March 23 rd and the Advent of Spring
By Akhtar Mahmud Faruqui
Pakistan Link
Anaheim, CA
March heralds the advent of spring. It breeds hope, it nurtures the creative impulse, it sustains the drive for a wholesome change.
March 23rd 1940 marked a singular development in the life of the subcontinent’s Muslims. They converged in droves from all parts of India on Lahore, a city cherished for its winding canals, magnificent mosques and graceful buildings, gardens and roses, where arts and crafts bloomed, where Persian influence led to the development of a Mughal school of miniature paintings and a new architectural style; in short, a city that served as the cultural hub of Muslims of the subcontinent.
It was a defining moment. They heard their leader chalk out a course that would influence the destiny of Muslims for decades, nay, centuries, to come. Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s voice resonated in the sprawling Manto Park:
“Hindus and the Muslims belong to two different religions, philosophies, social customs and literature. They neither inter-marry nor inter-dine and, indeed, they belong to two different civilizations that are based mainly on conflicting ideas and conceptions. Their concepts on life and of life are different. It is quite clear that Hindus and Muslims derive their inspiration from different sources of history. They have different epics, different heroes and different episodes. Very often the hero of one is a foe of the other, and likewise their victories and defeats overlap. To yoke together two such nations under a single state, one as a numerical minority and the other as a majority, must lead to growing discontent and final destruction of any fabric that may be so built up for the government of such a state.
“Mussalmans are a nation according to any definition of nation. We wish our people to develop to the fullest spiritual, cultural, economic, social and political life in a way that we think best and in consonance with our own ideals and according to the genius of our people”.
In 1916, Mr Jinnah was hailed as the Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity, a staunch supporter of Indian nationalism. What transpired in the intervening period to lead to this change of heart? Prof Sharif al-Mujahid furnishes a convincing answer.
The Pakistan Resolution of 1940 and its subsequent adoption by the Muslim League was an answer to the Indian National Congress’s consistent attempts to deny the Muslim community a religio-political entity of their own. There had been a tussle of power between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League since 1937. The crux of the issue had been whether India was a uni-cultural, bi-cultural or multi-cultural state.
The controversy began on September 18, 1936, when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru claimed, “The real contest is between two forces - the Congress which represents the will to freedom of the nation, and the British Government in India and its supporters who oppose this urge and try to suppress it. Intermediate groups, whatever virtue they may possess, fade out or line up with one of the forces ...The issue for India is that of independence. He, who is for it, must be with the Congress and if he talks in terms of communalism, he is not keen on independence.”
Nehru’s two-force dictum was not a stray declaration. Jinnah’s response to this onslaught came soon at the Calcutta Muslim League meeting. “I refuse to line up with the Congress. I refuse to accept this proposition. There is a third party in this country and that is Muslim India ... We are not going to be camp followers of any party,” Jinnah declared.
History is a witness that majorities are apt to oppress minorities under them. Yet, even worse, in India, majority meant Hindu rule, and the Hindu record of tolerance of other religious groups was not very impressive either. The March 23rd Pakistan Resolution formally declared India as bi-national and bi-cultural. In August 1947 the subcontinent split up into two states - India and Pakistan.
Seventy-three years later the stock- taking continues to reappraise the past in the light of the present. For a few, on the occasion of March 23, 2013, the winter of despair continues to linger on, for many a spring of hope had arrived much earlier!
The pessimists express unfeigned reservations for Sir Syed’s two-nation theory; Iqbal’s dream of Pakistan; Quaid’s decision to part ways with the Congress; the wisdom of Muslim-minority provinces to form the vanguard in the struggle for Pakistan, not unwittingly, but knowingly that they would not be a part of the new country; and the role of the Muslim-majority states, including the belated but decisive 1946 vote for Pakistan which precipitously paved the way for the partition of the subcontinent.
More worrisome today is the wanton killings of fellow Shia Muslims and minority groups as well as suicide bombings strictly forbidden by Islam. Jinnah himself hailed from a Shia family but that was never an issue because of his unique ability to transcend tribal, sectarian and ethno-national barriers to forge a broader appeal to the Muslim masses.
Ungrudgingly, the irritants are quite a few and formidable and need to be overcome.
