Happy Birthday Pakistan

Happy Birthday Pakistan

Or

Dude! You need to remove those green tinted glasses.

Image from www.pakistanaffairs.pk

We got our independence on 14 August 1947. I was not there but I know every small detail of Independence; through the eyes of my father, uncle and aunt I have lived through the struggle of independence and then the move to Pakistan. I know of the friendships turned into silent refusal to acknowledge the presence of a third generation neighbor. I know of two hockey players, neighbors and fast friends, who used play for the same team for three years and how one day they started taking long detours to avoid each other. I know of the tears of the sons and the favorite daughter when they left their sick mother in the care of relatives so that they can go and see the Promised Land. I have heard accounts of the misery and hardships of the greatest exodus in the history of South Asia. 

I also know of the vast family Hawley with high ceilings. I know of the orchards of sweetest mangos in existence. I know of monsoon rains that won’t let up for days. I have heard about how all the people of the mohullah would rejoice the coming of rains. How women and girls would start cooking the traditional rain feast. How gifts were exchanged and huge basketfuls of fruits were sent to every home of the area regardless of religion. How the local hockey team won the tournament and the splendid banquet the whole mohullah arranged in the honor of the team.

It is very fortunate (or in my case, unfortunate; but that’s how things are!) that the generation who witnessed the creation of Pakistan is dead or dying. Many of them sacrificed everything they had for this country. If you get a chance to talk to one of them, you will be surprised at the matter of fact manner they talk about their loss. To find that the spark that made Pakistan possible is very much alive in them is one of a kind experience. The bitterness for all things Pakistan today and the disappointments and the heartbreaks they have experienced does not surprise me. For them, the way things are these days, it is better to die than to see their dreams trampled into the very land they struggled so hard for.

As another birthday of Pakistan approaches, the question in my mind is what went wrong?

Let’s take one issue out of the multitude plaguing the country. Law and Order. The phrase itself dates back to the days of Raj. British used it to refer to political unrest among the natives. All laws of the Raj had dual purpose. While they were enacted to curb the criminal elements, they could be conveniently used to muzzle political dissidents. Cases in point are the infamous Section 144 (Unlawful Assembly) and Section 420 (Cheating and Dishonesty). Another relic of the Raj is the famous Lathi (there is one in my house, but it’s probably a replica) and the practice of Lathi Charge. Lathi is an iron tipped bamboo staff about 5 feet long. Many instances of the barbaric Lathi charges on various demonstrations during the 1940s are well documented. Police was the ruthless repression machine built to keep the natives in check using brutal force and the power of law.

But that was then. The dark days of slavery. The days of the hated Gora Saab. We got independence 63 years ago. Why does police used the same tactics in 2010 it used in 1940s. What went wrong with this Land of Pure?

In my opinion, we were NOT prepared for independence. In the hurry of snatching Pakistan from both the British and Hindus, they forget that a country needs more than just passion. It is still not clear what founding fathers had in mind. Today it is anyone’s guess. We have the Islamists who are more influenced by pre partition Pan Islamism. We have secular elements that are again bifurcated into hardliners and those who want a mix of Islam and secular legislation. To add to the confusion, nationalist and pro lingual elements have become more vocal with some openly expressing their desire to break away from the federation of Pakistan.

Is this a case of haste makes waste? I assume it is it. There was no leadership or even semblance of leadership after Mohammad Ali Jinnah. He is not an isolated case. All great leaders have suffered from this flow. Add a complete absence of any concrete idea of governence for the new country and you can have a clear idea of the present problems. Everyone who got the chance tried to impose his own idea of Pakistan on the state and people. We have flirted with Islam, Socialist Islam, Military Dictatorship, Civilian Dictatorship (in the whole world, we are the only country to have a Civilian Martial Law Administrator (1971-1973)) and now the Mad Mullah. Everyone insists that he is right and shall take Pakistan to the sky. Meanwhile, the people are worse off than before. Common Joe is not really interested in all the political and religious rhetoric. He would be satisfied if could reach home without been blown up by a bomb or getting shot in a street crime. He would be more then pleased if he could get the basic foodstuff at a price that is within range of his meager salary.  

Do I have a solution? Nope. Why not? Simply because Pakistani people have lost the faculty of thinking straight. Name anything and we have faced a crisis of either overabundance or scarcity of it. Electricity, gas, flour, sugar, honesty, street crime, mafia of all types, honesty, water, brain drain, education …… the list is too long. I was interrupted three times by KESC while typing this post. On a Sunday when almost every industrial unit is either shut down or on reduced production. To expect that the people of Pakistan will rise and there will be some sort of revolution is a pipe dream of pseudo intellectuals who smoke cigars in their comfy living rooms. Things will continue the way they are till Pakistan will cease to be either by the hand of Pakistanis themselves or a foreign influence. Things are fast moving toward such a scenario and I don’t think anyone can halt the downward spiral of doom.