While imagining Pakistan as a bipolar patient, M Bilal Lakhani, in his article “Pakistan’s bipolar disorder” (September 28) cites two hypothetical groups symbolising the ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ of Pakistan’s psyche: “On the one hand, you have Pakistanis who believe that Pakistan is inherently a great nation and simply needs a saviour to rescue it from foreign powers and a self-serving elite class. At the same time, you have Pakistanis who are convinced that their country is corrupt beyond repair and cannot be saved.” Mr Lakhani’s is the latest among a series of articles using a psychological lens for understanding a society driven to the brink by its own contradictions. In a widely quoted article last year, columnist Ayaz Amir argued that “religion has made Pakistan a schizophrenic society” trapped in conspiracy theories and paranoid delusions. Then British-Pakistani journalist George Fulton — who bid farewell to Pakistan after nine years — compared Pakistan with a “self-destructive, irrational and grossly irresponsible” beloved, displaying “megalomania and paranoia” typical of a schizophrenic. (“George ka Khuda Hafez”, The Express Tribune, March 1 and 2, 2011). Therefore, rather than bipolar disorder, our collective malaise is more in the nature of cultural schizophrenia: a state marked by paranoid delusions and false beliefs blurring the boundaries between fantasy and reality.
Daryush Shayegan argues in Cultural Schizophrenia: Islamic societies confronting the West (1992) that the encounter of two incompatible worlds — an inner world of past Muslim glory and an external reality of Western modernity — has led to a distortion, “not only in how the Muslim world sees the West, but more importantly, in how it sees itself”. Consequently, fundamentalism and extremist violence have become compensatory channels for masking failures of Muslim societies stuck in multiple crises. This sense of failure in the Pakistani psyche might have triggered the violence on September 21, 2012: the government-declared national holiday for people to show their love for the Holy Prophet (pbuh) and condemn the anti-Islam video a convicted swindler made in America. While Muslims around the world protested against the film, it was perhaps, in Pakistan alone where protesters murdered fellow citizens and burnt public and private property in the name of love for the Holy Prophet (pbuh). September 21 not only blurred the boundaries between love and hate but showed that religious violence has become a defining feature of Pakistani culture, and by extension, Pakistani identity.
If Pakistanis believe that “our success or failure as a nation is determined by our identity”, as Lakhani notes, then an identity tagged with religious violence is not just at war with humanity, it is at war with a pluralistic Pakistan envisioned by Mohammad Ali Jinnah in his historic speech on August 11, 1947. The speech makes it clear that “a prosperous and happy Pakistan” could be built only “if” everyone struggled for the “well-being of the people … forgetting the past … burying the hatchet and chang(ing) the past”. These “ifs” are the ethical touchstone of a new consciousness and national identity underpinning the egalitarian society Jinnah envisioned:
“If you change your past and work together in a spirit that everyone of you, no matter to what community he belongs, no matter what relations he had with you in the past, no matter what is his colour, caste or creed, is first, second and last a citizen of this state with equal rights, privileges, and obligations, there will be no end to the progress you will make.” Jinnah’s speech reflects the ethics of a pacifist and pluralistic Pakistan. It also resonates the ideals of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan’s educational New Light movement that drew Muslims into the mainstream of a modernising world.
It is vital to exorcise the demons of hatred and intolerance factored into our identity that are “now turning Pakistanis against themselves”, as Jameel Jalibi has argued (The Oxford Companion to Pakistani History, 2012). Such exorcism should start with a reclamation of the spirit of Jinnah’s August 11 speech. The vision of this speech should be made a cornerstone for an inclusive Pakistani identity along with educating people to recreate a Pakistan in synch with rest of the world.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 27th, 2012.
COMMENTS (72)
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@Aijaz Haider "..I am an optimist and want to help in the process of exorcism. Mr. Suroosh Irfani, where and how to start.."
I am an optimist too, but I would also not like to be unrealistic. I would like to suggest the following steps need to be immediately taken:
Step 1. Change the name of Pakistan from "Islamic Republic of Pakistan" to plain "Republic of Pakistan". To call Pakistan "Islamic" is a blasphemy of the highest order. It's an insult to Islam and the Holy Messenger of Islam. Step 2. Give Pakistan a new "secular" constitution. Step 3. Include Jinnah's historic and pragmatic 11th August 1947 speech in the new constitution, as the Preamble of the Constitution instead of the impracticable Objectives Resolution. Step 4. Demolish all madrassas, without exception, in Pakistan. Step 5. Ban all political parties that have a religious agenda from Pakistan's politics and electoral processes for ever.
