THE election results in Azad Jammu and Kashmir have brought back memories of the late Mujahid-e-Awwal, Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan. Sardar Sahib was a simple and unassuming man. Whenever he visited Karachi, instead of staying in expensive hotels, he would stay at Qasr-e-Naz, a modest government rest house. A suite would be reserved for him. He would meet party workers there, attend to his official engagements and meet journalists. On one such visit, I had the opportunity to meet him through Syyed Saud Sahir. My dear friend Irshad Mahmood, who was also with me.
It was an era of politics that we now remember as the politics of the 1990s—a politics marked by bitterness and confrontation between Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed and Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif. It was precisely during those years that the freedom fighters in India-occupied Jammu & Kashmir were also challenging the might of the Indian state. There was a widespread feeling that the spell of this oppressive giant was finally about to be broken. Naturally, our conversation began there. Our questions started with India-occupied Kashmir and eventually reached Azad Kashmir. Just as Azad Kashmir and Pakistan are inseparable, like one soul in two bodies, our conversation too turned towards Pakistani politics.
At that time, two issues were widely debated in Pakistan. I do not remember the details precisely, but there were voices coming from the West, particularly the United States, warning that Pakistan might be declared a terrorist state or that sooner or later the country would go bankrupt. Qazi Hussain Ahmad Sahib was then the Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami. His words and political strategy had the power not only to shake up national politics, but people in Afghanistan also looked towards his fair, ruddy face and broad forehead with hope. It was a form of blackmail. After the Soviet Union had withdrawn from Afghanistan, America was twisting Pakistan’s arm, seeking to ensure that Afghanistan’s future was settled according to its wishes, while Pakistan was resisting.
When the pressure increased, Qazi Hussain Ahmad Sahib said in a statement: if they want to bankrupt us or declare us a terrorist state, then let them fulfil that desire as well—we are ready. His statement triggered a nationwide debate. The subject also came up during our interview with Sardar Sahib. His response surprised us. He said that Qazi Sahib would never want Pakistan to be declared either a terrorist or a bankrupt country. “Sir, but he has said it very categorically,” we replied. He smiled and said that Qazi Sahib’s statement was an example of tit for tat. When a politician says something, its meaning is not always limited to what appears on the surface. The words of a shrewd politician often contain much that lies beneath the surface. If you want to understand politics…
Sardar Sahib had barely said this when tea arrived. With great affection, he asked us to have our tea first. Once the tea was placed before us, he resumed the thought interrupted by its arrival. He said, “Learn to dive into the ocean of every issue or conversation.” Our young minds became even more confused, so we asked: then how does one make a decision? He replied that if we were faced with the challenge of being declared a terrorist state, the first thing to do was to prepare a balance sheet. On one side, we should list the possible advantages of being declared a terrorist state and on the other, the disadvantages. The decision would then become easier.
Sardar Sahib had taught us a lesson in the simplest possible way. Every picture has a second—and even a third—side. Not everyone knows how to look at those different sides. That day, Sardar Sahib taught us how to do so. The truth is that whether it is politics or any other aspect of life, balance is the quality from which success emerges. There is no doubt that Sardar Sahib was the embodiment of balance. More than three decades have passed since that day, yet the lesson in decision-making that Sardar Sahib taught us through that balance sheet has never faded from my mind. That same embodiment of balance said something else that day which, in my inexperienced years, appeared somewhat unbalanced. Sardar Sahib said, “Nawaz Sharif is a son of Pakistan as well as a son of Kashmir. Whether it is the liberation of Kashmir or Pakistan’s golden future, all my hopes are pinned on him.”
When I heard this, I looked at Shah Sahib, Saud Sahir, with an enquiring glance. Shah Sahib said that when something does not make sense, one should not remain confused; one should ask further questions. We did not need to ask any more questions. Sardar Sahib’s words continued to unlock one mystery after another. He said that there were two major issues directly linked to Pakistan’s security and stability. One is the Kashmir issue and the other is Pakistan’s economy. The awareness of the importance of these two issues and the clarity with which Nawaz Sharif understood the roadmap for resolving them, is unmatched not only in Pakistan but, in his view, anywhere in the entire subcontinent.
The results of the first phase of the general elections in Azad Kashmir brought Sardar Sahib back to my mind. They have once again demonstrated that Kashmir’s politics needs to be understood not merely through slogans and passing emotions, but within the broader context of its deep political consciousness and its relationship with Pakistan. May Allah fill Sardar Sahib’s grave with his blessings. I am convinced that the flowers of his boundless wisdom will continue to spread their fragrance across the land of Kashmir, Insha’Allah.
—This writer is former advisor to the President of Pakistan, author & mass media theorist.
(farooq.adilbhuta@gmail,com)