In sharp contrast, the optimists furnish convincing proof of Pakistan being a country on the march: a physicist winning the coveted Nobel Prize; Pakistani scientists taming the atom in gleaming nuclear power reactors; women on the march in the role of prime ministers, vice chancellors, ambassadors, judges, editors, Oscar-winning producers, fighter pilots, and Army Generals; Dawn, Herald, Express Tribune, and Newsline conforming to quintessential journalistic excellence; the multiplying fraternity of independent TV channels; prestigious universities - LUMS, NUST, GIK, and IBA - contributing to the world of learning. An assertive Supreme Court boldly playing its role in administering justice. Expatriate Pakistanis and their multifarious attainments in the US, Europe and the Middle East - Silicon Valley successes and Ivy university academic pursuits - furnishing proof of a people on the march.
The country houses a world-class military institute in the shape of the Command and Staff College at Quetta, which has produced four British military chiefs including World War II hero, Field Marshal Montgomery.
In its short history, Pakistan has had the unique distinction of being world champions in hockey, cricket, squash, and snooker.
Some successes particularly stand out.
There has been a major transformation of the landscape of our universities under the Higher Education Commission (HEC) during the last decade, Dr Attaur Rehman terstifies. Six of Pakistani universities are now ranked among the top 500 of the world. There were none in the year 2002. Our international research publications have soared from about 600 annually in 2002 to about 8,000 annually in 2012, bringing us ahead of India in terms of research publications per million people. The period 2003-2008 was described as “a golden period” for higher education in Pakistan by the Chairman of the United Nations Commission on Science Technology and Development, who also recommended that these policies should be emulated by other developing countries.
A Muslim emperor built the Taj Mahal as testimony of his enduring love for his empress. In the post-independence era, a Muslim scientist built another magnificent structure in Pakistan to demonstrate his abiding interest in scientific enquiry. The emergence of the grandiose laboratories in the idyllic surroundings of Nilore did not go unnoticed. Commented a prestigious American weekly: “... If the Mughal emperors who had built the Taj Mahal were alive today they would have rubbed their eyes in wonderment at the architectural beauty of Pinstech ...” In due course, the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology - PINSTECH - was to become famous not just for its architectural beauty but its world-class research undertakings. Dr I H Usmani had placed Pakistan on the nuclear map. His budding corps of scientists and engineers zestfully learnt the art of drawing energy from the heart of the atom. Today, Pakistan’s aging reactors, as well as the new ones, continue to operate safely under international safeguards.
At about the same time, another Pakistani scientist embarked on the arduous task of establishing a world-class theoretical physics research center to put an end to the frustrating isolation of Third World theoretical physicists. His efforts were fiercely contested and for some time blunted by snooty developed country physicists who contended that the discipline had no place in bullock-cart countries: it constituted the Rolls Royce of physics and was the exclusive preserve of the developed world. The Pakistani scientist did not relent. He was not ruffled. Others joined forces. Finally, in 1964 the United Nations voted in favor of the center and the ICTP made its debut. By and by, the focus expanded from theoretical physics to other challenging disciplines - molecular biology, genetic engineering, microelectronics - and the city of Trieste tucked away in the northern part of Italy hummed with scientific enquiry, virtuallya science city in the heart of Europe. When the Pakistani scientist died, the United Nations befittingly named the center he had founded as The Abdus Salam International Center of Theoretical Physics.
These successes were in consonance with the vision and drive of the founder, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, whose life in the words of eminent scholar Dr Akbar Ahmed, spans different centuries, cultures and continents. He was born in Karachi in 1876, studied at Lincoln’s Inn in London, practiced law in Bombay, led the movement which resulted in the creation of Pakistan in 1947, and died in Karachi in 1948. Jinnah was renowned for his prickliness and impeccable suits. It was widely rumored that they were stitched in Savile Row. In appearance, morals and wit, he was the quintessential Victorian gentleman.
Pakistanis remember Jinnah with a mixture of nostalgia, awe and admiration. He represents an ideal to them. They see him as a figure of fierce integrity, honesty, and intellect and as a champion of Muslim causes. Most importantly, he gives Pakistanis hope - he was a leader who succeeded against all odds and gave them their homeland.
Jinnah envisaged a country that would foster human rights, women’s rights, minority rights and the rule of law. He was a constitutionalist. During the short period he was governor general of Pakistan he established the importance of showing extra consideration to minorities.
Once, on his way to a state function, he ordered his entourage to stop because he saw a Muslim mob threatening a small group of Hindus with violence. These Muslims were refugees who had lost everything in India and were venting their anger. Jin nah, against the pleading of his staff, threw himself into the mob and demanded that it desist. He declared: “I am going to consti tute myself the Protector General of the Hindu minority in Pakistan.”
All this would suggest that his legacy has been safely preserved in Pakistan and that the Jinnah model has survived. Alas, this is not so.