To seek or settle for anything less than this would be nothing but a joke.
@Sultan: A national flag can never be a Malarkey.
Bhagwa or the saffron colour denotes renunciation of disinterestedness. Our leaders must be indifferent to material gains and dedicate themselves to their work. The white in the centre is light, the path of truth to guide our conduct. The green shows our relation to (the) soil, our relation to the plant life here, on which all other life depends. The "Ashoka Chakra" in the center of the white is the wheel of the law of dharma. Truth or satya, dharma or virtue ought to be the controlling principle of those who work under this flag. Again, the wheel denotes motion. There is death in stagnation. There is life in movement. India should no more resist change, it must move and go forward. The wheel represents the dynamism of a peaceful change.
You have drawn a wonderful analogy of the ancient India social hierarchy with the current day investment banking & outsourcing industry & then say,..there is something wrong with US system,..else Indian would not be on the top. .. all these groups have done more damage to the US than the OBL could ever dream off God save uncle sam from indians.;) There are flaws in every market model.It is not about US/India.This is a capitalist driven globalised economy. If Indians do not buckle up today..then they will loose it to the Vaishyas & shudras of Africa/elsewhere. I may not be an expert on Ancient Indian history,..but as i know it,.. Brahmins never controlled the money. Anyways..as per this model of yours..sudras & vaishyas have every chance to become a ksyatriya. Chinese are in same brackets with Indians,..& in that sense..what analogy you draw for them. If such an anlogy is working for indians & providing jobs to jobless indians..its worth it. Hope the shia/sunni/ahmedi/hazara in Pakistan draw a similar working model. As Melvin Udall says in the movie "As good as it gets"-- What makes it so hard is not that you had it bad, but that you're that pi**ed that so many others had it good.
@Salim:
Wow, what a divine analogy! Then according to your definition, the pole goes through all three stripes, chakra included, on the indian flag! That must truly capture the pain the indian state inflicts on all its minorities (sikhs, take a deep breath and relax--you were spared of this pain and humiliation as you were thankfully forgotten by the indian secular Malarkists and not given a stripe!).
It is all very well to say that white stripe on our flag depicts minorities but the irony is that the pole or stick holding the flag goes through the white stripe.It truly depicts the conditions of minorities in our country.It really was not what Mr.Jinnah spoke of in his much quoted speech of 11 Aug,47.
@Sidh:
"While a few Indians may defend Nehru and be romantic about past leaders, most indians have moved beyond these leaders and are looking to new leaders. How good is relying on a dead man any way?"
Do you see any one this forum attacking Nehru? The mere mertion of the word Jinnah makes otherwise intelligent people's head spin 360 degrees like the demon possessed Linda Blair in the Exorcist. This is called pure reflexive hatred, not analysis. Jinnah wanted to protect Muslim rights; he wanted to do it within united india; congress will have none of that; he quit; was begged to come back to join ML; he then tried to do the same in a federal structure; congress will have none of that; so he finally decided to separate. You keep spitting venom against Jinnah, if it was such a big deal for congress, what did they try to stop this? Gandhi could have made some more salt in Surat but he did not--if you want duplicious, you will see his face next to the word in the dictionary. Jinnah was a secular, westernized man loathed him for dhoti drama and his sleeping habits with young girls, including his niece!
"As for the chakra “its an Ashok chakra”, Ashok our greatest emperor was a guy who renounced Hinduism and became a Buddhist and along with his son was instrumental in spreading Buddhism in south east asia."
