Will our ruling parties ever learnt from failure of Emergency in 1975

 T

Nothing meaningful is achieved by opening up an issue already settled politically

Vidya Bhushan Rawat

he history in this country is woven around building narrative as well as myths around popular figures. A lot has been said and written about the imposition of Emergency on intervening night of June 25th-26th 1975 by the then Prime Minister Mrs Indira Gandhi under article 352 of the Constitution. So, emergency was not imposed outside the constitution but very much through a constitutional provision and not by 'murdering' it. It might have been an immoral act or undemocratic but definitely not unconstitutional as it was part of the constitution. I hope some day an honest appraisal of emergency and a proper scanning of the heroes who enjoyed power post emergency after Indira Gandhi was defeated in the Parliamentary elections. Researchers and historians must find out the truth.

Political historians should  analyse  Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha''s verdict against the prime minister Indira Gandhi ? Did he intentionally call her to Court to humiliate or embarrass her. Did it serve any purpose or created an unprecedented constitutional crisis ? We have never seen such a case again even when it is a well known fact how ruling parties often misuse bureaucracy and government machinery. Was Indira Gandhi the only leader who misused power and all others are too democratic to misuse it ? Can any court do such a thing in today's time. If a court gives a judgement against any powerful leader what will the government do ? Was this a normal decision or was there a conspiracy to derail the government and create anarchy ?

Actually, !975 crisis is a lesson for all. For political parties, for judiciary, for media as well as for the government.

What could the government do when Jai Prakash Narayan called for a total revolt against the government from the police and armed forces. Was that not an act of inciting a rebellion ? Indira Gandhi could or should have initiated a political dialogue but somewhere she failed to rise on the occasion and depended too much on a coterie that just found ways and means to legitimise her acts particularly that of her son Sanjay Gandhi.

We also need to understand the political ideology of forces opposed to Indira Gandhi ?

Who was Morarji Desai and how did he become prime minister instead of Babu Jagjivan Ram ? The whole Janata experiment failed because of overambitious leaders and their rigidities in humiliating Mrs Gandhi. If Indira had failed in politically handling the crisis, Janata leaders failed miserably and believed in tit for tat. The result was that people got fed up with their antics and brought back Indira Gandhi with a thumping mandate.

We need to go a bit earlier in the 1970s when Indira Gandhi took some extremely radical and revolutionary decisions. Land Distribution was one major factor. Implementation of reservation was another important decision. Nationalisation of Banks and insurance companies. Doing away with privy purses of the erstwhile Raja Maharajas. Now, remember, who was opposed to Nationalisation of Banks and strengthening of the public sector ? Yes, It was Moraraji Desai, who later became Prime minister. Don't we understand that the 1971 Indo Soviet Peace Treaty which actually helped India from any further Chinese aggression and ultimately helped create Bangladesh was always a bone of contention. So, most of these self proclaimed socialists had a pro American slant. World over socialism has inherent link with Marxism and left politics and prior to Lohia and Jai Prakash, there was a leader of great courage of conviction, named Acharya Narendra Dev, a scholar on Buddhism but completely forgotten and ignored by the Samajwadis today, many of them might not even heard. Why did socialism in India take a pro American turn ? Does the 1977 uprising against Indira Gandhi have any linkage with those who never wanted Indo Russia friendship ?

Do we know that despite so much noise, Janata Party won merely 295 seats and Congress under Indira Gandhi won 154 seats. There was a sharp difference between the voting pattern of North and South. Indira Gandhi lost RaiBareilly seat and Sanjay Gandhi was defeated in Amethi but Mrs Gandhi returned to Parliament after winning from Chikmanglur in Karnataka.

Now what was the reason for Indira Gandhi's defeat in 1977. I can bet it. The reason was not the detention of political prisoners but mostly the compulsory sterilisation campaign in the name of family planning and this was under instructions of Sanjay Gandhi. It was resented by people vehemently. Second issue was the highhandedness of government officials in removing 'encroachments'. Both these actions of highhandedness actually hurt and impacted negatively, Congresses core vote bank, the scheduled castes and Muslims. The results were obvious. Congress lost their support.