The tragic events in Quetta, Karachi, Parachinar impacting the Shia Muslims are a reminder that Jinnah’s message has regretfully, at times, gone unheeded.
Today, more than ever, Pakistanis need to heed the founder’s first speech to the Constituent Assembly delivered on 11 August 1947. It is a seminal speech in the history of Pakistan. (The state itself came into being a few days later, on 14 August, which is now celebrated as Independence Day.) Because the words reflect a vision of Islam which does not suit a misguided lot or those in uniform or civilian clothes who do not wish to promote a tolerant, democratic and humanist nation, they have been frequently expunged from the history books.
For me, this is the heart of the speech, and because of its importance and relevance today, I quote from it at length:
“If you change your past and work together in a spirit that every one of you, no matter to what community he belongs, no matter what relations he had with you in the past, no matter what is his color, caste or creed, is first, second and last a citizen of this State with equal rights, privileges and obligations, there will be no end to the progress you will make.
“I cannot emphasize it too much. We should begin to work in that spirit and in course of time all these angularities of the majority and minority communities, the Hindu community and the Muslim community - because even as regards Muslims you have Pathans, Punjabis, Shias, Sunnis and so on, and among the Hindus you have Brahmins, Vaishnavas, Khatris [Kshatriyas], also Bengalees, Madrasis and so on - will vanish. Indeed, if you ask me, this has been the biggest hindrance in the way of India to attain . . . freedom and independence, and but for this we would have been free people long, long ago.”
Building from this powerful passage comes the vision of a brave new world, consciously an improvement in its spirit of tolerance on the old world Jinnah has just rejected:
“You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed - that has nothing to do with the business of the State . . . We are starting in the days when there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another. We are starting with this fundamental principle that we are all citizens, and equal citizens, of one State. “
Jinnah’s words regarding the poor and the less privileged are particularly poignant:
“Now, if we want to make this great State of Pakistan happy and prosperous, we should wholly and solely concentrate on the well-being of the people, and especially of the masses and the poor. If you will work in co-operation, forgetting the past, burying the hatchet, you are bound to succeed. “
Jinnah, Dr Akbar Ahmed writes, had regularly reminded his Muslim audiences of the ideal in Islam: “Our own history and our Prophet have given the clearest proof that non-Muslims have been treated not only justly and fairly but generously.”
Jinnah was confident of the future if Pakistanis could follow these ideals. His attitude towards India is also instructive. When things go wrong in Pakistan, Pakistanis tend to blame Indian intelligence and Indians respond in the same vein when there are problems in India, blaming the Pakistan secret services. There is an ugly and destructive aspect to the relationship between the two.
Today is also a propitious occasion to reflect if the Muslim League was right in its emphasis on bi-nationalism and in charting out a course that would spare the Muslims the agony of a uni-cultural India
An Indian government commission headed by former Chief Justice Rajendar Sachar confirms that Muslims are the new untouchables in India. According to the Sachar Commission report, Muslims are now worse off than the Dalit caste, or those called untouchables. Some 52% of Muslim men are unemployed compared with 47% of Dalit. Among Muslim women, 91% are unemployed, compared with 77% of Dalit women. Almost half of Muslims over the age of 46 cannot read or write. While making up 11% of the population, Muslims account for 40% of India’s prison population. And, they hold less than 5% of government jobs.
Indicative of this disconcerting trend is the lament of well-known Indian actress and social activist Shabana Azmi, that she and her husband Javed Akhtar could not buy a flat in the Indian city of Mumbai owing to religious discrimination. With a tinge of bitterness she told a local TV, ‘I wanted to buy a flat and it wasn’t given to me because I was a Muslim and I read the same about Saif Ali Khan. Now if Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi cannot get a flat in Mumbai because they are Muslims, then what are we talking about?’ she asked.
Shahrukh Khan, leading light of Indian film industry, complained in a similar vein: “There have been occasions when I have been accused of bearing allegiance to our neighboring nation rather than my own country - this even though I am an Indian, whose father fought for the freedom of India. Rallies have been held where leaders have exhorted me to leave and return to what they refer to, as my original homeland.”
In contrast, in spite of its manifold problems, Pakistan has continued to offer higher upward economic and social mobility to its citizens over the last two decades. Since 1990, according to an illuminating article by Riaz Haq in Pakistan Link, Pakistan’s middle class has expanded by 36.5% and India’s by only 12.8%, claims an ADB report titled “Asia’s Emerging Middle Class: Past, Present And Future”.
Miles Corak of the University of Ottawa calculates that the intergenerational earnings elasticity in Pakistan is 0.46, the same as in Switzerland. It means that a difference of 100% between the incomes of a rich father and a poor father is reduced to 46% difference between their sons’ incomes.
