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This too was Pakistan (1947-71): A response to Nadeem Parachas Also Pakistan
Nadeem F. Parachas (NFP) history of Pakistan in the four part series in daily Dawn suffers from an error of exclusion. It is the history of Pakistans upper-middle classes in an urban setting where lifestyle choices imply that somehow Pakistan was more liberal in the past. It also reduces Pakistan to a (mainly) Punjabi-Muhajir urban upper-middle class landscape like the plays of Fatima Surayya Bajia, Hasina Moin and Ashfaque Ahmed or romantic writings of Shafique-ur-Rehman and Nasim Hijazi.
The pictures in NFP columns tell a story of an upper middle class whose liberal membership has shrunk. Simultaneously, it also reinforces the myth that there is a tiny bulwark of upper-middle class activists who are protecting Pakistan from complete Talibanisation - as long as their literary festivals, social media melas and fashion shows are well funded by foreign consulates and donor agencies.
In terms of strategy, liberals tactics are very similar to the post-9/11 strategy of General Musharaf. In the first half of the last decade, this strategy was employed to the hilt by Musharaf in trying to convince the West that he and the army under him represent the last stand against the Taliban. Of course, now the whole world knows the dual policy of Pakistans military establishment of officially opposing the Taliban but protecting and sponsoring them and their local ****** affiliates at the ground level. Plausible deniability was taken to a new level by Pakistans military establishment. Similarly, it is commonly known that several of Pakistans noted liberals including but not limited to Najam Sethi, Ejaz Haider and their predecessors in the past have played a questionable role in undermining democratic governments in Pakistan.
What NFP has presented in this series is only a limited remembrance of Pakistan from an elitist, upper-middle class perspective. If a narrow window of Pakistani society can be described as Pakistan, rest assured such Pakistan exists even today within its typical confines, e.g., five star hotels, private beaches, civil society melas, literary festivals, aman ki asha events etc in secluded luxury hotels or private residences.
What NFP did not describe is how the country was shaping itself right from its inception when Jinnah and his close comrades authorized military take over of Balochistan, despatch of Pashtun and Punjabi mercenaries to Kashmir, dismissal of Dr. Khans government in NWFP and suppression of Bangla language. In 1948 and beyond we saw a repeat of similar events, e.g., when Jinnahs funeral was refused to be led by a Shia cleric, when Objectives Resolution was passed by Pakistans first legislative assembly thus formalizing the ascendancy of Sunni Islam, when anti-Ahmadiyya riots took place in streets of Lahore and other cities of Pakistan. NFP also did not mention the fact that long before General Zias Islamization, one of the bloodiest massacres of Shias took place in Terhi Sindh in 1963. That too was Pakistan.
Romanticizing of Pakistan from an upper-middle class lens is a great thing to write and read and we are not challenging the fact that confines of the upper-middle class lifestyle have relatively reduced in the past few decades courtesy General Zia, Zakir Naik, Farhat Hashmi, Imran Khan etc, however, that lifestyle featuring several elements of social hedonism is still available and enjoyed by the select elite.
The photos and narrative also reinforce the upper-middle class narrative that the seeds of extremism, intolerance and hypernationalism were sown during Bhuttos time and harvested by Zia ul Haq. Unfortunately, this selective narrative excludes the role of Pakistans urban elites (eg Rana Liaquat Ali Khan, Qudratullah Shahab, Altaf Gauhar etc) who silently watched the destruction of a pluralist society and the resulting rampant extremism while their own socio-economic interests were taken good care of.
The seeds of extremism in Pakistan were not planted by Zia or Bhutto but were there much earlier and should be highlighted. Today, Pakistans Shia Muslims are undergoing a slow-motion genocide which is deliberately being misrepresented or ignored by the urban elites who have positioned themselves as the Endangered Liberal Species. Such elites have largely participated in inexplicable silence on the massacre of at least 19000 Shia Muslims in Pakistan in the last few decades.
1947: A country created on the basis of communal hatred and othering
Pakistan was a country created on the basis of communal hatred and exclusion. The bloodshed was only natural in 1947-48 at the time of partition.
Millions of Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs etc were killed by violent Muslim, Hindu, Sikh mobs at the time of Partition.
Pre-1947: Founder of a communal state is evasive about his own communal identity
The countrys founder was a Shia but it was Mr. Jinnah himself who was evasive about his Shia Muslim identity.
The founder of the state, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, although himself a Twelver Shia after conversion from the Ismaili sect, was wont to describe himself in public as neither a Shia nor a Sunni. His stock answer to a query about his sect was: was Muhammad the Prophet [pbuh] a Shia or a Sunni? (Source)
The Founder of Pakistan Jinnah with GOC East Pakistan Ayub Khan in 1948. Not yet Field Marshal, Ayub Khan was barely a Brigadier at that time. In 3 years he would be the C-in-C and 7 years more the Head of State. The person recieving the military cross is Mohammed Ahmed who became a Brig. and subsequently military sec to Ayub Khan.
