Lessons from Constitutional History

As a child raised in East Pakistan, I was taught to put Jinnah on a pedestal. Like other children of my generation, I learnt to blindly adore him. Later I learnt about the actual constitutionalist Jinnah.

There were about 100 million Muslims in British-India. Close to one third 33 million were from Bengal. The leaders of Bengal Provincial Muslim League (BPML) were among the vanguards spearheadeding the Pakistan Movement. When Pakistan was carved out of India, 56% of its population was Bengali.

Yet constitutionalist Jinnah refused to recognize Bengali as a state language. He gave his infamous ``Urdu, and Urdu alone shall be the State Language of Pakistan`` speeches in Dacca (on March 21, 1948 at Race Course Maidan, and on March 24, 1948 at the Special Convocation Ceremony of Dacca University).

When unlike west-Pakistanis, Bengalis refused to renounce the due rights of their mother language, Jinnah harshly rebuked those opposing imposition of an alien language and culture in his Radio Address before his departure from East Pakistan on March 28, 1948. He characterized them as the ``opponents`` of Pakistan. He said that the supporters of Bengali as a state language are nothing but the ``paid agents`` of foreign countries. Aimed at castigating those who had the guts to demand Bengali to be one of the State languages of Pakistan, an imbecile Jinnah labeled the champions of Bengali language as ``communists,`` ``enemies of Pakistan,`` ``breakers of integrity of Pakistan,`` ``defeated and frustrated hate-mongers,`` ``champions of provincialism,`` `` breakers of peace and tranquility,`` ``political assassins and political opportunists,`` ``traitors,`` `` inhabitants of fools` paradise,`` and ``self-serving, fifth columnists`` etc. He praised the Chief Minister Khawaja Nazimuddin for using various forms of repressive and aggressive measures against the supporters of Bengali language.

Before and after his return to west Pakistan, Jinnah repeatedly reminded the supporters of Bangla language that Pakistan ``is determined to take appropriate stern actions`` against these evil forces.

Ultimately we got rid of those evil forces in 1971. Since then our situation has been improving. Pakistanis are ashamed of their own languages and are learning Urdu.

harimau #18, #19

Harimau, you are mixing up timeline to justify your argument with Punjaban (Welcome to the board 1Sikhniji).

It’s government’s responsibility to maintain law and order. If Bhindrawale was responsible for innocent Hindus being pulled out of buses and killing them, the federal government had right to send army in Punjab and suppress the movement. Still there was no need to go inside the temple. If you recently followed events in Israel, the Israelis did not go inside the Christian holy place when Palestinians were holed up inside. I guess, Jews cared about Christian world’s feelings. Sikhs are only 1.5% in number, so Indira could afford to screw them at will.

On the other hand, when innocent Sikhs were burned alive by thousands in New Delhi and many other cities what did the army and federal government did to stop the carnage? Rajiv was in New Delhi and so was the whole democratic apparatus. Did any inquiry take place immediately afterwards to make sure that these incidents do not take place? Looks like there was no need to. His mother’s life was equal to thousands of “unemployed and unemployable (your words)” residents of New Delhi.

Oh, but Indira and Rajiv were only part of that immoral and corrupt Nehru-Gandhi dynasty and a rotten party known as Congress-I, but rest of us Indians are highly ethical and moral. Right? How come then Rajiv got most parliament seats just after a month or so after the Sikh massacres? How come there are chowks and airports named after Rajiv and Indira while there is no state level memorial in New Delhi for 1984 innocent victims that could serve as a reminder to future governments in New Delhi that for God sake have some shame and maintain law and order at least in your capital?

Harimau, admit that despite all the Vedas, Purans, Geetas and 5000 year civilization bull crap, our people in the sub-continent are capable of equally heinous crimes, given an appropriate opportunity and weaker opponent, as we accuse Arabs of all the time on this board. Sikhs need no proof of that.