More evidence of this upward mobility is offered by recent Euromonitor market research indicating that Pakistanis are seeing rising disposable incomes. There were 1.8 million Pakistani households -7.55% of all households - and 7.9 million Indian households - 3.61% of all households - in 2009 with disposable incomes of $10,001 or more. This translates into a 282% increase (vs 232% in India) from 1995-2009 in households with disposable incomes of $10,001 or more. Consumer spending in Pakistan has increased at a 26 percent average rate in the past three years, compared with 7.7 percent for Asia, according to Bloomberg.
It is pertinent to point out here that Pakistan’s critics love to refer to the country’s break-up in 1971 as evidence of the failure of Jinnah’s Pakistan. The economic disparity between East and West Pakistan in the 1960s is often cited as the key reason for the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. This gap has grown over the last 40 years, and the per capita income in Pakistan now stands at more than twice of Bangladesh’s in 2012 in nominal dollar terms, higher than 1.6 in 1971.
Pakistan’s employment growth too has been the highest in South Asia since 2000, followed by Nepal, Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka in that order, according to a recent World Bank report titled “More and Better Jobs in South Asia”.
I do think that all of the available and credible data and indicators confirm the fact that Muslims in Pakistan are not only much better off than they are elsewhere in South Asia, they also enjoy higher economic and social mobility than their counterparts in India and Bangladesh, says Riaz Haq.
What is more heartening today , according to Western media accounts, is the fact that the Pakistan middle class appears in a mood to defy conservative stereotypes.
American fast-food and Western fashion outlets are taking Pakistan’s growing middle class by storm, defying stereotypes about a conservative Muslim country plagued by violence.
The rupee may have nose-dived, a third of the population may live in poverty and sectarian violence may be at a record high, but remarkably, consumer spending is up among a resilient elite fond of imported luxuries.
In a smart corner of Karachi, a new mall offers wealthy clientele the chance to lunch on an American burger, buy French cosmetics, shop for cocktail dresses, sip an afternoon cappuccino or wolf down a cinnamon roll.
Female sales assistants dressed in jeans and T-shirts buck the idea that “service industry” jobs are unsuitable for women, even if many of them commute to work heavily veiled to avoid being harassed or insulted.
While the economy has stagnated in the last five years, a business and foreign investment boom after the 9/11 attacks widened employment opportunities. As a result, the middle class has grown over the last decade. Karachi, the country’s financial hub, Lahore and the capital Islamabad have all seen a surge in Western-style coffee shops, fast-food franchises and new malls.
Karachi’s Dolmen Mall is the newest and flashiest. There is Spanish fashion favorite Mango, US beauty and home firm Crabtree and Evelyn and British high street staples Mothercare and Debenhams. Regardless of the political tensions in Islamabad’s relations with Washington, many wealthy Pakistanis are attracted to American films, clothes, music, food and of course the glittering Ivy colleges - Cornell, Princeton and MIT.
Lahore, over the years, has fired the imagination of writers, artists and thinkers. Recently, the city held its annual literary festival which brought a ‘feel-good’ factor. For two days, large crowds filled the halls of the Alhamra Art Center to listen to lilting recitals of Urdu and English language poetry, and to delight in classical dance and music.
“This lets Lahore see what Lahore is,” commented Mohsin Hamid, author of the Reluctant Fundamentalist who launched his new book How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia.
Mohammed Hanif, a former BBC journalist who shot to fame with his first novel A Case of Exploding Mangoes, discussed his latest writing on the many who “disappear” in the volatile south-western province of Balochistan.
The BBC’s Chief International Correspondent, Lyse Doucet, covered the event. She was delighted to meet luminaries from Pakistan’s growing club of young internationally-renowned writers who turned out to read from their novels, along with other authors, including British historian William Dalrymple.
Now the concluding part of her report verbatim:
“You’ve been to the Lahore Literary Festival?” queried the police officer at passport control at the airport as I left Lahore.
“Do you still think this is a country of terrorists?” he asked, only partly in jest.
“I never did,” I said. “And certainly don’t NOW.”
This happened a few weeks before the advent of March this year. As an optimist I am beginning to feel that spring in Pakistan is not far off!
Dismal governance today, along with larcenous leadership, certainly has bred despondency. But these are solvable issues. Americans today salute Lincoln for saving the union; they don’t retrospectively blame him for the damage others might have inflicted on America.
With all its limitations, Pakistan today remains a Muslim nation with the most democratic freedoms in the world.
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