Current issues and debates

Monday, August 06, 2012 - Possibly we are nearing the elections. The issues at the elections would be extreme economic hardships, prevalence of corruption and bankruptcy of social morality, etc and the other side in whose time the rupee has almost lost any value, and given to the country a coalition of Ali Baba and Forty thieves would divert public attention to basic changes in the country’s ideology, introduce ethnicity and play ethnic card also for the sake of which every other province is open to divisions except one so that it replaces present day’s position of Punjab, etc. In this connection I wish to touch some basic issues.

What the present rulers of Pakistan are doing is to replace Islamic ideology with ethnicity, following the path of Soviet Union in creating the Political Party as the repository of all power even subordinating as they wish even the Judiciary to the Political Power. They are omitting to take note of how Yugoslavia broke into six independent republics because Yugoslavia was created on confederal pattern. They were so powerful that the Federal system virtually become Confederal. The Rulers plead “strong” provinces ensure strong country, There has to be a balance between autonomy of provinces and power of the center. Plans as reported in the press that the one Supreme Court for entire Federation will be abolished Supreme Courts in each province would be created. Constitutional amendment is tabled to make 8 provincial languages as national language instead of Urdu as the only national language. Urdu, if the Amendment is approved will cease to be the means of inter-provincial communication or Lingua franka. Those who have proposed this Constitutional Amendment should look at Indonesia how a lingua franka , Bahasa Indonesia, based on Malau, knitted a nation of over 7,000 islands spread over 3000 miles in length and 1,200 miles in width. Many islands have their own dialects, but Sukarno discarded Federalism for these groups of islands and established a central government and a national language. Theoretically the Ancy Fancy Soviet and Yugoslav “republics” were wonderful concept but practically doomed.

Indications are that present leadership wants to remove Islamic ideology as the base of Pakistan nationalism and want to replace it with ethnic identities This would lead to creation of confederal system Leadership is working for division of existing provinces which had been in existence even since before Pakistan into smaller bits of ethnic areas. Will this eventually lead to Balkanization of Pakistan Who will pay for the new provinces administration some rich country or countries? America?

First, let us examine whether religion can be ideological and cultural basis of our State. If any one believes that religion is being claimed as a major factor in creating Pakistan, it should be pointed out that this is not correct. Even Indian nationalism is based on Hindu identity. Let us quote from the Oxford History of India, the most used text book in high School in India from my days upto now, first published in 1919 and republished repeatedly ever since, authored by Vincent A Smith at page 7. I can quote barely a few words, since it is prohibited by law to reprint it in extensio. The book states: “Fundamental unity of Hinduism.

“ The most fundamental unity of India rest upon the fact that the diverse peoples of India have developed a peculiar type of culture or civilization utterly different from any other type in the world. That civilization may be summed up in the term Hinduism , India primarily is a Hindu country, the land of Hindus type of culture . “Religion has defined culture and civilization in many countries other than Pakistan, like Cambodia., Thailand, Viet Nam, Sri Lanka. In the West, Irish nationalism and French Canadian nationalism, Catholicism is a major ingredient of national character. In Europe Greek Orthodoxy has divided Europe from Protestant Europe. It may be recalled that on death of Soviet Union, Putin led in Leningrad a celebration with Greek Orthodox Arch Bishop carrying the old Czarist Russia’s flag . In Yugoslavia, Slovenia and Croatia despite being Slavic racially split from Serbia on religious grounds , and the Pope sided with the Roman Catholic parts of Yugoslavia against Greek Orthodox Serbia.

The strangest thing is that World history cannot produce a single political demand like Pakistan which was achieved more by voi de puople, or by unanimous voice of the concerned masses, than Pakistan , none at all, none in America, none in Asia, none in Europe, Pakistan’s creation remains uptodate the unique example in the World , and in the words of Voltaire their vote for the demand for Pakistan became the Social Contract of Muslims of India but right from its beginning its fundamental basis of voted creation “ Islamic” has been contested by certain Pakistani leaders themselves.

Now speaking of Quaid e Azam or Objectives Resolution is now out of fashion although it may be emphasized that all three Constitutions, of 1956 , of 1962 and the last replacing the previous two has retained the name of the State and 1973 Constitution its Art 1, states “ Pakistan shall be a Federal Republic to be known as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, hereinafter referred to as Pakistan” and Art 2 states: “ Islam shall be the State religion of Pakistan . Thus it provided what the Lawyers say is the “Grand norm” which cannot be changed by any political party or legislature It is the basic frame work of Pakistan