Fascist war against Humanity

Fascist war against Humanity

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

The slaughtering of over 140 children by the Pakistani Taliban is a grim reminder of how religious rights have no faith in democracy and its order.  That they can kill any one at their own will and the authorities are left to react once they have done their ‘duty’ shows how powerful have they become so far. Further, this reflects that the war on terror has failed on all account. Just a day before this incident, we saw the infamous Sydney show where a gunman kept hostage to so many visitors of the café keeping the authorities guessing his motives and resulting in killings of a few of the hostages.  The killing spree of the gangs and thugs in the name of religion continues world-over and it is a matter of great concern as at the end of the day it is the common person who is becoming the victim of their hate mission.

Pakistan’s incident is a sad reminder of the existing situation there and the biggest crisis the nation faces after its birth in 1947.  It is true that idea of Pakistan was conceived by those who wanted a political space for Muslims in which a majority including Mohammad Ali Jinnah were secular to their core belief but immediately after the death of the first generational leadership in Pakistan we have witnessed military rule, martial law and anarchy in the street. Still till 1980s, Pakistan had a better economy than India and in many things it was ahead including both our traditional sports of Hockey and Cricket. It produced some of the finest teams. In Hockey it actually replaced India since independence while it was a far better team till 1980s than the Indian cricket team.

The point I want to mention here is that there is no point in discussing whether Pakistan was created rightly or wrongly as we can produce argument to prove both the points. As an Indian passport holder, I cannot preach all the time that it was wrong decision. When you are amidst a political movement, you need to take a decision which all of us discuss years later. For any decision there are no one single situation responsible but a series of events. How can the condition of Muslims, their poverty and marginalization, communal riots not justify partition? Contrary to it, the creation of Bangladesh and continuous killings of innocent Muslims and minorities in Pakistan clearly indicate that as a national state it failed miserably probably because Jinnah never wanted a theocratic Pakistan. He was dreaming for a Pakistan of modern ideas which could provide leadership to Islamic countries like Turkey.

Pakistan today is not of the dreams of Jinnah. The military dictators killed the constitution and vision of Jinnah and handed it over to Islamic fundamentalists. When the people rose up against the martial law regime the military leaders got legitimacy through Islamisation process in the country. The long presence of Soviet forces in Afghanistan gave handle to Pakistan’s military regime to extract maximum in terms of money and arms from United States and other Western countries as each one of them was pitched against Soviet supported Babarak Karamal and Nazibullah governments there. It is ironical how the ‘biggest’ and ‘best’ ‘democracies’ in the world use religious rights to fight against communists, Americans needed ‘religious rights’ and hence creation of Taliban to counter. Zia ul Haq, the vilely dictator found it absolutely useful to fulfill his agenda of ruling the Pakistan through Islamisation process which provided his regime a legitimacy. Pakistan fought in between which constitution should be used to run the government. In less than sixty years of its independence, it reflected pathetically on the political leadership how they virtually created extra-constitutional forces to counter the opponents and legitimized themselves. Zia shamelessly went ahead ignoring international protest by hanging his opponent Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Pakistan slowly slipped into Islamic anarchy. Apostasy became the biggest weapons in the hands of the Islamic fanatics to threaten all those who tried to reason with people politically. Minorities were hounded and threatened for speaking their voices and believing in their faith. Zia’s Islamic goons were up in the street to threaten them most of the time. Blasphemy law was the best way to target them, grab their properties and convert them to Islam.

Zia’s death resulted in forces of democracy gaining ground with Benazir Bhutto becoming the prime minister. Internal fight for power among the political parties always strengthened the army which continues to use Taliban and Kashmiri Militants as the trump card against the opponent. It is a well-known secret that the entire Kargil operation was done by General Parvez Musharraf without even providing any information to his prime minister Nawaz Sharif. Though Musharraf was a ‘forward looking’ general yet he did play different games to compete with political parties. He was forced to retire from Pakistan and political process brought Nawaz Sharif back to the country from his long exile in Saudi Arabia. Asif Ali Zardari who was the president has to pave the way for new Muslim League government which gave lots of hope but soon the entire hopes evaporated. Pakistan is in deep turmoil now and if not things are not brought under control now the dirt might spill beyond its boundaries.