PS: Indira Gandhi was not the first one to use same faith commander in-charge for an operation that can be perceived as operation against that faith. Akbar raped Rajputs through Man Singh and Aurangzeb used minor Hindu rulers to go after Guru Gobind Singh. British did it all the time against us. Get it? Sell that snake oil somewhere else.

Harimau: The first conclusion you jumped to was way off the mark. You continue to jump to more.....I`ve read a few of your posts now, I have some questions to throw your way that you may or may not care to answer, later though...

Ref punjaban #17 by punjaban on November 1, 2002 5:51pm PT

[a victim is a victim is a victim, whether he be a Sikh in Punjab, an Ahmadi in Pakistan, a Bangladeshi, a Muslim in Gujrat or a Hindu living under Moghal oppression a few centuries ago. My heart cries for them all, and I would like to think that if Sikhs ever perpetrated that kind of oppression on any people, I would speak out just as loudly. ]

It is obvious you are clueless about Indian and even Punjabi history.

Ranjit Singh kicked serious Afghan butt. After he conquered Peshawar, any Afghan found in Peshawar was put to death. That was just about 150 years ago.

On the other hand, you seem to have swallowed wholesale the propaganda put out by London-based Khalistan supporters. Indira Gandhi found Bhindranwale a useful tool to throw out the Akali Dal government in Punjab. Pakistan found in Bhindranwale, who now was getting too big for his britches, a useful tool to cause trouble for India, what with the demand for Khalistan which had no support among common Sikhs. Bhindranwale huddled inside Sikhism`s holiest shrine, the Golden Temple, and India had no choice but to send in the army (under a general officer who happened to be a Sikh but an Indian first and a Sikh second). Bhindranwale gets killed and Indira Gandhi herself pays the price later. Innocent Sikhs are slaughtered in Delhi like innocent Sikhs and Hindus were slaughtered by Bhindranwale himself earlier in Punjab. Graham Greene could not have written a darker novel of intrigue. It was a morality play acted out in public over a dozen years. And the moral is: there is no morality in governing a country. The corollary is: the poor public will always pay the price.

Ref punjaban #14

[a disgrace to the women of Pakistan? Interesting! Since I have never set foot in Pakistan. Then crocodile tears for Sikhs, I am Sikh my friend,]

With the ignorance that you displayed and the Pak propaganda sites you showcased, I chose to call you a Pakistani. So, now you are a disgrace to Sikh women! Are you happy?

[...and lost a few friends to violence after `84, none of whom were involved in any fight for freedom, although those who wish for that have every right to their opinion, just as Pakistani`s had when they fought for Pakistan.]

Read my earlier reply. As to your friends` deaths, I am sorry to hear that but that is what happens when a bunch of unemployed and unemployable people get involved in ``freedom struggles``: the innocents get killed first.

As for any Pakistani fighting for Pakistan, that is a comforting myth for Pakistanis but the fact is that no Pakistani wanted Pakistan or fought for it. That is why people like Yasser Latif Hamdani ask, ``What is so special about going to jail for your beliefs?`` Jinnah appealed to the illiterates with the slogan, ``Pakistan ki matlab kya, La ilahi il Allah``. Because of that your folks had to leave their possessions behind and had to escape to India with barely their lives. And Pakistan is stuck today with the mullahs.

Shibil,

those were wise words , a victim is a victim is a victim, whether he be a Sikh in Punjab, an Ahmadi in Pakistan, a Bangladeshi, a Muslim in Gujrat or a Hindu living under Moghal oppression a few centuries ago. My heart cries for them all, and I would like to think that if Sikhs ever perpetrated that kind of oppression on any people, I would speak out just as loudly. We all need to learn to put humanity before nationality, and religious fervour, and speak out equally against all human rights atrocities, regardless of whether they occur at home, next door, or abroad.

my bad about how jefferson felt about his slaves. i stand corrected.

the debate here seems to have been sidetracked and the original thread forgotten. its quite telling though that we (referring to the pakistanis here, and not our indian bretheren) instantly tend to foget our own historical and political blights and problems and jump on the gun shooting criticisms at india and indians (some valid, others not so) instead. indians, by the looks of it, enjoy doing the same.

