A country lost

IT began with the flag. A strip of white slapped on, but separate and away from the sea of green — the problem was there from the very outset: one group cast aside from the rest.

A more prescient mind would have thought to put the white in the middle, enscon-ced in a sea of green, a symbolic embrace of the other.

But why blame the flag?

It began with the founding theory.

A country created for Muslims but not in the name of Islam. Try selling that distinction to your average Pakistani in 2012. 1947 was another country and it still found few takers.

Pakistan’s dirty little secret isn’t its treatment of non-Muslims or Shias or the sundry other groups who find themselves in the cross-hairs of the rabid and the religious. Pakistan’s dirty little secret is that everyone is a minority.

It begins with Muslim and non-Muslim: 97 per cent and the hapless and helpless three. But soon enough, the sectarian divide kicks in: Shia and Sunni. There’s another 20 per cent erased from the majority.

Next, the intra-Sunni divisions: Hanafi and the Ahl-e-Hadith. Seventy per cent of Pakistan may be Hanafi, five per cent Ahl-e-Hadith.

Then the intra-intra-Sunni divisions: Hanafis split between the growing Deobandis and the more static Barelvis.

And finally, within the 40 per cent or so that comprise Barelvis in Pakistan, there’s the different orders: the numerous Chishtis, the more conservative Naqshbandis and the microscopic Qadris.

In Pakistan, there is no majority.

There’s the terror that every minority lives in: non-Muslim from Muslim, Shia from Sunni, Barelvi from Wahabi, secular Sunni from rabid Barelvi — the future is now and it is bleak.

Some mourn the passing of Jinnah’s vision and seek solace in his Aug 11 speech. But there never was an Aug 11 version of Pakistan: it was stillborn, killed off by the religious right as
soon as it was articulated.

The 1954 Munir report has been forgotten by most, but it contains some of the most poignant remarks on Pakistan’s search for an identity and peace within.

“The Quaid-i-Azam was the founder of Pakistan and the occasion on which he thus spoke [on Aug 11, 1947] was the first landmark in the history of Pakistan. The speech was intended both for his own people including non-Muslims and the world, and its object was to define as clearly as possible the ideal to the attainment of which the new State was to devote all its energies….

“We asked the ulema whether this conception of a state was acceptable to them and everyone of them replied in an unhesitating negative, including the Ahrar and erstwhile Congressites with whom before the Partition this conception was almost a part of their faith. If Maulana Amin Ahsan Islahi’s evidence correctly represents the view of Jamaat-i-Islami,
a state based on this idea is the creature of the devil, and he is confirmed in this by several writings of his chief, Maulana Abul Ala Maudoodi, the founder of the Jamaat.”

But if the ulema hated Aug 11, surely they loved the Objectives Resolution, the death knell of a pluralistic and tolerant Pakistan that followed a year and a half later?

Not quite. Again from the Munir report:

“The Quaid-i-Azam’s conception of a modern national state, it is alleged, became obsolete with the passing of the Objectives Resolution on 12th March 1949; but it has been freely admitted that this Resolution, though grandiloquent in words, phrases and clauses, is nothing but a hoax and that not only does it not contain even a semblance of the embryo of an Islamic State but its provisions, particularly those relating to fundamental rights, are directly opposed to the principles of an Islamic State.”

The Objectives Resolution denounced as a hoax? To stand on a street and claim that in the Pakistan of today would be to invite a lynching. And yet, that’s exactly what the ulema of the 1950s said, on the record, in full view of the public and history.

Confused? You should be.

The contortions and convolutions of the religious right in Pakistan are enough to make the head spin. But that’s not really where the story of how Pakistan has arrived at the miserable place it has is located.

The religious right and its more rabid cousins have come to dominate Pakistan not because they are more coherent, united and organised.They have come to dominate Pakistan because theirs is the only discourse being peddled.

You fear for the 11-year-old girl accused of blasphemy, you weep for the dead Shias of Babuser Top, you blanch at the relentless persecution of Ahmadis, you shiver at the thought of life as a Hazara in Balochistan — but in all of it, you know there’s little that can be done.

A declining state unable to protect its most precious assets; a social contract between society and state that was never quite signed; dark forces long unleashed in society that have never really been challenged — who can stand up and how?

A general speaks out, a police chief stands up, a politician denounces intolerance, a preacher reaches out to other denominations, a television deity urges introspection — if any of that and all of that were to happen now, today, would it really help recover the vast spaces afforded the religious right and their monstrous counterparts since the birth of the experiment
we call Pakistan?

The future is now. The future is theirs. The future belongs to the right.

You and I, we’re just living here on their sufferance.

The writer is a member of staff.

cyril.a@gmail.com

Twitter: @cyalm

A country lost | DAWN.COM

Pakistan ke Gasiboon ke naam......

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kya bood-o-bash poocho ho purab ke sakino! hum ko gareeb jan ke, hans hans pukar ke...
jis ko falak ne loot ke veeran kar diya, hum rehne walay hain usi ujray dyar ke -

good to know i'm not the only one feeling defeated about the future of pakistan these days. the damage has well and truly been done due to pandering to religious fanatics and their warped interpretation of islam.

