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COMMENTARY MARCH 23, 2018 – PAKISTAN LINK – P21
Getting the states of British India, which were technically
free to decide their own future under the law
Right Perspective that had subjected them to the British Raj. But,
as known to all, the rulers of those states whose
political leanings were a matter of doubt had
on Pakistan their arm twisted by Nehru and Mountbatten
to bend in favour of Hindu India. Character-as-
sassination of those working for these princely
states has been fodder to the grisly cannons of
n By Karamatullah K. Ghori these detractors of Muslim Pakistan.
Toronto, Canada It was serendipity that led to me a wonder-
ful book, Evocative Epistles, which, in its his-
he news media has, no doubt, been a torical contents, forcefully nails this persistent
huge catalyst in the triggering of mass canard of perceived perfidy committed by the
Tawareness about the importance of princely states. The book is based on letters ex-
the Pakistan Day. On their part, the people, changed between Khan Sahib Mahmood Ah-
knowing that a news-hungry media will lap mad Faruqui and some ex-British civil servants
up whatever show of festivity is staged by in UK who, during their illustrious careers, had
them, haven’t disappointed. They mustered served in various distinguished capacities in
the kind of resources rarely seen before to the administration of the Raj.
usher in a carnival-like spectacle to un- MA Faruqui had served on commission in
derline the significance of the day in their the Royal Indian Navy but made his mark as
hearts. It was, in a convoluted sense, a team a civil servant. He was Development Minister
work of the media and the people of Pakistan in the princely State of Tonk on the eve of the
that catapulted the event to unprecedented 1947 partition, whence he moved to Pakistan
heights of celebration. and served in the Foreign Office with dedica-
But while none could, now, have any rea- tion.
son to doubt how positively cued the people Evocative Epistles is a compendium of
of Pakistan—including the world-wide Paki- letters exchanged between MA Faruqui and
stani diaspora—are on the importance of the mainly three retired British civil servants in
most notable date on their national calendar, it India—Sir Arthur Lothian, who had served
wouldn’t be irrelevant to pose the question: are as Resident of the Raj in Hyderabad State, the
they getting the right perspective on Pakistan largest of India’s Princely States but later ac-
and its history? quired great fame as author of The Kingdoms
Am I being cynical in asking this ques- of Yesterday; Sir Duncan Mackenzie, who was
tion? Has it any reality with the times, or have I Resident in Jodhpur, among other prominent
just plucked it out of the blue to come up with a assignments; and Sir Conrad Corfield.
rhetorical argument? Corfield had the distinction of being Po-
Not at all; I stand on solid ground. litical Advisor to Mountbatten but fell out with
What has forced me to ask a ticklish ques- him with regard to the uncouth last Viceroy’s
tion—which may look odd to many, especially tales with no relevance to history of Islam. The Back at the core of this ‘intellectual’ of- openly pro-Congress shenanigans that crudely
those accustomed to believing whatever is seen object is to sow doubts in the minds of their fensive against the citadel of Pakistani belief twisted the arms of many a prince to fall in line
by their eyes as the only and whole truth? targets. It’s clever, it’s disingenuous. Create in their history is to sow doubts in their mind behind Nehru. The most blatant abuse of the
Forcing me to wade into murky waters is doubts about the foundations of a building, or about the very genesis of Pakistan. Viceroy’s exalted position was witnessed, of
the feedback I’ve been getting from the social its architect, and it becomes easier to induce Imagine, you make a person diffident or course, in Kashmir—the poisonous fallout of
media on the history and genesis of Pakistan, the target to agree to raze the whole structure. doubtful about his date of birth and a train of which we are still saddled with.
especially the Freedom Movement of the Mus- That’s why there has been a well-oiled and well- questions sets off in his mind about a lot of oth- MA Faruqui distinguished himself in the
lims of India that ultimately spawned from its funded campaign in the West, since 9/11 in er things related to his life. It opens up myriad letters he wrote his former English superiors
womb the sovereign State of Pakistan on Au- particular, to target the Holy Prophet of Islam avenues for his critics and detractors to knock and colleagues—by then comfortably nestled
gust 14, 1947. (PBUH) and caricature him in colours that are, the bottom out of his faith in life. in their retirement groves in England—as a
Those closely—or, in this case, not even to say the least, disparaging. The persona and character of Jinnah has forthright advocate of Pakistan’s position in
so-closely—following the rise of Pakistan’s Those whose phobia is to tarnish Pakistan been in the sights of these rogues for some time. regard to the tangled issues of the partition, es-
social media, in tandem with the public news and its founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, seem Jinnah not walking into Mountbatten’s trap on pecially the palpably unjust and dishonest deal
media, would agree that the growth of social to have styled their own, vicious and snide, an- the issue of GG hurts these mealy-mouthed given to Pakistan.
