Curse of the land of pure
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In 1947, Britian decided to end its occupation of India. Britain approved the request of Muslim leaders, headed by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, to have their own State, so Pakistan or the land of pure was established in August 1947.
The insistence of founders to establish their own country on ideological foundations cost the people billions; in addition to the loss of properties, lives and memories as a result of the biggest and unprecedented displacement in modern age against millions of individuals from India to Pakistan and vice versa. The process was aimed at fulfilling the dream of Muslims to live in peace.
Nevertheless, this aim was proved false later as the western part of Pakistan persecuted the eastern part to end with separation, creating a new State – Bangladesh. Both parties sharing one religion did not prevent one of them to exploit and massacre the weaker one.
Pakistan was established in a chaotic situation, which continues till date. Relations between Pakistan and its giant neighbor – India – have not been settled. This prompted Pakistan to exhaust its limited resources to procure armament and nuclear bomb. Thus, Pakistan was involved in several wars, which have had miserable consequences. Kashmir is still bleeding. Perhaps, it will do so forever.
Pakistan has not enjoyed peace and stability since its independence 75 years ago. A total of 28 leaders ruled Pakistan. Only a few of them have not been subjected to humiliation, accusation, imprisonment, exile and even murder. These situations reflected on the economic conditions, making Pakistan totally dependent on foreign aid.
Moreover, Pakistan has become a source of religious extremism, a refuge for Taliban gangs and a safe haven for whoever escapes from international justice.
My colleague, Muhammad Al-Rumaihi, inquired about the reasons behind the survival of India; enjoying political stability in spite of the similarity of its social fabric with that of Pakistan. Then, he said India enjoys multiple religions, ethnicity, languages, social sects and classes. He pointed out that such a case required India to have a modern social declaration through the Constitution, which organized relations and saved India from civil wars despite the deep differences among components of the Indian society. He added that the role of the Army was under control from the beginning, unlike the case of Pakistan where the military figures interfered in politics under the pretext of protecting it from the enemies. This led to rejecting democracy and adopting sucessive dictatorial military regimes.
The worst crisis happened in 1977 when Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq came to power and imposed Islamization to step over democracy. He supported Afghanistan in its war against the then Soviet Union for some aid provided by the USA. He died in a plane crash later.
Then, the era of former cricket player Imran Khan came marked by extremist Islamic symptoms, starting from his home and spreading all over Pakistan. He did not study the lesson from his predecessors.
According to Al-Rumaihi, these factors rendered Pakistan incapable of living away from problems. The disputes among extremist religious parties, tribes and the Army and the dispute with India over Kashmir, prevented stability and encouraged corrupt governments to take advantage of the national wealth at the expense of citizens.
Apparently, the backbreaking battle will continue for long. Moreover, states established based on certain ideologies often fail. Pakistan needs to be a normal State like many other countries.
To some extent, Bangladesh did so, as it has become more stable and richer than Pakistan, which comes second after Afghanistan in terms of illiteracy among South Asian countries. Pakistani exports are almost zero, compared to those of India. Pakistan is not a touristic destination for any country. Perhaps, the independence from India was a great affliction for Pakistan. To prove this point, compare the average standard of living of Indian Muslims with that of the Pakistanis.
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By Ahmad alsarraf
This news has been read 26711 times!