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it says something that india is safer for Shi'ite muslims than Pakistan.

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[QUOTE=PKB;2306646]Naveen is hot n sexy :)[/QUOTE]

Barelvis, who are currently very much hands in hands with these extremist. They should count their days, they'll be next.

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kya bood-o-bash poocho ho purab ke sakino! hum ko gareeb jan ke, hans hans pukar ke...
jis ko falak ne loot ke veeran kar diya, hum rehne walay hain usi ujray dyar ke -

So it was a mistake to make Pakistan? LOL

Oh where to start so many points but hey lets take one speech and clings it to it and shut down all other speeches and policy announcement by Quaid-e-azam this fantasy world of so called liberals is too good

Objective resolution passed in 1949 was proposed by Liaqut Ali to the constituent assembly of Pakistan which had mostly Muslim league members so unless they all were turncoat to jinnah's vision that couldn't have happened. May be the case was much simpler they being close and compatriots for struggle of pakistan knew exactly what they and quaid has envisioned.

The flag was adopted by constituent assembly on 11 august, 1947, 3 days before independence it was based on All India muslim league's flag which was all green denoting Muslim and a white stripe was added to represent non-muslim minorities.

Lastly, Quaid-e-azam was leader of All India Muslim league and fought for land for muslims, so unless you guys are ready to admit that he wass the first discriminator and the reason for today's discrimination, I suggest you get out of ur fantasy world and try to understand what Muslim league led by Quaid-e-azam really was all about,

But then, that will require intellectual hones, which is alien to most so called intellectuals in pakistan.

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Afsos...

Pakistan ko "creation of devil" declare karnay walay kis haq se aaj Pakistaniyat ka claim kartay hain. Sawal bas itna hai....

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kya bood-o-bash poocho ho purab ke sakino! hum ko gareeb jan ke, hans hans pukar ke...
jis ko falak ne loot ke veeran kar diya, hum rehne walay hain usi ujray dyar ke -

intellect to hai banday main...

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kya bood-o-bash poocho ho purab ke sakino! hum ko gareeb jan ke, hans hans pukar ke...
jis ko falak ne loot ke veeran kar diya, hum rehne walay hain usi ujray dyar ke -

Thank you for pointing my mistake I have edited it, once again thanks for pointing the error

Intellect ke to kia kehne just concentrating on words and not the context, the context was a secular state would be creation of devil. Now if u want to argue that under islamic teaching am more then willing buts lets keep the intellectual debate intellectual, and be honest the qts was if pak state to be secular and answer was then would be creation of devil.

When ur liberals were siding with Ayub it was same JI who was going to prison and torture cells and same JI which took on mullah again for Fatima Jinnah

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yaani ke aap ke siyasi amiydeen isi liye Tehreek-e-Azadi-e-Pakistan ke khilaf thay.

Bas phir aapko Pakistan bannay ke baad apnay moaqqif pe qaiym rehna chahiye tha (Momin ki nishani to yehi hai), Pakistan jis maqsad ke liye Bar-e-sagheer ke Musalmanoo ke liye azad hua tha woh aap ke nazariyaat ke to bilkul khilaaf tha. Laikin aapne Pakistan main bin bulaye mehmaan entry ki, aur aakar Pakistan ke concept aur qawaneen per asar andaz hotay huay Pakistan ko badalnay ki koshish ki. Jis harkat ki usoolan koi gunjiysh nahi banti.

Aap ne wait kya aik aisay Army dictator ka jo aap ke nazariyaat ko panapnay ka mauqa de, aur woh aapko Zia ne moyassar kiya. Bas aap ne soch liya ke abb jis ghar main mehmaan ban kar aye thay, usi main qabiz ho liya jaiy. SO aisay kuch halaat aap ne paida karnay shroo kardiye. Jis ne Pakistan ko tarraqi ke bajaiy sadiyoon peechay dhakail diya. Abb Pakistan ke asal waris aap ko aap ki hesiyat aur tareekh yaad dilatay hain to aap ko ghussa kyun aata hai mere bhai????

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kya bood-o-bash poocho ho purab ke sakino! hum ko gareeb jan ke, hans hans pukar ke...
jis ko falak ne loot ke veeran kar diya, hum rehne walay hain usi ujray dyar ke -

Bhayya apki assertion he ghalat hai, thats the point am trying to make laikin app sunna he nahi chahte, we must understand why Pakistan was created. I will try to summarize, but I beg you to try to understand a difference of opinion or opposition to an idea doesn't neccessary means that the opposition should be comdemned forever. Back to my point

1 - By all accounts Sir Syed was the father of two nation thoery, the intellectuals like Maulana Azad rejected the notion that religion alone can be reason for different nation. Muslim League couldn't counter the eloquence and debate skills of maulana azad, now am not gonna condemn Maulana he understood this way and I donot agree with the concept. By all accounts Maulana Maududi was widely read among Muslim league leadership and they both courted each other, Maududi sahib wrote the masala-e-qaumiyaat and destroyed Maulana Azad's points, which Muslim league took and propagated further expanding Maududi sahib's view.

