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 Pakistan
Resolution: Then and Now
By Ghulam Rabbani Agro
All India Muslim league passed a resolution on 23rd, March 1940,
in a public meeting, at Lahore, which paved way for the division
of India and creation of Pakistan, as an Independent Muslim state.
Earlier, in 1938, All India Muslim league, in another public meeting,
held at Karachi, had passed a resolution that Hindus and Muslims
were two separate nations, hence, India should be divided in two
parts. This resolution had paved way for the “Pakistan Resolution”
at Lahore. Both meetings at Karachi and Lahore were presided over
by Qaud-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The meeting at Karachi was
hosted by Sir Haji Abdullah Haroon and was organized by G.M. syed,
Pir Ali Muhamad Rashdi and Shaikh Abdul Majeed Sindhi, who also
moved the resolution in the meeting. Later, G.M. Sayed moved resolution
in the Sindh Provincial Assembly which was adopted. Thus, Sindh
was the first and foremost province in the undivided India, to
pass Pakistan Resolution. At Lahore Pakistan resolution was moved
by sir Fazal-e-Haque, who was popularly known as “Shere-e-Bangal”.
Hussain Shaheed Saharwordi, who later became Prime Minister of
Pakistan, and his right-hand-man Sheikh Mujeebur Rehman (who later
became the founder of Bangladesh) due to the negative politics
of some politicians of West Pakistan, was a champion of Pakistan
movement and had worked hard for its establishment.
Pakistan came into being on 14th August 1947. It comprised of
East Pakistan (which was in fact, East Bengal) and the West Pakistan,
which comprised of Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab, the NWFP and Northern
Areas.
* * * * * * * *
The course of history is always chequred. So is the case of Pakistan’s
history in the post-independence period. There were many ups and
downs. We may better look back, for a while, to avoid any serious
lapse in future.
Urdu was declared as national language of Pakistan. But, as the
facts would have it, in East Pakistan Urdu speaking population
was negligible. Bengali was mother tongue of vast majority of
East Pakistani population. It was not only a spoken language,
but was also rich in literature. The Bengalis therefore resented
the imposition of Urdu. The youth, particularly, the students
community organized demonstrations. Unfortunately, Pakistan leadership,
instead of adopting a saner course of action, to solve the problem
peacefully, resorted to force. Police opened fire, killing several
students. Hatred against the West Pakistani rulers spread like
wild fire, through the length and breadth of East Pakistan.
In West Pakistan, the same group of Politicians hatched a conspiracy
to amulgate the four provinces Sindh, Balochistan, NWFP and the
Punjab into one unit. The conspirators had two-fold objective:
To deprive the Bengalis of their right of majority (the Bengalis
were 56 percent of the population of Pakistan) and to plunder
the lands of Sindh and the mineral resources of Balochistan. The
three smaller provinces were therefore totally against one unit.
Hence, force was again used (as in East Pakistan) to amulgate
them into one unit. In Sindh, elected chief Minister and his cabinet
was dismissed. Same action was taken in the NWFP. In Balochistan,
Nawab Ahmed Yar Khan, the Khan of Kalat and a close associate
of Quaid-e-Azam, was arrested and humiliated, under the allegation
that he was conspiring against one-unit. The result was an overall,
up-serge of hatred in the smaller provinces of West Pakistan.
For the first time in the history of Pakistan slogans of “Sindhu
Desh”, “Greater Balochistan” and “Pashtonistan”
were raised in various cities and towns. The youth, particularly
students community was in the forefront. ’One unit’
therefore had to be dismembered as it was now shaking the foundations
of Pakistan. General Yahya Khan dismembered one unit in 1969 and
to pacify public opinion, further, he held free and fair elections
in the country. In the western wing peoples party won the elections
in Sindh and Punjab, while in the N.W.F.P and Balochistan N.A.P
was returned successful (in the elections). These results were
probably unexpected by the rulers of the country. General Yahya
Khan therefore, against all norms of democracy, denied power to
Awami League and in order to frighten the Bengalis, further, he
took army action in East Pakistan. Hindus fled to India, which
seized the opportunity and attacked East Pakistan with full force.
Bengalis welcomed the invading Indian army. East Pakistan became
’Bangladesh’. Thus, Pakistan which came in to being
as a result of hard struggle of the Muslims of the India under
the Leadership of Qaud-e-Azam was reduced only to the then West
Pakistan. After the fall of Dhaka, the All India radio proudly
commented that the “Two Nation Theory”, of Mr. Jinnah
had been drowned in the Bay of Bengal.
