AnkurPandey
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Pakistan, we are told, has an archenemy and a steadfast friend at its borders. Telling them apart, however, may not be that easy.
One neighbour, where Muslims are a minority, has declared Eid festival a national holiday for all. The other neighbour discourages Muslims from fasting and attending mosques during working hours. One neighbour allows Muslim to practice their faith as they see fit; the other tries to regulate Islamic practices. One neighbour facilitates Muslims annual pilgrimage to Makkah by building dedicated complexes near airports. The other permits only the elderly, or those who the State finds patriotic, to perform the Hajj (pilgrimage) . Pakistanis share culture, cuisine, and history with one neighbour.With the other no extensive cultural bonds exist.
Despite the States tight clamp on the 23 million Chinese Muslims in the northwest, Pakistanis continue to consider China a steadfast friend. Whereas, Indian Muslims practice their faith without government meddling, Pakistanis consider India an archenemy.
It was only in 2009 when 150 people died in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, when the Muslim Uighurs demanded greater religious freedoms. While the protest-happy Jamat-i-Islami has been quick to condemn the Burmese authorities for ill-treating Burmese Muslims, Jamat and other champions of Muslims causes remained eerily quiet on Uighurs. With China officially designated as a friend, even the religious zealots in Pakistan willingly ignore Chinas indiscretions against the Muslim minority.
Despite the violence against Muslims in India, and Muslim-led attacks on Indian Parliament in New Delhi or on hotels and other landmarks in Mumbai, the Indian government has not instituted policies to regulate religious practices of minorities. Muslims are free to attend mosques and shrines, observe religious ceremonies in open, have their internal disputes settled as per Islamic laws, and lobby for greater Muslim rights within the Indian federation.
I have visited the Jamia mosque in New Delhi and the imambargahs in Lucknow. There were no signs of any restriction near mosques or shrines in India. In fact, weeks later when I arrived in Pakistan I saw heavy police guards around imambargahs where security forces were deployed to protect Muslim places of worships against attacks by fellow Muslims.
China, unlike India, is struggling with the very concept of religion. It is not just Muslims, but Christians, Buddhists, and several others who have been subjected to the States heavy handedness. As incomes rise and information flows more freely to China, the State will come under immense pressure to allot religion some space in the body politic, which has not been the case to date.
The Pakistan-China friendship represents more of a strategic defence partnership between Pakistan and China than a grassroots movement based on people-to-people cultural ties. Pakistan has, until recently, served the same purpose for Chinas strategic depth vis-à-vis India as Afghanistan has served for Pakistan. By having an unsympathetic Pakistan on the Indias western borders, China must have found it convenient to deal with India from the other side, especially after Chinas war with India in 1962.
Pakistanis in the short run may not see India in a different light given that they see Indo-Pak relations mostly in Kashmirs context where a lot remains unresolved. Indians also remain suspicious of Pakistanis when they see armed militants from Pakistan landing at a beach in Mumbai.
Despite the mutual misgivings, Indians and Pakistanis cannot break free of the shared history, heritage, and culture. There is much in common between the two peoples to be able to seek common ground on all outstanding matters. Pakistans long-term relations with China, however, may need a serious rethink even at the official levels because other than the mutual distrust of India, not much is common between the Chinese and Pakistani peoples.
In the absence of a common language, music, or cuisine, it is hard to see why Pakistanis and Chinese would see each other as bosom buddies. There exists a formal relationship between the two States, which may not be confused with steadfast friendship between the two peoples. As Ahmad Faraz once wrote: Not everyone who shakes your hand is a friend.
Full article on : Dawn.com - Mistaking handshakes for friendship
One neighbour, where Muslims are a minority, has declared Eid festival a national holiday for all. The other neighbour discourages Muslims from fasting and attending mosques during working hours. One neighbour allows Muslim to practice their faith as they see fit; the other tries to regulate Islamic practices. One neighbour facilitates Muslims annual pilgrimage to Makkah by building dedicated complexes near airports. The other permits only the elderly, or those who the State finds patriotic, to perform the Hajj (pilgrimage) . Pakistanis share culture, cuisine, and history with one neighbour.With the other no extensive cultural bonds exist.
Despite the States tight clamp on the 23 million Chinese Muslims in the northwest, Pakistanis continue to consider China a steadfast friend. Whereas, Indian Muslims practice their faith without government meddling, Pakistanis consider India an archenemy.
It was only in 2009 when 150 people died in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, when the Muslim Uighurs demanded greater religious freedoms. While the protest-happy Jamat-i-Islami has been quick to condemn the Burmese authorities for ill-treating Burmese Muslims, Jamat and other champions of Muslims causes remained eerily quiet on Uighurs. With China officially designated as a friend, even the religious zealots in Pakistan willingly ignore Chinas indiscretions against the Muslim minority.
Despite the violence against Muslims in India, and Muslim-led attacks on Indian Parliament in New Delhi or on hotels and other landmarks in Mumbai, the Indian government has not instituted policies to regulate religious practices of minorities. Muslims are free to attend mosques and shrines, observe religious ceremonies in open, have their internal disputes settled as per Islamic laws, and lobby for greater Muslim rights within the Indian federation.
I have visited the Jamia mosque in New Delhi and the imambargahs in Lucknow. There were no signs of any restriction near mosques or shrines in India. In fact, weeks later when I arrived in Pakistan I saw heavy police guards around imambargahs where security forces were deployed to protect Muslim places of worships against attacks by fellow Muslims.
China, unlike India, is struggling with the very concept of religion. It is not just Muslims, but Christians, Buddhists, and several others who have been subjected to the States heavy handedness. As incomes rise and information flows more freely to China, the State will come under immense pressure to allot religion some space in the body politic, which has not been the case to date.
The Pakistan-China friendship represents more of a strategic defence partnership between Pakistan and China than a grassroots movement based on people-to-people cultural ties. Pakistan has, until recently, served the same purpose for Chinas strategic depth vis-à-vis India as Afghanistan has served for Pakistan. By having an unsympathetic Pakistan on the Indias western borders, China must have found it convenient to deal with India from the other side, especially after Chinas war with India in 1962.
Pakistanis in the short run may not see India in a different light given that they see Indo-Pak relations mostly in Kashmirs context where a lot remains unresolved. Indians also remain suspicious of Pakistanis when they see armed militants from Pakistan landing at a beach in Mumbai.
Despite the mutual misgivings, Indians and Pakistanis cannot break free of the shared history, heritage, and culture. There is much in common between the two peoples to be able to seek common ground on all outstanding matters. Pakistans long-term relations with China, however, may need a serious rethink even at the official levels because other than the mutual distrust of India, not much is common between the Chinese and Pakistani peoples.
In the absence of a common language, music, or cuisine, it is hard to see why Pakistanis and Chinese would see each other as bosom buddies. There exists a formal relationship between the two States, which may not be confused with steadfast friendship between the two peoples. As Ahmad Faraz once wrote: Not everyone who shakes your hand is a friend.
Full article on : Dawn.com - Mistaking handshakes for friendship
