Moderation and Pakistan
Shahzad Shameem
It requires larger than a man to admit one's follies.
Let's try as a nation to rise to those heights and confess that we did err in
"over-Islamising" Pakistan
and that too quite unwarrantedly. This has unfortunately given birth to
religious polarisation and sectarianism tearing at the very fibre of our
national unity. There was no need for it at all. We were Muslims before and
would remain Muslims ever, come what may. In that we are also Shias, Sunnis,
Hanfis, Shaafis, Malikis, Hambalis, Deobandis, Breillevis, Ahl-e-Hadis,
Wahabis, Zikris, Bhais, Bohras, Agha Khanis, etcetra, and will remain so
always. No amount of persuasion or persecution will make anyone change his/her
beliefs or religious practices and rituals that one
has been following since childhood. Why surfaces these trivialities now which
were never a subject of discussion or dissension before? I am talking of the
pre-Pakistan period. Everyone was leading a life of harmony alongside with
others. Muharram, which has now become the most contentious and polarising
issue used to be solemnised by all with equal reverence and solemnity. In most
cities of the pre-partitioned India Sunnis' Tazias were at times larger and
more beautifully made than those of Shias. Even Hindus were seen putting up
Sabeels in Lahore
and other cities on the Muharram processions' routes.
Here in Pakistan too every thing was fine,
displaying the spirit of tolerance and cordiality. Then, in 1977 ZAB rigged the elections and was in no mood to
oblige the opposition parties by holding the re-elections. The parleys between the two protracted for
months and the undercurrents of the general unrest in the country started
surfacing here and there. Opposition mostly comprising of Islam Pasand parties
(Nau Sitaray) found it most opportune to rally the masses under the banner of Islam against
Bhutto otherwise known for his secular and socialistic modern views in the
orthodox circles. Agar thori si pi laita hoon to kisi ka khoon to nahin peeta.
(If I drink a little, I don't drink anyone's blood). What could be a better
slogan than Nizam-e-Mustafa to get to the hearts of the naïve masses? Though
the whole scheme of affairs was a political ploy than a sincere effort to serve
the cause of Islam, yet it worked. However, at the same time it sowed the
seeds of suspicion in the mind of the Muslim
minorities as to which Nizam-e-Mustafa would be imposed upon them. Echoes of
"Nizam-e-Mustafa laikin Intizam-e-Murtaza" type of slogans soon started
reverberating all over the country. Though the Nizam-e-Mustafa movement faded
out after a while, yet the sectarian aftermath left behind by it haunts us till
today. Innumerable sectarian organisations and Lashkars sprang up all over,
some with clear-cut manifestos of decreeing the opponents as Kafir and Wajabul
Qatal. Bhutto gone and Zia coming gave further impetus to the Islam pasand
parties and the process of Islamisation of Pakistan gained further momentum.
The last nail in the coffin of the enlightened moderation was driven by the
rise and fall of Taliban in the neighbouring Afghanistan and its spill over in
the bordering provinces of NWFP and Baluchistan, whose sizeable Pathan
population resides in places as far as Karachi
spreading the germs of extremism and sectarianism in those places as well.
The Islamisation trend is imperceptibly making
inroads in our all walks of life. The younger generation who has no knowledge
of our Indian past is being brainwashed unwittingly. The so called
intellectuals feel it their patriotic duty to not only rewrite the history but also
encourage us to divest ourselves altogether from our pre-partitioned past to
the comical extent of even denying ourselves the pleasure of listening to the
pre-1947 songs like Awaz day kahan hai – Duniya meri jawan hai and thousands
more like it sung by the artistes born, bred and buried in what is now
Pakistan! But since they sang these songs in the pre-partitioned days of India, we
disown them. We refuse to do anything with the Purshpura of the past (Peshawar) the capital of
emperor Kinishka or try to remember it as the most beautiful city of the
flowers of its time. We have Takushilla (Taxilla) but hardly visit its ruins
and stupas or take pride in the fact that once upon
a time it
was the largest seat of leaning in the world. We take
off at a tangent from the day Muhammad bin Qasim landed in Sindh and tag
ourselves as an unidentified appendage to the Islamic – nay - Arabian history
and heritage. Unfortunately, our Arabian heritage also stops dead at 600 AD and
we know nothing of its pre-Islamic period. We just ignore it and divest
ourselves from it by calling it Zamana-e-Jahliat.
Jahliat or whatever, there must have been people
living there in some form of society and being governed by some system. There
must have been noblemen, chieftains, kings, rulers, men and women of
distinction to have left some mark on the Arabian peninsula. When there were
significant and highly developed civilizations in the region and around like
that of ancient Babylon (Iraq and Mesopotamia) with its hanging gardens, Damascus of Syria – the most
ancient city of the world, the Pharaohs and Cleopatra (Egypt, Sudan and
Nile) with their pyramids and sea going flotillas, Syracuse, Darius,
Nowsherwan-e-Adil (Iran–Persia) with their rich culture and literature, going
thousands of years back, why do we stop at the dawn of Islam in Arabia and do
not wish to know or try to research our any past there? Or, is it because that
Emperor Bikramajit of Hindustan wielded some influence over the Arva-sathan
(land of the horses), which with the passage of time and due to the South
Indians' pronouncing 'v' as 'b' got transformed into Arbistan (Arabia). A horse
is called 'arva' in Sansikrit and Sathan is the 'place' as Paki-stan,
Afghani-stan etc. or as in Punjabi 'thaan'. Otherwise too historically there
were strong ties between the Hind, Hindis and the Brahmins and the
pre/post-Islamic Arabia. Holy Prophet (PBUH)
is said to have been treated by a Hindi Tabeeb. Imam Hussain asked for going to
Hind as one of the negotiating terms with Yazid at Karbala. Husaini Bahmins (Brahmins) are found
in India
even today, who observe Muharram fervently each year and correctly in the month
of Asadh (Hahd).
Agreed, Muslims had little future in the
independent India,
particularly after the British departed from the scene. Therefore, Quaid ably
aided by Iqbal did them a great favour by carving out a separate homeland for
them, which offered them vast economic opportunities. However, Pakistan was
not created to be an orthodox religious state, which unfortunately the present
creed of the politico-religious parties is trying to make it. Father of the nationwanted it to be a
dynamic and progressive country wherein the principles of democracy, freedom,
equality, tolerance and social justice as enunciated by Islam shall be fully
observed. Wherein adequate provision shall be made for the minorities to freely
profess and practice their religions and develop their cultures. Wherein we
shall not kill each other on the basis of sect or religion and shall observe
Enlightened Moderation in our all-mutual dealings. Let's, therefore, rise to
the occasion and try as a nation to make Quaid's dream of real Pakistan come
true.
Shahzad Shameem