Pure indian Malarkey--they expect you to believe otherwise when the truth is staring you in your face. Do you know what the star and crescent on the Pakistani flag is for? Let me tell you a ten thousand year old tale (get the hankies out--it is a tear jerker!). There was an ancient planet called Earth, which had a moon circling it and many stars surrounded the moon at waxing and waning points. That is where the Muslim leaders of india got the idea to put a star and a crescent--it had absolutely nothing to do with Islam! Reverse Malarkey ;)
@Feroz:
I hate to get personal but you really are quite dumb. If the US is really that meritocratic, how come only indians come on top? The only reason they are at the top of the pile is because most of them get into the casino called "investment banking and money management" and rip off old grannies of their hard saved pension money by luring them into this crap Growth fund and that worthless Income fund. Let's call them the Brahmins--they control only the money. God forbid if they ever have to lift a finger to do some work other than punching stupid trades based on plagiarised, tired, cliche-ridden "investment research." into a an equally dumb computer. The other batch of greedy beasts work for Silicon valley technology job exporters, who hire indians by the boat loads as these greedy idiots think a $50,000 job is manna from heaven for the same work a white American won't touch for $100,000, depressing the wages for all. Let's call them Kshatriyas. These agents they turn around and hire an army of so called "contract workers", literally slaves tied to the boots of tech companies in india, who roam the halls of the investment banks in New York with a Cheshire cat smile on their face, 10 pens in the shirt pocket, and a to-die-for envious look for all the their Brahmin brothers with a ffreshly minted H1-B visa. Lets call them Vaishyas. And finally, the Shudras come in to work at glistening technology parks in Bangalore and Hyderabad for Rs. 15,000 per month and free tea and biscuits. The poor souls get abused at the call centres both by their bosses and by the very egalitarian Americans who yell racial obsenities at them for cold calling them. Collectively, all these groups have done more damage to the US than the OBL could ever dream off--try to sell this meritocracy to all the jobless born Americans, who are slowly losing all hope after a crushing three year long depression!
I have exceptionally good and intelligent indian friends who by and large agree with the huge flaws in this exploitative model. But to see behind this shiny facade requires a man's brain, not a chimp's, high on stupid, holier-than-the-pope's H1-B patriotism for their adopted country!
Is that clear Mr. Feroz or shall I write a Ph.D dissertaion for you? I love you too, my Shudra brother!
@Sultan: It seems that truth to you is most inconvenient and when faced with it you need to come up with hot gas and bravado. At least learn to respect facts and try sublimating your pride and ego. In a debate personal biases show up very easily and cannot substitute for reason and logic. You took umbrage with the fact that people of Indian origin have the highest household Income in the Mecca of capitalism, the USA. Look up the link given by me below and educate yourself, rather than calling my facts baloney. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ListofethnicgroupsintheUnitedStatesbyhouseholdincome
Get out of the hatred and jealousy tearing you apart, you have the same lineage and genes to be as successful. Embrace the Islamic ideals of Love, Giving, Caring and sharing -- just give up on the Preaching. Love to you, Brother.
Please post this.
@Sultan, Let me bell the cat for you. Jinnha and Nehru (BOTH) were mere politicians to get their own. It doesn't take a trained shrink to see Jinnah's duplicity. First direct action, then "lets are live together"..do you think anyone on the street who had just murdered for Jinnah a few days ago, was going to be able to come out of that experience. Is killing and then living together really that simple?
If he wasn't duplicitous, then he was plain naive to think that a nation created after a bloodbath could then suddenly forget the reason for the bloodbath !!
While a few Indians may defend Nehru and be romantic about past leaders, most indians have moved beyond these leaders and are looking to new leaders. How good is relying on a dead man any way?
You need to stop romanticising 1 speech from 1947 and build you country with your own new vision. Also, dont look for divine intervention.
As for the chakra "its an Ashok chakra", Ashok our greatest emperor was a guy who renounced Hinduism and became a Buddhist and along with his son was instrumental in spreading Buddhism in south east asia. So that is a very poor example of Indian Hindus being non secular. You must read more before making incorrect statements.
Feroz: What baloney is that? Are you trying to tell me indians are the smartest people on this planet and hence they thrive in a meritocracy, which means all the whites, hispanics, asians, blacks living in America are inferior?
Living in the US, I learned one thing: when I arrived there, it was a beautiful place, full of caring people who were always trying to do the right thing. With the invasion of money-obsessed beasts from our shores, that morality has slowly corroded. Instead of supoorting the egalitarian values of this once great society, people like you have planted themselves in most institutions, wrecking their moral fiber. With a copy of Atlas Shrugged in one hand and RSS propagnda in the other, these moths are slowly eating away at the character of this great country, turning it into the kind of hateful land they left behind. The US has given you a lot but what you have given back is pure crap!
@Feroz:
What baloney is that? Are you trying to tell me indians are the smartest people on this planet and hence they thrive in a meritocracy, which means all the whites, hispanics, asians, blacks living in America are inferior?
Living in the US, I learned one thing: when I arrived there, it was a beautiful place, full of caring people who were always trying to do the right thing. With the invasion of money-obsessed beasts from our shores, that morality has slowly corroded. Instead of supoorting the egalitarian values of this once great society, people like you have planted themselves in most institutions, wrecking their moral fiber. With a copy of Atlas Shrugged in one hand and RSS propagnda in the other, these moths are slowly eating away at the character of this great country, turning it into the kind of hateful land they left behind. The US has given you a lot but what you have given back is pure s**t!
