As interaction with the large Indian Diaspora almost inescapable,
and indeed a daily affair in the oil rich Gulf Arab, the state of
Pakistan is constantly under microscope here. Having lived now
for almost two decades in Saudi Arabia, I am a witness to the
intensity of the debate, with focus on the creation of Pakistan and it’s
after effects on the Muslims of the sub-continent and on the
success of the Experiment Pakistan.
With Pakistan facing an almost anarchy like situation, and its
economic well being and financial viability now a cause of open debate,
especially when compared with its big neighbour, a contrast
seems to be emerging, giving a fillip to debate on the very
sustainability of Pakistan as a state. Views that were expressed only
with tongue in cheeks, until only a few years back,
are now being openly expressed and with a gusto. Doomsday pundits
are out in force.
Current Pakistani scenario, the ongoing conflicts, bomb blasts,
military operations, deepening economic crisis, the ever growing
dependence on aid from abroad, the perpetual begging bowl, the
failure to grow our industry and trade and the growing American
influence in shaping the policies in Islamabad and in the sphere of
Pakistan domestic politics, all have provided succour to the
pundits bent hell upon claiming the creation of Pakistan was wrong
and misplaced.
In fact only in one of the Eid reunions late in November, where both
the Indian and the Pakistani Diaspora was represented in full, a
gentleman had the guts to pose a question to the Pakistanis;
had India not been divided in 1947, today the number of the total
Muslims would have been a force to reckon with in the undivided
sub-continent. And then another gentleman quietly chipped in; may
be we should think of a sort of confederation between the two
states. Indeed a sense of being big, the successful and the emancipated
was easily palpable in the very outburst.
In order to be able to understand the very environment which
resulted in the creation of Pakistan, one needs to get back into
history. My old, distinguished, and the learned, Professor, who
almost acted as my mentor, Dr. S.M.S.Zoha, the founding dean of the
Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Karachi, some time back in the mid
80s while I was a student at the faculty, while
reminiscing of the events that led to the creation of Pakistan, had
the following to tell me.
After his masters from Aligarh, when he landed in London in the mid
40s, as an All India Scholar, to pursue a doctorate, he was
intellectually against the concept of the division of India.
Jinnah’s call for Pakistan did not appeal to him – then. Yet Dr.
Zoha says when he landed in London and started frequenting the Indian
intelligentsia present there, he was met with the shock of
his life. For the first time in his life, he conceded he was almost
forced to start feeling that Jinnah sahib had a point in demanding the
division of India and the creation of Pakistan. Dr. Zoha
was thus a neo-covert to the concept of Pakistan in true sense and
reiterated to this day he was converted because of the narrow mindedness
of the Hindu intelligentsia present in London then.
I later asked Dr. Zoha what the very slogan of Pakistan meant to the
young, idealist, scholar then. And the answer was simple: ‘To me it
meant, that there would be azans in the
mosques, yet whether I go to the mosque to say the prayers or not,
it would have been my choice. The marriage of my sister would be
solemnised by nikah only.’ There was indeed a cultural aspect
to the entire movement for the creation of Pakistan, one cannot help
feeling too.
And now while frequenting global capitals; one could definitely feel
the cultural reason behind the creation of Pakistan. At most of the
global fairs and exhibitions today, where I frequent,
Indian stands are quite visible. Indeed this is a testimony to the
success of Indian business and industry, one has to concede.
And when people amongst us are on such yatras, because of their
natural and religious inhibitions, we either look for some Pakistani
restaurants (often to be found in fact in virtually all the
nooks and the corners of the world) – serving daal-makkhan and
tandoori nan, or else take refuge in some vegetarian or Indian
restaurant.
One could vividly recall one of these restaurants, near the Messe in
Frankfurt, crowded with friends from across the border accompanied by a
female, sitting next to them in an obnoxious manner
and offering them all sort of drinks. It was indeed hard to believe
that the ladies accompanying the business visitors from across the
borders were their wives. Eastern culture does not condone
such expressions in public. And one could say with some sort of
hindsight now, it was indeed not an issue of grapes are sour. And then
on the last day of the show, if one dared to barge into the
Indian camp at the show, often termed as the Bombay Street, one
could vividly recall many of them vomiting – courtesy over drinking. The
very environment was nauseating. This appears a typical
setting on such occasions.
