Chaos – Thy Name is Pakistan

Everybody parrots that Mullahs were opposed
to Pakistan but nobody explains or states why
they were opposed to Pakistan!
On what grounds did they oppose creation
of Pakistan?

Gill Sahib,

Your first sentence contains what I believe is a historical falsehood - or at least a highly contestable statement. But the motive for the creation of Pakistan is a topic that has been discussed to death, so I will let it pass for now.

Let me raise a basic definitional issue: who or what is a mullah?

Mr. Gill,

If you're talking about a certain large jar (πιθος pithos) in Greek mythology, carried by Pandora (ΠανδώÏ?α) that contained evils to be unleashed on mankind (ills, toils and sickness, but finally hope), it was called PANDORA'S BOX (and not Pandora box)!

Gill sahib

((( I have said it in the past and repeat it here also that different articles concerned with civic and social life be taken from different branches of Islam and included in the country’s constitution. Such a constitution should then be called Islamic constitution)))


Excellent suggestion.I second you on this.

Re: # 4Phil,

"different branches of Islam..."

Like Nine Zero branch, Raiwind branch, Swat branch, GHQ branch? There's only ONE correct way specified in the Book, the rest is all misguidance.

I have mentioned this before. Had the partition had not taken place, Hindu-Muslim ratio of the undivided India would have been 65:35, the Hindus not enjoying a brute majority and the Muslims being a minority not to be pushed over. Just the right balance to keep things quiet and peaceful.

After all that has happened in pakiland(and elsewhere) in name is islam - you still want an "Islamic constitution"?... Unbelievable!!!

Mr. Gill,

I live in Islamabad Pakistan. I live there with my family... and we've gone through the chaos you refer to ... but I am afraid it is not as bad as people here in California make it out to be.

Currently visiting the US, people keep asking me about Pakistan... and I think all these doomsday scenarios you have going in the media- especially here- are mostly fiction.

The issue with Pakistan remains its army which is not in tune with national interests. And because army-centric policy makers dominate our policy-making... the situation is perhaps best reflected by the Economist article on Pakistan's economy in the last issue (23 April-May 1st)...

This constant justification you guys seek... the sentence "we would have gotten a better deal from Hindus" blah blah is just hogwash really because it has no real bearing when such what-ifs are rubbish. Why must we be continuously held to this standard? We exist period. And nor should say those people who attached a certain amount of idealism to the idea of Pakistan in 1947 be held accountable for subsequent failure of successive generations of living up to it.

Please- I ask you as a Pakistani citizen living in Pakistan-to stop this exercise of self immolation every time something goes wrong in Pakistan. I spent last night discussing Indian elections and politics with two very smart Indians from chowk itself... and what they said struck me ... it is not that India does not have the problems we have... or that India is this perfect utopia that people make it out to be... but Indians don't indulge in this unnecessary exercise of self immolation which goes beyond academic inquiry... and is in the realm of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder... an national OCD of sorts. Indians don't have it. We do.

So please... atleast those Pakistanis who live abroad spare us Pakistanis who live in the country. This is an appeal to your sense of reason and balance.

tahir #5:

You wrote, "There is only ONE correct way specified in the Book, the rest is misguidance."
This is what the followers of each Islam, e.g., Sunni, Shia, Wahabi, etc. believe in; this belief does not resolve the inherent problem. As an extreme example, the Qadianis, followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, also have the same Book, Quran, yet their understanding is fundamentally so different that they are called infidels by other Muslims. Only God knows which understanding is correct.
Wishing you well,
Mohammad Gill

muqaddam,

I don't have time to discuss this idiotic proposition that you put up... but with a 65% 35% (actually 72-28) you would have two warring communities ....

No discerning Indian Hindu would entertain this idea secular or not... because conventional wisdom is that a successful nation state always has a cultural majority of 80% or more... from an Indian standpoint it would have been a disaster of immense proportions if they would have to contend with Muslim majorities on the fringes... under fiercely particularist leaders like the Tiwanas and Daultanas in Punjab, Fazlul Haq, Suhrawardy and Abul Hashim in Bengal ... Khuhros and GM Syeds of Sindh... and even Bacha Khan types in NWFP .... who then would constitute a 30% minority at the center. It would be a constant veto on India's progress.

The only solution/alternative to partition was the Cabinet Mission Plan... which no matter what A'nulls and Sadnas of chowk say... did not give Muslims parity at the center but created an organic federation atop three sub-federations... in other words India would have all the benefits of the present... or almost all of them...

Re: # 8
The whole world is getting anxious about the state in which Pakistan finds itself, primarily because of the threat to world peace all arising out of the half clever at the same time self defeating policies followed by Pakistan's rulers.
The Pakistani army and bureaucracy which remain in a perpetual denial manage to convince some Pakistanis that there is nothing wrong.
Please wake up.

Re: # 10 YLH
[... in other words India would have all the benefits of the present... or almost all of them...]

In other words - Why pretend when you can have the real thing?...

It's funny how things have come full circle... indians now fully appreciate the good thing that partition was, while pakis are starting repent it... LOL

Mr. Gill

This is a rather depressing article. But, end of day, what purpose is served in discussing what ifs? Yes, maybe all of us would have been better served had partition not taken place. Flip side, maybe we would have been like Rwanda, killing each other. The point is, who knows. End of day, lot of nations were created in the 1940s and some of them were new creations, others had a historical presence in civilizational terms and regardless these nations all exist. Quit thinking about the ideology behind the creation of Pakistan. Instead, accept Pakistan as it exists and be the best you can be. Process, not personalities or ideologies, are key.

Re: # 12
"while pakis are starting repent it..."

major saab,

only in ur wet dreams.

can u plz give us a list of pakistanis who have been "repenting" it on chowk?

Re: # 9
"Only God knows which understanding is correct".

very true. but didn't u know that god is a sunni punjabi?

Re: # 14 banjara

Did you even read this article?... :)

this is what your man Mr Gill says in his article: "Reflecting on the current situation in Pakistan, I tend to believe Pakistanis wouldn’t have gotten a worse deal from the Hindus had India not been divided"