To Forgive and Forget

The great African leader Nelson Mandela taught his nation a very valuable lesson to forgive and forget. After spending 27 years in prison, he forgave those who had got him imprisoned. However, today are we capable of following that lesson?

Pakistan, after its 62 years of independence has a long list of politicians, bureaucrats and military dictators that its nation is not willing to forgive. With the judges restored and Supreme courts functioning, people of Pakistan had their hopes high that soon they will witness justice taking place. They did not want anyone to be forgotten or forgiven. The supreme courts decision of labeling the November 3rd emergency as unconstitutional was welcomed as a positive step.

However, the question arises that will justice continue to prevail or should the Pakistani nation learn to forgive and forget? The immediate reaction of many would be that none of them should be forgiven or forgotten but after much thought one can find other possible ways too. For example of forgiving but not forgetting!

Pakistan, being a developing nation has many issues to deal with, such as poverty, soaring inflation, corruption and population explosion. Hence, the time is to learn a lesson from the military dictators and surely not forget them. I am not suggesting that none of them should be held accountable and allowed to peacefully spend rest of their life on a farm house. Rather than forgetting the person we should not forget the wrong done. It should be remembered as a lesson. With forgiving and not forgetting maybe, just maybe, we will able to see light at the end of the tunnel.