Akrita Reyar & Ipsita Baishya
It was the infamous two-nation theory that brought about the existence of Pakistan. The justification was that it would be a land of opportunity for all the Muslims of the subcontinent. The secularism that India would espouse,
some thought, would never give Muslims an equal platform.
Under this arrangement, the various princely states could freely join either
India or Pakistan. Consequently, a bifurcated Muslim nation of Pakistan came
about on August 14, 1947. West Pakistan comprised the contiguous
Muslim-majority districts of present-day Pakistan; East Pakistan consisted
of a single province, which is now Bangladesh.
Laying the foundation of the new nation, Jinnah on August 11, 1947 while
justifying the reason for carving out a new nation said:
“I know there are people who do not quite agree with the division of India
and the partition of the Punjab and Bengal. Much has been said against it,
but now that it has been accepted, it is the duty of every one of us to
loyally abide by it and honourably act according to the agreement which is
now final and binding on all…. We should begin to work in that spirit and in
course of time all these angularities of the majority and minority
communities, the Hindu community and the Muslim community, because even as
regards Muslims you have Pathans, Punjabis, Shias, Sunnis and so on, and
among the Hindus you have Brahmins, Vaishnavas, Khatris, also Bengalis,
Madrasis and so on, will vanish..… You are free; you are free to go to your
temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship
in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed
that has nothing to do with the business of the State... We are starting in
the days where there is no discrimination, no distinction between one
community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and
another.”
Ironically, the prime architect of Pakistan ended up endorsing the same
principles that India would stand by in years to come.
In the speech Jinnah actually was voicing Pakistan’s internal quest for an
identity, which many will suspect, the country is yet to find. A homeland
for Muslims, it was for sure. But religion was not quite enough a reason for
being together. Muslims lived and prospered in India as well. The creation
of Bangladesh was therefore the last nail in the coffin of the two-nation
theory.
The fact that Pakistan has had to create, recreate and revise its
constitution several times itself speaks about Pakistan’s struggle to come
to terms with itself.
The very idea of Pakistan has always been mired by controversies. Right from the
controversial voting pattern for its formation to it being a geographically
unmanageable landscape(with its east and west wings being separated by the
vast Indian territory), Pakistan has been far from a dream realized.
Millions of Muslims went to Pakistan seeking a homeland of opportunities and
better prospects but it would not be incorrect to assume that they have been
let down in more ways than one by their own polity and crop of leaders.
Democracy has eluded Pakistan in most years of its existence. Though it has
had brief interregnums of civilian governments, military dictatorships have
been a key feature of Pakistan’s governance, hijacking the democratic
machinery each time. It is for this reason that all other institutions that
flourish in free society have not been able to take root. Post-independence
Pakistan evokes a picture of domestic political overthrowings,
dictatorships, assassinations, regime changes and confrontations between
various institutions from time to time in what has turned out to be a
largely chequered history lacking a stable core.
At this point though the courage of Pakistani journalists must be lauded.
They have toiled over the years to keep alive a vibrant and free media. The
judiciary too, that has been long oppressed, has recently shown great steel
in opposing the current military leader Pervez Musharraf. The entire
judicial fraternity recently took to the streets rallying around the
dismissed Chief Justice Iftikar Chaudhry forcing his reinstatement. Lately,
the apex court of Pakistan has also come out with a few scathing verdicts,
pulling up the current military regime and thereby proving its independence.
The bravery of all those who have stood up against might in favour of the
rule of law and the power of the people must be saluted.
In terms of provincial dynamics, Pakistan, though not a very large nation,
has not been able to fulfill regional aspirations. The Bengalis chose to
part ways a long time back. Sindhis and Balochis have always been restive.
The meticulous military operation to eliminate Baloch leader Nawab Akbar
Bugti is a case in point. His killing sparked off widespread riots in the
state that had to be clamped down by the Army. The Pushtos remain law unto themselves. Ironically it is the Muhajirs, who had migrated
to Pakistan in search of greener pastures, who are the worst off.
Not accepted by the locals, they are neither this way nor the other. For
example, lakhs still remain trapped in Bangladesh languishing in refugee
camps with Pakistan doughtily refusing to take them in. In that sense, it is
only the Punjabi who rules the roost. When the aspiration of only a single
community finds utterance, a thousand mutinies will also raise a voice.
As far as Pakistan’s relations with neighbours go….it has been the one of
open hostility with India. Bilateral relations with India have been always
marked by deep suspicion and rivalry. The status of Kashmir has been one
such flashpoint resulting in strained relations. The Islamic nation’s open
declaration of the policy of thousand cuts to bleed India, to its readiness
to eat grass to match India’s nuclear capabilities or its more recent
training of militants and abetment of infiltration and ready shelter to
India’s most wanted, all indicate an attitude of belligerence. Several
attempts at dialogues have yet to bear the fruit of long lasting friendship.
On the western side, Pakistan has been long meddling with the internal
affairs of Afghanistan. So much so that it once virtually ran its
government, putting its madrassa pupils in power in the form of Taliban, a
genie that has come back to haunt it. Ever since Afghanistan has been in a
state of vortex. With the US raising the heat against these armed Muslim
radicals, scores of erstwhile seminary students have come back to seek
shelter in the ungovernable terrains of the North West Frontier Province,
Balochistan and Waziristan.
9/11 has added to Pakistan’s dilemma. It can no longer, as an ally of US on
the war on terror, afford to be seen as giving sanctuary to radical
elements. In fact the sovereignty of Pakistan is in question more than ever
before with statements emanating out of US that advocate using the
country’s territory to go after terrorists. It is therefore now struggling
to strike a balance. Being seen as flushing out Islamists on the one hand
while appearing a sympathizer at home.
Pakistan has over the years, due to these exploits earned a
“reputation” of being untrustworthy. It is considered an unstable state with
no institutionalized system of exercising power. There is no single
authority in the country today that can challenge or control the
all-powerful Army. Pakistan is a nuclear power, but dangerously so. There is
no laid down command and control structure for handling such sensitive
material. A Q Khan, the father of the nuclear programme, has been reckless
in sharing nuke secrets with countries like Libya, Iran and North Korea. It
is obvious that this could not have been possible without the tacit or overt
support of the country’s top brass.
The only long-standing close relation the Islamic nation has managed to
maintain is with China, which has extensive security and economic interests
in the Persian Gulf and also sees Pakistan as a tool to keep India in check.
On the economic front, World Bank considers Pakistan a low-income country.
Weak world demand for its exports and domestic political uncertainty have
contributed to Pakistan's high trade deficit. Its high security threat
perception is keeping away foreign investors who consider the country too
dangerous to work in.
It is a sad reflection that 60 years hence, the US Foreign Policy magazine
and the US-based Fund for Peace think-tank of “failed states index” moved
Pakistan from 34th to ninth in the report - one of the sharpest changes in
the overall score of any country on the list.
Clearly then, Pakistan has not become what its founding fathers set out to
make it.
Stability and democracy are the urgent need of the hour. Pakistan needs to
cleanse its system of fundamentalism, reinstate the rule of law and put
power in the hands of its people. It may be a painful process, but must be
done. Otherwise there is a real danger of the country sliding into even
greater chaos and anarchy.
First Published: Saturday, November 03, 2007, 00:00