Only similarity between Pakistan and Israel is that both the countries were created from existing countries heretofore known by another name.
Niaz,
If you look up history, you will see that almost
every country in the world today was created from existing countries heretofore known by another name. You can try Latin America, Africa, Europe, Middle-east, North America, South-East Asia, East Asia, Central Asia. See how many countries existed by the current name 200 years ago, 500 years ago, 1000 years ago and so on. In most cases by far you will see that there was a preceding country of another name from which the current country was created.
This is rountine. This is neither unusual, nor rare, nor limited to Israel and Pakistan. The only thing unique to Israel and Pakistan (and very rare elsewhere) is that these two Modern States were specifically created as a safe-haven homeland for religious groups who were afraid of becoming permanent minorities is other States.
I agree with the rest of what you say on the Palestine-Israel issue.
Understand that cut-off date of 1951 applied both to the Muslims who wished immigrate to Pakistan as well as Hindus who wished to go to India. 4 years is a long enough period for anyone to make up his/her mind as to where they would like to live.
Niaz,
(1) India had no such cut-off date. India's position was that once Pakistan was created on August 14, 1947, all the people living within the boundaries of the Pakistan so created were Pakistanis, regardless of religion. India was never created as a homeland for any specific religious group, it was merely the default post-imperial state for all the people who happened to live within its boundaries on August 15, 1947, regardless of religion. So any Hindus, Sikhs, Jains who might have left Pakistan and entered India after August 15, 1947 were treated as "refugees" and not as automatic Indian citizens. They were then put through a legal process of refugee resettlement and rehabilitated as a gesture of humanitarian compassion ("panaah"). The same procedure was followed for the Tibetan Buddhists who fled the Chinese-communist take-over of the Kingdom of Tibet and migrated to India. None of these people had any "automatic right" to come to India and claim citizenship, as India was never created as a homeland for Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists, Jains or any other religious group.
But the reverse cannot possibly be true. Pakistan did not give "panaah" to the Muhajirs. The Muhajirs (with the Bengalis) were the main ideological and intellectual force behind the Pakistan Movement. The one single university which is said to have contributed the maximum intellectual backing to Nazariya-e-Pakistan is Aligarh Muslim University in India. The urdu-speaking muhajirs cannot be called "refugees" as they were amongst the principal founders of Pakistan itself. The muhajirs who migrated ("hejira") to Pakistan were not asking for "panaah", they were asking for their "right" to become Pakistani citizens, as Pakistan was created mainly by them and specifically as a safe-haven homeland for them and their culture.
(2) As for the temporary-window of migration idea, surely, the same could be said to be true for the Jews of the World with regard to Israel. Afterall, Israel could also have shut its doors to Jewish minorities in other countries in 1952 and said "4 years is a long enough period for Jewish minorities elsewhere to make up their mind as to where they would like to live". But Israel never did this. Israel doors, as per their original Qarardad-e-Maqasid, are still open.
So the question is why did Pakistan close its door after X (2,4,20,40 or whatever) years and contradict its foundational story as told by the Quaid? Was any explanation given at the time? Was this debated in the Assembly? Did the Urdu-language Nawa-i-Waqt Newspaper, editored by Hameed and Majid Nizami of the Patriotic Nazariya-e-Pakistan Foundation, carry any editorials on why the doors were closed? Did Nawa-i-Waqt explain to its readers in Urdu that Pakistan will no longer be welcoming Urdu-speaking Muslim-minority migrants from India? I have no problem with the decision, my question is about who made these decision, by what process and why? What is the "official" story? Is there even an "official" story or do we just accept silence and shadows of obfuscation from the Wadera-policitians?
Altaf Husseins statements are primarily related to the Muslims from Bihar who migrated to East Pakistan. After East Pakistan became Bangla Desh, all the non-Bengali speaking population was declared to be foreigners. These people want to come to Pakistan but PPP govt despite agreement with the MQM, declined to take them back. These Bihari Muslims opted for Pakistan at the time of partition. Thus have full right to be allowed to settle in Pakistan by all norms of logic and international law. However since most will eventually settle in Sind thereby increasing the vote bank of MQM. This is being resisted by PPP leadership and the originally Sindhis. This has nothing to do with Qaradad Maqasid, but with the realpolitik.
