I have witnessed decline of Pakistan into anarchy. My views whether right or wrong are as under:
Muslim League as originally conceived in 1906 was primarily meant for safeguarding the rights of the Muslim minority. As late as 1930’s most of the Muslim political leaders were members of both Muslim league as well as All India Congress.
Allama Iqbal championed the idea of two nation theory in in 1930 address of the Muslim league. There is little doubt that campaign for Pakistan was based upon the fear that Hindu majority would overwhelm Muslim minority and therefore a separate homeland was needed for the Muslims of the subcontinent.
Most of the religious leaders led by Deoband Sheikhul Hind Maulana Madani and parties based upon religion such as Jamat Islami in India and Majlis Ahraar in what is now Pakistan; were dead against the partition mainly for two reasons:
1. Muslim League was headed by HH Agha Khan who was an Ismaeli. Allama Iqbal had flirted with the Qadianis during the 1920’s. Quaid was himself from a Shia family. Religious parties were therefore very sceptical of the loyalty of Muslim League leadership to the Muslim cause.
2. There was a genuine apprehension that Muslims left behind in India would be worse off if majority of Muslims became separate.
Pakistan as conceived by the founding fathers of Muslim League was therefore never really accepted by the religious parties.
Spirit of tolerance and moderation as evisaged by the foundind fathers continued until ZA Bhutto, as a last resort to hang on to power, promulgated the Islamization Ordinance in 1974. This act did not help ZAB to survive but was exploited to the full by the usurper Zia ul Haq who was a JI follower. It was from this time that shape of Pakistani religious landscape changed irrevocably.
It was also during ZAB era that Pakistan’s international political alliances changed. While in 1965 war our main friends from our neighbours were Iran and Indonesia; Saudi Arabia became the dominant influence on Pakistan from the 1977 onwards. China Pakistan friendship was also cemented during ZAB time.
Islam as practiced by the majority of Pakistanis until that time was based on Sufi version. Here the stress is on the love and forgiveness of Allah; seeking of the ‘Rabb’ thru meditation and generous deed is the preferred path. However with the Zia era and thru overwhelming Deobandi influence coupled with Saudi funding, Wahabi version of Islam came into prominence. Unlike the Sufi Islam, this version believes in frightening the followers with punishment in after life and believes in implementing Sharia Laws thru force if necessary. One can say that Islam in Pakistan became more Saudi Arab style after Zia ul Haq.
Ask anyone who is old enough and he would concur that Pakistan was a far more peaceful and law abiding place before Zia. Public flogging and Hudood laws did not make Pakistanis better Muslims. In fact lawlessness, drug abuse and corruption increased during Zia’s time and continue unabated to this day.
1979 Afghan jihad made the matters worse. US exploited extremist elements to wage proxy war against the Soviet Union. Most of the extremist lashkars and sipahs were formed during the time of Zia ul Haq on very soon thereafter.
Jamaat ul Dawa was formed in 1985 at Muridke. LET, an offshoot was formed in 1990 in Afghanistan by Gen Aslam Beg who took over when Zia died. SSP was formed in 1985 with the blessing of Zia ul Haq and funded by Saudi Arabia to counter Shia influence after Iranian revolution. Lashkar Jhangvi and Jaish Mohamed are off shoots of SSP.
Shia terrorist organization Sepah Mohammed funded by Iran also formed during the late 80’s to counter SSP and Lashkar Jhangvi.
Tahreek Nifaz Shariat Mohammadi of Sufi Mohammed (Swat) also formed in 1992. Both Qari Saifullah and Ilyas Kashmiri of Harkat ul Jihad Islami were product of Zia ul Haq era.
It is widely acknowledged that MQM formed in 1984 by Altaf Hussein also originated with the blessing of Zia ul Haq and ISI, mainly to counter the influence of PPP among the Urdu speaking Sindh population.
In my view it is incorrect to assume that current terrorist acts are a reaction of the US drone attacks. Only those naïve in the extreme believe this. Madrassah's had mushroomed and Pakistan was well on the road to religious intolerance and extremism even before the 9/11.
To prove my point, may I remind the readers that there were no drone attacks prior to 2004 whereas religious violence, in one form or another has been going on since the late 1980’s.
Sectarian violence in Pakistan started with the killing of the Wahabi leader Allama Ehsan Zaheer in Lahore in 1987 and followed by the murder of Shia Allama Arif Al Husseini in 1988. It is estimated that between 1990 and 2002 nearly 1300 people had lost their lives in sectarian violence in Pakistan (approximately two thirds were Shias). This included Momenpura massacre in Lahore, attacks on Shia Imam bargahs. Killing of Iranian cadets and engineers and of Shia Hazaras in Quetta. Sunni mosques were bombed and SSP leaders such as Tariq Azam and Zia ur Rahman were murdered by the Shia terrorists. Shaukat Mirza, a personal friend, who was MD of PSO, was killed in Karachi just because he was a Shia. Fight between Sunni Orakzai and Shia Turi tribes of Parachinar and Hungu areas carries on to this day.
Among non-sectarian violence; 11 French engineers helping PN in Augusta project were in killed in a suicide bomb attack Karachi in May 2002. In June 2002 US Consulate in Karachi was attacked when a suicide bomber killed 12 and injured 50. In Feb 2003, motor cycle riders attacked and killed two police officers guarding US embassy. In December 2003 two bombs exploded on Musharraf’s convoy killing 14.
I am therefore convinced that person responsible for pushing a moderate and progressive Pakistan into the abyss of religious extremism is none other than the bigot Zia ul Haq. May he rot in hell for ever.