1947: Jinnah dismisses an elected government in NWFP Province
Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan popularly known as Dr. Khan Sahib was a pioneer in the Indian Independence Movement and a Pakistan politician. On 15th August 1947 Mr. Jinnah took oath as Governor General of Pakistan and on 22nd August, just after a week dissolved the elected government of Dr. Khan. In 1958, Dr Khan was assassinated in Lahore.
Dr. Khan
Jinnah with future military dictator
1948: Bacha Khan remains in intermittent house arrest from 1948 to 1964
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Bacha Khan) was always presented as a traitor of Pakistan and an Indian agent. Ghaffar Khan was placed under house arrest without charge from 1948 till 1954. He was re-arrested in 1958 until an illness in 1964 allowed for his release.
Bacha Khan
1948: At least 150 Pashtuns massacred in Babhara village, Charsadda
On August 12, 1948, while Jinnah was at deathbed, the security forces opened fire on a protest rally of Khudai Khidmatgars in Babhara village, resulting in the killing of more than 150 people and injuries to over 400 men and women. Some reports, however, put the death toll at 602 while the number of wounded was stated to be in thousands.
1948: First military operation in Balochistan
The rebellion against Pakistans forced occupation of Balochistan was led by Mir Ahmad Yar Khan. In April 1948 the central government sent the Pakistan army to harass and force Mir Ahmed Yar Khan to give up his state (Kalat). Mir Ahmed Yar Khan signed an accession agreement ending Kalats de facto independence. His brother, Prince Karim Khan, decided to carry on with the struggle. Basing himself in Afghanistan he conducted guerrilla warfare against the Pakistan army. Abdul Karim organized a rebellion against Pakistan in the Jalawan area. He received assistance from Mir Gohar Khan Zahrri, an influential tribal leader of the Zarkzai clan. Major General Akbar Khan, who was in charge of the Pakistani armys Seventh Regiment, was ordered to attack the insurgents and force them to surrender. Prince Karim and his 142 followers were arrested and imprisoned in the Mach and Quetta jails. Many Baloch insurgents were killed and others served rigorous imprisonments.
Nadeem F. Parachas (NFP) history of Pakistan in the four part series in daily Dawn suffers from an error of exclusion. It is the history of Pakistans upper-middle classes in an urban setting where lifestyle choices imply that somehow Pakistan was more liberal in the past. It also reduces Pakistan to a (mainly) Punjabi-Muhajir urban upper-middle class landscape like the plays of Fatima Surayya Bajia, Hasina Moin and Ashfaque Ahmed or romantic writings of Shafique-ur-Rehman and Nasim Hijazi.
The pictures in NFP columns tell a story of an upper middle class whose liberal membership has shrunk. Simultaneously, it also reinforces the myth that there is a tiny bulwark of upper-middle class activists who are protecting Pakistan from complete Talibanisation - as long as their literary festivals, social media melas and fashion shows are well funded by foreign consulates and donor agencies.
In terms of strategy, liberals tactics are very similar to the post-9/11 strategy of General Musharaf. In the first half of the last decade, this strategy was employed to the hilt by Musharaf in trying to convince the West that he and the army under him represent the last stand against the Taliban. Of course, now the whole world knows the dual policy of Pakistans military establishment of officially opposing the Taliban but protecting and sponsoring them and their local ****** affiliates at the ground level. Plausible deniability was taken to a new level by Pakistans military establishment. Similarly, it is commonly known that several of Pakistans noted liberals including but not limited to Najam Sethi, Ejaz Haider and their predecessors in the past have played a questionable role in undermining democratic governments in Pakistan.
What NFP has presented in this series is only a limited remembrance of Pakistan from an elitist, upper-middle class perspective. If a narrow window of Pakistani society can be described as Pakistan, rest assured such Pakistan exists even today within its typical confines, e.g., five star hotels, private beaches, civil society melas, literary festivals, aman ki asha events etc in secluded luxury hotels or private residences.
What NFP did not describe is how the country was shaping itself right from its inception when Jinnah and his close comrades authorized military take over of Balochistan, despatch of Pashtun and Punjabi mercenaries to Kashmir, dismissal of Dr. Khans government in NWFP and suppression of Bangla language. In 1948 and beyond we saw a repeat of similar events, e.g., when Jinnahs funeral was refused to be led by a Shia cleric, when Objectives Resolution was passed by Pakistans first legislative assembly thus formalizing the ascendancy of Sunni Islam, when anti-Ahmadiyya riots took place in streets of Lahore and other cities of Pakistan. NFP also did not mention the fact that long before General Zias Islamization, one of the bloodiest massacres of Shias took place in Terhi Sindh in 1963. That too was Pakistan.