i dont particularly see a cause of argument here. the short of it is that both india and paksitan have horrendous human rights records and have been responsible for massacres of its own citizens. the indian state has slaughtered muslims in kashmir, and the much publicized riots of bombay, gujarat and a number of others. the reasons have been political, as gujarat is the last big state which still has a bjp government. india has persecuted, incarcerated, tortured and killed thousands of sikhs in punjab, as well as others in nagaland and even tamil nadu.

pakistan has similarly persecuted and killed thousands of ahmedis in and since the 1950`s, tens of thousands of baluch in the rebelions of the 1950`s and 1970`s, around 200,000 bangladeshi`s in the 1970`s, thousands of muhajirs in the 1980`s under zia and thousands since, and of course, our military advenures in kashmir, as well as our military backed militants, have also cost thousands of kashmiri lives.

we should shed tears for all of them (it is quite true that when we mention bangladesh, we mention our military failiures and indian intervention rather than our humanitarian failiures and crimes. pakistanis have been largely silent about bangladesh since 1971. our previous ambassador to bagladesh was sent back because he spoke in favour of the genocide. it has only been musharraf who apologised very recently for bangladesh, because of certain political pressures). interesting that our perceptions are so molded by the official lines which both india and pakistan toe, that is, whenever there are domestic problmes there is heavy fighting in kashmir. similar arguments or conflicts here about adopting holier than thou positions doesnt take away that both states have cost the peoples of the many nations living within this geographical area dearly.

like all the lives lost in the subcontinent because off and since partition, partition itself is also a historical fact. personally, i feel that india has long since accepted partition and pakistan as a state (whatever other problems india might have, i will not be vane enough to address them here). pakistan now has to move on and stop defining its identity and politics, especially its foreign policy, in oppositional terms to india. if we, as pakistanis fail to achieve this level of mental and intellectual independence from india then that is what might be the final nail in the coffin of the 2 nation theory.

re shibil #10:

Thomas Jefferson did not keep his slaves locked up in a cellar. According to several of his biographies, he was a model slave-owner(sounds like an oxymoron I know). Jefferson spent quite a bit of time in France around the time of the French revolution and upon his return to Virginia there are accounts of him being carried on his shoulders to his home by overjoyous slaves.

Your point about him being still relevant in political and constitutional debates is a good one. Just wanted to keep the record straight.

later
-sac

Harimau,

a disgrace to the women of Pakistan? Interesting! Since I have never set foot in Pakistan. Then crocodile tears for Sikhs, I am Sikh my friend, and lost a few friends to violence after `84, none of whom were involved in any fight for freedom, although those who wish for that have every right to their opinion, just as Pakistani`s had when they fought for Pakistan.

reference to harimau:

when ll b the time when Indian will accept pakistan as a state, Dear,Akhand Bharat dream should be over by now , as u r very sensible person plz concentrate much on the acts of BJP and ppl like Lal Baig Advani , Ball Thakuray etc as they r damaging India`s image of world largest democratic country,rather then wasting immense amount of time on criticising , paksitan`s demoractic system, pakistan army, General Musharf and Mr Jinnah etc. These things are way out of uor leauge.

We Pakistani ppl are fully aware that what a mess Paksitan is as a country now, but still 98% of paksitani ppl believe that Two nation theory is still applicable and how much dictator Mr Jinnah was he took the right decision that time

Ref punjaban #9

[faisluno...I agree, except just wanted to correct that actually in 1984, well over 40,000 sikhs (many organizations quote upto 250,000 killed in a decade) were killed in the Dehli riots, in Punjab during operation bluestar and in dissapearances, fake encounters until the early nineties.]

More than 600,000 people died in the US Civil War and that too out of a population that was not quite 60 million.

Khalistan and demands for an independent Kashmir or Nagaland will be suppressed no matter what the cost.

So, shut up and stop shedding crocodile tears for Sikhs. Shed some tears for Bangladeshis first.

