What independence means to me

Sir: “We left our home and hearth for Pakistan.” This was the oft repeated message to us siblings by my mother. My father never said much but we knew he felt like a transplanted sapling trying to find roots.
What traumas families like ours suffered was never fully told as August 14 was celebrated every year with love and affection for the new country.
But, as the first Pakistani generation brought up by those who suffered during partition, I can never forget the meaning of what independence meant to my parents.
We first generation Pakistanis are now more like a lost generation watching the shredding of the spirit of nationalism.
Now August 14 is a day of protests for some holier than thou agitators. We are no longer a nation but a segmented, tormented and divided people on display to a world in which many are waiting to say that Pakistan may become a failed state and not a sovereign nation.
Despite all this, to me Independence Day will always be a reminder of the sacrifices made by my parents and the millions of others who worked tirelessly and sacrificed everything for an ideal.

Nurala Nur
Karachi