Amending the Mistake

A lot has been written in the aftermath of Salman Taseer’s murder, with some suggesting that the country is “near” a social collapse – An explosion of discussions, writings and views as if the liberals (who are in a clear minority from quite some time) have just woken up to reality and are suggesting that this incident and its reaction alone represents the demise of Pakistani Society. The awakening impact of Governor’s murder on the liberals is more shocking than the incident itself, while the conservative right wing is in a continuous state of denial as always, the liberals also seem oblivious to the fact that we are not “near” but in fact already “collapsed”.

The social disintegration or collapse is a relative term in today’s world; it represents transformation rather than extinction of a society. Moreover, the collapse does not happen overnight and is a slow process which ultimately culminates in the complete change of social, moral and economic status.

The rampant anarchy in the state with different political, security and religious factions controlling their stakes; destruction of the civil apparatus; wide spread defiance of the law; and complete economic dependence on foreign aid represents the change which has already taken place.

The murder of Salman Taseer thus is not representative of an impending but an ongoing collapse which was more evident when Musharraf regime started handing over its own citizens to foreign powers and allowed drone strikes within its own borders; it was much more obvious in the muted response of Gojra Incident, the public massacre in Sialkot and the response to attack on Ahmedies in Lahore. The Governor’s murder is just another incident in the sequence.

However, the caution by some liberal sections about a possible takeover by the extremists is not based on actual ground realities. There is no single religious ideology in Pakistan which can support a theocratic takeover. The religious discourse in Pakistan is an out of control experiment of foreign powers and our military which is now pushing the country to chaos as opposed to a structured takeover, every member of the clergy and each of their followers follow a self-defined version of the religion which is more indicative of secularism than theocracy.

Pakistan is more divided today than it was 63 years ago; the country has been struggling with its identity since its inception. The deep ethnic and cultural divisions required a secular state rather than an Islamic Republic – Pakistan will have to fix that mistake if it wants to preserve its current borders. We need a secular and progressive state which can cherish the ethnic and religious diversity of its people.

Karachi before the year 1900

I received these in email, apparently they are from British Library and I think they are worth sharing.

 

Napier Mole Bridge (road to Keamari). Manora lighthouse visible in the distance

Sind Arts College (now DJ Science College) – built 1877

Karachi city street view

Lyari Market

Karachi Gymkhana (built 1886)

Empress Market (built 1889)

Victoria Road (note St. Andrew’s church). Area to the left is today’s Regal chowk; intersection in the foreground is where Mahboob Market now stands.

View of Saddar (Empress Market is in the distance; street in the foreground is probably Victoria Rd or Elphi.)

Clifton Road (now Fatima Jinnah Road ). Street in the foreground is today’s Shahrah-e-Faisal as it bears around Metropole. Part of Sind Club seen on the right.

View of Saddar (St. Patrick’s cathedral/St. Joseph’s convent in the distance). Intersection in foreground is crossing of Zaibunnisa and Shahrah-e-Iraq (road going from passport office towards St. Joseph ’s)

Frere Street (Saddar) with Empress Market visible

Interview @ PakSpectator

I was interviewed by PakSpectator today. I think they are on bandwagon for taking the interviews. Interestingly Haroon Saeed had his interview published today as well. I am not sure if he recommended me or PakSpectator observed my fame from somewhere else

Usman Qutab going to Microsoft

I have been away from the blog for some time and there has been a lot happening. Usman Qutab was here in Dubai last month for Microsoft Interviews and we had a great time together.

The good news is that he got selected as SDET in Windows Live Team. I think he will be moving to vancouver first and then to seattle. Usman is the first person from our group (infact our batch) to be selected for Microsoft.

Congrats Usman, may you prosper further in your life. Keep us posted about your work and exciting stuff you will be working on.

Iqbal Teray Dais Ka Kia Haal Sunaoon

A very nice piece from Ameer-ul-Islam Hashmi.

What happened to Pakistan of Jinnah ?

I wonder where we have lost Jinnah’s vision of pakistan, why many of us want to turn pakistan into a religious theocracy and some want it to be a country split by provinsialism. Maybe the powers that be have not let democracy flourish in this country from the very start and today many of us are looking for other answers.

It is my belief that survival of Pakistan lies only in being a modern democracy and this is eactly what Jinnah wanted pakistan to be. Some sayings of Jinnah which reflect his vision of Pakistan.