Interestingly, Sanjay Gandhi's anti sterilisation initiative as well as his bulldozing at Turkman Gate on May 31st, 1976 got the biggest support from RSS and Jan Sangh. Congress actually paid the price of Emergency due to Sanjay Gandhi's highhandedness against Muslims as well as other marginalised communities.

Indira Gandhi brought Secular and socialism in the Constitution and also added article 51a, our constitutional duties, an important point.

Emergency was a wrong decision politically for a leader who had become immensely popular and was slowly pushing her son Sanjay Gandhi for the leadership issue. She was too dependent on her and in haste to become Supreme leader, Sanjay actually created an intimidating environment. Rather than handling the discontent against the government politically, he felt they needed to be dealt almost like criminals. It resulted in widespread anger against the party in north India.

Remember, the Janata leaders could not build anything and the two years they focused only on humiliating Indira Gandhi. The people of India did not take it lightly. The Janata government failed due to its own contradictions. RSS became the point of difference. It resulted in snap polls in 1980 and the people of India gave Indira Gandhi and Congress party one of the biggest mandates. Congress won 353 seats and Indira Gandhi won not only from Raibareilly but also from Medak in Andhra Pradesh that time.

We must remember one thing. It is time for political parties to understand that people don't like highhandedness and they punished Congress for that but the same people did not like Janata Party leaders humiliating Indira Gandhi and defeated them.

Emergency should not have been imposed but it needs to be seen whether such an important issue could have been dealt with by the judiciary in a different way. Will some one critique Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha and Shanti Bhushan responsible for creating a constitutional crisis. I don't know but I feel such important matters which can have far reaching consequences need to be heard by a constitution bench so that the country is saved from anarchy and chaos.

Emergency was a political failure of Indira Gandhi, was an immoral act but not unconstitutional as those powers are still with the government. If we all are so upset about that then the government must bring a constitutional amendment and remove those powers so that no powerful leader can dare to impose it on people and their political opponents. Indira Gandhi brought Foreign Contribution Regulation Act ( FCRA)during emergency to curtail political opposition and civil society and this law is still there to punish civil society organisations. Why can't these remnants of the emergency be removed ?

And lastly the most important part. The pro American lobby led by Jai Prakash blamed Indira Gandhi for trying to create a Soviet Style dictatorial structure in India while Indira Gandhi blamed them being funded by the CIA but one fact is there. India's' right wing always aspired that India has better relations with the West particularly with the United States. Indira Gandhi stood solidly on the foundation of Indo Soviet Friendship. Fifty years after the emergency, the political opponents of Indira Gandhi are actually following her foreign policy and Russia India friendship is on a rock solid foundation.

Let us not be caged in our past. Impartial understanding of history provides lessons for all so that our future generations do not face it. Politically, the issue is settled as Indira Gandhi never defended it. She was defeated by people and the same people brought her back by defeating her opponents who had come to power just two years back. Let us move forward and focus on issues concerning the nation. Indira Gandhi was one of the greatest prime minister that India ever had and denigrating her for wrong political decision which is duly settled as people defeated her party in 1977. One must remember that the same people brought her back with a massive mandate in 1980 which means the people had forgiven her for the mistake and wanted to move ahead. Therefore, no purpose is solved by deliberately raising the issue time and again. The best way is to defeat undemocratic value system inside us and ensure that such a decision is not taken by any elected leader.  

