The Government of India Act was enforced in 1935 to fulfill the promise of freedom for enslaved India, so Saadat Hasan Manto wrote the masterpiece short story “Naya Qanoon (New Law)”. Its central character, Mangu the tonga driver, tries to explain the freedom given by the new law and the slavery of the colonial system. Now when, after the 27th Amendment in Tazadistan, we are moving toward improvement and a high flight, then there is no Manto, no enslaved India, and no Mangu tonga-driver. Now there is only the envelope and the stooge journalist, the free Tazadistan, and the spoon-tonga-driver. Whatever the situation may be, let us examine this “new era” from the eyes of this spoon-tonga-driver and this envelope journalist.

Both characters of the story of the “new era”—that is, the writer a.k.a. envelope journalist, and Mangu a.k.a. spoon tonga-driver—are purely Tazadistani. They are lovers of red chilies; perhaps that is why their genetic structure (DNA) has made them emotional and passionate. Both are far away from unemotional thinking and logical reasoning. Both have become biased, one-sided, fireballs. Neither do they see the stability emerging in the country, nor do they know the path chosen for the country’s betterment, nor can these fools even see the journey toward high flight. They are blind of intellect, worshippers of political idols, and bat-like lovers of the darkness of the past, completely incapable of sensing the light of the new era and the revolution coming in the country.

Now that the new era has arrived, the fog has lifted; the blue sky and the shining sun emerging from it are visible. Everything is changing. For the envelope journalist, this is a rare and wonderful opportunity to take out all the worms of the previous era and lay them bare, to reveal before everyone how the backward and outdated system of the past had shackled the pace of the country’s development—so that every common and special person may know that the real reason for our not progressing was the dark past era. Now everything is going to be fixed.

In the past, everything was bad—whether the media, the parliament, the political parties, the political leaders, or the public. All were misguided; actually all were victims of an illusion—the “disease of democracy.” It was this very germ that had gripped their era and distorted the path of this country. In the new era, the negative elements inside the germ of democracy will be eliminated, and this very country will, in the next ten years, be counted among the world’s 20 largest economies. The minerals and treasures hidden within this country will begin to yield billions of dollars of income. After defeating India, our dominance has already spread throughout the world—our weapons, our aircraft, our ammunition, and above all, our skill and expertise are speaking loudly across the four corners of the world. Now there is demand worldwide for our war equipment and capabilities. That new era has arrived in which we will receive so many orders that we will not be able to meet the supply.

The envelopes and the spoons are watching the darkness scatter, the dawn break, and the night turn into day. As for the rest of the settlements of Tazadistan, no one knows what their condition is, but in Lahore and Qasu everything has changed. Spring has arrived in winter; the chrysanthemum exhibition has begun; colorful flowers draped in purple, blue, yellow garments are brightening the atmosphere; and even the kites that had disappeared for years have begun to dance again in the sky. That is why it is said that when change comes, even straw and chaff take on the form of diamonds and pearls; birds begin to chirp, trees become lush and start swaying, and the air becomes musical. Whether the envelopes and the spoons see it or not, smell it or not, change or not—everything around them is changing.

The real problem of Tazadistan is the false narrative, fake news, and one-sided propaganda. The interesting thing is that in the name of fourth-generation warfare, in the past era, every truthful person was proven a liar, every honest person an “envelope,” and every non-partisan and unbiased person was proven biased and partisan. The same way every Bulleh Shah in history was maligned and boycotted—this very epidemic has now become fashion. Whether it is Shahzeb Khanzada or Hamid Mir, sometimes they become targets of fake “people’s representatives” and sometimes of self-proclaimed gods. Many unknown ones are abused sometimes from this side and sometimes from that side. The question is: will the envelopes and the spoons see a change in this situation in the new era? Will there now be any boundary between truth and falsehood? Will the dollar-earning YouTubers and theory-building opinion-makers allow breathing space in the new era, or will the same practice continue? Stones from here and stone-throwing from there—will a red signal ever appear for this traffic?

The political parties and leadership of Tazadistan too have entered from the old era into the new era. Will there be any room in this new era for hereditary politics, conflict of interests, and mindless governance? Will the cabinet or its advisers really be world-renowned PhDs? Will political parties really form task forces and do proper homework on different issues? In the new era, defense and security have become the strongest. We had broken the enemy’s teeth before; now too, to counter its bad intentions, more robust protection has been ensured. Along with external enemies, effective arrangements have been made to counter Afghan renegades and Indian conspiracies. In short, national security now stands on an iron pillar. Whether anyone admits it or not, the protectors were never as strong as they are today.

The dollar-earning YouTubers and the so-called fifth and fourth generation warfare trainees have now become champions of democracy, although in the past eras they used to openly stab democracy in the chest. The sound of the parrot will remain confined within the drum-house, but while on one hand the envelopes and spoons are happy and overjoyed at the arrival of the new era, on the other hand they are worried that although the defense pillar has become very strong, the remaining four pillars of the state are also necessary to keep the roof and structure of the state standing. If one pillar becomes iron and we become a wall of lead for defense, but the parliamentary pillar, the democratic pillar, and the political pillar remain like soil and sand, then how will the foundations of the state become strong?

Quaid-i-Azam had said that “The press and the nation rise together, and they decline together. If attention is not given to freedom of expression, the condition of Pakistani media will be like that of a kidnapped man with tied hands, who is being targeted by long-range arrows thrown by the dollar-earning YouTubers sitting abroad.” If only the suffocated voice of the envelopes and spoons could also find some space to open up in this new era, so that they too may respond with counter-arrows and darts to the attackers.

The envelope journalist and the spoon tonga-driver are very happy at the arrival of the new era, but the good that will rise from the new era—its effects should fall not on one but on all. Only then will the envelopes and spoons gain courage