• In any case Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic State to be ruled by priests with a divine mission. (Broadcast talk to the people of the United States of America on Pakistan recorded February, 1948)

• No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your women are side by side with you. We are victims of evil customs. It is a crime against humanity that our women are shut up within the four walls of the houses as prisoners. There is no sanction anywhere for the deplorable condition in which our women have to live. (Speech at a meeting of the Muslim University Union, Aligarh March 10, 1944)

• Even now there are some States in existence where there are discriminations made and bars imposed against a particular class. Thank God, we are not starting in those days. We are starting in the days when there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another. We are starting with this fundamental principle that we are all citizens and equal citizens of one State. (Presidential Address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on 11th August, 1947)

• The great majority of us are Muslims. We follow the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed (may peace be upon him). We are members of the brotherhood of Islam in which all are equal in rights, dignity and self-respect. Consequently, we have a special and a very deep sense of unity. But make no mistake: Pakistan is not a theocracy or anything like it.” (Broadcast talk to the people of Australia recorded on 19th February, 1948)

• You are free; you are free to go to your temples. You are free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion, caste or creed –that has nothing to do with the business of the State. (Presidential Address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on 11th August, 1947)

• We are now all Pakistanis–not Baluchis, Pathans, Sindhis, Bengalis, Punjabis and so on–and as Pakistanis we must feet behave and act, and we should be proud to be known as Pakistanis and nothing else. (Reply to the Civic Address presented by the Quetta Municipality on 15th June, 1948.)

• It naturally pains me to find the curse of provincialism holding sway over any section of Pakistan. Pakistan must be rid of this evil. (Reply to the Civic Address presented by the Quetta Municipality on 15th June, 1948.)

Source: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jinnah

Update (Jan, 3rd 2007): Mudassir responded to this post on his Blog here.
My response to his post is below.

Dear Mudassir,

An excellent explanation and indeed I agree with whatever you have said. The post that I did earlier with Jinnah’s Quotes does not suggest anywhere that Pakistan should become a secular state and I don’t think Jinnah wanted that either.

I want to stress again the difference between a country having a “state religion” and a theocracy. Jinnah wanted the first one and this answers your question about the name “Islamic Republic of Pakistan”. In theocracy however, the religious incarnations/individuals/institutions dominate the civil government and play decisive role in working of the state. In theocracy you take control from the people and give them to a group of religious elite, which is even more destructive than dictatorship because they control the religious dogmas of the society which have always been more powerful than any other social or human values.

These religious elite when manipulated by power and politics play the most destructive role for any society as you have seen in case of Christian church and you are seeing now as the divisions and differences among the Muslims. (It does not matter who is doing it, USA/Neo-Cons etc, but we are getting manipulated pretty well)

The problems with having a theocracy are exactly the same that you have mentioned above in case of the Christian church. Don’t you see our mullanas and religious pundits moving in that direction (not all mullanas/molvies are like this but a large majority), the Taliban style Islam with suicide bombings, destroying temples and places of worship of other religions, destroying historic sites only if they bear some name or symbol of a religion other than Islam, denying women of even basic rights including basic medical care in most cases etc etc. (In other words they can drive the society in any direction with their interpretation of religion)

One of the main reasons for the western societies to isolate from their religions is inflexibility and the wrong interpretation over the centuries. Islam brought democracy 13 hundred years ago and even western scholars are amazed at the openness that Islam provides on various issues which make it the most practical religion, but unfortunately we see various religious scholars presenting an intolerant, crude and impractical version of Islam which is promoting religious hatred and differences and causing a bad name for the religion. This is why we are seeing more people even Muslims becoming more isolated from the religion.

So, given that ruling theocracy has played a disastrous role in the western history I stress that Pakistan should have Islam as a “State Religion” as it currently has and need not turn into a religious theocracy which a “small” group are trying to make of this country.

Daughter of the West (by Tariq Ali)

A wonderful piece by Tariq Ali which provides insights in the politics of Bhutto family and the overall pakistani politics which is run and manipulated by USA using the political and miltary forces in pakistan. The connections between the two military dictaors Zia and Musharraf, the Al-Zulfiqar group, the hijacking of a plane by Bhutto brothers, how Murtaza Butto later was killed by the ruling government of his own sister and how Pakistan has now again went down the same road it did in Zia’s period and afterwards.

The same author wrote a short piece in guardian after her death.

Another piece from today in belfast telegraph My heart bleeds for pakistan. It deserves better than this grotesque feudal charade.

Benazir Bhutto’s Assasination

I have been thinking of writing something but after the initial shock and anger subsided, the realization of the consequences of this tragedy for pakistan were so distressing that I could not made up my mind to write.

I have never liked Benzair as a politician as I have grown up in a time when she failed to deliver anything to people of pakistan in her two times at office and she and her controversial husband have been at the center of allegations of corruptions which I believe are true in most cases. However, her death a couple of days ago made me (and a lot of other people) realize the importance she had at this point for Pakistan, a country which is struggliung for survival.

She was the only prominent and mature leader and at this point even a corrupt benazir would have been a better option to keep the country together than the foolish and corrupt militry generals who have brought the country at the brink of destruction yet again. In a bid to keep implementing US policy and maintaining power, they have again (as in Zia-Ul-Haq’s tme) defied the civil forces of the society and have caused anger and disappointment in people and it is not long that thier US allys will dump them again.