Niaz,
Up to a point I agree with you that this Sindhi versus Muhajir politics is responsible for Pakistan's abandonment of the Urdu-speaking Pakistani Citizens stranded in Bangladesh since 1971.
But surely, given that East & West Pakistan were once the same country, it is certain that there would have been some Pathan, Punjabi, Kasmiri, Sindhi & Baloch businessmen and workers living in East Pakistan in 1971. After the surrender in December, these people would also have been trapped in the newly-formed Bangladesh. The Bengalees would have declared them foreigners as well. Did Pakistan refuse to take them back them as well? Are they still languishing in Red Cross Camps? Did Pakistan try to pawn them off to Bangladesh by asking the Bengalees to give them Bangladeshi citizenship? Or were they allowed to come to Pakistan by virtue of their being Pakistani Citizens?
If we say that the others were allowed to return to Pakistan after being rejected by the Bengalees of Bangladesh, then why did we only refuse the Urdu-speakers this right? Is Urdu not our National Language? Are we saying that we accepted Urdu as our unifying common language, but rejected the very people who speak it as a mother-tongue and were instrumental in the creation of the underlying ideology upon which our country is based?
I am horribly confused by all this. All I am seeing are a mass of contradictions. Twisting, weaving, contorting. Tap dancing, gymnastic and acrobatics is all I get. I just want a simple and clear explanation as to what is going on in our country? Who is making all these decisions? How are these decisions made? What is the reasoning or rationale behind them?
Still further, if what you say is true, i.e. that we "ignored" our Qarardad-e-Maqasid because "realpolitik" of Sindhi-Muhajir tensions got in the way, then for what does Pakistan stand now? What are the
new Qarardad-e-Maqasid post-1951, post-1971? Or are we just carrying the original 1940 Qarardad-e-Maqasid on paper and just pretending that everything is fine? Where is the discussion in our country on all this? Where is our intelligensia? Where are our leaders, lawyers, historians, political scientists and nationalists?
Regrettably most Pakistanis consider themselves Muslims first; Sindhi/Punjabi etc. second with Pakistan coming a distant third. Herein lies the real tragedy and root cause of most the problems.
Niaz,
I agree with you that our people consider themselves Pakistani as a Distant Third. But I must disagree with you when you say that they consider themselves Muslims First. And here is why:
I have heard many Pashtun, Sindhi and Baloch leaders (educated, English-capable, well-read people) say, "We have been Sindhi/Baloch/Pashtun for 5000 years, we have been Muslim for 1000 years, but we have been Pakistani for just 50 years".
And we know that this view is not limited to a few people, but is actually held by the masses, because we can see:
(1) Pathan & Muhajir Demography Fights in Karachi
(2) Muhajir & Sindhi Demography Fights in Hyderbad
(3) Punjabi & Baloch Demography Fights in Gwadar
(4) Balti & Kashmiri Demography Fights in Skardu
If mean, if we were Muslim First and Sindhi/Muhajir/Punjabi/Pathan/Baloch Second, would these figths really be taking place? Wouldn't the Sindhis be comfortable with the Pathans & Muhajirs changing the ethnic-demography of Sindh, because after all they are Muslims as well and the Muslim-demography would not change? And what about the Baloch who are so resentful of all other Pakistanis that migrate into Balochistan? If they were truly Muslims first, wouldn't they be accepting of other Muslims and not revolt against ethnic-demographic change?
Still further, if you recall, the ethnic Pashtuns refugees fleeing Afghanistan were not resented much in Pakistani Pashtunkhwa, but were bitterly resented by the Muhajirs & Sindhis when they moved in large numbers to settle in Pathan-areas of Karachi in Sindh. This shows that the ethnic bond (Pakistani-Pashtun, Afghan-Pashtun) is STRONG, but the religious bond (Baloch-Sunni, Punjabi-Sunni) is WEAKER and the National Bond (Shia_Sindhi-Pakistani, Sunni_Pathan-Pakistani) is the WEAKEST.
Clearly, our people are Sindhi/Muhajir/Baloch/Punjabi/Pathan/Seraik/Khowar/Kashmiri/Balti/Shin FIRST, Muslims SECOND and Pakistani THIRD. And this is shown by both, the behaviour of our people, as well as the often-quoted idea that "We have been (X) for 5000 years, we have been Muslim for 1000 years, but we have been Pakistani for just 50 years"