Indeed many amongst us, the Pakis, are often guilty of not keeping
to the norms especially while in the West, yet the fact remains that
with most of us, while doing so, a sense of guilt is often
there. Give it any name, yet the fact remains we definitely avoid
going public with such acts. The cultural difference with our next door,
the big neighbour has definitely grown wider with the
passage of time.
In the same vein, it may not be out of place to point out that
watching the soap operas on various electronic channels from across the
divide, are often not possible in a family environment. And
in contrast the Pakistani channels, though have apparently lost some
of their flavour, yet are still worth watching with the family. The
tastes have apparently gone different too.
With the passage of time, one could definitely see the cultural
divergence between the two societies across the borders making the
division still more meaningful and rather a necessity rather
than the romance of an idealist minority. Besides, political,
economic and religious reasons, Pakistan now appear a cultural necessity
too.
And this was what apparently felt by the visionary in Quaid-e-Azam when he said: “We
are a nation with our own distinctive culture and civilization,
language and literature, art and
architecture, names and nomenclature, sense of values and
proportion, legal laws and moral code, customs and calendar, history and
tradition, aptitudes and ambitions; in short, we have our own
distinctive outlook on life and of life. By all canons of
international law, we are a nation“.
And even on the political issue, in view of the centrifugal
tendencies existing in the country, many have started to question the
efficacy of the very web that binds Pakistan into a coherent,
viable nation state. But this was not something completely
unforeseen. Despite our failures in moulding this otherwise diverse
population into a strong united nation, there were many among the
stalwarts of the independence movement, who knew there was a dire
need for remedial measures to overcome such tendencies.
Dr. Zoha has a very interesting story to tell. In the immediate
aftermath of the creation of Pakistan, he was faced with the question of
opting for either Pakistan or India. Despite the urge and
the pull to opt for Pakistan for his newfound realism, he was still
perplexed. He fully realised he would have to leave all his assets, his
past and his background in his ancestral Bihar, in case
he opted for Pakistan. The decision was not to be easy.
He thus solicited the advice of Begum Akhtar Hussain Raipuri, whom he used to call apa,
as her younger brother was his good friend and class fellow. And the
housewife that Begum
Raipuri was then came back with a response that stands true even to
this day. She replied, ‘Zoha, remember, Pakistan is a large scale
Aligarh without the binding force of Dr. Sir Ziauddin. The
decision is now yours.’
Expanding on the subject, Dr. Zoha told me; there used to be people
from all nooks and corners of India in Aligarh, with their distinct
culture, accent and way of life. They definitely used to
make fun of each other too. But as soon as they put on the
sherwanis, they were Aligarians and none else.
Somehow we in Pakistan failed to provide a sense of participation to
all the stake holders and this has resulted in the current mess.
Despite all good intentions, the fact remains that military
rule and lack of democracy in the country has also contributed to
this sense of alienation and deprivation amongst sections of people in
the country.
If I recall correctly, Shorish Kashmiri in his biography of Maulana
Azad tells an interesting episode quoting Chaudhry Mohmmad Ali.
Somewhere in the early 50s Chaudhry sahib went to India on an
official trip. On a certain day Maulana Azad, the then education
minister of India invited Chaudhry sahib for an informal dinner at his
residence. After all Chaudhry sahib and the Maulana were
from the same era.
At the dinner, virtually the entire Indian cabinet, from Nehru to
Patel, was invited. They were all seated on the floor with the dinner
laid out in front of them. The atmosphere was casual. It
was a friendly set up, with the guests trying to find out from
chaudhry sahib the well being of those amongst them, the old familiar
faces, who had opted to go over to the other side of the
divide.
Chaudhry Mohammad Ali says he was the youngest in the group and
thought he could tease maulana a bit. This prompted him to ask Maulana,
in a rather sombre voice, what he thought now of the idea
of Pakistan.