Kabir: Conscious keeper for secular society

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

As the nation celebrates its 63rd republic day with great pride, it is time to ask uncomfortable questions too. Our constitutional forefathers gave us a secular socialist democratic constitution so that each one of us has a stake in it and that every individual get an opportunity in participating in our national life irrespective of our caste and religion. Our constitution ensured that individuals are not discriminated on the basis of our identities and women do not remain confined to homes but have important role in each walk of our life. Untouchability is abolished by our constitution and yet practiced rampantly in our villages, in schools and manual scavenging is still the order of the day in various states of the country and government still do not have the exact numbers. The country has a secular constitution yet government could not protect a mosque demolished by the hoodlums claiming to be the followers of a particular God. The state of India could not honor the rights of a Muslim woman named as Shahbano who was given alimony by the Supreme Court but turned upside down by the Parliament of India. In the name of secularism, the state and political parties continued to protect and promote the competitive communalism. Political parties have converted secularism to identity politics dominated by the religious clergies of different religion resulting in complete absence of social reforms with in the communities and strengthening of the rightwing fundamentalists’ forces everywhere.
Therefore, it is essential to understand the entire situation around us and tried to find as why the secular constitution of India is unable to build a secular society in India. It is not the fault of constitution. Today, many people feel as if we want to change the constitution. The thing is that we have one of the best constitutions of the world where our forefathers envisaged that it will require changes in due course of time and hence a clause for amendments was made in it. And this is a process that every democratic society believes in that change is the way of life and hence our laws must reflect the sense of that period. Unfortunately, the more the country has made economic progress, the lesser has been its focus on cultural changes. Unlike Industrialization in the West, Indian status quoists actually used the industrial revolution for their own religious agenda. The caste capitalism in India actually promoted the caste interests of the power elite through religious propaganda. All those who talked against caste system, untouchability and communalism were blamed as western influenced arm chair activists who have no relations with the ordinary Indian and the society here. They blamed Nehru for introducing this brand of secularism in India and the reason for this dangerous game was the so called historians who did never ever gave due acknowledgment to the vast non-religious humanist heritage of this country which began from Carvaka and later the stream was strengthened by revolutionary Sufi Saint Kabir who was unambiguous in his criticism against religious fanatics.

Today, Kabir has become more than relevant for developing and building up of a secular society. Born in 1556 at Lahartara Varanasi, at the place of a weaver community person, Kabir saw the prevailing situation around him. Caste system was rampant as the priests would always consider themselves superior to others and that is why he had the courage to say that nobody is bothered about caste, those who believe in God are god’s children. He never believed in the supremacy of those who know Vedas and Puranas and in fact defeated many of these so-called priests in open debate which are called Shastrarth. He always believed that someone does not become a knowledgeable person by merely reading text books; the real Pandit is the one who understand the language of love.

Kabir was the conscious of society when it was facing oppression in different forms and priestly class has used religion and divine text to justify their position and oppression. He spoke against them boldly and unambiguously and that is why he is much above all those who appease the religious fringe in the name of secularism. He question the worshipping of idols by Hindus saying ‘ Pahan puje hari mile to main puju pahar, tatai yeh chakki bhali, peesh khaya sansar’, if you can get God by worshipping the stone, then I would worship mountain. Oh man, worship your grinding machine which grinds your wheat. Similarly, he was ruthless against the Muslim priestly class when he says,’ kankar pathar jori ke masjid layi banay, taa chadhi mullah bang de, kya bahro huo khudaya’ meaning you build the mosque through stones and now the mullah shout loudly over it as if Allah is deaf.

Kabir was much ahead of his time and his power came from deep rooted conviction in him to fight against all kind of discrimination. The point is that Kabir believed in one identity of human being. He was born in the backward Muslim community yet it was his birth based identity which he was never bothered about. None of his preaching was ever based on these fictitious identities that we now harp on so much as if that is the end of the world. His focus was inner change in our heart and he believed that unless we introspect about our own self, situation was not going to change. As he was honest and bold without any personal gains, he spoke valiantly and what we call ‘ Khari Khari’. Today, we do not have people and intellectuals who could speak that khari khari as we all have embedded perceptions about our ideology. Our ideologies are shaped in drawing rooms and we are ready to allow people being killed in the name of ideologies and perceptions. Human beings are being slaughtered for the sake of ideology. Our sensitivity only wakes up when somebody is from our community otherwise we have become highly insensitive. This kind of politics and intellectualism is nothing but farcical. Kabir felt that nothing is bigger than human being and hence no ideology can be bigger than the principles of love and common brotherhood.