@sabi:
Thank you sabi. It is honest indians like you who will help break the deadlock, not boiling cauldrons of RSS-infused hatred most often on display in these forums. Jaswant Singh's book should be a true eye opener to indians brought up on a steady diet of lies (similar to their Pakistani counterparts); however, as the the great American jurist, Oliver Wendell Holmes, lamented: the mind of a bigot is like the pupil of the eye; the more light you shine on it, the more it contracts!
@ Sultan - Pakistan was least bad alternative With what price? Not sure more Indians were killed in 100 years for freedom struggle or just after Independence. (mad rage induced by religious hatred) It was the down payment the sub continent gave for politicians. Had they been leaders (in real sense) they would have shown a better path.
The least bad alternative has also its shares of EMI - Kashmir, East Pakistan.......and some even say the next due is Baluchistan.
@Sultan: I wished we could categorize all those with good English language skills as educated. It does not seem so. You got your facts wrong too. Ethnic Indians have the highest income in America, not Japanese, Koreans, Chinese or Pakistani. It is a credit to the american system that it thrives solely on merit and is not propelled by ideology. It is really shocking that even after living for 20 years in America you could neither improve on your history nor find a way out of your narrow mindedness. Wish you well brother !
@Sultan: I have asked some questions on my post above from indian friends.So far no reply. My point is, 'If you point a finger towards others.you forget that other four fingers are pointing toward you'.Some indian enthusiasts are using two different criterias for their assesment of events that occured during partition.(meetha meetha hup hup karwa karwa thoo).This is not fair and it really loses their point.Jaswant singh seems to be the only(hope there are many) brave gentelman who has shown the courage to tell the truth.I neither believe in history written by Pakistan establishment nor I believe in history written by congress on the other side of the border which many indians proudly present as facts. I agree with your assesment of Jinah as politician.
@Sanjeev:
Read all my posts-- you will get your answer to what Jinnah wanted and how he was cheated by the indian National Congress. Pakistan was the least bad alternative.
@Sanjeev:
If putting saffron, green and white stripes matters for the indian flag then yes. Glad you at least looked at the right flag for a change.
@ Sultan - Do you really believe minority matter in Pakistan bcoz there is a White strip on the Pakistan Flag?
Time will decide who had better vision and a better leader - Jinnah or Nehru, you just bragging about who is better wont help.
@Sultan
Dude your commute to your job at a fast food joint brought you face to face with economically disadvantaged inner city African Americans and that is all you saw, poor black folks.
I have lived in the US for the last 30 years and my experience shows me a different view of African Americans and I don't need your statistics or your biased perceptions. I actually know African Americans as opposed to you seeing them during your commutes.
@Syed:
I think it is a great idea--it should also be the first chapter in text books for all subjects, not just history or Pakistan Studies and part of the oath taking ceremony for all legislators and government employees.
@thor:
If you can compare Martin Luther King and the US with Gandhi and india, why can't I compare the revolution with partition? Pakistan did not kill people--mad rage induced by religious hatred both sides did.
@Zalmai:
Dude, I lived in America for 20 years--I don't need you lectures about the black people's station--I used to see it during my commute to work everyday. Look up the ranking of race by income--blacks are at the lowest and indians in the middle. Stealing jobs from the poor Americans and giving them mother india--classic indian success story!
Whenever I think of QA, he reminds me of late Mehdi Hasan's tarana, "meer-e-karavaan hum they, rooh-e-karavaan tum ho, hum to sirf unvaan they, asal dastaan tum ho." The "unvaan" or "title" is no more, but we have to live up to his dream and become the "asal dastaan" envisaged by him. Regards.
@Aijaz Haider I totally agree with your idea of translation in provincial languages and the responsibility of PEMRA and APNS in this context. The historic 11th August 1947 address should also be compulsorily included in the Pak-Studies syllabi of Matric, Intermediate and Bachelors levels. Quaid-e-Azam's 11th August address is the spirit and body of the Vision of Pakistan. This is the vision of Pakistan. In my opinion, if there is any such thing as the "Tassawwur-e-Pakistan", it is this monumental speech. .
@Sanjeev:
Put down the copy of Atlas Shrugged, Google the Pakistani flag--you will find a white stripe on the flag which depicts all minorities. Any other stupid questions?
@Sanjeev:
And I so not mean to make anyone look bad to make Jinnah look better--he is better.
