muse
ELITE MEMBER
- Joined
- Oct 26, 2006
- Messages
- 13,006
- Reaction score
- 0
Nawaz stirs new debate
Habib
Nawaz Sharif, the long entrenched showcase icon of the rightist lot, is being relentlessly racked by religious leaders, the media, mullahs and the motley piety peddling protagonists, for what they portray almost as heretic utterances at a South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) seminar held in Lahore on the eve of Independence Day. Actually for quite some time, he has been evincing ideas that may sound like music to the ears of the liberals and enlightened realists but rock the recalcitrant retrogrades still determined to divide humanity and conduct their politics on the basis of religion, racial or cultural variance. The analysts may differ on the reasons for this gradual shift in his views, relating them to a natural inner response to the inevitable imperatives of the impending realities or a tactical transition to seek space in the centrist spectrum as the fossilised far right fundamentalist fields are scorched by Imran Khans inept yet burlesque bowling barrage. Some would similarly blame it on an inadvertent brief by some supporters. Whatever the impulses, his statements have certainly helped to stir new debate on the imperatives for a lasting and viable Indo-Pak interaction. But it has unfortunately also unleashed a flurry of the frivolous fanatical feud on the nature and characteristic contrasting attributes of a Hindu and Muslim God. Nawaz, in this context, perhaps merely wanted to emphasise that religious differences must not become a barrier to a real rapprochement between the neighbours. So he invoked the concept of the Same One Great God with the vast unlimited and indivisible authority reigning the universe.
There was nothing wrong in his assertion for a large majority of the Sufi and the sensible lot. Yet some of his critics would like him to be stewed in the aftermath of his statement. But a larger national interest for inspiring rational thought would certainly require him to avoid the mindboggling religious landmine and labyrinth and restrict his references and appeals to the historic developments and the inevitable socioeconomic and contemporary compulsions that religions, despite the fancy and ferment of their followers, have lost the traction for statecraft and international relations.
Yet being steeped in a staunch religious surrounding, sermons and slogans, it was perhaps instinctive for him to cite a religious reason, which in any case was irrelevant as India is officially a secular nation. In fact, at least in theory, it strives to emulate the secular strategies of the advanced western democracies that have learnt to separate the state and religion through prolonged and devastating religious and racial conflicts. These bloody phantoms initially triggered by the tensions between the Papacy and Holy Emperors and the Crusades re-erupted with a new frenzied zeal for Reformation and ravaged regions like Germany, Austria, France, Switzerland, Spain, Sweden, Holland, Belgium, Bohemia, Denmark, England, Scotland and Ireland at various phases from 1560 to 1715. The scourge still somewhat smoulders in Northern Ireland. Over 100,000 people were killed in the peasant wars in Germany waged to establish a worldwide Christian Commonwealth and enforce an idealised equality of the Protestant faithfuls stipulating a collective ownership of resources. War ensued a decade later and was followed by the Thirty Years War that wiped out about a third of the Czech and German towns and population.
The havoc at last led the king and the feuding principalities to sign an agreement guaranteeing all the princes, priests and the commoners the right to choose the religion they liked. This unavoidable option was gradually emulated by other European nations. The fading of frenzied fervour for religious fights then fostered the industrial and scientific developments demanding extensive markets and nationalist passions substituting religious zeal for statecraft and expansion by the First World War. In this war, Turkey, an idealistic icon of Islamic rule and the Caliphate, sided with Germany, a core Christian state. The Arab rebellion against Turkey to establish their national states further proved the preeminence of nationalism over religious bonds. Excessive nationalism to a large extent became the Nazi engine of destruction, occupation and elimination of lesser unwanted races during the Second World War. It took over 55 million lives to demonstrate the futility of jingoism, racial superiority and discrimination.
Nawaz and his followers can thus wield all these historic realities to refute the obsession of religious, racial and cultural variations.
