Pakistan-Independence?
Pakistan, the land of the pure, emerged on August 14, 1947, through a struggle and sacrifice of over a million who gave their lives for a state, which they dreamed would implement Islam in totality. They wanted independence from the yoke of the Hindus and the British who had ruled the region for over a century. Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the first Governor General of Pakistan, stated that “we are a nation with our own distinct culture and civilisation, language and literature, art and architecture, names and nomenclature, sense of values and proportion, legal laws and moral code, customs and calendar, history and tradition, aptitudes and ambitions”.
Though the British had left the subcontinent in 1947, they had left a political system, which was colonialist in design. Those who indulged in Western culture and had a Western outlook were left with the reigns of power. The system left by the British allowed the Pakistani rulers to continue the exploitation of the poor, immersing the people in illiteracy, poverty and corruption.
The establishment of Pakistan was the culmination of the struggle by the Muslims of South East Asia for a separate homeland of their own and its foundation was laid when Muhammed bin Qasim subdued Sindh in 711 A.D. as a reprisal against Hindu sea pirates who caused problems for Muslim traders in Raja Dahir’s kingdom. The advent of Islam and with the political vision of the Umayyed and later the Abbassid Khilafah, the Islamic jurisdiction extended over the areas now constituting Pakistan and continued further beyond its boundaries. Arabic language was introduced as the official language and Shariah law was implemented throughout the conquered areas. The impact of Islam on economic, political and other institutions was deep and far-reaching. Islam introduced not only a new belief but a new civilisation, a way of life and new set of values. It was the implementation of the Islamic system, which provided true independence for the people, Muslim and non-Muslim of the region.
Unfortunately, through the centuries, Muslim rule weakened due to a number of factors and British influence emerged as the dominant force in South East Asia. They replaced the Shariah by what they termed as the Anglo-Muhammadan law whereas English as the official language replaced the main language. The uprising of 1857, termed as the Indian Mutiny by the British and the War of Independence by the Muslims, was a desperate attempt to reverse the adverse course of events and to return the rule back to the Muslims. The uprising failed, which had disastrous consequences for the Muslims. The British determined to stop such a recurrence in future, they followed a deliberately a repressive policy against Muslims of the subcontinent. The Muslims were in a very difficult predicament, as on one hand they were desperate to keep hold of their Islamic values but on the other, they were being pressurised to adopt Western ideals while at the same time they were discriminated in all areas of society. This was due to the repressive policy against them by the British, who wanted Muslims to adopt secular Islam and give up their political struggle against British rule. The Hindus on the other hand were cooperative with the British and acquired Western education, accepted the new culture and were given positions in government service.
Like today, the Muslims are being targeted to integrate into Western society by accepting Western culture and values and viewing Islam as a non-political belief. Rather than staying firm in referring all problems and issues to the Islamic aqeedah, some Muslims tried to reconcile the shift between the Muslims and the British by compromising their belief. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, who was knighted by the British for services rendered, exerted his up most to harmonise Anglo-Muslim relations. His assessment was that the Muslims’ safety lay in the acquisition of Western education and knowledge. He founded a college at Aligarh to impart education on Western lines. Of equal importance was the Anglo-Muhammadan Education Conference, which he sponsored in 1886, to provide an intellectual forum to the Muslims for the dissemination of views in support of Western education and social reform. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan’s efforts transformed into a movement, known as the Aligarh Movement, which left its imprint on the Muslims of every part of the South East Asian continent. Under its inspiration, societies were founded throughout the subcontinent, which established education institutions for imparting education to the Muslims. Many institutes in Pakistan today are based upon either the British or American curriculum. Atchison College in Lahore and Murray College in Sialkot are good examples of this.
Muslims of the subcontinent were always sincere in their efforts to hold on to Islamic values and were aware of their links to the wider ummah. The Ali brothers, Maulana Muhammad Ali and Maulana Shaukat Ali, highlighted this feeling of belonging to an Islamic ummah in the establishment of the Khilafat Movement. This historic movement was launched after the First World War not only in support of the Uthmani Khilafah from being dismembered but also as a popular movement to work against British rule. Although the movement was not successful in achieving its objectives, it had a far-reaching impact on the Muslims of South Asia. The ideas of Muslim revival, and independence from British and Hindu domination later inspired leaders and thinkers such as Allama Iqbal, into adopting schemes for partitioning the subcontinent to provide Muslims a separate homeland. The All-India Muslim League soon took these schemes into consideration and finally, on March 23, 1940, in a resolution, demanded a separate homeland for the Muslims in the Muslim majority regions of the subcontinent. The Pakistan demand had a great appeal for the Muslims as it revived memories of their past greatness and promised future glory.
President Pervez Musharraf in his address to the nation on Pakistan Day, 23 March 2002 proclaimed
“by the grace of Allah, the resolve of our elders was crowned with success and we are, today, citizens of an independent sovereign state.” He went on to say, “let us pledge today that we shall always keep alive the spirit of Islamic brotherhood and national unity.”
Can Muslims of Pakistan sincerely say that they are citizens of an independent state? A nation is independent when it liberates itself from the control of a colonial occupier, whether it is political, intellectual, military or economic colonisation. Though Pakistan celebrates it’s Independence Day on 14 August every year with enthusiasm, where the national flag is hoisted in front of Aiwan-i-Sadr and the national anthem is played throughout the country, can we seriously say that this highlights true independence?
If we examine the political situation in Pakistan we can see that President Musharraf talks about an Islamic brotherhood and independence but the reality is that he has allowed the set-up of American military bases and FBI offices throughout Pakistan. In his total support of the American foreign policy in the region, he allowed the use of Pakistan air, land and sea for the use of Americans in their fight against the Muslims of Afghanistan.
Where is the Islamic brotherhood, which he talks about? His political support for the Americans has helped in the set-up of a hostile government in Afghanistan and has followed a complete U-turn in policy with respect to Kashmir, which in turn has strengthened Pakistan’s hostile neighbour, India.
Musharraf has changed the constitution of Pakistan and has recently conducted a fraudulent referendum in order to consolidate his power and weaken any opposition to his American favoured policies. With respect to the economy, Pakistan entirely relies on IMF and World Bank loans. In return for these loans the IMF dictate the country’s economic policies from taxation to currency rates.
Pakistani society is constantly injected with Western values and norms through the social, cultural and educational programmes being organised by multi national companies and non-governmental organisations. Western norms of free mixing and co-education is a deliberate policy encouraged by Musharraf’s government and in stark contrast, Islamic groups and organisations are being hounded and clamped down upon by government agencies with the help of the American FBI agents.
I believe it is sufficient to conclude that Pakistan since it’s establishment in 1947 has never been independent and continues to be dependent on America and foreign institutes like the IMF and the World Bank, just like all the other Muslim countries around the world.
The truth is that Musharraf’s dutiful implementation of American demands is galvanising a widespread feeling amongst the ummah that he has totally sold himself and the interests of the Muslims to the American and Western interests. The fact of the matter is that the people are fed up with the current system of government in Pakistan and other Muslim countries and its failure to solve the problems of the ummah.
The need of the time is a political and sincere leadership that looks outside of the colonialist system left by the British. This can only be achieved by working for Islam’s own unique system, which is the Khilafah system. It was this very political system that gave independence to the Muslims of South East Asia, when Islam first came to the region in the 8th century.