09-09-2007, 08:19 AM
WHAT IS THE POINT OF PAKISTAN?
Jahangir Mohammed
http://www.dictatorshipwatch.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1133&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
As we approach the 60th anniversary of the creation of Pakistan, no doubt there will be the usual airing of nationalist sentiment, recollecting the sacrifices of our forefathers and praising the virtues of Mohammed Ali Jinnah portraying him as a role model for today’s Muslims.
However, 60 years on, with the Pakistani State in chaos and bankrupt, many Pakistani’s are now asking “what is the point of Pakistan”. So instead of drowning ourselves in nationalist euphoria and flag waving, perhaps it’s better to spend the 60th anniversary asking what this State has achieved and where it is going.
On its 60th birthday, few will be asking why there is still no basic provision of welfare for its people in a state calling itself Islamic? Or, why there is no state provision of basic education, a task left to the Madrassah’s. Or why the State has not developed basic infrastructure or public health for its masses? Why a State claiming to be Islamic in which hygiene and cleanliness is paramount is one of the most unhygienic countries on the planet? Why is it that a cricketer has to build a cancer hospital from public donations, and why the welfare of many in Pakistan is dependent on relatives and Islamic charities in the West? Few will ask why the military whose purpose was to protect its people now owns large parts of Pakistan’s industry and benefits from Government? Even fewer will ask why Paksitan’s rich pay almost no taxes leaving the poor to be saddled with paying the international debt of some 30 billion dollars. No government official will tell you how many villages have received clean drinking water or electricity since they came to power, or hospitals and schools they have built? Or, how many politicians, and, civil servants, have been successfully prosecuted and the public wealth they looted been recovered by the much trumpeted accountability commission? And what happened to the rule of law? On all these matters Pakistan is a failed State. So where did it all go sadly wrong.
New States are created usually with a defined purpose or vision. This is normally on the basis of, ethnicity or national origin, territory or ideology. Successful States are usually those that are true to their vision. In the case of Pakistan the driving vision was ideological. Whilst others will be praised for their contribution, the inspiration for Pakistan will possibly only be remembered in passing.
Pakistan was the brainchild of the popular Muslim poet and philosopher Mohammed Iqbal. Iqbal, after his stay in Europe and Germany recognizing the history of the treatment of minorities such as Jews, realized that Muslims would never be safe as a minority in a Hindu dominated State. He also realized that the rising ideologies of the time nationalism and secularism would bring disaster and failure for Muslims if emulated. Whilst, the Shah of Iran and Attaturk were only just on the path to power, Iqbal declared in a famous poem that he saw no future in the Persian nationalism of the Shah of Iran or western secularism of Mustafa Kemal Attaturk, insisting that Muslims should turn their attention towards Islam. As predicted the Shah failed and is history, and Kemalism has failed and is on its way out too. So the two twin aims of Pakistan, according to the man who articulated its case was protection for Muslims and an Islamic not secular or nationalist state.
It was to a congregation of the All India Muslim League, that Iqbal announced that an Independent Islamic State for Muslims was needed; comprising of majority Muslim States of India. The audience was stunned into silence (December 29th, 1930). The British Prime Minster at the time Ramsay Macdonald reacted angrily to the announcement and the British media talked about a Islamic plot to re create an Islamic Empire (Khilafah). Iqbal had not even had time to think of a name for his new State when under pressure from excited Muslims he suggested taking letters from the key Muslim provinces.
Thus was born the idea of the Islamic State of Pakistan. It soon began to achieve widespread mass support and even Mohammed Ali Jinnah an ambitious politician (who up until then had wanted to stay within a united India, began to champion the cause of Pakistan). To Jinnah, like all subsequent secular civilian and military leaders of Pakistan, Islam was a rallying cry to achieve and maintain personal position and power. The State that Jinnah envisaged was nationalist and secular, in the image of the West. Not so the masses who supported the creation of an Islamic State on the basis of Islamic Shariah. The vision of Iqbal and the masses had been subverted at birth by the secularists. Since then Pakistan’s secular elites whether military or civilian have been performing a balancing act between achievement of their secular objectives and vision, whilst outwardly maintaining a semblance of commitment to Islam to keep the support of masses (by introducing bits of Shariah from time to time) This veneer of outward Islamic commitment and loyalty to western secularism has now reached breaking point.
