August
17, 2007
Reflections on Independence Day
The people of Pakistan at home and abroad will
be celebrating Independence Day this year in an
environ of uncertainty and apprehension: the rumors
about the possibility of an Emergency being declared
by the government were quashed, under external and
internal pressure, only five days before the Independence
Day. The tragic events of Lal Masjid followed by
a spate of bomb blasts, and the extremists’
threats to maintain their acts of violence, rankle
the hearts and minds of the people.
Yet, the unfolding scenario also holds the major
development of the success of the highest court
of the country to come out of the clutches of the
establishment and reestablish its constitutional
independence. That has strengthened the precept
of accountability in a country ruled autocratically
for years by men in uniform. Any law of necessity
may no longer sabotage the groundswell of demands
for civilian rule and unfettered general elections,
hopefully.
Credit is also due to the current regime for stabilizing
the economy that has been registering over 7% growth
rate. But, the water and power shortages reflect
badly on its developmental planning and accomplishment.
Independence Day makes one reflect on the genesis
of Pakistan too. It is trite to mention, though
absolutely true, that Pakistan came into existence
because the Muslims were for centuries made to feel
that they constituted a foreign graft on the Indian
body that had rejected it. Post-independence Indian
Muslims have generally reconciled to their status
as second-class citizens.
The Brahmanic caste system did not admit of the
acceptance of Muslims in a class other than the
lowest, the menial, the untouchable and the ‘maleech’.
Naturally this status was not acceptable to the
Muslims who had ruled over India for centuries.
Not surprisingly enough, when a Hindu converted
to Islam, it meant his complete break from the past.
He acquired a new name, a new personality, radiating
confidence, grit and courage, and membership in
a community adhering to the concept of brotherhood
and equality of man. This set free the convert’s
spirit from the bondage of the caste system, to
labor and live well as an equal. This concept of
the equality of man was the chief attraction in
a society given to discrimination by birth.
Budhism, Jainism and Sikhism were all for the concept
of equality and therefore opposed to the Brahmanic
domination. But the shrewd Brahmanic elite maneuvered
to absorb all of them into the Hindu fold. They
failed to do that with the Muslims. And, they succeeded
in remaining at the helm of affairs even after independence
and despite the spread of secular Western education.
That gives an idea of how deep-seated the caste
system is in the Hindu society.
Let us now look at the problem from Hindu (Brahman)
viewpoint. Waves after waves of Muslim armies invaded
India and invariably defeated and subjugated the
opposing Hindu forces. Ghaznavi invaded India seventeen
times. Qutbuddin Aibak established the first proper
Muslim empire, the Slave Dynasty, towards the end
of the twelfth century. This was followed by another
hundred year rule of the Khilji dynasty. Then came
the Lodhis who were replaced in 1526 by Babur, a
Moghul from Farghana in central Asia, who founded
the Moghul Empire that lasted 331 years till the
British took over the state in 1857.
Throughout these seven centuries of Muslim rule
over India, the Muslims comprised between 15-20
per cent of the total population. Although the Moghuls
adopted many Hindu customs, married into Hindu families
and accommodated them in senior echelons of administration,
there was never a true assimilation of the two communities
and development of a composite culture. The Muslims
continued to be the ruling, warrior class with a
compatible, congruent status in Indian society.
The Hindus, smarting under the dominant position
of the Muslims, always looked for a leveler, an
equalizer. They saw the opportunity approaching
them as the combined struggle of both communities
for independence gathered momentum. Muslim intellectuals
and leaders had started suspecting the designs of
the Hindu Brahman leaders as far The idea of the
two-nation theory had thus been germinating for
a century or more before it was articulated by Sir
Syed and his team and formally presented by Iqbal
at Allahabad session of the Muslim League in 1930.
As Victor Hugo says, there are no armies as powerful
as an idea whose time has come. Pakistan resolution
of March 23, 1940 was the formal manifestation of
that idea. Quaid-i-Azam led eminently the nation
in pursuit of that idea. Had he not been there,
some one else would have done the same job. The
idea had taken roots.
When Gandhi, representing the Hindu community, agreed
to the division of India and the creation of Pakistan,
he called his acceptance “a Himalayan blunder”.
A fanatic Hindu, Godse, shot him dead for that “blunder”.
The demolition of the Babri mosque has symbolized
to the Hindu community a reversal of the process
of Muslim conquests. The TV coverage of the episode,
showed the excitement and passion with which the
fanatics attacked the mosque and demolished it in
no time. The same psyche was in operation when the
Pakistani prisoners of 1971 war were taken by train
to various parts of India to flaunt the victory
over a Muslim army. And, the same instinct is behind
the recent announcement that Kargil will be turned
soon into a tourist attraction.
From the perspective of a student of the history
of the subcontinent, Pakistan was inevitable, so
was the split and creation of an independent Bangladesh
which could not be swallowed up by India.
The people of Pakistan are made of excellent material.
The system that is keeping them under the heel need
must change. Give them freedom and education and
see how they shine. May the Independence Day mark
the beginning of the process of their independence
from the oppressive heel!
Nahein mayoos Iqbal apni kisht-i-veran say
Zara num ho toe yeh matti bari zarkhez hai saqi.
(The writer may be reached by e-mail at: arifhussaini@hotmail.com
or by phone at 714-280-1902)
