“Pakistan is proud of her youth. They must fully equip themselves by discipline, education, and training.” (Quaid e Azam)
History has its pages full with young people bringing revolutions, making discoveries and inventions, conquering countries, building empires and influencing the world in major ways. Youth represents fearlessness, energy, talent, fresh perspectives, untapped power; youth represents a world yet undiscovered; youth represents the future. Youth is the future.
The UN defines youth as people who are between 15-24 years old. Other indices consider all people under 40 years to be the Youth of the country. Young people are referred to as a machine that runs a country in the capacity of the labor force being the stakeholders of socio-economical, political and cultural fate of any country.
Demographically speaking, Pakistan is lucky having a whopping 63% of its population falling in the category of youth as per the UN standard. Of the total population of 164.6 million (2007), 103 million Pakistanis are under 25 years old. Given these numbers, this country ought to be taking its youth seriously.
All over, the Youth of the world is bringing profound changes in the political and social structure of a number of countries. Great historical figures are responsible for changing the face of the world like, Mohammad bin Qasim, Joan of Arc (led the French army in the siege of Orleans aged 19), and Louis Braille (invented the Braille writing system aged 15) all reached the pinnacle of success in their teens. Most of the companions of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) were teenagers who fought various battles and stood strong for the rise of Islam.
However, this is a double edged sword. Latent force of youth if unutilized, remains uneducated, unemployed and underdeveloped, they can become a force that destabilizes a country social and economic structure. The frustration of unemployment and anger of widening economic gap, also result in an increased crime rate. According to the UN survey, this seems to be the future of Pakistan, as Youth literacy rate is recorded to be 53% meaning half the population remains uneducated.
In Short Pakistan has a great opportunity of utilizing its young people for the better future of the economy only and only if it cares to invest in its youth the way they actually deserve. Undoubtedly, this is the time for Pakistani Youth to reflect the true spirit in them, as dreamt and desired by our Father of The Nation – Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
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