Those who justify Islamisation process of Pakistan did not understand that it would turn the table on them. That initially the entire process actually eliminated the religious minorities and their politics. Later, it claimed Ahmedis who the Islamists said were not Muslims at all and have no right to read Quran and enter into the mosques. The number of Hazaras or Shias killed in terrorist violence in Pakistan is exorbitantly high.  Pakistan today is facing the biggest crisis and it is the creation of its state apparatus which suffered from the ‘power’ of a ‘Hindustan’. We did not call it Hindustan as officially India is called Bharat but Pakistani Muslim leadership in their attempt to justify the creation of a Islamic state always termed India as ‘Hindustan’, a term which is now being used by the Sangh Parivar and its propagated media in high decibel.  They also narrate the similar stories of victimhood in partition that since Muslim got Pakistan, Hindustan must be for Hindus.

Mohammad Ali Jinnah was the champion of a secular society, for whom the problem of Hindus and Muslims is not cultural but political in nature and therefore immediately after independence he talked of a Pakistan which could be owned by everyone irrespective of their faiths but then when you take to a wrong idea, it will create wrong precedence. Pakistan’s successive regimes used the religious thugs for their political purposes and the result is today the state is feeling helpless in front of them. Whether it is Hafiz Sayeed or any one else, Pakistan cannot watch helplessly and allow them to spew venom against India but then we have our own Hafiz Sayed. In democracy, they say, the ultimate judge is the people and hence if people have elected them, hence we will have to listen to them and consider their ‘opinion’ important.

It is good that Indian Prime Minister offered his condolences to victim of Peshawar massacre of children. The gesture of schools moaning was great along with show of solidarity by Indian Parliament but it is time we need to ponder. After the slaughtering of these innocent children in Lahore, Indians are in ‘preaching’ mood. Every channel is ‘guiding’ Pakistan of ‘war against terror’. Unfortunately all of them keep quiet when similar things are happening in India. Pakistan’s extra-constitutional apparatus is a fodder for right-wingers here in India who are also bulldozing our constitution and threatening. There is no difference between a Muzahid leader speaking in Pakistan and spewing venom and the Shiv Sena leader or a Hindutva loudspeaker speaking the same way. After this government came to power these loudspeakers are roaring and have become louder.

Pakistan is paying the price of the flirtations of its leaders and military regimes with the religious rights. India that way was fortunate enough that immediately after independence its leadership understood this and opted for a secular India. Democracy may have lots of follies and we complain about them still people have got that small window to use their right which the theocracies and military regimes do not offer. Theocracies result in fascist tendencies. India and Pakistan opted for political democratic models but without challenging the existing social norms. It would not be possible for political democracy to succeed in environment and culture of theocracy that push for majoritarian tendencies and consider every minority as a ‘dissent’ and dissent as a ‘threat’ to the country. While we grew as political democracy but not really matured as political parties did not have power to sideline the religious rights. We too started appeasing the religious rights and ignoring the dangers of majoritarian communalism. World-over, minorities suffer from identity crisis but in our societies the majorities always believed that minorities are gaining at their cost.  South Asia is suffering from that and each community has to act responsibly because a majority community in Pakistan may be a minority in India or elsewhere and similarly a majority community in India is a minority elsewhere. Whatever we do to our minorities’ impact their psyche elsewhere resulting in deep-rooted prejudices as well as threats of intimidations.

South Asia has to grow by secular democratic process. The imposition of religious values and religion by state is dangerous. Can we imagine a South Asia with common text books, common history books and common social studies ? Is it possible ? It could be possible if we want to make our children better human being and not through religious agendas of our particular thoughts. Yes, a common thread could be humanist principles of calling a spade a spade. We all know that all religion in the world talks of common brotherhood. Obviously none talks of sisterhood but at the same point of time, we should know that all the religions despite their ‘greatness’ also resulted in holocausts and killings of innocents. How can we justify an Islamic nation if we oppose a Hindu Rastra? If we oppose a Buddhist nation, we cannot support a Christian theocracy. For every theocracy the minorities are the biggest obstacles in their long term agenda. Theocratic ideas are nothing but fascist ideas and that is why these days it is not just the state but its tame surrender to extra constitutional forces is giving rise to fascist elements in our countries.

