History of Pakistan (Part I)
Asslamo Allaikum Sister,
I am not a scholar but here is my understanding based on studying Pakistani, Indian and Bangali archives over the past 15+ years.
I am going to purposely skip the role of the British!
Ibn khaldun (RA)’s Muqaddimah state that people are inheritably racist take pride in primarily 3 things:
1) Their dogma (or beliefs)
2) Their land
3) Their ethnicity
It was a great fortune for Muslims of India that during the struggle for Pakistan all 3 converged into a single form i.e. Islam:
4) Their belief was obviously Islam
5) The land that were fighting for was for Islam
6) Their ethnicity was defined in terms of Islam (Muslims vis-à-vis Hindus)
A great scholar of Islam (& Qur’aan) Allamah Iqbal (RA) exploited this to great success and then after his death the transformation of Muhammad Ali Jinnah (RA) after his taking the Shahdah and becoming Muslim and learning from Scholars like Allamah Shabbir Ahmed Usmani (RA) etc.
Pakistan was NEVER meant to be a country/state it was meant to a territory within united India as evident in the Cabinet plan which was accepted by Muhammad Ali Jinnah (RA).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1946_Cabinet_Mission_to_India
The cabinet plan dated 16th of May allowed for zones to have a referendum 10 years after the departure of British; for seeking independence.
However Nehru publicly indicated that since India was the motherland of Hindus and once the British had left then the question of a referendum will not occur. This was the turning point for the Muslims and Muhammad Ali Jinnah (RA) publicly dissociated himself & his Muslim-League from the Cabinet plan and for the FIRST time asked for Muslims to have a separate state of Pakistan.
The name Pakistan was coined in 1933 and although it mentioned the name STATE; but it was actually meant to be a territory, notice the words when you formulate the federal constitution of that land!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Now_or_Never;_Are_we_to_live_or_perish_forever?
P = Punjab
A = Afghanistan (NWFP)
KI = Kashmir
S = Sind
TAN = Baluchistan
There were primarily three groups of Muslims who struggled for Pakistan:
1) Muslims of India
2) Bangalees
3) Muslims of what is now Pakistan
The main participants in the foundation of Pakistan were Muslims of (UP) India such as Muhammad Ali Jinnah (RA) etc.
Muslim League which was to become the principle representative party of Muslims during the struggle for Pakistan was actually founded in Bangladesh and some of the great leaders of Muslims were actually Bangalees!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_League
Although we find a great name in the third category i.e. Allamah Iqbal (RA), nevertheless the contribution of Muslims of Pakistan (today) is lesser compared to the first two categories with the reasons being as follows:
a) Bangalees & Indian Muslims were well educated and dominated the Muslim scene in India for centuries
b) Bangalees & Indian Muslims had first hand experience of living and dealing with Hindus
c) Bangalees & Indian Muslims faced persecution and discrimination in India because they primarily lived in Muslim minority areas
Pakistan was founded and meant to be a Modern Islamic state based on Qur’aan & Sunnah (with freedom of human rights to all) in direct contrast to “Arab Imperialism” which had afflicted Islam and Muslims for hundreds of years. There are many quotes from Muhammad Ali Jinnah (RA) & Allama Iqbal (RA) where this notion of a Modern Islamic state based on Qur’aan & Sunnah and the words “Arab Imperialism” are mentioned. To make my point even clearer I would like to point your attention to points 1 & 4 of the objectives resolution.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectives_Resolution
This is as FUNDAMENTALIST as it can get!
Unfortunately as you know Muhammad Ali Jinnah (RA) was poisoned and killed shortly thereafter, however being a barrister he made sure that the objectives resolution was drafted and clearly concurred with the Qur’aan & the Sunnah.
Pakistan inherited the crème del a crème of Bangalees & Indian Muslims from ICS (Indian Civil Service) & IA (Indian Army); these officers (civilian and military) had faced stiff open competition and we were the best of the best.
After the death of Muhammad Ali Jinnah (RA), his right hand man Liaquat Ali Khan took over as the prime minister, again a very capable man. During his visit to New York when he was asked to accept “Israel” in return of significant aid to Pakistan, he famously remarked in UN (1951),
“Gentleman! Our souls are not for sale”
He was executed shortly after.
I want you to keep in mind that even though Liaquat Ali Khan was a Pashtun, but he belonged to an aristocratic background and was raised in India (not native lands of Pashtun i.e. Pakistan).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liaquat_Ali_Khan
He appointed the first Muslim commander-of-chief of Pakistan (a Pushtun from Native Pakistan) Ayub Khan who was although a competent Army Military officer, yet someone who resented the Bangalees and Indian Muslims.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayub_Khan
He also declared the first martial law of Pakistan.
It is this man who started the rot which resulted in Bangladesh!
The second error in Pakistan was the division of provinces along ethnic lines; this strengthened the ethnic spirit consequently diminishing the Islamic spirit!
East Pakistan (Bangladesh) suffered on several counts:
a) It received less aid and support
b) Due to the quota system; officers from West Pakistan (Pakistanees and not Indian Muslims) rose through the ranks and were deployed in large numbers to administer Bangaldesh
c) Bangalees and Indian Muslims have been close for centuries but the new found deprivation in East Pakistan now had a face that they weren’t familiar with “(Punjabi & Pathan Civil and Military officers)”. Note the geographical distance between Bangladesh and West-Pakistan!
d) Most of these officers neither spoke Bangali nor attempted to learn or speak it. Rather they openly opinioned that Bangalees should learn Urdu, which was taken as a cultural affront
e) In short, the greatest blunder was to put Non-Bangali officers in Pakistan & Pakistani officers in Bangladesh!
f) More and more officers were recruited (due to quota system) which were Non Bangalees and Non-Indian Muslims (by origin) i.e. people got jobs because of their ethnicity not ability, students got positions in universities because of their ethnicity not ability; this quota system still exists today and continues to wreck Pakistan
http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/amendments/Dawn_16thAmend_4june1999.html
Although fissures were appearing beneath the surface; the war with India actually galvanized the nation into solidarity and Pakistan Air Force pounded the numerically superior Indian Air force into submission and some of the ace pilots were actually Bangalees!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M_M_Alam
Once the war was over; Awami League won a landslide majority in Elections in Pakistan as both Bangalees and Muslims (of Indian descent) supported an East Pakistan government; however Bhutto refused to allow Awami League to form government. This was the final nail in the coffin of East Pakistan. Martial Law was declared and the rest is history.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Pakistan
Salaam,
Please forgive my ignorance. My Urdu is very poor. I only lived in Pakistan for one year of my life. My father was a Pakistani diplomat. We were everywhere but in Pakistan. In the civil riots of the 70's we were shall I say stranded in the states. I am longwinded I know, but that is my excuse for not speaking Urdu well..when I was growing up I was the only Pakistani in high school and college.
Given that, I still need more understanding as to what the populace desires, where the leadership is coming from, and is there a common agenda for the poliitcians. In its infancy, Pakistan, had many highly educated andmoral leaders.
And secondly, brother,what can we do to assist our people? Are we so far removed that we just watch?
If my questions seem to irrate you, forgive my ignorance once again, I am just invested in Pakistan.