2 - Allama Iqbal encountered Maualana Madni opposition effectively sidelinning ulema. You are well aware Maulana Maududi was declared kafir by same ulema too.

3 - Quaid in his All India Muslim League presidential address delivered in Lahore, on March 22, 1940, said: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-nation_theory

4 - While maulana madni and his companions were against creation of pakistani not all ulema were e.g Maulana Ashraf ali Thanvi etc etc

In conclusion reading Quaid's own word and numerous speeches I have posted dispel any notion that he was secular, I strongly believe and can prove he understood Islam better then any of his contemporaries, his vision of Pakistan was clear an Islamic welfare state that wouldn't be theocratic not exclusively only for muslims, where rights of all minorities shall be safeguarded and when it comes to state no discriminations shall be allowed, under his vision which is the true vision e.g, a hindu can't be barred from administrative state post because he is hindu. But since its islamic state head of state the overall authority shall remain muslim.

Now turning to your qts of opposition to creation of Pak, I would submit and would like you to think please, ANP founder was against creation of pakistan, GM Syed as early as in 1950 started talking abt sindh independence, Bangla-urdu riot and bangla nationalism was evident in Quaid own time, there are numerous example, yet today we don't tlk abt ANP? The communists of that era which 1st evolved in socialist movement and now masqureade as liberals. My point is what happened at creation of pak who did what is irrelevent, today or post partition who did what should also be accounted for. ANP has given up the ghost of its founder who didn't even want to be buried in Pakistan, Sindhi nationalist are now demanding autonomy inside pakistan, religious right has remained loyal to pak geographic boundries and has pledged its loyalty to state of pakistan. JI was the only major opposition till zia took over the country and has done its share by supporting even Fatima Jinnah as head of state.

Whether one agrees with thier political ideology is the issue, one can support them or vehemently oppose them but saying they are not pakistani just because you don't agree with thier ideology is disingenious.

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hassan nasir CPP ka president tha....na kay jamaat ka...he was arguably one of the worst treated and tortured political prisoners of pakistan....Ayub kai khilaf kharay honay waalon main sirf jamaat nai thi...

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SPARTANSSSS!!!!!! EAT HEARTY, FOR TONIGHT WE DINE IN HELLLLLLLL!!!!!
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Jigz I never claimed it was only jamaat i said the biggest opposition party

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Why aren't islamic tradition followed? As far as i'm concerned 'Silence in regards to oppression is the biggest 'zulm''... the silence from the Barelvis is deafening. Closet extremist and sympathizers are probably the biggest threat to this nation.

If Pakistan is not serving its purpose than yes, it is flawed. Not a mistake, maybe in 5-10 years it will be considered a mistake. Right now, for me, it is inherently flawed. If something does not serve it's purpose, than it should be reformed. The constitution or Jinnah's ideology are NOT infallible, i'm sorry to say.


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When liberals say that secular reform is needed, conservatives say that Jinnah wanted an islamic model for the country.

When liberals say that this islamic model isn't working, we're told it's not the proper one.

It's a win win for the Zaid Hamid crowd.

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[QUOTE=PKB;2306646]Naveen is hot n sexy :)[/QUOTE]

Why does this topic keep popping up in a bizillion threads all over the forum?

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ADMINS SUCK

Yaar wahan system ajeeb ho gaya hai...

The culture has become more selfish and self serving. It's a one thing to have an opportunistic mentality and a completely different thing to have a cunning and deceitful one. That's how I've experience things over there in my very recent visit. Religion, ethnicity, language... the divisions have become ever so prominent like never before and thanks to lack of tolerance and spread of hatred nobody bothers to look for self rectifying instead are more interested in satisfying fake egos. You brought a good point about Barelvis, and I'll tell you that it will be their turn once the Mullahs are done with Christians and Qadyanis. I never understand the rationale of extremist sympathizers either. The people who are standing against your country, your society, your values and culture....instead of condemning them you are having a soft corner for them, what kind of BS is that. Is tarah dekha jaiy to un ki nazar main Pak Army haram maut mar rahi hai extremist ke against. And when I question their loyalties to Pakistan based on such heinous and regretful thinking, everyone has spastic fits.

The extremist and radical ideologies have been so systemically settled in the society that you would wonder why a person doesn't think about Islam in regards to teachings about humanity and welfare. All they care is about straightening up 'who's the right Muslim and who's not'. This is not the Islam for which Pakistan was created. In fact the whole idea that Pakistan was created for Islam was twisted by our Mullahs, it was as simple as that it was created for Muslims of sub-continent to have right of self determination. Nothing more nothing less. Had constitution of 1973 not given religion a backdoor entry I think situation would have been much under control.

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kya bood-o-bash poocho ho purab ke sakino! hum ko gareeb jan ke, hans hans pukar ke...
jis ko falak ne loot ke veeran kar diya, hum rehne walay hain usi ujray dyar ke -