If Pakistan is feeling helpless to Hafiz Sayed then we too do not have a great record. All those who are crying to finish Christianity and Islam from India are roaring and roaming free in the country. It is this tendency of majoritarianism that gives rise to intimidation and threat to minorities and dissent. Such tendencies often hijack the democratic process and put the society to the hands of religious rights who are afraid of modern ideas so they will speak against girls education. They will speak against love marriages. Yes, they will hate everything that is modern which they will term as ‘westernization’ while enjoying everything that the western societies produced. Culture becomes a handle for them to beat the opponents. If we compare these fascists in India and Pakistan, we can find commonality among them. They threaten the minorities with dire consequences.  They justify violence against women and blame the women for violence on them and they use the vulnerability of the state apparatus.

India and Pakistan can learn a lot from their miserable failures. It is not a time for preaching. It is time to act. Promote secular liberal values in your lives. Promote that kind of polity and encourage people to people contact. As long as we support violence in the name of religion, we will not succeed.  Pakistan and India should focus on their poor, on their women and work towards removing those hurdles which are the bane for our society. We must work for a secular Pakistan in the very similar way as I say, we must strengthen a secular India. How great would it be when the polity in the both the countries is secular and children learn common history and culture. Weakening of secular forces in our countries has already harmed our societies a lot and if we wish our children should grow, it is time, we must work for secular humanist societies otherwise the religious fascists are ready to kill you anytime without having any remorse and remember they always have a book to justify their mindless violence.