@Walayat Malik:
Well done. Finally some one clear enough to look at facts and not impress the forum with their poetic skills! When you impose 19th century systems on 21st century people, what is get is royal mess.
@Sultan:
Not sure how you compare American Revolutionary War with Partition?
For me many died not for Pakistan,..but because of Pakistan..
@Sultan
"Given the conditions of blacks in the US today (with the token exception of a handful of “powerful” black people), it probably would have been a better idea"
African Americans would take offense to your categorization of them. African Americans have made tremendous strides in all walks of life. Most African Americans are middle class, educated, progressive and very happy with their station in life. I don't know, which condition/s you are referring to?
@ Sultan
Believe as you please but dont disgrace Gandhi and Nehru to make Jinnah look better, they were Leaders who had their own Vision, compulsions, thought for the Subcontinent at Pre partition and Post Partition period.
If india is really that secular, what is the chakra doing on the saffron stripe on its flag?
India does not need your credence to prove it is secular, it was never created for a set of people with religion as the attribute, it was for all and it will remain for all.
The Chakra is on the White stripe and we still have Green stripe, but where is the other stripe that Jinnah wanted for Pakistan...its only Green.
Reality in Pakistan (that not a single intellectual wants to realize or write about): Since independence not a single colonial governing systems was changed. Nation does not have any psychological affliction. Pakistani nation is full of intellect, hardworking quality, all kind of resources and above all spirit of sacrifice whenever it is required. Examples are plenty. All we need is basic REFORMS. We have 1861 police system. 1898 Cr. Procedure Code, 1860 penal code and 1880s set up of divisions, districts and tehsils. That is the REAL problem with Pakistan. NOT bipolar disorder!!
@thor:
And by the same token, George Washington would have made salt in Baltimore and Founding Fathers would tried to ask the English King to give them a better deal!
@thor:
Given the conditions of blacks in the US today (with the token exception of a handful of "powerful" black people), it probably would have been a better idea!
@Genius:
Really? Do you think successful developed nations such as the US, Japan, most of Europe, etc. get their guidance from a diving book or God's mercy? I don't know who is more lethal to our nation--the indian agents masquerading as intellectuals sowing the seeds of despair in these forums or our own pathetic divine intervention seekers, offering inane prayers to get us out of the morasse we are stuck in. Allah, please show us the light!
If Martin Luther king would have followed Jinnah saab instead of Gandhiji then he might have demanded a separate state for black people in US instead of fighting for equal rights.
We as a nation residing in this sub continent spanning from Khyber Pass to the border of Burma, from the foothills of Himalyah to Raas Kumaaree have proved through our deeds that we were/are NOT fit for liberation from the British Imperial Rule. Do not believe me then look around. We have proved ourselves, we prove it every day, every hour to be a most disgraceful lot, having no integrity, no sense of direction. Forget the words of M A Jinnah Saheb, how many of us uphold the guidance of the "Book of Wisdom" a book of Divine Guidance. The humankind disobeys Lord Almighty at its peril and we prove it through our deeds. There is glaring example in the history of mankind that when people took the Divine Guidance to their hearts and showed it in their practise they won tribes after tribes, nations after nations as friends and allies and carved a glorious future. Are we any bit like those people? No. Why not? We obey our Malah and thus obey not Allah.
@Ram Rahim:
I don't know about you, but I need to produce my Pakistani passport every time I travel--I tried using the one issued by The Republic of Humanity, but no country on this planet is willing to accept it.
We are Pakistanis, first, last and everything in between--the rest is just personal views. And comments like yours sound very good to the ear but they are just plain placebo!
@Lala Gee:
I understand your frustration--this is exactly the type of skulduggery they put Jinnah through, smiling like Cheshire cats in public and stabbing him in the back in the private. This kind of treachery and double speak is hallmark of indian National Congress to this day. If india is really that secular, what is the chakra doing on the saffron stripe on its flag? The co-agents, prowling these forums to plant the seeds of despair, can fool the confused spring chickens amongst us but mercifully, we still have some people around who remember exactly what happened before and after the creation of our country. Keep fighting these wolves in lamb's skin vigorously.
I also suggest that these so-called critics should go and visit Palestine to realize what it means not to have a country and independence from tyranny imposed by a majority--they have been humiliated, crushed, and now almost forgotten by the larger world after a struggle of some 70 years to have the right to call their house a home. Jinnah got us 10,000 square kilometres of prime, beautiful land by the sheer force of his political astuteness and unwavering commitment to the cause of Muslims in india. He was miles above gandhi, nehru and their cabal of petty politicians, who used every dirty trick in the book, including sleeping with the Viceroy's promiscuous wife, to gain favours to derail him. If we are pathetic enough to waste this inheritance, it is not Jinnah's fault--it is ours.