If we want to make our constitutional principles envisaged by Baba Saheb Ambedkar to succeed, it is time, we start thinking on the lines of Kabir who believed in humanism and promoted the idea of love and affection. It is important that our secularism does not turn into a free for all religious fanaticism which only strengthens the communalist elements in our society. Our secularism must spread love and affection among people and provide opportunities to all the people in our national life. The secularism that our constitutions envisage is equal respect to all provided each individual is respected and his or her rights are not infringed by the religious values. Kabir spoke against all forms of oppressions in the name of caste, religion and identities. It is unfortunate that his legacy of humanism is not being propagated properly to the people. Those who blame secularism as the value of Western thinkers must not forget how Kabir, an illiterate and born in one of the most disadvantaged communities spoke against all forms of superstition and challenged the supremacy of priestly class in India. It was Kabir who felt the religious dogmas are nothing but violate the principles of equality and brotherhood. If our constitutional values have not become our social values, it is time, we reinvent the values of Kabir and other saints like him who stood for human rights of the people, talked of human values so that we become a humanist society free from all kind of dogmas and superstitions in the name of traditions and culture.

Dream for secular republic unfulfilled



By Vidya Bhushan Rawat



The terror attack on Mumbai in the night of November 26th was an attack on India killing innocent people but it also confirmed the weakness of Indian state in tackling the communal agenda. The police and administrative set up were communalized and Muslim became more isolated in this propaganda war. Isolation of Muslims in India is defeat of the vision of our constitutional forefathers.


Today is a landmark date of Indian Republic as on this day in 1949 our constituent Assembly settled for the current constitution of India. With different divergent views, India finally adopted a Republican Democratic Constitution despite the tragic and disastrous accidents due to partition in which thousands lost their lives for no fault of their own and millions were displaced.

Paradoxically, the same day on November 26th, 2008, terrorists stuck the financial capital of India and bled it in full force in an open defiance to republican common sharing dream of a united India. Hundreds of innocent lost their lives and many their whole world. The incident changed the total perception of people in India and forced the governments to adopt more such strategies which actually were anti-democratic and against the basic preamble of our constitution. In the name of fight against terrorism, innocent Muslim youths were arrested in different parts of the country and thousands of them are still languishing in jails waiting for their trial to take off.

Therefore, it is time for introspection as where our republic failed and why? It is a well-known fact that despite partition in the name of religion, Indian leadership chose to adopt a secular constitution which means despite our prejudices we still attempted to overcome those through constitutional measures. For a country which bore the brunt of partition in the name of religion, it was a huge compliment and challenging task. While the leadership which fought for the nation was by and large secular at least till Nehru was there at the helm of affair, it started appeasing Hindu fundamentalists more and more subsequently after his demise in 1964. The country had seen communal disturbances in number of places and almost all the inquiry commissions had pointed the involvement of RSS in the communal riots. Meerut, Moradabad,, Aligarh, Kanpur, Bhivandi, Malegaon, Jabalpur, Mumbai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad saw communal riots in different phases which bled the nation.

In 1975 Mrs. Indira Gandhi imposed emergency on the country and suspended all our rights including freedom of expression and right to peaceful assembly. All the political leaders were arrested and newspapers were not allowed to publish news items which were against the ‘interest’ of the government. She lost in 1975 resulting in the formation of first non-Congress government of Janata Party under the leadership of Morarji Desai which undemocratically used its power and dismissed 7 congress ruled government immediately without allowing them to complete their terms. The argument was that they have lost their mandate. It was naked dance of dictatorial leadership who were elected in the name of democracy. Indira Gandhi repeated it when she returned to power in 1980 by dismissing the Janata governments in the states.