Pain of the Expatriate Pakistanis

Time for Pakistan establishment to show some commitment to secularism and Justice By Vidya Bhushan Rawat It was raining heavily when I boarded the bus no 7 from square one to Toronto Airport to catch my flight back to Delhi. After several stops, I saw Anwar Bhai boarding the bus. It was relief for me as I wanted to meet him before leaving but our schedule were such that it was difficult. Anwar Bhai was born in Lucknow city but became a Pakistani citizen due to accident of circumstances. Pakistan could not attract him much and he migrated to Canada with his family. Speaking to him was a treat as he had so many memories of Delhi and Lucknow that one would always want to listen to him. He is a freak of the Hindustani movies being produced in Bombay which we claim to be ‘Hindi Movies’. ‘Why do we call them as Hindi movies, he says. ‘None of the old days writers, actors ever knew Hindi. The fact is they always wrote their script in Urdu and represented the great Hindustani tehjeeb of the subcontinent’, Anwar Bhai would suggest. He came to meet me at Shamshaad Bhai’s place and we had whole lot of discussion on our relations and the situation in both India and Pakistan. But on that day, when we met at the bus, I saw an anguish and pain in the eyes of Anwar Bhai. He did not know that I was leaving for Delhi but when I informed him that I am leaving for Delhi right now, he became pensive. We sat and chatted for a few minutes before he departed. ‘You see, this is the tragedy of Pakistani expatriates that none of us want to go back to Pakistan. Where shall we go? Are we safe there? It is difficult to live in that country which is in the grip of religious thugs and mafias. When I see you Indians craving to go for your country, I feel how fortunate you are. Each one of us loves our land. ‘I was fortunate to be born and brought up in Lucknow and see the supreme irony I can not even claim to be a citizen of India because I do not possess the relvent papers which got lost, he says. He wanted to say many things but I could realise that he had a lot to say. He narrated me stories of his Hindu neighbours and how they would help each other. India is a model for many of these countries where people help each other. Ofcourse, things are not that easier here I told him yet the people and the unity of Pasmanda Muslims, Dalits, the Adivasis and others is getting stronger day by day, I informed. Similar feelings were expressed by Iqbal bhai who came to drop me at Square one in his taxi. He belonged to Sambhal near Moradabad and would explain to me various things. He had been living in Canada for over 15 years and yet unable to visit his own country for many years. ‘ what do we do after going there. It is becoming risky day by day, he said. The expatriates Pakistanis whose roots are in India are actually praying for good relations between the two countries. They are feeling uprooted from their culture and language. India is providing them a link. The films, the songs, cricket, and politics everything is giving them happiness yet the pain of not being able to see their land is much bigger than any of these. And when they meet friends and compatriots from India, they realise how wrong was partition of India, which actually created artificial borders between three newly created states. Yes, now they are questioning the partition of India and say it was a conspiracy to divide us by the elites. ‘They looted us and gained from our dislocation. What did we get said many of them’, said one of them. Though, I do not personally believe that partition was avoidable as the circumstances that time were completely different and the things have taken a different turn now when the Muslims and others have seen the politics behind partition. There are hundreds of logics who can suggest that Partition was necessary, I said. If I see the condition of Muslims in India, their marginalisation in polity and decision making, I feel it was necessary but when I see the situation in Pakistan today, which can plainly be described as a country in war with itself, and then I say it was absolutely disaster. It did not help either. It was a disaster as many of our friends say seeing the situation today but if that had not happened, don’t we think that the forces of Jehad would have been operating in India demanding for the same. There would have been Hindu fanatics who are still targeting Muslims and Muslim fanatics would have been playing their games easily and we would have been in a much bloody situation today. After years of churning, there is a realisation that hatred does not bring anything. Today, the people of Pakistan have seen what have they got in the name of religion. ‘Well, a friend says, ‘we want to have Kashmir in the name of religion as every locality of Karachi has a collection centre in the name of Jehad in Kashmir. What should the govt do, I asked Butt Saheb, a Kashmiri, who met me at a shop in Toronto? ‘Why has the entire struggle of self respect of Kashmiris have turned into a hatred towards non-Muslims’, I asked. ‘You can not separate the Kashmiri Hindus from the Kashmir Muslims says Butt. You see, my surname is Butt and it reflect that we were originally Pandits who we spell as Bhutt. It is common thread between us. The whole thing has been created by politicians and government. There is tremendous good will among the people on both the sides of border. Though, I live in ‘Azad Kashmir’ yet I am proud to be born in Srinagar’, he says. ‘I asked him when should Pakistan give Azadi to the people in their part of Kashmir? Butt Saheb has not given a thought on this. He only says that it is the politicians who are dividing us. But one very interesting point that he referred was that it was not difficult for him to go to Kashmir as there are so many entry points. He feels proud of being a Kashmiri from Srinagar. Last night, US President Barak Obama declared that Osama Bin Laden is killed by the American troops in Abottabad, a calm military town near Pakistan capital Islamabad. Death of Bin Laden could be described in various ways by commentators. For Americans and their allies he was the person who made women widows, children orphaned and killed innocent, for many in the Islamic world, he was a hero who took on the Non Muslims who were trying to challenge the authority of Islam. It is not that every Muslim supported him but George W Bush’s doctrines of Islamic Fascist actually put the entire Muslim world against him. However, president Obama has been more than careful in describing this as a war against terrorism and not war against Islam. While, we agree that the Americans and others who entered in Iraq or Afghanistan are not there to bring ‘democracy’ which they often describe so proudly, but to serve their own interest, it is also time to look inwardly. Off late, the practice of blaming everything to your opponent seems the best strategy for despots, politicians and those who sale on victim mindset all the time. A victim mindset will never get any one justice but will only create more and more fanatics who at the end will not be damaging to any one but to their own societies. After all, who did Bin Laden kill