@Sultan: No one is bad on this earth. It is the ego and greed which makes humanity on search. Spread love, affection, togetherness and humanity. Be a human being first rather than becoming Indians or Pakistanis. Both countries people roots are same and it will remain same than how come all Indians or Pakistanis are bad or wrong? Jinnah was right Nehru was right they both love their people. Both were great. They have done their jobs for the respective countries. The question is: Are we doing our job for the country's welfare?
Jinnah's Aug 11, 1947 speech is a classic example of what Politics is all about - Sheer Opportunism. He used Muslim and Islam to create Pakistan, but when he had to take responsibility to govern it, he wanted 'secularism'. It is this dichotomy that is at the root of all problems that Pakistan is facing today. What Pakistan needs today is neither Jinnah's Aug 11, 1947 speech nor today's religious intolerance but Gandhi's non-violence and Allah's peace. The aam (mango) Pakistani desperately yearns for peace, development, jobs, food, education and progress. Let us leave all ideologies and focus on day to day realities.
@Sultan: Yes I have.
@ahmed41: Religion is not limited to homes or mosques; it encompasses all venues and individual, national and global aspects of humans and all creation. Regards
@Syed: I second you but translation must be in all provincial languages. PEMRA should make it compulsory for all electonic media and APNS for all print media. @sabi: Go for first option. Allah bless you and help you. Ameen. Regards.
Let every single TV channel of Pakistan play Quaid-e-Azam's August 11 speech every day, followed by a translated version in Urdu during prime-time hours.
@Aijaz Haider:
"The question remains, “who will exorcise the demons of hatred and intolerance”? An exorcist is required for educating people to recreate a Pakistan in synch with rest of the world" ".I am an optimist and want to help in the process of exorcism. Mr.Suroosh Irfani, where and how to start?" Who and when.Good question- I think there are two options available first option;all stake holders sit together and go for hundred eighty degree turn.This seems impossible.given too much polarisation Second option: wait until a situation reachs criticle point and circumstances force all segments of society to take that big u-turn.This involves much more bloodshed than the first option and definetly not a preferable choice, but unfortunately seems to be the destiny.Can't say if a miracle happens.
@Sultan:
"Jinnah was a cunning politician, an astute leader and and honest, upright, secular man who believed in western democracy and freedom to his core. That your parents have forgotten to passim on to you is your problem, not Jinnah’s."
No matter how convincing your arguments are, these are not going to make even a slightest of change in the upper chambers of our Indian friends. Perhaps, too much brainwashing since childhood has caused a permanent debilitating effect beyond recovery. I have been trying to do the same since last six months without much success, and eventually I had coined this maxim "Indians are different specie with whom facts, logic, and reasoning don't work", which I occasionally use in my comments. However, your style, vigor, and eloquence is exceptional, especially the term "co-agent" you used previously.
@gp65:
Thanks. That is what I meant. Have you read it?
Jinnah founded Bangladesh when he imposed Urdu on the East Pakistanis. Almost single handedly he managed to divide the sub-continent's Muslims into three countries and weakened them politically. In one country, millions of Muslims were left at the mercy of a much larger non-Muslim majority. Conversely non-Muslims became stronger by consolidating into one country. Its hard to believe that he was working for the welfare of the sub-continent's Muslims. Either he was outwitted by the Congress or his real concern was the sub-continent's non-Muslims. The debt owed to him by the sub-continents's non-Muslims is beyond measure.
@Sultan: "You should also read Khushwant Singh’s (India’s ex foreign minister under BJP) to get your facts straight". You probably meant Jaswant Singh.
"It is vital to exorcise the demons of hatred and intolerance factored into our identity that are “now turning Pakistanis against themselves”, as Jameel Jalibi has argued (The Oxford Companion to Pakistani History, 2012). Such exorcism should start with a reclamation of the spirit of Jinnah’s August 11 speech. The vision of this speech should be made a cornerstone for an inclusive Pakistani identity along with educating people to recreate a Pakistan in synch with rest of the world." An excellent ending of an extremey well-written article. The question remains, "who will exorcise the demons of hatred and intolerance"? An exorcist is required for educating people to recreate a Pakistan in synch with rest of the world. "On the one hand, you have Pakistanis who believe that Pakistan is inherently a great nation and simply needs a saviour to rescue it from foreign powers and a self-serving elite class. At the same time, you have Pakistanis who are convinced that their country is corrupt beyond repair and cannot be saved." I am an optimist and want to help in the process of exorcism. Mr.Suroosh Irfani, where and how to start? Regards.
