In a village, there was a big tree. That tree was so old that even the oldest of villagers were not able to tell about its age. The elders of the village told that they heard from their grand-grandfathers about this tree. It was in the centre of the village and thus the point of all the social gatherings of the village; children played under its shade or in its branches while elders sat under it and shared the company of each other. It was tall and big and thus gave fruit generously in the season and every villager felt it like any other member of his family.
Every villager had developed an invisible but strong sense of intimacy and attachment with it. Anyhow, due to some inevitable reasons, it was decided to cut down the tree. Everyone was against it but there was no other option. Trunk of the tree was so wide that it was almost impossible for villagers to cut or chop it down with theirold tools.
It was also discovered that roots of the tree were extended deep in the earth and stretched for miles around the village. When the villagers were all in a fix as how to uproot this tree, a wise man came to the village. He advised them to assemble all the villagers, big or small, young or old, around the tree and they should curse the tree.
They should shout with all the rude and harsh words they knew and should bring all the hatred in their voices. All the villagers got together and did as said. After a few days, effects of this treatment could have been seen on the tree. Its leaves gradually started withering, its trunk and branches slowly started shrinking and it looked like a dry and burnt tree, abandoned for years without any water or attention. After a few days, when villagers tried, it dropped down on the earth. They found out that even its roots had got dried and broken and got detached from the trunk.
In the present scenario of my country, I remember time and again the above story and feel as if everything here is going to dry up and fall down on earth, with its entire base dried up. When I read newspaper, it is full of complaints and criticism. When I listen to radio programs, I come up with the same situation.
When I watch TV programs, especially the news or political discussions, I witness the same things. It feels as if we are all trying our level best to dry down our foundations and bring an end to the whole story. Everyone is criticizing the other and it looks as if everyone here is corrupt, insincere and dishonest.
This criticism is both from outside and inside the country. Why did Afghanistan do so or they should have done so and so on. Criticism from outside is not a matter of surprise to us but criticism from inside really hurts the spirits of those who are working with a light of hope in their hearts.
No doubt, criticism is a mirror that shows us the right picture and it helps us to change our course if we are heading in a wrong direction and make corrections wherever necessary, but it is a kind of tool that needs to be used very carefully and with utmost wisdom and delicacy as the harm it is going to cause cannot be cured easily then.
Afghanistan came out of an unrest and destruction that was rarely witnessed in the history of nations. Three decades of war and blood-shed left us with nothing. We lost each and everything; our loved ones, our well-established Army, the basic infrastructure of roads, bridges and power and energy supply and a setup to establish a government and run the country. In these thirty years, we were thrown almost thirty thousand years back, to the age of stones, when men lived in caves and had no idea of a civilized life. But most importantly, we had almost lost our hope to ever have a country where there should be peace and people should live a civilized life like the rest of the world.
Then came the time when a new and united government was formed. This government brought new hopes to the people; hopes to live in peace and lead a dignified life once again on the Afghan soil. Although the resources were limited and barriers and obstacles were countless, yet people saw a gleam of hope to get together and work hard. Slowly and gradually the tree of prosperity started bearing its fruit.
First elected government was formed in which people chose their representatives for the first time, well-trained and well-equipped army and police were established, roads and bridges were made and the foundations of the basic infrastructure were laid down. These all may seem to be less important but they were achieved with a lot of efforts and struggles.
Still there is present a lot of distance to be covered. Still there are many issues to be addressed and a heap of problems to be solved but it should not be forgotten that 'Rome was not built in a day'. Problems that are deep-rooted and their impacts spreading over an era of three decades cannot be weeded out in a short span of time. They would definitely take time but then it becomes our responsibility to tag our hopes with the coming days and wait for the problems to settle down in a natural way.
Baseless criticism cripples a person and of course a nation in so many different ways. It kills the spirit that motivates you to work even harder to achieve the impossible. It stops the people from dreaminga better tomorrow. More importantly, it deprives people of nourishing hope in the hearts and receiving the tomorrow with a smile.
It should not be forgotten that good and bad people are present in every society. Same would definitely be the case here with us but the presence of evil does not permit one to stop promoting the good. It rather gives us message to work hard so that the virtues might intimidate the vices.
Being a common Afghan, the first duty that we all need to render is to be sincere with ourselves and with this country. When every individual afghan would change, there would not be any force to stop Afghanistan from changing its fate. It would also not give enough time for us to evaluate others' activities and criticize them.
As far as my humble knowledge is concerned, there are many things that motivate us to be hopeful of a bright future of our dear homeland. Country's basic infrastructure has been established and now only additions would be needed.
We have formed a democratic government system that is going to bless us with its blessings in future and now there will not be any warlords or groups based on sectarian or any other divide. The thing that I like personally is that, we have a president who is a Pashtun but who wears 'Chapaan' so that his fellow-citizens who are not Pashtuns should never feel themselves alienated.
He speaks such a fluent Dari that at times people take him to be of a Dari-speaking origin and it is a credit worth mentioning and praising. This vision of his is very rare in the world politics and his vision would be realized, appreciated and shared, if not today, then tomorrow.
All these hopeful prospects never let my spirits down, What about you?