more? Who are the victims of Talibans? Who are the victims of Gaddafi and Mubaraks? All these despots and fanatics were somewhere created by the American and their notorious agencies like CIA. At the end all of them actually damaged Islam more than they could damage the others. So, when I say we need to look inward, it is because unless our societies are internally stronger, we can not really do justice to our people and fight with the so-called enemy. We will only end up in killing ourselves. We have seen this in Afghanistan and now in Libya, Nigeria, and Bahrain where one ethnicity dominate over the other and unable to provide political alternative. Today, in Pakistan, the situation is grim. In most of these countries the rights of the people are crumpled under the heavy boots of the authoritarian regimes and society is completely collapsed. The morality brigade ensure that women are beaten on the street and do not go out in their own. It is this situation which has compelled many of the people to migrate to west. And coming to the west is a cultural shock to many as most of the immigrants bring their feudal values along with them. Hence, the largest numbers of honoured killings are being witnessed in United Kingdom and Canada. Yes, many of them go unreported. On the eve of Easter when I was travelling from Ottawa to Toronto, I met a Sudanese doctor who had migrated several years back from his country to Canada. With a wife and family, he started his life as a taxi driver and pursued his study in medicine. Sudanese name in the west has become synonymous with Islamic terror and despite humiliation at the airports and at immigration level, people still preferring to leave those isolated heavens of feudal lords where life has virtually become miserable to live. ‘I want to study here and make my life better said, Marry who was along with her husband. ‘We have been here for past 15 years and our children are now accustomed to live in the Western world. These people have allowed us to grow and given us opportunities to taste the success. I would not like to go there in Sudan where people are killing each other in the name of religion. Today, I can drive around and take my children at my own. None can stop me here taking a decision on my life. Why should I go there if as a woman my own identity is never respected’, explains Marry who felt that America would be the last in her list to visit as it humiliate all who are Sudanese. ‘At least, here in Canada we are much safer and not humiliated’, she adds. Two years ago, I met a few Pakistanis in London working with women and girls in UK who were victim of violence. I met Mehjabin, a Gujarati Muslim woman who married to a Pakistani much against the wishes of her family. They would have killed her yet the girl was too bold to handle and they decided to live separately. Yet, when their child was born, her husband forced him to go to learn Arabic and ‘Muslim culture’ which he was unable to respond. One day the boy was so scared with the highhandedness of the Maulvi that he pissed in his pant. The mother got angry with her husband and withdrew the child. The inability of South Asians to mix up with their counterparts in the western societies is creating a big gap in understanding. They want to come out their cultural shock yet fear isolation from the community push them back in the lap of those who want to ghettoise them. They crave for their language, music and traditions and some time turn more conservative. In the case of Pakistani friends, a number of them become depressed with the fact that there is so much to do in Pakistan yet very unfortunately they can not go and do any work for the women and poor there. Pakistan today is on the verge of collapse. Civil society is threatened and politicians are unable to take on the challenge of the religious right wings who are determined to convert Pakistan into another chaotic Islamic nation where women will virtually have no right and people would not be allowed to access the modern world. Speaking with friends and fellow activists in Pakistan makes you feel pensive on how a country has deteriorated. And most of them feel that the ruling establishment in Pakistan actually want such a scenario when democracy fail and military take over. While people have no love for Zia ul Haq kind of military men, definitely many of them have soft corner for Musharraf who they think was modernising Pakistan. The day Mukhtar Mai’s rapist were released on the order of Pakistan Supreme Court, I spoke to a friend in Sindh who was narrating me the growth of fundamentalist in Pakistan and their continuous assault on freedom of expression and religious beliefs. Pakistan is paying a heavy price for its flirtation with the hate mongers. The elite have shifted to other countries and are not bothered about it. The powerful military men who rules have their children abroad and know they are in safe heaven. Mukthar Mai and many like her do not get justice. The other South Asian particularly the caste Hindus try to avoid the Muslims from Pakistan. They would not like to be associated and counted in minorities and Muslims, informed a friend. The common refrain from the South Asian community in UK and USA is to avoid any linkages with Pakistanis. This has given rise to the growth of Hindu right wing among Indian expatriate as this is their fertile time when the anti Muslim propaganda is on full flow and war on terror has indirectly been a war on Islam despite Obama’s tall claim. A large part of this negative feeling for Muslims has happened because of inner power games in Pakistan’s power structure. It is time for them to change their attitude and stop supporting such notorious movement in the name of Islam. At the end it is isolating Muslims and only helping those who want to see them isolated further. We have seen the isolation of Mukthar Mai, and Salmaan Taseer whose death was celebrated by many. It is the meekness of the voices of secularism that the religious fanatics take things for granted and consider their strength. The fears of people like me is that if Pakistan and Bangladesh go to the right wing fundamentalist groups, it will only strengthen the process of radicalisation of other communities too and the end would be chaos and further destruction of lives in South Asia. Islam is not in danger but Muslims are facing persecution because of a few such fanatics. Justification of historic wrongs and blame games will only escalate tension. Ofcourse, things can not improve if the Americans continue to intervene and kill innocents in the Middle East. It will never improve with the hate propaganda of the US machinery who on the one hand call for reconciliation and the other side continue to harbour ill will and misconceived notion towards Muslims and Islam. A Pakistan of Jinnah’s dream can take the lead in it yet every expatriate is looking for that where minorities have equal rights and women do not face the victimisation like Mukthar Mai. Only a government with strong sense of justice to people and secularism can bring Pakistan near to the secular dream of Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Is Pakistan establishment prepared for that?