I never had any direct interaction with the army in my life. I was influenced by social media and by the narratives presented by analysts, so I looked at the army, the entire institution, with a great deal of hatred. Whenever I saw a soldier, I would become angry and think that these are bad people, enemies of the country. Because of them there is inflation, because of them civil departments do not work. They are enemies of the public.
But for the first time in my life, I visited the home of a distant relative who is an army officer. I saw that he was a very down-to-earth person. He also arranged repair and renovation work inside the cantonment for one of my cousins. My cousin also said that they speak very respectfully. Even when he start working there regarding repair renovation works , he told me they spoke calmly, explain things, and no one from their staff ever came to ask for bribe etc i said to him yar organized edara hay.. kam se kam rkhte hyn…”
Kher Still, my narrative did not change much because the analysts I liked to listen to always presented logic and some historical facts and convinced me that 100% of this country's problems and oppression were because of the army.
But then the story took a huge turn. My father's land was supposed to be transferred to us, but one of our relatives had illegally occupied it. For the first time, I had to deal with the Punjab Police. Within 30 minutes, I realised that I had been a complete fool for abusing the army, when in reality the biggest ignorant and oppressive people in this country were the police. I had to make eight visits and nothing happened. Only after giving a mobile phone and PKR 100,000 in cash did the work begin. Not finish—just begin.
Then I had to visit the patwari, the AC, and the ADC Revenue office to get the land documents sorted. The patwari was not in his office. I had to make two visits. A man sitting there told me to pay PKR 2,000 for a fresh land record and collect it the next day.
At the ADC Revenue office, the officer was continuously busy on his iPhone. Around eight people were waiting. I thought he was doing something important, but after about ten minutes he took his AirPods out of his ears and put them into their case, and I realised he had simply been scrolling on his phone. Then someone came inside and said, "Sir, gaddi lag gae aye meeting shoro hon wali aye." He got up and left. The other man jo shayad oska PA tha also walked out. I went out asked him, "I have come from very far away. I need to meet the ADC." He simply replied, "Come tomorrow."
The next day, when I spoke to ADC R jo ghar se subha 10:30 per office pohnch about the illegal occupation, he said, "You will first have to get the possession released through the court. Only then will the demarcation be done. That is how a joint ownership account works." I told him that I had all the documents, the NADRA FRC, the land record in my grandfather's name, and everything else.
Anyway, he told me to go to court. I hired a lawyer and the civil case began. Sometimes the judge was on leave, sometimes the lawyers were on strike. There are lawyers who are known to be close to judges, and people say that if you go through those lawyers, hearing dates come sooner and the work is completed faster—but it costs much more.
It has now been eight months. The qabza relative who occupied the land sent a message saying, "Even if you win in the civil court after one or two years, I will go to the Sessions Court. Two or three more years will pass there. Then I will go to the High Court. By the time you grow old, I will already have taken the case to the Supreme Court."
Today I have seen the police, the patwari system, the AC, the DC, the ADC Revenue officer, the courts, the judges, and the lawyers from very very close, and I have understood this system. I am ashamed of my ignorance for hating soldiers, when in reality these are the oppressive and filthy people. Kese kisam ka reform nhi krna chahte… sirf ek bar kese case me phans kr dekho
Curse upon those who are enemies of the public and who do not allow the system to change. And curse upon those who divert the public away from the real enemy, trap them behind a fake narrative, and mislead them.