Past and Future of Pakistan
By Dr Basheer A. Khan
Garden Grove , CA
An article is judged not just by the message it conveys, but also by the thoughts it invokes. By this standard your article about Past and Future of Pakistan which analyzes the books by MJ Akbar, Stephen Cohen, and article by Mani Shankar Aiyar, Pakistan Link of April 8 make an excellent reading.
Brookings or for that matter any other think tank does not employ one for nothing. You are given the pay, perks and the other advantages to bring out a certain point that supports the ideas which these think tanks want to propagate in support of their objectives. In yesteryear their focus was against communism and all their pens and guns were directed against it. Today it is against “Muslim fundamentalism and radicalism”. Tomorrow it may be against China, India, or Brazil.
By saying that ““a strain of theocracy is running through the DNA of the idea of Pakistan”, M J Akbar is not providing a scientific fact, but a political reason to justify the continuing pressure and attacks against Pakistan. Everyone, including M J Akbar, knows that it is not the DNA which is responsible for the yearning of a theocratic state among the Muslims, but their frustration about the injustices they are suffering at the hands of their inept and corrupt rulers and their supporters abroad. Mr. Akbar is trying to hide this fact through his supposition.
I don’t know where Shah Waliullah has told that Muslims not to mix with Hindus. Had he said so then an overwhelming majority of scholars of Deoband who are followers of Shah Walullah would not have stood against the formation of Pakistan. This is another lie fabricated to incite hatred between Hindus and Muslims.
Akbars’ observation that “ India is stronger than Indian” is perhaps a reflection of his own weakness. “ Pakistan is” certainly “weaker than Paksitani” because of its rulers and this is evident from the interviews of students of various Pakistani universities on BBC Urdu which are being aired currently every week.
How could the clique controlling the world affairs accept in a country that is expected to increase its consumption of hydrocarbon manifold, a petroleum minister who has the charisma to lure the Muslim rulers of the oil producing countries? No wonder that Mani Shankar Aiyar was eased out of the Petroleum Ministry in India.
Journalism and literature should be all about facts and objectivity. It should not be just information but message. It should not focus just on message but also provide a stimulus to thinking, research and action. Unfortunately journalism which is a means of mass communication has shunned this role to a great extent and become a tool of brain washing and propaganda to advance the objectives of vested interest. As such media is the biggest source of misinformation.