But the Hindus were mistaken!
* * * * * * * *
Somewhere in 80s, I met the Ambassador of Bangladesh at Islamabad.
I asked him if they still believed in Two-Nation-Theory?
He replied that if they did, they would be with us (the West Pakistanis).
However, it has to be admitted that after the separation from
West Pakistan, the Bengali Muslims did not join hands with Bengali
Hindus. Muslim Bengal remained separate from Hindu Bengal. The
relations of ’Bangladesh’ and India did not remain
cordial for long. These days there are frequent clashes between
the Indian and the Bangladeshi forces on the border. As against
that, the relations between Bangladesh and Pakistan are not bad.
Thus, it has been once again proved that Muslims and Hindus are
not one nation. The Two Nation Theory of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad
Ali Jinnah was and is good like gold.
There are Hindu and Muslim riots in one or other province of India,
time and again. Not long ago Hindus, from various cities and towns
all over India marched in organised processions to destroy the
historical Babri Masjid, all because it was a relic, reminding
of the historical victory of Baber, the founder of the great Mughal
empire.
One such province which was worst hit on account of marched Babri
Masjid was Gujrat, where more than two thousand Muslims were killed
and their women raped. Modi, the Chief Minister of the province
of Gujrat openly encouraged Hindus to kill Muslims mercilessly.
Who can forget that the way of life of Hindus and Muslims is altogether
different from each other. There is no meeting point between the
two. The Muslims worship only one God and Hindus worship 330 million
gods, including LINGUM (the male human organ) and YUNI (the female
human organ), without any shame!
It is not therefore surprising if India in the post independence
period has faught more than three wars with Pakistan, to destroy
it?
Who can forget that India with all its might has not been able
to digest Kashmir in the past 50 years. How can it dream to invade
Pakistan and digest 150 million Muslims?
The time is over when the Christen, the Jewish and the
Hindu civilizations were proud to have atom bomb. Today, with
the grace of God, Pakistan, in the Islamic world, also has an
atom bomb, in its hands.
Off late India and Pakistan have embarked upon “peace process”.
We welcome it, but are also conscious of the Indian dubious role
in Afghanistan, and the blood bath in the occupied Kashmir.
(Mr. G.R Agro is well known intellectual & Former Chairman
Academy of Letters, Islamabad).
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The
Mother of All Solutions
By Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur
All my life I have wondered why this country with so much potential
has lagged so far behind from even those European countries that
were decimated by WW II or Japan which was minced and milled with
A-Bombs for its affront of Pearl Harbour. This country was unscathed
by any disaster of those proportions.
Human material’s quality at the top has always been suspect
here but then too laws of natural development do take their course
in spite of human follies. Something of titanic proportions must
have been awry here to have taken us backwards instead of forward.
The answer to my query literally fell providentially in my lap.
It had forever been in front of me but I had been blind to it.
The news that National Assembly decides to outlaw criticism of
the President and other pillars of state, solved the mystery for
me. It was with this that it dawned on me, that the reason for
our backwardness has been our national, but deadly and noxious,
past time of criticism.
Among our other national habits the outstanding ones are; cowering
before US, grovelling for favours with the oil-rich Sheiks, leering
at women in streets, destroying properties here for blasphemies
committed elsewhere, occupying children’s libraries to impose
demands, seeing children killed for sake of Basant and selectively
applying the ’writ of state’.
Our habit to criticize has been the greatest obstacle to our progress.
Criticizing all and sundry just for the heck has become a national
trait. Critics do not realize that criticism is an unnatural process
which leaves its victim psychologically traumatized, stunted and
disoriented. It curbs, curtails and contorts his/her natural abilities
and talents, in short, it totally wrecks the person. A person
can only flourish and live up to his/her potential when free from
the vicious curse of criticism.
Friday the 23rd of February 2007 may prove to be a truly momentous
and auspicious day in the history of the country all thanks to
the passing of the Amended Draft Rules of Procedure and Conduct
of Business 2007 by a majority vote in the last sitting of the
39th session of National Assembly. These new rules prohibit criticism
of the president, army, judiciary and judges. The Speaker said
under the Constitution, no one could criticize the president,
army, judiciary and judges, adding that rules couldn’t be
made against the Constitution. It was presented by the master
turn-coat Minister Sher Afgan Niazi. The ’mother of all
solutions’ had at last been discovered.
