The Tale Of A Clean Land Turned Dirty

It is a story of a country. It is about its people. It is about the talk of high aspirations. It is about the moral degradations. It was a reality after a sincere dream of a poet, struggle by a statesman and sacrifice by the millions of people. They wanted a land to practice their faith without fear of being assimilated by an intolerant majority. Their dream came true. They achieved the land they had aspired for. It was named Pakistan-The Land Of Clean. What happened after that is history, very painful history. The land has two sections of people. The Rulers and the Ruled.

The Rulers in the order of authority are: Military, Bureaucrats, Feudal Lords and the Religious Leaders.

The Armed Forces that became the part of Pakistan were taken from the British Colonial Armed Forces. The Second World War had started in 1939 and continued up to 1945. This was the period when the independence struggle against the British colonial rule in India was at its peak. Quaid-e-Azam (The Great Leader) was working hard to get a separate homeland for Indian Muslims when the British left India. All these times the Armed forces were fighting for their British masters in Europe, North Africa, Middle East and the Far East. They were given Victoria Cross and other medals for their bravery. They were given large tracts of land in undivided India, mainly in Sindh and western Punjab, which latter became Pakistan.

Creation of Pakistan was an ideological idea, which proved to be a sham. The only change was that instead of white masters brown ones came into power. After the death of Ouaid-e- Azam and murder of Quaid-e Millat Liaquat Ali Khan there was a void in leadership. First it was bureaucracy that ruled it in the guise of weak political leaders. Then in 1958 General Ayub Khan imposed Martial Law and after that Pakistan could never enjoy the true democracy.

Ayub Khan ruled the country for nearly ten years. The Military had the sweet taste of ruling the country and this taste developed in an institutionalised manipulation to prolong the rule. The 1965 war took place. It was a result of misadventure by the military ruler President Ayub Khan. He ordered the army commandos to infiltrate the Indian-occupied Kashmir. It was complete disaster. India retaliated by opening many war fronts. Pakistan was in danger. International interests saved it from more humiliation. The military claimed victory. 6th September was designated as a national holiday naming it ‘Defence Day’ as India had opened many war fronts on this day. This gave the military an opportunity to fool the nation by changing the facts and showing its might. By the late 1968, public opinion was so much against Ayub Khan that he had to leave the Presidency. Martial Law was again proclaimed and General Yahya Khan became Chief Martial Law Administrator. He was a pervert, alcoholic, absolutely unfit to rule a Muslim country. Elections were held in 1970 with a majority for Sheikh Mujibur Rehman in East Pakistan while Zulfiquqre Ali Bhutto captured the most seats in West Pakistan. It was a bad omen. Selfishness and short sightedness of the Military and the politicians resulted in the secession of East Pakistan to emerge as a new nation of Bangladesh. 95000 armed forces surrendered to the Indian army. It was very humiliating. It had never happened to any Muslim army in the history.

Bhutto was a democratically- elected dictator. He ruled for 5 years, making Pakistan his fiefdom. In 1977 elections were held. Its highlights were vote-rigging allegations and there was lot of civil disturbances. The Army Chief General Zia- ul Haq imposed martial law and ruled the country for 11 years. It is a long and bitter story about how he prolonged this military regime by disguising himself as a devout Muslim. He brought regionalism in the national politics, which proved very harmful for Pakistan His death in a plane crash brought an end to his rule.

General Zia’s death brought Benazir Bhutto as a Prime Minister of Pakistan. It was a democratically- elected government. People of Pakistan heaved a sigh of relief. The good feeling came to an end with the corruption brought about by her husband and he cronies. She was a few steps ahead of her father as far as the authoritarian style of the government is concerned. Then there was change of governments of Benazir and Nawaz Sharif. It was like a musical chair plying by the two kids. The latest incumbent was Nawaz Sharif who was ousted by a military coup by General Pervez Musharraf. He became an outcast in the western world for toppling a democratically elected Prime minister. His good luck was not far behind him. The 11th September attack on the world trade center in New York made him one of the most sought after leaders in the world. General Zia was needed by the USA to fight proxy war against USSR in Afghanistan. General Musharraf was needed to fight against Afghanistan. He proved himself an astute opportunist and made himself available to anything even at the cost of changing Pakistan’s identity.

The military, politicians, feudal lords and the so- called religious leaders are all responsible for the misfortunes that befell to Pakistan.

The main culprit who brought these misfortunes is the general public. There is a Hadith by the Prophet (PBUH), which says that if, a nation’s character is lost, cruel and despotic leaders govern them.

We have to study these things in detail. For long time people of Pakistan have acquired the habit of accusing every one except themselves. They are not ready to change themselves. The moral standard is low. They are divided on the basis of caste, tribe, province and religious convictions. They claim to be Muslims but in practice they practice rudiments of the religion. They thing Islam is a collection of some rituals. They perform certain rituals and think they have done their duty to remain Muslims and they are free to do whatever they want.

The people will talk for hours on the intricate philosophy of life, death, punishment and reward from Allah (SWT) but they are not inclined to feed their hungry neighbour. Everything is done on the basis of self-interest. Corruption is rife in every sphere of life. Bureaucrats, feudal lords and the religious leaders are all from the masses. They are engaged in their nefarious activities.

Bureaucrats are always manipulating to keep themselves in the contention. They serve their military masters or the politicians. They never think of serving the people. They serve themselves. They are draining the small resources Pakistan has.

Feudal lords have governments of their own. They have their own prisons where poor peasants are kept. They are treated, as they were slaves in a medieval country.

Religious leaders are preaching division. They have invented new practices in the religion and the masses are behind them. Sectarian killings are common. All the good qualities of Islam are missing. The religion is presented in a horrific way to the world. Islam is a moderate religion. They have made it very difficult.

Military rulers, bureaucrats, feudal lords or the religious leaders could not have done to the country if the people did not collaborate with them. Every section of society is decayed and needs people of character and sound morality to curb this tide of corruption, injustice and ignorance. There should be a sense of justice and compassion among the entire nation. If we are not ready for this, we are doomed.