06-27-2008, 08:22 AM
Regrets of an old Mohajir - "what have we done"
The article has a few gems including this one:
Quote:
The Diaspora of Indian Muslims who migrated to Pakistan is found all over after their remigration. Even highly placed officials, after retirement, are joining their children abroad who left earlier. During my travels I have come across Pakistani Canadians who have retrieved the ancestral property their parents have left in India. They prefer to spend their holidays in India rather than Pakistan which was their last country of abode.
The article ends thus
Quote:
What one needs today is what was lost in the 1940s: the prospect that India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh should enter into a close relationship that may ultimately lead to a Federal state.
But, earlier in the article the author points out the following 4 points:
1)
Quote:
was born in the united province of British India (now called Utter Pradesh) which was the center of Muslim civilization in South Asia. Muslims comprised 14% of the population but their influence was greater than numbers imply
2)
Quote:
the Quaid-i-izam (âgreat leaderâ) declared in a Lahore speech on 27 March 1940: âThese are not religions in the strict sense of the word, but are in fact different and distinct social orders, and it is a dream that the Hindus and Muslims can ever [become] a common nationality.â
3)
Quote:
I myself believe that Jinnah did not really want Pakistan as such; rather he was fighting for the rights of Muslims in an Indian federation
4)
Quote:
Soon after the death in 1948 of Jinnah, a strictly secular leader of a secular Muslim state, I found, disturbingly, that Pakistan began to edge perceptibly towards a more religiously defined state. This trend was unwelcome, if perhaps predictable from a political view.
In case there is anyone who has NOT understood the sub text here, let me make it clear.
1) (Some) Muslims felt they rule India
2) These Muslims did not feel part of the culture of India
3) These Muslims wanted special privileges in India unsuitable for a one man one vote democracy
4) After Jinnah died even the pretence of secularism that existed vanished leading to a "Islam comes first" attitude of the Muslims of Pakistan
This author now has the following wish (repeat)
Quote:
India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh should enter into a close relationship that may ultimately lead to a Federal state.
This will be possible ONLY under the following circumstances directly related to the 4 points made by the author himself
1) No more can "Muslims rule India" to the detriment of non Muslims
2) Muslims will have to join and respect Indian culture
3) Muslims cannot have any special privileges over and above what anyone else gets merely for being Muslim
4) Islam cannot come first over and above allegiance to the land and its people, whether Muslim of non Muslim
This may be a tough call - buy hey it's tough sh1t. Paki/BDesh Muslims who have any doubts about this need to recall that what i have written here is far more fair to them than they wanted to be to me and my kind. If we were to do a tit for tat behavior towards Pakistanis as they show towards India it would be: All Muslims are free to get out of India to Pakistan or Saudi Arabia or wherever and leave India to the people who ruled it for 4000 years before Mohammad.
The article has a few gems including this one:
Quote:
The Diaspora of Indian Muslims who migrated to Pakistan is found all over after their remigration. Even highly placed officials, after retirement, are joining their children abroad who left earlier. During my travels I have come across Pakistani Canadians who have retrieved the ancestral property their parents have left in India. They prefer to spend their holidays in India rather than Pakistan which was their last country of abode.
The article ends thus
Quote:
What one needs today is what was lost in the 1940s: the prospect that India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh should enter into a close relationship that may ultimately lead to a Federal state.
But, earlier in the article the author points out the following 4 points:
1)
Quote:
was born in the united province of British India (now called Utter Pradesh) which was the center of Muslim civilization in South Asia. Muslims comprised 14% of the population but their influence was greater than numbers imply
2)
Quote:
the Quaid-i-izam (âgreat leaderâ) declared in a Lahore speech on 27 March 1940: âThese are not religions in the strict sense of the word, but are in fact different and distinct social orders, and it is a dream that the Hindus and Muslims can ever [become] a common nationality.â
3)
Quote:
I myself believe that Jinnah did not really want Pakistan as such; rather he was fighting for the rights of Muslims in an Indian federation
4)
Quote:
Soon after the death in 1948 of Jinnah, a strictly secular leader of a secular Muslim state, I found, disturbingly, that Pakistan began to edge perceptibly towards a more religiously defined state. This trend was unwelcome, if perhaps predictable from a political view.
In case there is anyone who has NOT understood the sub text here, let me make it clear.
1) (Some) Muslims felt they rule India
2) These Muslims did not feel part of the culture of India
3) These Muslims wanted special privileges in India unsuitable for a one man one vote democracy
4) After Jinnah died even the pretence of secularism that existed vanished leading to a "Islam comes first" attitude of the Muslims of Pakistan
This author now has the following wish (repeat)
Quote:
India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh should enter into a close relationship that may ultimately lead to a Federal state.
This will be possible ONLY under the following circumstances directly related to the 4 points made by the author himself
1) No more can "Muslims rule India" to the detriment of non Muslims
2) Muslims will have to join and respect Indian culture
3) Muslims cannot have any special privileges over and above what anyone else gets merely for being Muslim
4) Islam cannot come first over and above allegiance to the land and its people, whether Muslim of non Muslim
This may be a tough call - buy hey it's tough sh1t. Paki/BDesh Muslims who have any doubts about this need to recall that what i have written here is far more fair to them than they wanted to be to me and my kind. If we were to do a tit for tat behavior towards Pakistanis as they show towards India it would be: All Muslims are free to get out of India to Pakistan or Saudi Arabia or wherever and leave India to the people who ruled it for 4000 years before Mohammad.