Why mimic a decaying civilization?

Why mimic a decaying civilization?

A leisurely evening walk is a blessing.  One runs into many pleasant and health-conscious residents.  But far more profound is the experience of passing by scores of security guards, domestic help and drivers, who sit on benches, stools or stones, just outside their formidable gates. Although enslaved for petty wages, they retain their sense of humour and humanity. Ever eager to befriend anyone who treated them as equals or simply extended the courtesy of a greeting.

This evening, like so many others, as I strolled through the affluent streets of Jabal, Momin, Ghazi and Gizri, I paused every now and then to ask two questions from the security guards posted on street-watch duties. The seven security guards interviewed gave an identical response to the first question. They all performed 12 hours duty every day. In response to the second question regarding monthly wages, three reported earning Rs30,000, while four said they received Rs25,000 per month.

The minimum legal wage for an 8-hour workday over 26 days a month has been fixed at Rs40,000, since July 2025.  The overtime is legally payable at double the ordinary rate. However, almost a year down the road, Pakistan’s English speaking, philanthropic rich elite freely indulges in criminal wage theft and human rights violations.  They pay almost one third of the legal wage entitled to a guard who protects them for 12 hours a day.    Why do some of the most blessed and aware residents of Pakistan, who fully recognise the inhumanity and cruelty of their unlawful actions insist on destroying the lives of millions?

This dissonance is as inexplicable and as vertigo causing as the contrast caused by Artemis II splashing down in the Pacific, its crew having travelled farther from Earth than any humans before them and the President of the same country threatening to overnight annihilate a 5000-year-old civilisation.   The privileged residents of Jabal, Momin, Ghazi, Gizri and countless other well protected streets have no compelling reason to emulate the decaying path embraced by the leader of the capitalist world.

Naeem Sadiq