All of sudden there was hush. The mood turned grey from casual. The
Abulkalam in Maulana took his time and then in a rather serious, deep
and affirmative voice said: ‘Muhammad Ali, Pakistan is an
experiment. Now make it a success.’
Rather than getting involved in the debate about Pakistan, once it
was already a reality, the vision in Maulana was clear about the concept
of Pakistan: The experiment needed to succeed – at all
cost.
And indeed to those who cast aspersions on Quaid for his obstinacy
about Pakistan, one would like to have a deep look at the history.
Remember the Cabinet plan – as late as 1946.
The plan envisaged that India would be a federation of three units.
The federal government was to be responsible only for defence, foreign
affairs and communications. All other subjects were to
be looked after by the units of the federation.
Under the plan, of the three units, Group ‘A’ was to include Madras, Bombay, U.P., Bihar, Central Province and Orissa; Group ‘B’ was to comprise of Punjab, Sind, North West Frontier Province and Baluchistan (the Muslim Majority areas), and Group ‘C’ was to include Bengal and Assam. These groups would draft their own constitutions in consultation with different provinces included in each group.
However, the key point of the plan was that each of the three
provinces had the right to opt out of the group by a majority decision
of its legislature. Both Muslim League and Congress hence
adopted the plan.
Deliberating on the events leading to the creation of Pakistan,
Maulana Azad in his famous repertoire ‘India Wins Freedom,’ says: ‘Now
happened one of those unfortunate events which change the
course of history. On 10 July, Jawaharlal held a press conference in
Bombay in which he made an astonishing statement. Some press
representatives asked him whether, with the passing of the
Resolution by the AICC, the Congress had accepted the plan in toto,
including the composition of the Interim Government. Jawaharlal in reply
stated that the Congress would enter the Constituent
Assembly ‘completely unfettered by agreements and free to meet all
situations as they arise’. Press representatives further asked if this
meant that the Cabinet Mission Plan could be
modified. Jawaharlal replied emphatically that the Congress had
agreed only to participate in the Constituent Assembly and regarded
itself free to change or modify the Cabinet Mission
Plan as it thought best.
Nehru’s statement was a bombshell. It negated the very basis of the
agreement that all the three would have the right to opt out of the
dominion if they wanted to after the initial 10 years. In
the words of the Maulana, ‘Jawaharlal’s statement came to him
(Jinnah) as a bombshell. He immediately issued a statement that this
declaration by the Congress President demanded a review of the
whole situation. He accordingly asked Liaquat Ali Khan to call a
meeting of the League Council and issued a statement to the following
effect. The Muslim League Council had accepted the Cabinet
Mission Plan in Delhi as it was assured that the Congress also had
accepted the scheme and the Plan would be the basis of the future
constitution of India. Now that the Congress President had
declared that the Congress could change the scheme through its
majority in the Constituent Assembly, this would mean that the
minorities would be placed at the mercy of the majority…..
The Muslim League Council met at Bombay on 27th July. Mr. Jinnah in
his opening speech reiterated the demand for Pakistan as the only course
left open to the Muslim League. After three days’ of
discussion, the Council passed a resolution rejecting the Cabinet
Mission Plan.’
And then Maulana Azad goes on to say that this was one of the
greatest tragedies of Indian history and “I have to say with the deepest
of regret that a large part of the responsibility for this
development rests with Jawaharlal.”
Indeed it was the Hindu mentality which forced the Muslims of the
sub continent to carve out a niche fore themselves. And despite his
strong political views about Pakistan and Mr. Jinnah, even
Maulana could not stop laying the blame on Nehru for all that
happened.
And yes, let’s admit the dream of Pakistan has gone sour. We have
failed and miserably too, in making this experiment a success. Our
friends in the larger Islamic world had a lot expectation from
us too. We have failed them too. To many, Pakistan was to provide
the world with leadership and example in many ways. Pakistan has a
destiny to lead. All that is a distant dream now.
A beginning has to be made. We need to stop living on borrowed
money. We have to live within our own means, so as to recover our lost
self esteem. We have every thing in the world to succeed. It
may be a long, arduous process, and there are no short cuts to it,
yet the success is guaranteed.