Although blame has been placed on “Al-Qaeda” and “Militant Extremists” which is the most convinient and is a trademark of US government and its ally, the pakistani military, but anyone with slightest concious can tell that it is the work of pakistani intelligence agencies, and proving my point government has itself made a mockery of itself by suggesting a bizzare death by collision with sunroof of the vehicle. This claim has been clearly nulllified after the emergence of new videos which clearly show that she was shot.

The United States is now left with practically no options for pakistan. As Tariq Ali points out in one of his articles, this arranged power wedding between benazir and military was not a good idea from the start and now it has left the US state department and policy makers in disarray.

Ofcourse, no one can fill benazir shoes easily, but there was still hope for pakistan if PPP had nominated a mature and respected politician like Aitezaz Ahsan who had the chances of getting credible support from the masses and civil socitey and could have brought some form of democracy and normalcy to the country but nature seems not so merciful on the land of Jinnah and Iqbal. Ironically, Mr. Zardari, the most controversial figure in politics of pakistan who has pending corruption cases in many countries has become the leader of the party and in the longer run the fate of the country and its people has been left at the hands of a 19-year old who has hardly spend time in pakistan.

I don’t see any other candidate other than Aitezaz Ahsan who if made the PPP candidate for PM could have brought some credible democracy to this country. Any other selection like PML(Q), PML(N), Zardari or Amin Fahim is likely to create more allienation among provinces and the people and will stimulate the army to conquer the country again in a few years.

Note: Imran Khan is also a credible opiton, but he does not have a strong grass root party like PPP which is very important to muster support from the large percentage of illetrate masses of pakistan. Imran is only known and respected among the educated youth who unfortunately constitute a very small group.

Dr. Hoodbhoy’s Commandments for United States and the Muslim World

Excerpts from Professor Hoodbhoy’s lecture.

http://pakistaniat.com/2007/12/12/pervez-hoodbhoy-on-us-and-them-mindset/

Wondeful article.

Freedom or Safety ?

There have been all sorts of opinions, emails, comments and various articles floating on the internet after the imposition of emergency in Pakistan. A lot of these writings are rightly against the current lawlessness and complete anarchy displayed by the government. However, very interestingly some people still support these non-democratic and lawless actions. (I cannot understand why? but probably becuase some people might have thought the same about me when I have had good opinion for the military government before 2007).

One of the mails which I got recently about the support for closing down GEO TV had the following line in the text and It made me understand that people who say that we are a dead nation might be correct.

“A COUNTRY where 60 percent of population cannot read and has never been to school, the media must not be free”

I was grieving at the irony that how the slavery of our ancestors for centuries has even taken away the feeling of freedom and the understanding of what it means to be free. I think Quaid-e-Azam and Iqbal must be crying in thier graves that they have fought for people who do not even undertand the meaning of freedom.

There is an inherent reluctance of pakistani society to become free; they continuously want to live in a safe glass house which our enemies (including foriegn powers) and our friends (pakistani army) has built together so they can continue benefiting form the common man of our society. YES the common man is illiterate and may have less ability of selection but this does not take away his right of freedom. If this was the case the Muslims of India which were largely uneducated and of lesser educational and technical abilities would have been denied freedom. Unfortunately, today we are opposing the very basis on which this country was built. And Why? becuase we do not wish to be free but to be safe as we have been made to believe these two concepts are opposite to each other.

If you want safety by the Army, you do not need to be free. If you want to be free then we are not providing  any saftey. (I wish if the second option was available; I would have taken it). I choose freedom for which our forefathers died over the so called safety which our saviours (Army) are providing us.

As a patriotic pakistani I have been most hurt in recent times by the comments made by our COAS (the post powerful office of our unfortunate country). As Mr. Musharraf blunted out his mind infront of international media that

“Do not expect Freedom for Pakistan, Do not expect Human Rights in Pakistan as rest of the world. We know how we can “control” our own people.”

I felt like crying as if this country was given to us in some charity becuase we the illiterate pakistanis do not have the right of freedom or human rights like the rest of the world and can only be controlled like animals of Jungle.

And then again at the prestigous ceremony as his final day as the head of Pakistan Armed Forces. Mr. Musharraf said “This country cannot exist without this Army” and I could not help but to get disgutsed and distressed by our ill fate that the saviors (Army) of this country believe that the country exists becuase of them; and not that they exist becuase of this country.

All this is becuase the common man like me, you and all of us are reluctant to be free becuase we choose our safety.

It is becuase of people like us that make compromises of freedom for the materialistic gains that nations are forgotten in history. But again this is how the world works and we have choosen the path to be forgotten, not the path to be remembered !