It was 7 o’clock in the morning when I was suddenly woken up by a knock on the door. When I opened, it was my friend Khalid Bhatti who asked if I was not ready. I obliged and said it will be there in a few minutes. Let me introduce Bhatti as he has now passed away. He was a dear colleague and one of my best friends, a charming and like-minded fellow. Both of us along with our professional duties regularly advertised the newspaper where we worked and visited our clients together.
In March 2019, we were going for a work visit when he suddenly suffered a heart attack and my best friend lost his life in front of my eyes. I hailed from Jhang and he belonged to Faisalabad, neither of us locals. Since I have been working in Islamabad for around six years, I am staying in a hostel where we often met, and then went out together to visit government offices.
One fine day, he asked me if I wished to have my own house in Islamabad. I replied that it might be everyone’s dream to have their own home we have to make ends meet rather than such wishful thinking. He assured me that I would get my own home and will rid myself of these monthly rents. I was surprised to hear him and asked if he had Aladdin’s lantern which would fulfill our wishes when rubbed. He laughed and asked me if I was aware that Prime Minister Imran Khan has promised to provide a home when he comes to power to the homeless and salaried class on simple installments. These were part of the prime minister’s vision to build a welfare state based on the state of Madinah.
Bhatti paused for a moment and said today we will not do any work but will visit Nadra office and submit the forms. I agreed and said let’s have breakfast first but he insisted on going there immediately as there might be long queues and we might face trouble. We spent the whole day to receive and fill the form. The next day Bhatti came over before dawn our forms were submitted by 10 o’clock. We had just submitted the forms and not received the house but there was satisfaction that our dream might be coming true.
Time passed by and Bhatti left for his eternal abode without seeing his dream come to realisation. Then the day arrived when Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated the construction of 20,000 housing units. Addressing on the occasion, he said the project is a step closer toward fulfilling the dream of providing us our own home. The process of receiving a house has been simplified for the lower and salaried class and I support the prime minister’s initiative.
The prime minister said the country lacked the resources and was virtually bankrupt when he came to power. He reaffirmed to complete all promises made with the nation, and said the private sector was involved and help complete this mission. Even many NGOs such as Akhuwat joined hands to fulfill the ambitious project of providing five million houses.
The prime mister also urged private commercial banks to provide loans on housing. It is expected that the construction of 14,000 homes would be completed by August 2020. This process will keep on continuing until the last needy and deserving person has been provided with their own home.
My friend Khalid Bhatti is no more among us but he has given me hope and to countless others that the prime minister has good intentions and generally cares about us. The dream of having our home will one day be fulfilled.
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