[http://www.sikhnet.com/sikhnet/discussion.nsf/All+by+Date/
1A1A4DC6B5C5555B87256C2500007F90?OpenDocument

http://www.dalitstan.org/journal/rights/104/260595.html]

I am surprised you didn`t give the URL for the Kashmir Freedom Council.

You are a disgrace to the women of Pakistan. Thank God for such sensible people as anNy, Semipreciousme and a host of other Pak women who are well-read and who have not swallowed the propaganda of the Pak Army or Yasser Latif Hamdani.

faisluno...I agree, except just wanted to correct that actually in 1984, well over 40,000 sikhs (many organizations quote upto 250,000 killed in a decade) were killed in the Dehli riots, in Punjab during operation bluestar and in dissapearances, fake encounters until the early nineties.

Even though Amnesty were not allowed into Punjab to investigate properly, many reports were still pieced together. RAM NARAYAN KUMAR, HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST: has proven thousands of illegal cremations were carried out by corrupt police officers in a planned and systematic, uniform operation as late as 1994. To date no one has been brought to justice for these crimes against humanity.

http://www.sikhnet.com/sikhnet/discussion.nsf/All+by+Date/1A1A4DC6B5C5555B87256C2500007F90?OpenDocument

http://www.dalitstan.org/journal/rights/104/260595.html

i found that the article provided interesting and not generally acknowledged facts about pakistans legal and constitutional (as opposed to straight political) history. it made an important point about one of pakistans most `sacred cows`. jinnah might have been, as nawaid said, ``some sort of dictator``. he appointing himself as governor general (essentially the post of vice-roy, re-packaged for de-colonisation consumption) instead of mountbatten continuing the position till an independent constitution was framed (as was expected). thus, he gave himself all the powers that should have legally or rightly belonged to the parliament (or constituent assembly) and the prime minister.

the issue with the NWFP government was that it was a congress government which did not oppose joining pakistan outright but asserted its rights to maintain its democratically elected government in the province. further, jinnah used arbitrary emergency powers to dismiss khuros government (the then cheif minister of sindh). the dismissal was over khuros long standing dispute with hidayatullah (the then governor of sindh) as the former was a big advocate of land reform and peasant rights while the latter was a major spokesmen for the waderas. in this way it was ensured that, in fact, conventional and not constitutional politics would dominate sindhi and national political life.

i dont quite understand the issue which nawaid takes up with the article but godot definitely makes a very intelligent one. we must look to the future. however, this has to be done with a thorough historical analysis. the political situation in paksitan has historical roots which must be analysed. even today, jeffersons writings and recorded speeches form important parts of debates over US constitutional interpretations and his ambivalent attitude towards slaves (he was against them in principle but not in practice, a conflict he tried to resolve by keeping his slaves mostly locked up out of sight in the cellar) still crop up in contemporary academic debates about race relations and identity politics. only when historical problems are understood and brought into the popular conciosness will popular solutions be devised to them. the resistance to the presentation of facts about jinnah and his role in pakistans sad constitutional history, as well as the general ignorance of these facts is testimony to the fact that the article might be too late but is still a welcome start.

for these reasons, i appreciated the article as it presented its factual analysis in a largely objective manner. if jinnah appears to be a de facto dictator with a view to the facts then it says more about us than about the author. if the shoe fits...but that is a seperate debate altogether and was not what, i believe, the article primarily adressed.

finally, being a stranger to these discussions, the `debate` between tipu and faisaluno is ridiculous (at least to someone not aware of the background) and displays a general tendency to argue gross generalisations rather than actual factual positions.

So, the error in title was fixed after I pointed it out! Okay...!!!...Oh, well...!!!

Re harimau:

the two nation theory is as much of a myth as the glory of indian secularism. as 70,000 dead kashmiris, 3,000 dead sikhs and 2,000 dead gujratis graphically testify. if i was i woman, i would prefer to be beaten by a stick rather than being burnt alive with my dead husband.

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts