“I am stuck in the middle of a large deep lake and do not know how to swim. I am not sure how I got here, but I remember that I have lost most of my elderly children to God, Young adults and middle aged men and women to Shabia and my youngest and brightest children to a false dream in search of a better life across the deadly ocean and deserts. Some of my children who made it across seem to spend so much time arguing amongst themselves over immaterial issues that they look like exact copy of a dysfunctional family and I am afraid that they have forgotten about me. I see so many people standing around the lake watching me and discussing how I should be saved and who is best equipped to help me; I can hear so many absurd ideas on mobile phones and through internet that I am no longer sure that all of them are my own children; as some of their suggestions are to simply take out all the water from the lake and then pull me out. Well, it has been over thirteen years of talk and I am still stuck here. I see some hands extending, but not even one of them is jumping in to save me”

If Irob was a mother, the above is what I imagined she would say to us. The point is, if those among us who “know how to swim”, do not jump in and pull her out, the chance of saving her will severely be limited. It is our collective responsibility to step up and do something about our community. The challenges we face are enormous and multi-faceted and can only be dealt with a thoughtful and collective force that unites our people around ideologically pragmatic, politically mature, socially responsible and economically practical method that would be translated into improving the day to day lives of our people. (To read the full Article, Click Here!)