Change will begin with how we think, how we act and how we live each day. I have spent decades watching this country stumble and rise. I have seen promise wasted and potential revived. I have seen institutions weaken and ordinary citizens step forward when it mattered most. What I have learned is clear: no government, no policy, and no leader can deliver lasting change until we first change ourselves.
Our greatest challenge today is not only political or economic. It is moral and intellectual. Frustration has hardened into negativity, and criticism has turned into cynicism. Too often, we believe that nothing will improve, that everyone is corrupt, that rules exist to be bent and that responsibility lies elsewhere. This mindset has quietly weakened us far more than any single policy failure ever could.
No nation moves forward when its people only demand and never contribute. Rights are essential, but rights without responsibility weaken the foundations on which they stand. A state cannot function when citizens avoid taxes, ignore laws, damage public property and yet expect justice and efficiency in return. Systems are not abstract. They reflect the behaviour of the people who sustain them.
We must rediscover our humanity. Somewhere along the way, indifference crept in. We became numb to suffering, selective in our outrage and accepting of inequality as normal. A humane society is not built through speeches or slogans. It is built when compassion guides policy, when institutions respond with care and when those in power act with restraint. Progress that ignores human dignity is hollow.
Equally important is bringing decency into the way we live every day. How we speak, how we treat one another, and how we respect others’ time, space, and dignity – these small acts of decency form the foundation of a civil society. Decency is not a formality. It is the quiet thread that binds trust, respect and cohesion. Without it, even the best laws and policies fail to make a society worth living in. Patriotism too must be understood differently. True patriotism is not loud or theatrical. It does not live in slogans or social media posts. It lives in everyday discipline, in obeying the law, standing in line, refusing corruption even when it benefits you and putting the national interest above personal convenience. Nations do not advance on emotion alone. They advance when citizens act responsibly.
At the heart of all this lies rule of law. Without it, there is no justice, no confidence, no dignity and no opportunity. Laws cannot be selective. When exceptions are made for the powerful, injustice becomes normal. We cannot keep waiting for the system to fix itself while we undermine it daily. Reform begins when citizens demand a fair system and then live by it themselves.
There are no shortcuts. We need to stop looking for a messiah to set things right. No one can. Societies that have progressed have done so by following the laws, respecting procedures, and building institutions that work. Respect for the law is not optional; it is the foundation on which opportunity and progress are built. Opportunity does not grow in chaos or uncertainty. It grows where there is stability, fairness, and predictability. For that, we must invest not just in roads or buildings but in people. Investment in education is not a cost. It is nation-building. Schools must teach skills, critical thinking, ethics and a sense of purpose. Our young people should be prepared not only to earn a living but to contribute meaningfully to society.
Governments have a responsibility to lead, but societies have a responsibility to respond. No reform can succeed without public ownership. No vision can be realised if citizens do not believe in it, protect it and participate in it. The hard truth is this: governments can initiate reform, but only societies can sustain it. No law will work if it is not respected. No institution will perform if it is constantly undermined. No nation will move forward if its people refuse to walk with it.
The first step is not taken in parliament or courtrooms. It is taken in our homes, workplaces and streets – when we choose to obey the law, contribute honestly, care for others and demand a system while respecting it.
History does not remember nations that complained endlessly. It remembers nations that corrected themselves. The question before us is no longer what the system should do for us. The question is whether we are ready to do our part. If we are ready, we can rebuild the country we love. If we are not, we will remain trapped in disappointment and frustration.
The writer is a member of the Sindh Assembly.