Sixty years of secular rule in Pakistan has brought nothing but political, social, military and economic failure. With the Military dictatorship of Musharraf, secularism has reached new heights. Secularism is now rampant and dominates almost all spheres of public life, especially with the growth in private media outlets, pop and glamour culture. Until 911, Secularism and the Pakistani State were at a crossroads. However, with the support and backing of the Untied States, Pakistan’s secular elite have been granted a new lease of life.
American loans and re-scheduling of debt has fuelled an artificial confidence and economic growth; especially in the property development sector; this has emboldened the secular establishment in Pakistan, who are rapidly trying to turn Pakistan into a fully fledged Secular State. The growing middle classes (who are benefiting from this mini economic boom), are now aping western secular culture, and its social and political ideas; and at a speed that will soon see them overtaking the secularists in Iran, before the fall of the Shah, and Kemalists of Turkey.
This is not surprising, when Musharraf boasts that his hero is Mustafa Kemal and wants to turn Pakistan into a Kemalist State. Musharaf talks of creating a State based on his version of Islam which he imposes on the people of Pakistan without mandate. This Islam, which he refers to as “enlightened moderation” is shorthand for a secular state.
The Secularists declare that progress in Pakistan, or the lack of it, is down to religion. Taking a cue from their Western masters, the key issue for Pakistani progress has been presented as a struggle between “moderate” Islam and “extremist” Islam, with Musharaff and exiled civilian politicians all claiming they are more “moderate” and can deal with the “Extremists” better, to win US backing. Sadly, many Islamic minded Muslims (intellectuals and Ulema) have also been taken in by this convenient side show.
The real struggle in Pakistan is, and always has been, between secularism and Islam. Secularism’s rallying cry from the West to Pakistan is to reform Islam in the Muslim world as step to progress. But it is the secularists that have been in power for the last 60 years, not the so called Islamists or Ulema. It is a strange logic to argue that you should reform religion, when it is your politics that have failed for the last 60 years. It is equivalent to people in Britain saying that the Government has failed so we should reform the Church of England. Reforming Islam has become a popular slogan for Muslim rulers to mask their own political failure. They also now know that an alternative Islamic political power is the likely challenge to their failed politics and so they try to discredit it.
In any event what was the point of Pakistan if what’s on offer is a secular state? If Secularism is our goal then we might as well have remained as a part of India. After all India does secularism a lot better? India’s secularism has brought social, economic and military progress, so that India is now considered a world economic power. India’s secularism has a rule of law and has had civilian democratic governments, India is not economically dependent on the IMF and the West like Pakistan; and India is in charge of its own destiny, unlike Pakistan which under its secular rulers has surrendered any semblance of territorial or political independence to the United States.
The second reason for the creation of Pakistan was the protection of Muslim life and the right to practice religion freely. Under Pakistan’s secular and nationalist rulers this too has been sacrificed. This is especially so under Musharaf. Today in Pakistan the charge of extremism is used to justify the killing by the Pakistani army of Muslims in the North of Pakistan. The label of extremist is being used to pick up Muslims and hand them to the United States. Hundreds are simply missing without any trial with their loved ones desperately attempting to find out what has happened. The charge of Extremism is enough to close madrassahs and religious schools and now Musharraf following his US masters has set up a National Sufi Council to promote a non political Islam in Pakistan.
Perhaps the final straw for the struggle between Islam and secularism in Pakistan may be the massacre of Muslims and the Imam of the Lal Masjid, whose only crime appears to be a call like the founders of Pakistan for the creation of an Islamic State; and an end to the rampant decadent secular culture that is sweeping Pakistan. In Pakistan the sheer barbarity of this event has made many in Pakistan realize that Islam and Muslim life are under threat rather than being protected. With this incident the only institution with some credibility in Pakistan is now seen as an enemy of its own people. To many the event has rekindled similarities with the Martyrdom of Imam Hussain at the hands of Yazid. When the army of a so called Islamic state destroys a mosque and slaughters its inhabitant, what is left of its Islamic credentials. Recognizing he was unlikely to win another election Musharaf and the secular civilian politicians are likely to cut a deal in order to ensure that secularism continues to flourish in Pakistan. Whilst they may detest each other, the one they all agree on is that Islam must be kept out of Governance.
Sadly, Pakistan’s religious leaders have been unable to take advantage of the spectacular failure of the Secularists. This is largely because they have been tempted by political and military rulers to do deals for short term gains. Thus they inherit their failure and have lost credibility amongst the masses. They have also failed to stem the rise of western culture and secularism amongst the masses.
The Pakistani State was born because of Islam. Almost all its achievements since then have been because of the people’s commitment to Islam and the Ummah; survival in the wars with India over Kashmir; support for the Kashmiri Mujahideen; support for the Mujahideen in Afghanistan and the destruction of the Soviet Union; support for the Taliban, to bring law and order to a destroyed and lawless nation; the hosting of 5 million Afghan refugees for over 20 years. Abdul Qader Khans nuclear bomb; taking of territory from India in Kargil in 1999, for the first time in co-operation with the Mujahideen; the tremendous effort of the Pakistani people in the Kashmiri earthquake and generally paying their religious dues to support charities; and the establishment of madrasahs to provide free basic education to the poor.
At this crossroads in Pakistani history, the people of Pakistan and their rulers have a choice; to heed the message of its originator Mohammed Iqbal, that the future of Muslims is not in nationalism and secularism, but Islam. We are not non-Muslims like the Hindu rulers of India. Secularism may work for them, but these ideologies will not achieve results for Muslims. This is the promise of Allah (swt). We must also not be taken in by Pakistan’s secular rulers, they detest Islam. Prior to 911 they mockingly used to refer to the committed Muslims as “Fundies” now they refer to them as “extremists” and “Terrorists”. The real struggle in Pakistan is between secularism and Islam. And if the people of Pakistan support the secularists then the wrath of Allah (Swt) will surely descend on this nation.
Jahangir Mohammed
http://www.dictatorshipwatch.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1133&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
As we approach the 60th anniversary of the creation of Pakistan, no doubt there will be the usual airing of nationalist sentiment, recollecting the sacrifices of our forefathers and praising the virtues of Mohammed Ali Jinnah portraying him as a role model for today’s Muslims.
However, 60 years on, with the Pakistani State in chaos and bankrupt, many Pakistani’s are now asking “what is the point of Pakistan”. So instead of drowning ourselves in nationalist euphoria and flag waving, perhaps it’s better to spend the 60th anniversary asking what this State has achieved and where it is going.
On its 60th birthday, few will be asking why there is still no basic provision of welfare for its people in a state calling itself Islamic? Or, why there is no state provision of basic education, a task left to the Madrassah’s. Or why the State has not developed basic infrastructure or public health for its masses? Why a State claiming to be Islamic in which hygiene and cleanliness is paramount is one of the most unhygienic countries on the planet? Why is it that a cricketer has to build a cancer hospital from public donations, and why the welfare of many in Pakistan is dependent on relatives and Islamic charities in the West? Few will ask why the military whose purpose was to protect its people now owns large parts of Pakistan’s industry and benefits from Government? Even fewer will ask why Paksitan’s rich pay almost no taxes leaving the poor to be saddled with paying the international debt of some 30 billion dollars. No government official will tell you how many villages have received clean drinking water or electricity since they came to power, or hospitals and schools they have built? Or, how many politicians, and, civil servants, have been successfully prosecuted and the public wealth they looted been recovered by the much trumpeted accountability commission? And what happened to the rule of law? On all these matters Pakistan is a failed State. So where did it all go sadly wrong.
New States are created usually with a defined purpose or vision. This is normally on the basis of, ethnicity or national origin, territory or ideology. Successful States are usually those that are true to their vision. In the case of Pakistan the driving vision was ideological. Whilst others will be praised for their contribution, the inspiration for Pakistan will possibly only be remembered in passing.