media is like mushrooms proliferating in the ti-Pakistan campaign exactly on the paradigm partisans of the Raj a lot. Instead of compli- Faruqui had a powerful pen, no doubt. His
salubrious clime of the desert. of Islamophobia. Its protagonists are going crystal-clear and lucid English prose is delight-
The cyber age has empowered the indi- about their work with single-minded devotion fully evocative of the mastery civil servants in
vidual as never before. Gone are the days when to paint Jinnah as a misguided soul with no India had acquired, through their brains and
even those with a flourishing pen found it hard sense of history—exactly on the model of Jin- dint of labour, in the alien ruler’s language.
to tap into the medium of news or information nah, the sub-continental ‘villain’ as portrayed But what should impress any student of
to get their message across. in the Indian and some of the British narratives Pakistan’s history, especially its formative phase
No more that sense of helplessness—none on the Partition of 1947. of the Freedom Movement, is the boldness of
at all. Anyone with a mouse and curser, and The anti-Pakistan and anti-Jinnah cam- Faruqui’s conviction that Pakistan was dealt
handy with a tablet, lap-top or a smart phone, paign is also subtle, fine-tuned to make it hard a very rough deal in the garb of the Bound-
is now his own master and free to get on to for the novice to see through the Satanic spirit ary Award of Cyril Radcliff. He doesn’t mince
the scene like a party gate-crasher. No barri- of the game. words or pull any punches in hammering the
ers, no censors, no one, absolutely no one, in I was horrified, recently, when I came disgusting cloak-and-dagger tactics deployed
a position to prevent an internet-savvy person across a long-winded petty intellectual, claim- by Mountbatten and some English civil ser-
from putting his message across the whole blue ing to have boned into the freedom movement vants to tailor the award in favour of India.
world of the cyber age. that spawned Pakistan, and stridently ridicul- What the deadly-duo of Nehru and
But—and it’s a huge but—this unbridled ing the Pakistanis for celebrating their Inde- Mountbatten—who were in an unholy axis and,
freedom to say what one wants to say is also pendence Day on August 14. To him the real more than that, in an immoral partnership—
a dangerous thing. It’s dangerous because in date was August 15 of Pakistan’s independence. pulled off with success at Pakistan’s expense
the wrong hands—like any other invention of The logic for August 15 being the real date is history too well known to need any repeti-
mankind—it can be used to corrupt minds and of independence is that the so-called Instru- tion here. But kudos to Faruqui that he boldly
vitiate their whole thought process. ment of Transfer of Power, from the British pointed out to his British friends the abiding
There’s no argument that cyber age’s con- Govt. to the new Dominions of India and Paki- shame Mountbatten, in his lust, had brought to
nectivity is being abused with impunity by stan, became effective from mid-night between the traditional claim of British fairness.
those whose message is hate, not love; brain- August 14 and 15. A clever logic, its proponents Credit is due also to Faruqui’s interlocu-
washing, not the flowering of healthy debate or might think and give themselves a pat on their tors that they conceded his masterly expose
cultivation of novel ideas. back because it can’t be refuted on technicali- of Mountbatten & Co.’s unholy shenanigans,
According to surveys, there are at least 300 ties. menting Jinnah for standing up to Mountbat- though doing so with characteristic English
websites freely propagating their lethal messag- But Mohammad Ali Jinnah was sworn in ten’s shenanigans, they have been slinging mud trait of understatement.
es of hate and terrorism in the name of their be- as Governor-General of Pakistan on August on him for being ‘obstinate’ and ‘unbending.’ Books like Evocative Epistles should be
nighted take on religion. Isn’t that a thing much 14, in the presence of Lord Mountabtten, who Jinnah wasn’t obstinate; he was reso- read with scholarly interest by those keen to
worse than trafficking in drugs? had aspired to head both the new dominions lute and firm because he had the vision to see refresh their knowledge, or memories, of the
Likewise there are cyber junkies and cyber but was browbeaten in his clever and nefarious through the British game. What a mockery of Pakistan Movement and the birth of Pakistan
criminals pouring out their bile against Islam. game by Jinnah. So why shouldn’t Pakistanis sovereignty of the new state it would have made as a sovereign state. If nothing else, they are
Suffering from the now-commonly-prevalent celebrate August 14 as their Day of Indepen- if the last standard-bearer of the heinous and useful in seeing through the mischief of those
Islamophobia of the West, these hate-mongers dence? Didn’t they say good-bye to the oppres- exploitative Raj were its first head. Jinnah was whose mission—inspired by their pay-mas-
are targeting the younger generation of global sive British yoke, as personified by that mis- far too astute and upright to be led down the ters—is to heap scorn on Jinnah’s sterling char-
Muslims because it’s easier to brainwash a chievous Mountbatten, on that day, August 14? garden path by the likes of an Indian National acter and make light of the historic struggle of
young, callow an uninitiated mind than an old Why should anyone dispute or ridicule their Congress-aficionado Mountbatten. Muslims of India for their own independent
and jaded one. right to mark the anniversary of their country A similarly snide and vicious vilification state. - K_K_ghori@hotmail.com
The tool most commonly wielded by Is- on the day they got their Quaid proclaimed as campaign has also been on against the rulers (The writer is a former ambassador and
lamophobes is to conjure up fantasies and their leader and ruler? and denizens of the Muslim-majority Princely career diplomat)
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