KARACHI: “Pakistan does not suffer from a lack of resources, it suffers from a lack of courage to confront itself,” said YouTuber and author Shah Rukh Nadeem at the launch of his new book 100 organised at the Karachi Press Club on Wednesday.
“100 is my personal manifesto to challenge that reality and shift the trajectory of our nation,” said Shah Rukh, who through his community Book Buddy, has inspired so many Pakistanis to rediscover books.
The book launch was organised by Liberty Books and Liberty Publishing in collaboration with Book Buddy.
“Nations are built through ideas and ideas come to you by reading books,” he said.
His latest book, which is a conversation about Pakistan’s future, talks of the hundred things that Pakistan must do before turning 100 years old in 2047, which is referred to by the author as ‘Vision 2047’.
There are still some 21 years to go before that. “Pakistan ranks very low in terms of Human Development Index because there are so many other expenditures burdening the economy and stunting the country’s growth. Imagine earning hundred rupees from which 74 per cent is taken from the very start. What then are you left with? What can you do with 26 per cent? Where will the development happen then? This is the true condition of Pakistan.
“You say you don’t have enough parks, you don’t have enough schools, colleges, universities, you don’t have enough hospitals. Why? Because a major chunk of the country’s profits goes into debt, subsidies, pensions, etc. So the book gives you solutions to help the country grow intellectually, socially, politically and more. It is a blueprint, a plan for moving forward.
“But it is also open to debate. For instance, I have advocated for a two-child policy, which if you don’t agree with is open to debate. I speak of a four-year tenure for prime ministers, too. All of these are proposals, which can be debated and new ways can be approached. My mere intention was to write this book that people read and think about. I have also taken an oath that of the 100 proposals I have made in my book, I will fulfil about eight to 10 before meeting my maker,” he promised.
“Aspirationally, I want to eventually venture into politics, I want to work towards ground-level change in Pakistan, I want to change the social hierarchy in Pakistan, which is not easy. At the worst, I will fail. But in order to find out the truth you have to risk being offensive. Therefore, 100 is a rebellion against the system, the status quo, against the thought process of people because our nation has become stagnant,” he concluded.
Speaking on the occasion, senior journalist and analyst Mazhar Abbas said that sadly in our country we thrust responsibility on other people’s shoulders as we are a nation that lacks direction. “Still, people have always responded to change. They have also voted in elections, hoping for change but they were cheated. There is a leadership crisis in our country because there are no ‘leaders’ in our leaders,” he said.
He also added that critical thinking is the core of the book. “How will a country, which has restrictions on thought, move ahead or prosper?” He asked before urging the author and publisher of the book to make its message accessible to all. “Have it translated into Urdu and other languages, make videos about it and bring it into the curriculum because solutions to world problems have always come through campuses,” he pointed out.
Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2026