1980s was a tumultuous phase in Indian democracy when power started slipping out of the brahmanical domination and Congress played shamelessly though, the Hindu card in Jammu and Kashmir and later in Punjab. The results were disastrous. To counter the demand of more powers to the state raised by the Akali Dal, Indira Gandhi promoted Bhindaranwale who used the opportunity to establish himself as the biggest leader of the Sikh Panth. The Sikh Hindu divide grew in Punjab resulting in the disastrous decision of the government to raid the golden temple in June 1984 under code name ‘Operation Blue Star’. It hurt the Sikh psyche tremendously and government did nothing to remove them. They were isolated. Every Sikh became a suspect in the eye of others. This was one of the most uncertain periods of Indian republic. They were deeply hurt with the turn of events at the Golden Temple where huge number of militants had gathered. The mix of religion and politics could be best seen in Punjab and Akali Dal was no less responsible as it was they who used it to the best and Congress was only trying to consolidate the non Jats as well as Hindus in the state. The dirty game of the political parties created an unbridgeable divide.

On October 31st, 1984 Mrs. Indira Gandhi was brutally assassinated by her own security staffs who happened to be Sikhs. The entire country saw the violence against Sikh community and each one of them were considered as a threat to the country. The national capital took the lead in violence against the Sikhs and the might Indian state did not do anything. Instead, it used the opportunity to consolidate the Hindu vote bank further which resulted in the massive mandate to Rajiv Gandhi in 1985 when elections were held in the country. It is essential to examine the 1985 electoral mandate to Rajiv Gandhi where he became the symbol of Hindu nationalism and the Sangh Parivar openly came in his support. He used those symbols too to consolidate his position yet he also initiated different political processes in various parts of the country including Punjab and Mizoram. The results were positive yet Rajiv lost in 1989 because he was surrounded by the coterie which enjoyed his innocence. With a massive mandate in his pocket, he ignored President Jail Singh who was loyal to his mother and sworn him as a prime minister without even waiting for the Congress Party formally electing him as leader.

Rajiv and his close associate Arun Nehru continued to play the Hindu Card which resulted in opening up the lock of Babari Mosque for Hindus. The government never challenged the local court order further to appease the Hindus. At the same time when Muslim fanatics raised the issue of Shahbano, the government over turned the Supreme Court order on the rights of a Muslim woman who is divorced. The congress as usual wanted a win-win situation for all the fundamentalists in the country and hence it covers extra miles to appease every one without addressing their social economic issues. The Ayodhya issue and Shabano case actually gave the Hindu fundamentalists a big handle to brow beat Muslims in the country. Under lot of corruption charges, Rajiv lost the next election resulting in the formation of another non Congress government under V.P.Singh which was supported from outside both by the left and the right.

In 1990, the prime minister announced acceptance of Mandal Commission Report giving opportunity to OBCs to share power. This was one of the biggest events of post independent India which shook the Indian power structure. It developed a deep hatred towards the then prime minister V.P.Singh in the Indian middle classes. The forces of Hinduva felt the danger of OBC assertion and their alliance with Dalits for the hegemony of the upper caste in socio-political life of our country. They could not afford to openly oppose the Mandal commission reports yet clandestinely fomenting trouble in Delhi against the government decision. After much thought, they launched the Ram Temple movement and under the grand design engaged the Shudra communities in it. They created an enemy in the form of Muslims and isolated them politically. The anti-Muslim feelings were created under the Ram Temple movement turning them the main villain. The Congress and the mainstream parties did not take them openly. In fact, Congress was in competitive mode for this Hindu communalism which resulted in more isolation of Muslims. The biggest casualty of this communalization process in India was the Hindutvaisation of administrative set up particularly police and administrative bodies. Unfortunately, media too became victim of it. In the post 1990s, media used all the propaganda of the Hindutva forces and actively supported by the police and intelligence services to defame and isolate Muslims further. It culminated in violence against Muslims and systematic onslaught on their places of worship with demolition of Babari Mosque on December 6th, 1992. The then prime minister Narsimha Rao promised to the nation that the Babari Mosque but instead no political party including the secular ones dare to say that Babari Mosque should be rebuilt to bring it the status quo level. No culprit of that heinous crime against Indian constitution and secular ethos of the country ever went to jail except for one day symbolic punishment to Kalyan Singh who wanted to use this opportunity to garner their votes further.

