An Open Letter
to Charles Windsor
By Dr Shireen M. Mazari
Prince Charles,
Your visit to Pakistan is a trifle mystifying, but
in the traditional Islamic and South Asian traditions
of hospitality you will not find the Pakistani state
wanting on that count. In fact, to prove this state's
commitment to the US-led war on terror, your visit
was marked by the bombing of a madrassah in Bajaur,
which also led to the death of many innocent children.
But then Muslim civilians have become the usual
collateral damage in this increasingly contentious
war. So on the issue of the war on terror you can
reassure your country's leaders that Pakistan is
going even beyond the extra mile and at great cost
to its own citizens — despite the continuing
Pakistan-bashing and army-bashing at the hands of
the British media and defense establishment, including
your rather ill-informed Defense Academy, which
produces factually incorrect analysis with dangerous
repercussions.
However, coming back to the timing of your visit,
what purpose will the visit serve? For Britain certainly
it will be a major showcase for appeasing its Muslim
citizens, especially those whose ancestors are from
Pakistan. For us in Pakistan, your visit brings
back bitter memories of the "historic ties"
between Pakistan and your realm. After all, it was
the betrayal of the Indian Muslims by your uncle,
the late Mountbatten, and his collusion with Nehru
and the Congress leadership that sowed the seeds
of the prevailing Kashmir dispute. Just as some
Muslims remained fooled by British doublespeak then,
so many even today continue to be fooled by such
doublespeak and hypocrisy. So it would be better
if you and your state would focus less on these
"historic ties" which led to great injustices
being perpetrated on the Indian Muslims and the
emerging state of Pakistan.
As for the British legacy -- it is a mixed bag with
a cumbersome bureaucracy but a viable educational
system and a most useful legacy of the English language.
Unfortunately, as the education system in Britain
deteriorates so does the O- and A-level system in
Pakistan. To our shame, we have not been able to
evolve a viable and efficient indigenous educational
system to replace the old colonial structure which
means the British Council earns a respectable income
from this poor country since every parent has to
pay almost Rs5,000 for every O-level and a little
more for every A-level paper a student appears in
apart from the fees of the private schools! But
this fault and continuing dependency is entirely
ours.
As for the stated main purposes of your visit "interfaith
harmony", which could also be linked to multicultural
harmony, surely at this point in time you would
have done better to speak on this to your countrymen,
especially your political leaders. After all, with
the veil being seen as evil and every Muslim student
being spied upon by university teachers and Muslim
parents being told to also act as spies on their
children, what hope is there for the interfaith
harmony you seem to be seeking?
Not that our declared Islamic society is perfect
but you should begin preaching in your own backyard
first. What are the British values your political
elite want all British citizens to commit to? Are
they white Christian values or truly multicultural
values, which means accepting the diversity of your
society?
Of course, to some extent Britain will remain a
Christian rather than a secular society since the
Queen is head of the Church of England. But we have
been told by your publicists that you want to be
seen as a "defender of faiths" so perhaps
you could remove the blasphemy laws in your country
or at least make them applicable to all religions
rather than just Christianity. As for preaching
peace and tolerance, there has been much focus on
the role of war in Islam. But what about the warlike
battle hymns in the Church of England's hymn books?
You have the power to have those removed so that
Muslim preachers can then be honestly exhorted to
also stop their violent preaching -- which, in any
case, are anti-Islam.
So "interfaith harmony" seems to be more
urgently required in your own realm, but as far
as we in this Islamic country can see you have maintained
a strange silence as your countrymen have unleashed
a concerted attack on Muslims -- from their dress
to their beliefs. If British Muslim youth are alienated
there is a fault within your society that is responsible
for this, not a two or one week visit to Pakistan.
While you remain concerned on this subject of "interfaith
harmony", how about visiting your Dominion,
Australia, where the prime minister has drawn the
Muslim community into a farcical and ridiculous
controversy which has brought out the worst on both
sides: an obscurantist cleric on the Muslim side
and a rabidly anti-Islamist prime minister and white
Christian Aussies on the other. Given that the Queen
is still the head of the Australian realm, it would
be better to first establish "interfaith harmony"
in that disturbed realm. Also, perhaps you could
remind them that "Australian values" in
terms of the Whites may not be worth propagating
given how the foundation was and the massacre and
practical elimination of the Aborigines from mainstream
Australia. Of course you see the Aborigines when
you visit officially because they are made to appear
in their tribal costumes to dance before you. But
do tell Mr. Howard to examine "Australian values"
with true honesty before upbraiding Muslim Australians
for not imbibing these "values".
Finally, the sensitive issue of the capital punishment
sentence on a British national for murder in Pakistan.
There are many of us who feel capital punishment
should be abolished and have said so repeatedly.
But to make an exception simply in one case, because
of pressure, threats, "requests" -- call
it what you will -- is not only unjust, it sends
the wrong signals to the citizens of Pakistan. After
all, many British citizens have been executed in
the US also but one has seen no threats or special
visits to rescue these British. We all know that
the judicial system in both Pakistan and the US
-- as well as in most parts of the world -- is faulty.
So why should Pakistan be singled out for attack
by your officials and media? You are right to refer
to Pakistan as an "amazing country" --
it is truly amazing and bestowed with so much. But
there have to be limits to our amazing level of
tolerance for abuse by foreigners.
As for serving the cause of justice, I am sure you
would like to help and so perhaps we can gain something
positive from your visit if wanted criminals like
the owner of Margalla Towers can be removed from
the protection of the British state and returned
to face trial here. This would be one positive result
of your visit for us. Post-9/11 we have sacrificed
a lot as a nation -- it is time for your people
to acknowledge and respond accordingly. Don't be
fooled by our hospitality -- we as a nation have
had enough abuse from the West.
Wishing you a safe stay in this wonderful land,
From a non-veiled passionate Pakistani,
Shireen M. Mazari
(The writer is director general of the Institute
of Strategic Studies in Islamabad. Courtesy The
News)
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