When the Assembly reconvenes for the new session the honorable
minister should present an amendment to the Constitution in which
Pakistan should be declared a ’criticism free zone’.
Desperate times demand desperate measures. This blessing should
encompass the entire country to produce extraordinary results.
The ruling Gujrat Dynasty should be able to muster enough vote
for a constitutional amendment, remember the 17th Amendment. The
MMA will certainly oblige, haven’t they got the Jamia Hafsa
mosque back?
In fact after passing the Amendment abolishing the National Assembly
and all Provincial Assemblies would be the best move. These too
are chronic critics. This would also remove the headache of providing
perks and privileges to those who do nothing but criticize and
rubber stamp bills. Moreover it would do away with the problem
of rigging the elections. Those at helm now could remain there
at their own pleasure because they came uninvited, certainly unwelcome
guests always stay the longest.
With the passing of this amendment this country should become
a land of peace and bliss. Imagine the blessings it will bring
in its wake. The garbage that passes for talk shows where the
participants lunge for each others throats, or where some defend
their view point with forceful ’bazaari’ language
would go off air. The impending energy crisis would be averted
with this measure alone as are too many talk shows and too many
watch them. The sadists who derive pleasure in seeing politicians
or ministers writhe and cringe in front of the host will however
be deprived of entertainment. They may have to switch over to
the healthy outdoor sport of bear-baiting.
The country would save precious foreign exchange on paper because
the newspapers would neither have editorials nor the op-ed pages
which are dedicated to criticism of the sacrosanct. The newspapers
could well be printed on two sheets if criticism is rid from its
pages. Although this may create a crisis of unemployment as the
newspapers thrive on criticism. These unemployed could be gainfully
employed at the arenas of bear-baiting.
Filing petitions in courts for missing persons tantamount to the
criticism of the Army so they will naturally be disallowed. As
the buck stops at the teak desk of President so filing petitions
against spurious and sordid deals like sale of Steel mills or
Gwadar land also amounts to his criticism. Because the country
is in fact run by the President and the Army any challenge to
their actions amounts to criticizing them. The best thing would
be to do away with judiciary and this way too a lot of money will
be saved.
The crime graph would plummet dramatically because the police
safe from all criticism which hinders its performance could go
all out against those criminals who refuse to share the booty
with it. There will be an unpleasant aspect of unreported, because
reporting this would be criticism, surge in extra-judicial killings
and the amassing of ill-gotten wealth by police. These should
be considered a minor irritant if the nuisance of criticism is
to be done away with and good of country is at heart.
There will be very smooth working of all the departments of the
federal, provincial and local governments once the irritant of
criticism is removed. There won’t be the assemblies to check
them, there will no Public Accounts Committees to drag them over
coals, no judiciary to reverse the deals. They will be able to
use all their ingenuity and talents to serve the criticism free
country to best of their ability. That they will be unhindered
in their opaque dealings should be considered a minor nuisance.
We should be magnanimous for they will be running the country
as they deem best and we should be thankful for little mercies.
The country will progress rapidly after becoming a criticism free
zone and soon outstrip the Asian Tigers because all the vast potential
of the bureaucracy, Army and the Presidency will come into play
for the first time in our history. I can already feel the warmth
of our over-heated economy.
There will certainly be a few glitches and snags but then there
is hardly a law or convention that is free of them. The snags
will occur when the holy brigade wants to criticize their counterparts
in the other sects. This they consider as a God given right and
will not give it up without a fight, amendment or no amendment.
They need to go for someone’s throat to keep healthy and
fit, without their favourite past time they would go into a mental
stupor. The women danda brigade could occupy Kahuta to forcefully
present their viewpoint.
A major problem would surface when the almighty Americans, because
of their strategic interests in our very immediate neighborhood,
come visiting the criticism free land. They have never been thankful
let alone appreciative for the enthusiastic and eager services
received gratis, which include the U-2 bases, the 1st Afghan war,
the 2nd Afghan war and the present air bases. They are like rude
and uncouth guests who derive pleasure in insulting the host to
their heart’s content and to add insult to injury praise
the opponents. Now who is going to tell Condi that she is violating
our virgin, sacrosanct constitution by criticizing us for not
doing enough to control the Taliban? This will be a hard nut to
crack.
But anyway Mr. Speaker sir, kindly pass the bill for this ban
at the earliest!
For he, that once hath missed the right way.
The further he doth go, the further he doth stray.
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