They can further explain the European experience where Communism, one of the most idealistic and exalted human endeavours for equality and the end of exploitation, was supplanted by more peaceful versions of social democratic modes. Their state care for health, housing, education, employment, and assistance to the disabled, distraught and dislocated have distilled out the most cherished socioeconomic aspects of almost all great religions, making them a shared coveted quest of all humankind.
The spiritual strands of religions like prayers and rituals believed to bring the perceived sublime effulgence have been left to personal observance. The concept summed up as secularism, in a word, is the only available salve to spur peace and harmony in the presently multi-faith and multicultural world. The religious regimens, in contrast, are inherently selective and divisive as they tend to prioritise the followers of their own faith and sect, excluding the rest from their fraternity orbs.
The futility of religion as a binding recipe between various societies and states can be further illustrated by the protracted demonic wars that bled the Muslim countries like Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Yemen, and ripped apart our eastern wing.
We in Pakistan for quite some time have been torn by the devastating trailer of the Taliban tempest to impose a particular sectarian code. Coming to think of religion alone, more Muslims live in India than in Pakistan and thus inherently necessitate an enhanced affinity for them. So Nawaz was right for reconciliation but for the wrong reasons. Being an industrial entrepreneur himself and favourite of the urban and commercial elite, he should have stressed more on the economic imperatives, comparing the putative gains against the fabled Chinese imports and their impact on indigenous industries.
China is now interestingly also inching towards India and expressing concern at our incurable tolerance of terrorist sanctuaries. Even beyond these erudite analyses, Nawaz can cite the evident popular passion for Indian movies, music legends, mobile tunes, cine stars, sports celebrities, spices, cosmetic consoles, fitness aids, nuptial trains, tunics, tunes and thumkas.
People in Pakistan, in fact, rather seem to be leading their leaders in burying the hates and hatchets of the past and forgetting the fires, flames, fury and the fights that consumed their lives and dreams. So Nawaz must take the cue, strive to become a politician of the present age and play straight, skipping the ragtag of religious reasons and references. He even need not be stymied by the appellation of Muslim historically inscribed in his partys moniker as many Christian Democrats in Europe have been quite renowned for their liberal secular stance.
The writer is an academic and freelance columnist. He can be reached at habibpbu@yahoo.com
Habib
Nawaz Sharif, the long entrenched showcase icon of the rightist lot, is being relentlessly racked by religious leaders, the media, mullahs and the motley piety peddling protagonists, for what they portray almost as heretic utterances at a South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) seminar held in Lahore on the eve of Independence Day. Actually for quite some time, he has been evincing ideas that may sound like music to the ears of the liberals and enlightened realists but rock the recalcitrant retrogrades still determined to divide humanity and conduct their politics on the basis of religion, racial or cultural variance. The analysts may differ on the reasons for this gradual shift in his views, relating them to a natural inner response to the inevitable imperatives of the impending realities or a tactical transition to seek space in the centrist spectrum as the fossilised far right fundamentalist fields are scorched by Imran Khans inept yet burlesque bowling barrage. Some would similarly blame it on an inadvertent brief by some supporters. Whatever the impulses, his statements have certainly helped to stir new debate on the imperatives for a lasting and viable Indo-Pak interaction. But it has unfortunately also unleashed a flurry of the frivolous fanatical feud on the nature and characteristic contrasting attributes of a Hindu and Muslim God. Nawaz, in this context, perhaps merely wanted to emphasise that religious differences must not become a barrier to a real rapprochement between the neighbours. So he invoked the concept of the Same One Great God with the vast unlimited and indivisible authority reigning the universe.
There was nothing wrong in his assertion for a large majority of the Sufi and the sensible lot. Yet some of his critics would like him to be stewed in the aftermath of his statement. But a larger national interest for inspiring rational thought would certainly require him to avoid the mindboggling religious landmine and labyrinth and restrict his references and appeals to the historic developments and the inevitable socioeconomic and contemporary compulsions that religions, despite the fancy and ferment of their followers, have lost the traction for statecraft and international relations.