Romanticizing of Pakistan from an upper-middle class lens is a great thing to write and read and we are not challenging the fact that confines of the upper-middle class lifestyle have relatively reduced in the past few decades courtesy General Zia, Zakir Naik, Farhat Hashmi, Imran Khan etc, however, that lifestyle featuring several elements of social hedonism is still available and enjoyed by the select elite.
The photos and narrative also reinforce the upper-middle class narrative that the seeds of extremism, intolerance and hypernationalism were sown during Bhuttos time and harvested by Zia ul Haq. Unfortunately, this selective narrative excludes the role of Pakistans urban elites (eg Rana Liaquat Ali Khan, Qudratullah Shahab, Altaf Gauhar etc) who silently watched the destruction of a pluralist society and the resulting rampant extremism while their own socio-economic interests were taken good care of.
The seeds of extremism in Pakistan were not planted by Zia or Bhutto but were there much earlier and should be highlighted. Today, Pakistans Shia Muslims are undergoing a slow-motion genocide which is deliberately being misrepresented or ignored by the urban elites who have positioned themselves as the Endangered Liberal Species. Such elites have largely participated in inexplicable silence on the massacre of at least 19000 Shia Muslims in Pakistan in the last few decades.
1947: A country created on the basis of communal hatred and othering
Pakistan was a country created on the basis of communal hatred and exclusion. The bloodshed was only natural in 1947-48 at the time of partition.
Millions of Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs etc were killed by violent Muslim, Hindu, Sikh mobs at the time of Partition.
Pre-1947: Founder of a communal state is evasive about his own communal identity
The countrys founder was a Shia but it was Mr. Jinnah himself who was evasive about his Shia Muslim identity.
The founder of the state, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, although himself a Twelver Shia after conversion from the Ismaili sect, was wont to describe himself in public as neither a Shia nor a Sunni. His stock answer to a query about his sect was: was Muhammad the Prophet [pbuh] a Shia or a Sunni? (Source)
The Founder of Pakistan Jinnah with GOC East Pakistan Ayub Khan in 1948. Not yet Field Marshal, Ayub Khan was barely a Brigadier at that time. In 3 years he would be the C-in-C and 7 years more the Head of State. The person recieving the military cross is Mohammed Ahmed who became a Brig. and subsequently military sec to Ayub Khan.
1947: Jinnah dismisses an elected government in NWFP Province
Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan popularly known as Dr. Khan Sahib was a pioneer in the Indian Independence Movement and a Pakistan politician. On 15th August 1947 Mr. Jinnah took oath as Governor General of Pakistan and on 22nd August, just after a week dissolved the elected government of Dr. Khan. In 1958, Dr Khan was assassinated in Lahore.
Dr. Khan
Jinnah with future military dictator
1948: Bacha Khan remains in intermittent house arrest from 1948 to 1964
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Bacha Khan) was always presented as a traitor of Pakistan and an Indian agent. Ghaffar Khan was placed under house arrest without charge from 1948 till 1954. He was re-arrested in 1958 until an illness in 1964 allowed for his release.
Bacha Khan
1948: At least 150 Pashtuns massacred in Babhara village, Charsadda
On August 12, 1948, while Jinnah was at deathbed, the security forces opened fire on a protest rally of Khudai Khidmatgars in Babhara village, resulting in the killing of more than 150 people and injuries to over 400 men and women. Some reports, however, put the death toll at 602 while the number of wounded was stated to be in thousands.
1948: First military operation in Balochistan
The rebellion against Pakistans forced occupation of Balochistan was led by Mir Ahmad Yar Khan. In April 1948 the central government sent the Pakistan army to harass and force Mir Ahmed Yar Khan to give up his state (Kalat). Mir Ahmed Yar Khan signed an accession agreement ending Kalats de facto independence. His brother, Prince Karim Khan, decided to carry on with the struggle. Basing himself in Afghanistan he conducted guerrilla warfare against the Pakistan army. Abdul Karim organized a rebellion against Pakistan in the Jalawan area. He received assistance from Mir Gohar Khan Zahrri, an influential tribal leader of the Zarkzai clan. Major General Akbar Khan, who was in charge of the Pakistani armys Seventh Regiment, was ordered to attack the insurgents and force them to surrender. Prince Karim and his 142 followers were arrested and imprisoned in the Mach and Quetta jails. Many Baloch insurgents were killed and others served rigorous imprisonments.
