Pakistan initiating a Muslim renaissance? That would make Pakistan truly a leader in Islamic countries.
M V KAMATH
http://newstodaynet.com/guest/2609gu1.htm
Probably the most important statement made by Pakistan President Prevez Musharraf since he came to power is the one he made addressing a seminar on 'Global terrorism' organised by Pakistan's Institute of Regional Studies in collaboration with the Hanns Siedel Foundation of Germany on 30 August. It dealt not with Jammu & Kashmir, not with India, not with US-Pak relations, but with establishing a Muslim renaissance to 'battle for the hearts and minds' of the people.
A Pakistani leader talking about a 'Muslim renaissance'? What can Musharraf possibly have in mind? The Pakistan President is known to be an ardent admirer of Turkey's Kemal Ataturk (1881-1938), who, in his time, revolutionised his country and pulled it up, root and branch, from medieval concepts of Islam, to a 'modern', westernised, State. Kemal Ataturk stopped at nothing: he sought to change the Turk's outlook totally in terms of script, dress, deportment, education - the whole works. In 1933 Kemal Pasha even went to the extent of re-organising the Istanbul University, inviting scholars from Germany to take up teaching posts.
There was hardly any field of human activity that did not come under the government's reform hammer. And Ataturk got away with it. Can Pervez Musharraf become another Ataturk? Would he dare to banish the burkha, for instance? Is he capable of standing up to the mullas with the madarassahs and the fundamentalists with their zest for jihad? Can Musharraf really turn Pakistan into a modern, secular society on the model of Turkey, ready and willing, and what is even more relevant, capable of competing with the rest of the world? He has, it seems, made a modest beginning. We must give that to his credit.
On his own admission, Pakistan's Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have been hosting an astounding over one million students, providing them free boarding and lodging, and involving them in spreading hatred and militancy. He told the seminar: 'We will not allow the madrassahs to be used for spreading extremism'. He said the banned organisations must not be allowed to re-emerge under different names or to collect donations.
He said that 22 publications have been banned for spreading hatred, and action has been taken against obscurantists who have been using mosques for spreading extremism. He further said that the government wants a change in the seminary curriculum to shift focus from rituals, to the real value of religion. And importantly, he added: 'Let Pakistan be the source of light. Let Pakistan be the centre of Muslim renaissance'. And to bring this about, Musharraf said that he has invited 40 scholars from around the world to be part of 'a guiding force to achieve the goal'.
This is a significant development. Bringing about a 'renaissance' means bringing about a fundamental change in one's religious outlook. It also means shifting the emphasis from political ambitions to internal reform. Whether Pakistan is capable of an internal social revolution is another matter. It has a significant intellectual class, but it does not have a middle class comparable to what India has and the voice of the intellectuals apparently does not carry much weight in Pakistan. It is not that this class has been silent. Articles have been appearing regularly in the English media in Pakistan condemning the folly of taking India militarily and otherwise on Jammu & Kashmir.
Take just two examples taken from 'Dawn', the daily founded by M A Jinnah. In December 2003, Irfan Husain, in a well-argued article pointed out 'Pakistan simply cannot compete with India in the area of economics'. He added: 'We cannot match Indian expenditure on defence. Forget parity: we cannot even maintain our traditional posture of minimum deterrence for very long...'. Irfan Husain laughed at the Pakistan's belief drummed into Pakistan armed forces 'that one Muslim soldier can take on ten Hindus'.
In January 2004, 'Dawn' had another article, this one by Ayaz Amir, which exposed Pakistan's Kargil policy saying that 'there should have been no reason to continue with jihad', that there is no way 'India can be bled' or that the status quo in Jammu & Kashmir can be altered. Pakistan, wrote Ayaz Amir, has been wrong in its dealings with Bangladesh and Afghanistan as well. And he added: 'All our history teaches us that a civilian, not a military dispensation, is the best guardian of what we choose to call the national interest'.
The fact is that there is a substantial segment of Pakistan opinion which is dying to live in a modern, secular State. An Islamic State and Muslim renaissance just do not go together. Kemal Pasha understood that clearly. And he acted on it. In his heart of hearts Musharraf may have realised that his entire approach towards India is wrong, that he must turn his thoughts inwards. But will the Army let him go ahead with the reforms he has in mind to bring about a renaissance? According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan, its overall deficit which stood at Rs 89,193 million in 1990-91 rose to Rs 206,800 million in 1999-2000. Renaissance and fiscal defcit don't go together.
If Musharraf is serious about establishing a renaissance in Pakistan he has first and foremost to face up to the fact that renaissance and fundamentalism are antithetical. They can't live side by side. He has to give up once and for all the concept of the Two Nation theory in south Asia. He has to look to Indian, NOT Arab culture for waking up Pakistani (read Muslim) ambitions to lead Islam. The Arab world can't help Musharraf to establish Muslim renaissance in his country.
It is because Hinduism is basically secular that a Hindu renaissance has become possible, which is leading the country to become a Great Power. It is only India can produce a Sania Mirza who has brought credit not only to India but to the Islamic world as well. And think of India which has a Muslim president, a Sikh Prime Minister and a Christian party leader in charge of the UPA! Which other country in all the world can claim such a catholicity? Even the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army is from the Sikh minority community! All of them command respect, if not admiration and even affection.
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Pakistan’s liberation can come not from the United States, not from China and most certainly not from Saudi Arabia. It can only come through India. To start the Muslim renaissance in Pakistan, Musharraf must first make total peace with India. The rest follows as night the day. Pakistan is India’s and India is Pakistan’s. It is when Pakistan and India march hand in hand that Muslim renaissance will become not just possible, but inevitable. Let Musharraf remember Iqbal’s famous line: Sare Jehan se achcha, Hindustan Hamara. A Pakistan renaissance will help not merely Pakistan, but it will help India and the whole world.
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