NEED FOR SECULAR PAKISTAN

 

Pakistan these days is passing through a crucial phase in its short life of sixty two years. The world in general is predicting its imminent breakup. The country already lost its Eastern wing in 1971. David Kilcullen who is a key advisor to General Petraeus the Centcom Commander foreboded that Pakistan has six months before it fully disintegrates. Such a scenario is likely to dwarf all other world conflicts, given a high level of poverty and unemployment, a growing population, easy availability of weapons and a large stock pile of nuclear weapons. The tentacles of the insurgency are now spreading southwards to mainland Pakistan. The recent attack on Manawa Police Training Centre in Lahore again provides evidence about the outreach of these militants. 

            The basis of Pakistan has always been a conundrum. More than half a century later, it is yet to be decided whether it was supposed to be an Islamic theocratic state ruled by an Amir-ul-Momenin or a secular entity where rights of every community are protected. There is ample evidence that the use of religion in governance has led to wars, conflicts, chaos and anarchy. Religion itself is very divisive by nature. Therefore the use of religion as a rallying cry for the creation of Pakistan was in itself a very big folly. The consequences of this blunder are reverberating today at our doorsteps. The Afghan war was projected as an Islamic resistance movement even though it was a battle between two super powers fought and aided by American money.

            Amalgamation of religion with politics in the past has also led to devastating results. The mughal emperor Auranzaib Alamgir who is hailed as an extremely pious and righteous person in our history textbooks was actually a tyrant involved in a massacre of Sikhs on an unprecedented scale just because of their non-Muslim identity. The younger generations of the same Sikhs paid the Muslims in kind during partition of the sub-continent by butchering them in millions. On the contrary the reign of Emperor Akbar is known as the more peaceful and prosperous era in the Mughal dynasty because of his tolerance and acceptance of other religions.

            Pakistan has been unfortunate in the sense that religious intolerance and bigotry has been slowly creeping into the national polity since its inception in 1947. Quaid-i-Azam who himself was a very secular person explicitly stated in his address to the constituent assembly  about protecting the rights of every citizen irrespective of his caste, creed or religion. However Quaid did not stay long enough and the Objective Resolutions of 1949 finally sealed the fate for a secular Pakistan. Thus foundations for religious discrimination were finally laid down. The mullahs, who earlier had opposed the creation of Pakistan, gradually started asserting themselves in national politics by using religion. The 1950s riots against the Ahmedi community were a testimony to their growing influence on a larger scale. Bhutto who was the first democratically elected prime Minister also succumbed to their pressure by declaring Ahmedis as non-Muslims and Friday as weekly holiday instead of Sunday. After Bhutto, Zia used religion to solidify his grip on power. Several laws were introduced and amended to discriminate against minorities and women. After the success of Islamic revolution in Iran, Zia started focusing his energies on the activities of Shia sect. Several militant outfits such as Sipah-e-Sabha, Lashkar Jhangvi were given state patronage resulting in rising sectarianism and dichotomy in the society.

            It is also a sad fact that contributions of persons who have brought laurels to the country have never been fully acknowledged just because they belonged to a different faith. Sir Zafar ullah Khan, an Ahmedi and first foreign minister of Pakistan who very forcefully pleaded the Kashmir case in UN on behalf of Pakistan is hardly known today. Similarly Dr Abdus Salam, the first Nobel laureate in sciences in the Muslim world has always been denied his due share of praise and acknowledgement. His death was barely a news worthy item and there were hardly any publications eulogizing his contributions to the world in general and to Pakistan in particular.  Further he was not even allowed to set up a center of excellence for physics in Pakistan. This center was finally established in Italy. Cecil Chaudhary a decorated war veteran and an ace fighter pilot is on record telling his interviewer that he was denied a promotion by Zia because of his Christian faith. 

            There also is no system of governance in any religion. The holy scriptures define a vague set of rules but lack specifications. They are convoluted and complex and there are differing opinions about their interpretations. The result today is that even after 1400 years Muslims have not been able to come up with a single definition of Muslim. Within the Muslim community there are several sects; each with its own interpretation. Therefore there will have to be different set of laws for every sect if a system of governance based on religion is to be implemented. This however is not humanly possible. A case in point is the Zakat and Ushr Ordinance introduced by Zia to purify the society. Through this ordinance Zakat was made mandatory on every Muslim. However after several protests, an exemption was given to the shia community who had a different view about it. There are fifty seven Islamic countries in the world; none of which follows an Islamic system. Saudi Arabia is a monarchy based on Kingship while the Iranian model is based on British parliamentary democracy.

            The word secularism has been mistranslated by our religious scholars as “Ladeneyat” or “Without Religion”. Secularism in essence is the separation of church and the state, replacing laws based on religious scriptures with civil laws and eliminating discrimination on basis of religion. There is no bar on going to a place of worship in a secular society. Religion in a secular country is regarded as a personal matter. However no preference is given because of a specific religion.

With the imposition of Nizam-e-Adl in Swat, the country has fragmented further on religious lines. The state has capitulated against the Taliban. It is tragic that the entire National assembly surrendered before a bunch of gun totting terrorists, effectively canonizing them as true defenders of faith. This is also likely to set up precedence for other like minded groups to follow and have their way.  Moreover these regulations have actually endorsed the brutality, barbarism and savagery of these Taliban as no action is likely to be taken against them for the chaos and anarchy that they created in these areas. The policy of appeasement is unlikely to work in the present perilous circumstances. The infantile approach of defending these monsters in the name of religion will not get us anywhere. The need of the hour is the complete separation of religion from politics. Otherwise there will be little left of Pakistan to save.