Monday, August 27, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
60 years and counting....
The people of Pakistan recently celebrated 60 years since gaining independence from the British Empire. When the new country was created, hopes and dreams were high. People looked forward to living their lives in a country where there were equal rights to all Muslims of South Asia in peace. Muslims of South Asia rejoiced at the fact that they will no longer be persecuted either by the Hindus/Sikhs or the British. Little did they know that the country will be set upon an uncertain direction, you see there were many kinds of Muslims who wanted to start their lives in Pakistan. You had the moderates, who wanted to establish a new democracy and start progressing towards the future inclined towards the west and modernization. On the other hand you had the Muslim far right who embraced the fact that the country was going to be founded in the name of Allah. (One of the only 2 countries in this world that were created in the name of religion, the other being Israel).
Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Islamic Republic, I always thought this term was a bit ambiguous. Rule of the people by the people living in an Islamic society. There certainly no rule by the people if you take it purely in Islamic terms.
Democracy is a system that has its roots back in the Ancient Greece and Romans etc. But true acceptance of Democracy only came after World War 2. Democracy emphasises the importance of an individual in the entire nation ie every person has a say in the overall country’s leaders/decisions etc.
Islamic society started with the Caliphate (at least the Sunnis did) which had the concept of one true leader ie the Amir Ul Momineen, who was mostly either assigned as the best leader/general or even hereditary. So you can understand where I am coming from, both really don’t truly mix.
Pakistan has been at this cross roads since day 1, whether to truly embrace the Islamic way of life or by modernizing itself fully. Should Pakistan be more like Saudi Arabia and embrace Sharia Law in full or modernize itself by completely aligning itself with the west like Turkey?
This has been the question all Pakistanis have faced throughout their lives. Its quite interesting to note that the people of Pakistan are truly divided. There is a big number of people that really want both and be Islamic as well as a true democracy for eg Indonesia; one can see how that is working out.
This is just one area where all the conflicts lie within Pakistan.
The country’s leaders have taken many a controversial decisions to make the country constantly unstable. The establishment of the language of Urdu being the official language alienated a large majority of people. The dismissal of the election results from East Pakistan effectively starting the independence movement for what is now called Bangladesh. The countless dismissals of civilian governments by the military right from the start of Pakistan’s history. Out of the total 60 years, more than half the years of this time were under military rule. This allowed for Pakistan to be left behind by its neighbours in terms of democracy and freedom.
The threat posed by its intimidating nuclear neighbour, India. The Pakistan military had to be powerful enough to ensure the country was safe from external threats. 3 wars with its neighbour over the jewel in the crown of either country, Kashmir, made sure that the defence budget was always high on the budget spending.
On top of this Pakistan found itself stuck in between the cold war. The bigger powers of the world offered support in return for access to the big fight occurring in Afghanistan. This allowed the military government to stay in power for more than a decade with support of the international powers that be.
Mind you the democracy in Pakistan has done its duty (even in its short time). By duty I mean people who have come into power have not only plundered the country, but have taken decisions that have made sure that the economy has gone from bad to worse. One that I remember being freezing all the people’s foreign bank accounts. What a good way for the government to increase the confidence of its people.
Corruption is common throughout the system, from the very low end workers to the very top; common all the way to the top office of the country. If you don’t have the connections and the right base, one will find it hard to make it in Pakistan.
Political differences, ethnic differences, religious differences are some of the conflict arising factors in the country. People are ready to fight and kill on all fronts. Sometimes crime is linked to all of these.
I can go on and on about problems in Pakistan. It is clear that the country has some deep rooted problems that won’t go away easily. It will take time and effort from the people and leaders of Pakistan to make a change and stick to it. But this goes back to my earlier predicament, moderate or extremist. Till the day the people of Pakistan don’t understand where they want to take their country and what future they would like to see, the problems would not be solved. All I can say is that Pakistan can only get better from this (maybe)
Happy Independence Day and God bless Pakistan.
Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Islamic Republic, I always thought this term was a bit ambiguous. Rule of the people by the people living in an Islamic society. There certainly no rule by the people if you take it purely in Islamic terms.
Democracy is a system that has its roots back in the Ancient Greece and Romans etc. But true acceptance of Democracy only came after World War 2. Democracy emphasises the importance of an individual in the entire nation ie every person has a say in the overall country’s leaders/decisions etc.
Islamic society started with the Caliphate (at least the Sunnis did) which had the concept of one true leader ie the Amir Ul Momineen, who was mostly either assigned as the best leader/general or even hereditary. So you can understand where I am coming from, both really don’t truly mix.
Pakistan has been at this cross roads since day 1, whether to truly embrace the Islamic way of life or by modernizing itself fully. Should Pakistan be more like Saudi Arabia and embrace Sharia Law in full or modernize itself by completely aligning itself with the west like Turkey?
This has been the question all Pakistanis have faced throughout their lives. Its quite interesting to note that the people of Pakistan are truly divided. There is a big number of people that really want both and be Islamic as well as a true democracy for eg Indonesia; one can see how that is working out.
This is just one area where all the conflicts lie within Pakistan.
The country’s leaders have taken many a controversial decisions to make the country constantly unstable. The establishment of the language of Urdu being the official language alienated a large majority of people. The dismissal of the election results from East Pakistan effectively starting the independence movement for what is now called Bangladesh. The countless dismissals of civilian governments by the military right from the start of Pakistan’s history. Out of the total 60 years, more than half the years of this time were under military rule. This allowed for Pakistan to be left behind by its neighbours in terms of democracy and freedom.
The threat posed by its intimidating nuclear neighbour, India. The Pakistan military had to be powerful enough to ensure the country was safe from external threats. 3 wars with its neighbour over the jewel in the crown of either country, Kashmir, made sure that the defence budget was always high on the budget spending.
On top of this Pakistan found itself stuck in between the cold war. The bigger powers of the world offered support in return for access to the big fight occurring in Afghanistan. This allowed the military government to stay in power for more than a decade with support of the international powers that be.
Mind you the democracy in Pakistan has done its duty (even in its short time). By duty I mean people who have come into power have not only plundered the country, but have taken decisions that have made sure that the economy has gone from bad to worse. One that I remember being freezing all the people’s foreign bank accounts. What a good way for the government to increase the confidence of its people.
Corruption is common throughout the system, from the very low end workers to the very top; common all the way to the top office of the country. If you don’t have the connections and the right base, one will find it hard to make it in Pakistan.
Political differences, ethnic differences, religious differences are some of the conflict arising factors in the country. People are ready to fight and kill on all fronts. Sometimes crime is linked to all of these.
I can go on and on about problems in Pakistan. It is clear that the country has some deep rooted problems that won’t go away easily. It will take time and effort from the people and leaders of Pakistan to make a change and stick to it. But this goes back to my earlier predicament, moderate or extremist. Till the day the people of Pakistan don’t understand where they want to take their country and what future they would like to see, the problems would not be solved. All I can say is that Pakistan can only get better from this (maybe)
Happy Independence Day and God bless Pakistan.
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