@Feline Khan:
Okay, let's start with the criticism. What is that he did wrong? He was a long serving member of Congress party, which he thought was secular but slowly realised that it was actually a closet Hindu party. Even then, he tried to get a politically fair deal for the Muslims within its charter. But after the refusal of Congress for separate electorates, he got completely dismayed and came to the conclusion that what the Congress wanted was a majority rule, not democracy where the rights of a sizable Muslim minority will be protected. He then quit the party and politics and moved back to London for a long time to his successful law practice, drinking whiskey, playing billiards and smoking cigars and living a good life.
He was than begged to join Muslim League--they sent Allama Iqbal (yes , Saray Jahan Say Accha, Hindustan Hummara walla Iqbal)-- to convince Jinnah. Given the impending departure of Britain and Congress's now well established Hindu leanings (with a few token Muslim faces for decoration purposes), he reluctantly signed. Even then, he tried his best to create a federal union but after the rejection of Cabinet mission, this hope also died. Having no other recourse left, he threw his weight fully behind the idea of a separate country. This was the BEST deal he could get, having little political and no military power as a minority in a country where the colonists were actively siding with the majority to the point that there were love letters being exchanged between Lady Edwina and Jawaharlal! I am all ears for your criticism now. You should also read Khushwant Singh's (India's ex foreign minister under BJP) to get your facts straight.
Ungrateful nations who disregard the great gifts their leaders have bequeathed because they suffer from political amnesia, always end up where we are. You should go to Turkey to see how Kamal Attaturk is still revered both by the secular and religious parts of their society and how that has held this divided (literally between two continents) country together. Jinnah was a cunning politician, an astute leader and and honest, upright, secular man who believed in western democracy and freedom to his core. That your parents have forgotten to passim on to you is your problem, not Jinnah's. And please stop the patronising tone--I do not need compliments to speak the truth.
@Sultan, What did the minorities in Pakistan think for the last 60 years and what they are thinking now? Compare that to what minorities in India thought and what the think now. India at least moved in the right direction under "quasi communist rule of Nehru clan".... Alas whereas Pakistan continuously moved in the wrong direction under the ''quasi democratic" rule of Army dictators!!
No one needs to prove anything. It is so plain obvious. Please wake up and smell the coffee.
@Cosmo:
Pure reflexive hatemongering--Jinnah died of tuberculosis, a disease he had secretly carried for many years before he died and for which he knew their was no cure. He knew he will not rule as your demented mind thinks. Now come up some more balderdash and will blow some holes in it too. Take position, aim, fire!
@Gratgy:
That is now-- ask them what they thought for the first 40 years under quasi communist rule by the Nehru clan. History did not begin after the advent of call centres!
@back fired: these comments shd have been made for Nehru and Gandhi. Jinnah was too old to lust for power. He could have done what Indians are doing in Kenya ie playing politics behind the scene ((sazish) and getting rich Its was such Indian mindset which led us to divide this subcontinent so that muslims could live in harmony but this mindset played well through their white friends as they try to look like them. They know our weakness is in dollars and our children. The only solution would. Be inter marriage of tribes, ethnics and creation of ten provinces instead of present by merging them on admin basis rather than ethnic bcz someone may promise sardars as governors to lure them into unacceptable plan
@sultan
I have some your past posts. and I think you have great intellect but sometimes you get too emotional and defensive. Then are look like the typical ghairat. You need to listen to the critics of Jinnah. They have make good points. If you want to escape the chaos we are in none should be beyond criticism. Not even Jinnah.
@Sultan: "innah was an astute politician, not a stupid pacifist." You CAN be non-violent without being either stupid or a pacifist. Gandhiji is an example.
@Sultan Jinnah was a genius who got the Muslims of India the best possible deal he could extract out of the colluding Hindus and the Brits.
That the majority of Muslims of India preferred staying back in India instead of moving to this "prime real estate with vast natural resources" takes the wind out of your little argument.
@Cosmo:
The identity crisis canard is mostly the wishful thinking of Pakistan haters who have found a fertile habitat in our online debate forums--we are Pakistanis, period.
