The founder of
Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, wanted a separate country for Muslims but his
political upbringing in a pluralist society prevented him from declaring
Pakistan an Islamic state. Contrary to the general perception in India, Mr
Jinnah was arguably a secular and liberal Muslim who wanted a Pakistan where all
citizens would be equal in the eyes of the constitution irrespective of their
religion, caste or creed. But leaders like Liaqat Ali Khan and power hungry
opportunistic religious leaders wanted it to be otherwise. In this beautifully
written series titled, "Objectives Resolution and Secularism", Mr Wajahat Masood
delves deep into history to find out how Jinnah's dream of a secular and
democratic Pakistan was shattered. -–Editor
My family had
arrived in Pakistan from Ludhiana after sacrificing a 17-year old son. My
grandmother lived for 27 years after the establishment of Pakistan, but she
never wanted to sleep inside the house. She used to cover herself with a blacke
chadar and sleep in the courtyard under the open sky. She had the belief that
his son, who had been caught by his hockeystick-weilding class-fellows in the
Ludhiana government college ground, had not been killed, but had gone missing
and would return anyday. If he came back late in the night, knocked at the door,
and not did not get any response, he might go back. It was therefore, necessary
for her to sleep close to the door in the courtyard. My age must have been two
or three years then. Mother would sit me on her knees and talk to the birds
returning home as if she talked to her
son whose uncremated body had turned to dust a quarter century ago. She was a
mother. To understand the pain of this mother, we need to understand the pain of
those hundreds of mothers who had crossed the raging rivers of fire and blood
flowing on both sides of the border
after loosing their loved-ones, homes and assets. Our family will ever remain
grateful to the Sikh neighbour who confronted another Sikh of the locality and
gave the hapless family an opportunity to escape to safety. -- Wajahat Masood
By Wajahat
Masood
(Translated from Urdu by
Sohail Arshad)
A big disadvantage of a public gathering is that
if anti-social elements find a little room in it, they inflict such an
irreparable damage that humanity goes centuries back. The greatest challenge
before humanity is that the forces of hatred and schism should be fought
everywhere -- in Israel, India, Pakistan, Iran, China, Vietnam, America, Russia
and Rwanda. The precondition is that we should hate injustice and all kinds of
misdeeds. There is no justification for opposing someone’s religious,
linguistic, ethnic or national identity.
My family had arrived in Pakistan from Ludhiana
after sacrificing a 17-year old son. My grandmother lived for 27 years after the
establishment of Pakistan, but she never wanted to sleep inside the house. She
used to cover herself with a black chadar and sleep in the courtyard under the open sky.
She had the belief that her son, who had been caught by his hockeystick-weilding
class-fellows in the Ludhiana government college ground, had not been killed,
but had gone missing and would return any day. If he came back late in the
night, knocked at the door, and did not get any response, he might go back. It
was therefore, necessary for her to sleep close to the door in the courtyard. My
age must have been two or three years then. Mother would sit me on her knees and
talk to the birds returning home as if
she talked to her son whose uncremated body had turned to dust a quarter century
ago. She was a mother. To understand the pain of this mother, we need to
understand the pain of those hundreds of mothers, who had crossed the raging
rivers of fire and blood flowing on both sides of the border, after loosing
their loved-ones, homes and assets. Our family will ever remain grateful to the
Sikh neighbour who confronted another Sikh of the locality and gave the hapless
family an opportunity to escape to safety.
A student of Urdu who did not claim to be a poet,
had written on the situation:
Many things have been lost but the fist of memory
is still closed,
Many familiar voices, countless painful
scenes,
Birds were on their migratory
flights,
But they still regarded the leaves of grass left
behind as their homes
Where, the children’s toys, dreams of
tomorrow
Had been kept safely
The principle adopted in this writing is that
facts and objectivity will be preferred over emotionality. Nonetheless, it shoud be kept in
mind that the foundation of the highest political discourse is laid on the
values of human compassoin, Justice, peace, civic freedom and human welfare. The
concept of an independent political point of view is impossible without human ethics. Politics is not
synonymous with a series of conspiracies and hypocritical legerdemains. The
roots of lofty political wisdom are entrenched in practicable ethical
perspectives.
The living proof of the rays of humanity remainig
bright even in the worst of circumstances are the short literary sketches titled
“Siyah Hashiye” (dark fringes) written by Manto shortly after the partition.
Here’s a small incident narrated by Sri Prakash:
“When two Sikh army officers informed the IG,
West Punjab, Qurban Ali Khan in the presence of the Indian High Commissioner Sri
Prakash, of the possible conspiracy of killings in Shekhopura, he banged his
fist on the desk angrily and said, “Shame on your India and Pakistan! Was the
partition of the country done for the welfare of the people or for this savagery
and bloodshed?” According to Sri Prakash, the police officer immediately set out
for Sheikhopure and was able to prevent the bloodshed in the nick of time.
Reports suggested that a similar solution prevailed in the east
Punjab.”
The Muslim India of the 20th century
had hardly produced a better Muslim than Dr. Zakir Hussain is terms of
knowledge, moral character, intelligence and vision. He was one of the founding
teachers of Jamia millia.
After doing his doctorate from Germany, he taught
at Jamia Millia on a monthly salary of Rs 200. After the partition, he became
the vice- Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University. He was also appointed as the
Governer of Bihar. He was elected the first Muslim vice-President and later
President of independent India. In the turbulent summer of 1947, Dr Zakir
Hussain was travelling to kashmir by train in connection with an educational
conference and was deeply submerged in his study. The rioters stopped the train
at Amritsar railway station specifically
pulling down apparently Muslim passengers with an intent to kill. A goondah came
up to Dr Hussein and asked, “Are you a Mussalman” ? Without betraying any
nervousness, he replied, “ Alhamdulillah, main Mussalman hoon, “(By God’s grace
I am”).
It should be remembered that in party-based
politics, Muslim league leadership questioned the purity of the faith of anyone
who disagreed with political point of view of the Muslim League. Getting Dr
Hussein’s reply, the rioter gestured to a truck waiting close-by and told him to
get on it. Armed soldiers were guarding the truck headed to the
‘slaughter-house.’ Without saying a word, Dr Zakir Hussain walked with
unfaltering steps towards the truck headed for the abbatoir. In the meantime, a
soldier among the rioters made out from the appearance of Dr. Hussain that he
was not an ordinary man and became apprehensive of the consequences. He said to
the soilders, “ Mia bhai (Muslim) seems to be a big a catch. I want to behead
him with my own hands.” The rioters would have no objection. The soldier brought
Dr. Zakir Hussain to the residence of the Sikh deputy commissioner of Amritsar
in his official jeep. The name of the deputy commissioner was Kunwar Mahendar
singh Bedi. Mr Bedi recognised Dr Zakir Hussain; gave him a friendly
dressing-down for fearlessly playing with death and made arrangement for his
stay at his residence untill his safe return to Delhi was made
sure.
The famous author of India, Khushwant Singh was a
practising lawyer at Lahore before partition. The son of Seikh Abdul Qadir,
Manzoor Qadir (later the foreign minister of Pakistan) was his close friend.
During the bedlam that followed partition, Manzur Qadir played the role of a
friend in a highly commendable way. In his memories, Khushwant Singh has written
about his magnanimity in such glorifying words, that the head of every Pakistani
becomes high with pride.
8:07 AM
Sultan Shahin
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