailed verdict.

"Pity the nation that achieves nationhood in the name of a religion

but pays little heed to truth, righteousness and accountability

which are the essence of every religion.

Pity the nation that proclaims democracy as its polity

but restricts it to queuing up for casting of ballots only

and discourages democratic values.

Pity the nation that measures honour with success

and respect with authority,

that despises sublime and cherishes mundane,

that treats a criminal as a hero and considers civility as weakness

and that deems a sage a fool and venerates the wicked. 

Pity the nation that adopts a Constitution

but allows political interests to outweigh constitutional diktat.       

Pity the nation that demands justice for all

but is agitated when justice hurts its political loyalty.

Pity the nation whose servants treat their solemn oaths

as nothing more than a formality before entering upon an office.

Pity the nation that elects a leader as a redeemer

but expects him to bend every law to favour his benefactors.

Pity the nation whose leaders seek martyrdom 

through disobeying the law

than giving sacrifices for the glory of law

and who see no shame in crime.

Pity the nation that is led by those

who laugh at the law 

little realizing that the law shall have the last laugh.

Pity the nation that launches a movement for rule of law

but cries foul when the law is applied against its bigwig,

that reads judicial verdicts through political glasses

and that permits skills of advocacy to be practised 

more vigorously outside the courtroom than inside.

Pity the nation that punishes its weak and poor

but is shy of bringing its high and mighty to book.

Pity the nation that clamours for equality before law

but has selective justice close to its heart.

Pity the nation that thinks from its heart

and not from its head.

Indeed, pity the nation 

that does not discern villainy from nobility."