Pakistan was the brainchild of the popular Muslim poet and philosopher Mohammed Iqbal. Iqbal, after his stay in Europe and Germany recognizing the history of the treatment of minorities such as Jews, realized that Muslims would never be safe as a minority in a Hindu dominated State. He also realized that the rising ideologies of the time nationalism and secularism would bring disaster and failure for Muslims if emulated. Whilst, the Shah of Iran and Attaturk were only just on the path to power, Iqbal declared in a famous poem that he saw no future in the Persian nationalism of the Shah of Iran or western secularism of Mustafa Kemal Attaturk, insisting that Muslims should turn their attention towards Islam. As predicted the Shah failed and is history, and Kemalism has failed and is on its way out too. So the two twin aims of Pakistan, according to the man who articulated its case was protection for Muslims and an Islamic not secular or nationalist state.
It was to a congregation of the All India Muslim League, that Iqbal announced that an Independent Islamic State for Muslims was needed; comprising of majority Muslim States of India. The audience was stunned into silence (December 29th, 1930). The British Prime Minster at the time Ramsay Macdonald reacted angrily to the announcement and the British media talked about a Islamic plot to re create an Islamic Empire (Khilafah). Iqbal had not even had time to think of a name for his new State when under pressure from excited Muslims he suggested taking letters from the key Muslim provinces.
Thus was born the idea of the Islamic State of Pakistan. It soon began to achieve widespread mass support and even Mohammed Ali Jinnah an ambitious politician (who up until then had wanted to stay within a united India, began to champion the cause of Pakistan). To Jinnah, like all subsequent secular civilian and military leaders of Pakistan, Islam was a rallying cry to achieve and maintain personal position and power. The State that Jinnah envisaged was nationalist and secular, in the image of the West. Not so the masses who supported the creation of an Islamic State on the basis of Islamic Shariah. The vision of Iqbal and the masses had been subverted at birth by the secularists. Since then Pakistan’s secular elites whether military or civilian have been performing a balancing act between achievement of their secular objectives and vision, whilst outwardly maintaining a semblance of commitment to Islam to keep the support of masses (by introducing bits of Shariah from time to time) This veneer of outward Islamic commitment and loyalty to western secularism has now reached breaking point.
Sixty years of secular rule in Pakistan has brought nothing but political, social, military and economic failure. With the Military dictatorship of Musharraf, secularism has reached new heights. Secularism is now rampant and dominates almost all spheres of public life, especially with the growth in private media outlets, pop and glamour culture. Until 911, Secularism and the Pakistani State were at a crossroads. However, with the support and backing of the Untied States, Pakistan’s secular elite have been granted a new lease of life.
American loans and re-scheduling of debt has fuelled an artificial confidence and economic growth; especially in the property development sector; this has emboldened the secular establishment in Pakistan, who are rapidly trying to turn Pakistan into a fully fledged Secular State. The growing middle classes (who are benefiting from this mini economic boom), are now aping western secular culture, and its social and political ideas; and at a speed that will soon see them overtaking the secularists in Iran, before the fall of the Shah, and Kemalists of Turkey.
This is not surprising, when Musharraf boasts that his hero is Mustafa Kemal and wants to turn Pakistan into a Kemalist State. Musharaf talks of creating a State based on his version of Islam which he imposes on the people of Pakistan without mandate. This Islam, which he refers to as “enlightened moderation” is shorthand for a secular state.
The Secularists declare that progress in Pakistan, or the lack of it, is down to religion. Taking a cue from their Western masters, the key issue for Pakistani progress has been presented as a struggle between “moderate” Islam and “extremist” Islam, with Musharaff and exiled civilian politicians all claiming they are more “moderate” and can deal with the “Extremists” better, to win US backing. Sadly, many Islamic minded Muslims (intellectuals and Ulema) have also been taken in by this convenient side show.
