Where Have They Gone?
By Zaheer Ahmed Awan
Chairman, Citizen Action Committee
A question often troubles the heart: where have those people gone who once held our society together like a family? Where are the politicians who could be found at every square, every corner, sitting among the people, listening to their grievances and treating public service as the very essence of politics? Today’s politicians seem so distant, as if separated by walls from those they claim to represent.
Where are the teachers whose mere presence inspired respect and discipline? In the past, students would straighten their collars and button their shirts when a teacher walked by. A teacher was not just a source of knowledge but a living symbol of character. Now, for many, teaching has become a profession stripped of its moral authority.
Where are the doctors whose kind words and compassionate manner could heal half the illness even before the prescription? Too often today, the profession seems consumed by commercialism, where the patient is seen more as a cost than a soul in need of care.
Where are the elders and community leaders who once resolved disputes within neighborhoods, preventing small quarrels from turning into festering conflicts? Today, even the smallest disagreements rush to courts and police stations because those pillars of mediation have disappeared.
Where are the men who lowered their gaze out of respect when they saw someone’s sister, daughter, or daughter-in-law passing by? Now, eyes are more often captured by screens than by values.
Where are the scholars who preached respect for humanity above all else? Sadly, many pulpits today echo with divisive rhetoric rather than the universal message of compassion.
Where are the poets, writers, and intellectuals who once stood as the conscience of society, raising their voices against tyranny and injustice? Too many pens have fallen silent—or worse, become compromised by vested interests.
And where are the judges who dispensed justice swiftly and fairly, giving hope to the oppressed and holding the powerful accountable? Justice itself now feels like a distant luxury, sought but rarely found.
The deeper question is this: have these people truly vanished, or have we collectively buried these values beneath our own neglect? Perhaps time is reminding us that if we do not revive integrity, compassion, and responsibility in ourselves, the next generation will look at us and ask the same haunting question:
“Where have they gone?”