Yet being steeped in a staunch religious surrounding, sermons and slogans, it was perhaps instinctive for him to cite a religious reason, which in any case was irrelevant as India is officially a secular nation. In fact, at least in theory, it strives to emulate the secular strategies of the advanced western democracies that have learnt to separate the state and religion through prolonged and devastating religious and racial conflicts. These bloody phantoms initially triggered by the tensions between the Papacy and Holy Emperors and the Crusades re-erupted with a new frenzied zeal for Reformation and ravaged regions like Germany, Austria, France, Switzerland, Spain, Sweden, Holland, Belgium, Bohemia, Denmark, England, Scotland and Ireland at various phases from 1560 to 1715. The scourge still somewhat smoulders in Northern Ireland. Over 100,000 people were killed in the peasant wars in Germany waged to establish a worldwide Christian Commonwealth and enforce an idealised equality of the Protestant faithfuls stipulating a collective ownership of resources. War ensued a decade later and was followed by the Thirty Years War that wiped out about a third of the Czech and German towns and population.
The havoc at last led the king and the feuding principalities to sign an agreement guaranteeing all the princes, priests and the commoners the right to choose the religion they liked. This unavoidable option was gradually emulated by other European nations. The fading of frenzied fervour for religious fights then fostered the industrial and scientific developments demanding extensive markets and nationalist passions substituting religious zeal for statecraft and expansion by the First World War. In this war, Turkey, an idealistic icon of Islamic rule and the Caliphate, sided with Germany, a core Christian state. The Arab rebellion against Turkey to establish their national states further proved the preeminence of nationalism over religious bonds. Excessive nationalism to a large extent became the Nazi engine of destruction, occupation and elimination of lesser unwanted races during the Second World War. It took over 55 million lives to demonstrate the futility of jingoism, racial superiority and discrimination.
Nawaz and his followers can thus wield all these historic realities to refute the obsession of religious, racial and cultural variations.
They can further explain the European experience where Communism, one of the most idealistic and exalted human endeavours for equality and the end of exploitation, was supplanted by more peaceful versions of social democratic modes. Their state care for health, housing, education, employment, and assistance to the disabled, distraught and dislocated have distilled out the most cherished socioeconomic aspects of almost all great religions, making them a shared coveted quest of all humankind.
The spiritual strands of religions like prayers and rituals believed to bring the perceived sublime effulgence have been left to personal observance. The concept summed up as secularism, in a word, is the only available salve to spur peace and harmony in the presently multi-faith and multicultural world. The religious regimens, in contrast, are inherently selective and divisive as they tend to prioritise the followers of their own faith and sect, excluding the rest from their fraternity orbs.
The futility of religion as a binding recipe between various societies and states can be further illustrated by the protracted demonic wars that bled the Muslim countries like Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Yemen, and ripped apart our eastern wing.
We in Pakistan for quite some time have been torn by the devastating trailer of the Taliban tempest to impose a particular sectarian code. Coming to think of religion alone, more Muslims live in India than in Pakistan and thus inherently necessitate an enhanced affinity for them. So Nawaz was right for reconciliation but for the wrong reasons. Being an industrial entrepreneur himself and favourite of the urban and commercial elite, he should have stressed more on the economic imperatives, comparing the putative gains against the fabled Chinese imports and their impact on indigenous industries.
China is now interestingly also inching towards India and expressing concern at our incurable tolerance of terrorist sanctuaries. Even beyond these erudite analyses, Nawaz can cite the evident popular passion for Indian movies, music legends, mobile tunes, cine stars, sports celebrities, spices, cosmetic consoles, fitness aids, nuptial trains, tunics, tunes and thumkas.
People in Pakistan, in fact, rather seem to be leading their leaders in burying the hates and hatchets of the past and forgetting the fires, flames, fury and the fights that consumed their lives and dreams. So Nawaz must take the cue, strive to become a politician of the present age and play straight, skipping the ragtag of religious reasons and references. He even need not be stymied by the appellation of Muslim historically inscribed in his partys moniker as many Christian Democrats in Europe have been quite renowned for their liberal secular stance.
The writer is an academic and freelance columnist. He can be reached at habibpbu@yahoo.com