The real struggle in Pakistan is, and always has been, between secularism and Islam. Secularism’s rallying cry from the West to Pakistan is to reform Islam in the Muslim world as step to progress. But it is the secularists that have been in power for the last 60 years, not the so called Islamists or Ulema. It is a strange logic to argue that you should reform religion, when it is your politics that have failed for the last 60 years. It is equivalent to people in Britain saying that the Government has failed so we should reform the Church of England. Reforming Islam has become a popular slogan for Muslim rulers to mask their own political failure. They also now know that an alternative Islamic political power is the likely challenge to their failed politics and so they try to discredit it.
In any event what was the point of Pakistan if what’s on offer is a secular state? If Secularism is our goal then we might as well have remained as a part of India. After all India does secularism a lot better? India’s secularism has brought social, economic and military progress, so that India is now considered a world economic power. India’s secularism has a rule of law and has had civilian democratic governments, India is not economically dependent on the IMF and the West like Pakistan; and India is in charge of its own destiny, unlike Pakistan which under its secular rulers has surrendered any semblance of territorial or political independence to the United States.
The second reason for the creation of Pakistan was the protection of Muslim life and the right to practice religion freely. Under Pakistan’s secular and nationalist rulers this too has been sacrificed. This is especially so under Musharaf. Today in Pakistan the charge of extremism is used to justify the killing by the Pakistani army of Muslims in the North of Pakistan. The label of extremist is being used to pick up Muslims and hand them to the United States. Hundreds are simply missing without any trial with their loved ones desperately attempting to find out what has happened. The charge of Extremism is enough to close madrassahs and religious schools and now Musharraf following his US masters has set up a National Sufi Council to promote a non political Islam in Pakistan.
Perhaps the final straw for the struggle between Islam and secularism in Pakistan may be the massacre of Muslims and the Imam of the Lal Masjid, whose only crime appears to be a call like the founders of Pakistan for the creation of an Islamic State; and an end to the rampant decadent secular culture that is sweeping Pakistan. In Pakistan the sheer barbarity of this event has made many in Pakistan realize that Islam and Muslim life are under threat rather than being protected. With this incident the only institution with some credibility in Pakistan is now seen as an enemy of its own people. To many the event has rekindled similarities with the Martyrdom of Imam Hussain at the hands of Yazid. When the army of a so called Islamic state destroys a mosque and slaughters its inhabitant, what is left of its Islamic credentials. Recognizing he was unlikely to win another election Musharaf and the secular civilian politicians are likely to cut a deal in order to ensure that secularism continues to flourish in Pakistan. Whilst they may detest each other, the one they all agree on is that Islam must be kept out of Governance.
Sadly, Pakistan’s religious leaders have been unable to take advantage of the spectacular failure of the Secularists. This is largely because they have been tempted by political and military rulers to do deals for short term gains. Thus they inherit their failure and have lost credibility amongst the masses. They have also failed to stem the rise of western culture and secularism amongst the masses.
The Pakistani State was born because of Islam. Almost all its achievements since then have been because of the people’s commitment to Islam and the Ummah; survival in the wars with India over Kashmir; support for the Kashmiri Mujahideen; support for the Mujahideen in Afghanistan and the destruction of the Soviet Union; support for the Taliban, to bring law and order to a destroyed and lawless nation; the hosting of 5 million Afghan refugees for over 20 years. Abdul Qader Khans nuclear bomb; taking of territory from India in Kargil in 1999, for the first time in co-operation with the Mujahideen; the tremendous effort of the Pakistani people in the Kashmiri earthquake and generally paying their religious dues to support charities; and the establishment of madrasahs to provide free basic education to the poor.
At this crossroads in Pakistani history, the people of Pakistan and their rulers have a choice; to heed the message of its originator Mohammed Iqbal, that the future of Muslims is not in nationalism and secularism, but Islam. We are not non-Muslims like the Hindu rulers of India. Secularism may work for them, but these ideologies will not achieve results for Muslims. This is the promise of Allah (swt). We must also not be taken in by Pakistan’s secular rulers, they detest Islam. Prior to 911 they mockingly used to refer to the committed Muslims as “Fundies” now they refer to them as “extremists” and “Terrorists”. The real struggle in Pakistan is between secularism and Islam. And if the people of Pakistan support the secularists then the wrath of Allah (Swt) will surely descend on this nation.