@back fired: @observer: @Arijit Sharma: Who started 1857 mutiny? Why congress supported khilaft movement Why is civil disobedience not a rebelion against state How far you are satisfied with crishna menon arguments on Kashmir against Zaffrullah Khan. How would you defend juna garh..Hyderabd daccan What about punjab distribution viz a viz Red cliff.boundary commission
@Sultan: well yours is the classic case of misconceptions in pakistan about Jinnah! Jinnah for sure was handy in grabbing a piece of land or as u say a "prime real-estate", but the price was paied by lives of one million indans during partition, a fractured mindset of a country of 180million who are in a perpetual state of conflict to find their identity. Jinnah's sole gole was to be rule but fortunately or unfortunately he died.
Pakistani liberals continue to seek solace in Jinah's one speech made on August 11. Yet they ignore his record of how he got there. They selectively quote that speech. He argued for a homeland based on Muslims being "special, unique and distinct". He used all means at his disposal, including violence, to achieve Pakistan. This mindset is the real normal that is being witnessed in all Muslim societies. There is continued and relentless emphasis on being special, persecuting those that aren't and feeling prosecuted. Where does this come from? Why is it that they claim so much, demand everything and and give nothing in return. Christians, Hindus and Ahmadiyas have no space in Pakistan. It is all or nothing. Why is this mindset prevalent across all sections, classes and nations where Muslims live? Unless you address the core principles of who you are, you cannot find in Mr. Jinnah what he wasn't.
Religion if followed intelligently is good ~~~inside ones home . Outside ,all are citizens.
Pakistan must try and find solutions to its problems without taking the help of crutches --- Jinnah said this, Quran said so, Allah meant it to be this way etc. Talk on the basis of logic and reason which is not subject to interpretation and innuendo. We are in 2012 and not in the seventh century -- to cater those wanting to live in the seventh century please carve out a bit of the country and herd those wanting to live in that time warp there.
@back fired:
Really? He got us roughly one million square kilometer of prime feal estate, well endowed with natural resources and geostrategic position. Jinnah was a genius who got the Muslims of India the best possible deal he could extract out of the colluding Hindus and the Brits. That our later generations screwed it up is not Jinnah's fault---it is out own!
@Arijit Sharma:
If Indian National Congress had provided the political protections the Muslims sought, there would not have been any need for direct action. Jinnah was an astute politician, not a stupid pacifist. He wanted the best for the Muslims of India after the many betrayals by INC and he did, by and large, get what he wanted. That Pakistan screwed up what he bequeathed to the nation was their failure, not Jinnah's.
@author: ... Such exorcism should start with a reclamation of the spirit of Jinnah’s August 11 speech. The vision of this speech should be made a cornerstone for an inclusive Pakistani identity ...
Quoting Ayaz Amir: "... religion has made Pakistan a schizophrenic society ..."
The August 11th speech definitely showed Jinnah's spirit, so did the call to Direct Action. That is very schizophrenic even to a casual observer.
What you seem to ignore is that Jinnah also wanted to be a frontline client state of the west. a military force for arab peninsula.
You cannot wash away the contradiction of Jinnah by calling him pacifist and pluralist. That has to be the biggest joke since Jinnah was just using the situation to get power and personal glory which back fired.
Jinnah's speech of Aug,11,1947 is so out of character with everything that the Qaid and the League had done leading up to this day, that people, understandably,never took it seriously.
As Ayaz Amir puts it,
Yes, Jinnah outlined an altogether different vision in his address to the Constituent Assembly on August 11, 1947: you are free to go to your temples, free to go to your mosques, this has nothing to do with the business of the state. There could be no clearer exposition of a secular polity. How desperately some of us clutch at the straw provided by this speech?
But those words fell on disbelieving ears for they were at odds with the entire thrust of the Pakistan movement. In the 1946 elections which cemented the Muslim League’s position as the undisputed representative of the Muslim population, what was the battle-cry to which the party responded? “Muslim hai toh Muslim League mein aa” – if a Muslim then come to the Muslim League. Not much of a secular vision in this. And here Jinnah, a bit late in the day, was pulling in the opposite direction to this emotion,
http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-9-139686-Demise-and-national-salvation
Jinnah's speech of August 11, 1947 was sabotaged by the Objectives Resolution passed by the Constituent Assembly in 1949. Once that was done the monster of a perverted and misrepresentative interpretation of Islam started to snowball in stages. Pakistan now has a choice to kill the monster before it is devoured by it.
"Vision of Jinnah's August 11 speech should be made a cornerstone for an inclusive Pakistani identity."
Couldn't agree more. This is the only solution and way forward to curb extremism and win back lost respect of the world community.