Ram Mandir movement legitimized the communalization of the Hindutva brigade and brought them to power. It exposed the parties and outfits which claims to be secular and yet became part of so-called National Democratic Alliance. The culprit of the Babari demolition became senior minister and presided over the same ministries which were supposed to file cases against them. Lal Krishna Advani became the Home Minister of the country and further communalized the entire bureaucracy. Murli Manohar Joshi was made Minister for Human Resource Development and he shamelessly pursued the brahmanical agenda in education particularly in the school text books.

In Mumbai, the award of the communal riots in 1993 with active support of the Shiv Sena goons resulted in their attaining power in Maharastra when it went to polls, while in 2002, Narendra Modi outdid what Rajiv and his Congress had done to Sikhs in Delhi in 1984. The Muslims were the victims of Modi’s hate agenda as he wanted to teach them a ‘lesson’ and finish their voices completely. Gujarat became the biggest laboratory of Hindutva and brahmanical forces. Despite all our war cries against him, Modi continue to become more powerful in the absence of a credible secular alternative. This further marginalized and isolated Muslims in Gujarat.

On November 26th, 2008 the terrorists from Pakistan attacked Mumbai. The country suffered and like all, many Muslims were also killed with other citizens of the country. The war against terrorism became a war against ‘Muslims’. This was suitable for the Hindu right wing which always wanted to get legitimized in the din of ‘war against terror’. Muslim and terrorism became synonymous terms with media actively participating in it and became propaganda machinery of the state for the same. It is ironical that while in all other matters particularly on the issues of corruption, the media never bothered about the state version but on the issue of Muslims, they became voice of the state and were thoroughly communalized.

Thousands of Muslims youths are languishing in Indian Jails in the name of ‘war against terror’. Many of them have not even been brought to trial. It is shameful that a ‘secular’ administration and the state could do nothing. It is the biggest blot to Indian state that it has selectively made the state apparatus anti-Muslims. While identity politics has become hall mark of Indian political system, Muslim identity has become a drawback for the community. Any formation of political front in the name of Muslims will be out rightly termed as communal while the Hindutva-isation of our political set up is complete. The Muslims youths are being detained for no fault of theirs. It is not just state of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh where Muslim youths are in jail without any trials. It is tragic a state of Uttar-Pradesh, Bihar, Bengal, Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh where state government claims to be ‘secular’.

War against terrorism cannot be won by putting innocents in the jail just because of their religious identity of being a Muslim. It is proved beyond doubt how the Hindutva forces are operating in the country and communalizing the government apparatus and media. Our republic cannot hope to achieve its dreams of a secular socialist India when its ‘second majority’ suffers the fate of being ‘foreigner’ and ‘suspect’ for every act of terror which is the case of individuals or politically motivated terrorist groups. As we do not blame all the Hindus for the fault of Hindutva organizations and their misdeeds similarly, it is time when the media should stop branding every Muslim as terrorist for the act and misdeeds of these unlawful outfits whose agenda is to ferment trouble in India. The state apparatus will have to be developed in a secular way so that they do not suffer from prejudices. As long as we have political leaders without facing any trial for their involvement in hate propaganda and instigating communal violence, we will continue to have act of terror.

As long as the Muslim youths are arrested without their involvement for the troubles created by the terrorist outfits, we will not be able to bring peace in the country. The answers to today’s problems are more engagement of the community in administration, social and political life. The day, Indian society become inclusive and our administration and judiciary secularized, the political goons using religious identity as a tool to climb up the ladder and become leader would be isolated. Communalism of all variety is dangerous for the country and can be tackled both with greater administrative reforms including secularization of it as well as a wider public debate on the issue of democracy and secularism so that fringe elements everywhere is isolated. If the Muslims, Dalits, Aadivasis in this country do not get justice, it would be difficult for democracy to survive and then we will have nobody to blame but to ourselves and our faulty political system which is unfortunately strengthening status quo. The dreams of our constitutional forefathers remain unfilled as the shortsightedness of our current political class and legitimization of the communal organisations as ‘nationalist’ political parties .

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?