Op-ed: Two-Nation Theory Denial & the Afghanistan Proof | PKKH.tv
PKKH Exclusive | by M Umer Toor and Hira Shameem
India has always been against the idea of Pakistan, be its expression mild or sharp. Given the innate nature a Hindu India, a section of these people always remained extreme against Muslims, never allowing to give them equal part in their society nor treating them on equal-human basis; although we hope that things will get better. When Pakistan was carved out in the map of the subcontinent, the Hindus went to extreme measures halting the partition and openly rejected the creation of a separate country based on Muslim/Islamic identity (see Stanely Wolperts Jinnah of Pakistan; Khalid b Saeeds Pakistan: The Formative Phase 1857-1958). Mahatma Gandhi, with all due respect, did accept Pakistan as a reality but never accepted its legitimacy in his mind. Therefore, the roots of anti-Pakistan mentality - no matter how fair or unfair India is in its practical relations with us - is not limited to post-independence era, but goes far back into the pre-independence era as well.
With tireless and honest efforts of Muslim leaders and with the blessing of Allah, Pakistan was created in the face of many hardships. But India could never digest the creation of Pakistan and always made false hurdles in the way of her progress.
Lets talk about the situation in 2013. Very recently, an Indian supreme court judge, Justice Markandey Katju, said that principally Pakistan is not a real country at all. Its imaginative foundations in mind doesnt even come to parallel the realness of India, as he defines the golden principle of the game, he says:
"First of all let me tell you one thing Pakistan is no country. It's a fake country, it's an artificially created country by the British who had the policy of divide and rule by starting this bogus two-nation theory that Hindus and Muslims have two separate nations."
This comes from a guy who criticized Indian Gujrati government for its anti-Muslim attitude in a Pakistani daily. As for the conspiracy theory that Britishers gave birth to Pakistan, we wish to know if what he says is grounded in documented facts; although he didnt mention any references to historical documents. On the contrary, Pakistanis have always believed in the two-nation theory since the 1850s and it culminated in the clear-cut dream of Iqbal. Talking to the young Jew convert to Islam, M Asad, Iqbal told him that he was foreseeing a future Islamic state in Indian sub-continent, and urged Asad to abandon his travelling plans and to sit, study and work for that future state. We do not see any involvement of the British there and even if the British allegedly supported the two-nation theory, Muslims could not afford to reject it. Because, it was ours before it was of anyone elses.
We might be charged with over-exaggerating a statement from a single highly-placed professional. But, we have reasonable grounds to believe that this statement of a SC justice is not a singular event. Take the example of LK Advani, who had praised the Quaid-e-Azam, yet he has never been able to reconcile with the very event of partition, describing it as too painful.
This translates into the practical policy action from Indias side: ally with Pakistans enemies and create problems for it. Pakistan cannot be absolved from the blame of self and mutual-destruction; but neither can India be.
It all boils to a perpetual situation where India always tries to pull back Pakistan from its development (and Pakistan allows it to do so). But much more worrying and blatant an opposition is Indias maneuvering in Afghanistan with which it doesnt even share its borders! One of their latest stunts has been pulled in the on-going Afghanistan war. India triggered insurgency in Afghanistan creating difficulties for Pakistan on the borders; hurdling peace-steps taken between the Afghanistan and Pakistan governments; India wanting to become the proxy ruler of Afghanistan for its Friend the USA, and wanting to realize its dream of being a regional power, and most of all to be able to destabilize Pakistan to the greatest extent. Where are the roots of this irrational hatred? Primarily, we believe it lies in its embedded opposition to the two-nation theory.
This policy continues from Indias side and has been manifested in its role in Afghanistan. Let us quote the buzz-quote of the week:
India for some time has always used Afghanistan as a second front, and India has over the years financed problems for Pakistan on that side of the border, Hagel says in the speech. And you can carry that into many dimensions, the point being [that] the tense, fragmented relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been there for many, many years.
This is an open proof for what India has been denying for decades.
Pakistanis do not wish seduce themselves with irrational hatred of India. They do not wish to live in a delusional state of having a need for an enemy to motivate its people. But, Indian opposition is a reality we have to confront; the moment we forget it, we wreck the foundations of Pakistan. And, at the same time, this does not stop us from having a peaceful time with India on earth. This is an impasse which we too want to resolve at the deepest levels, as we simply cannot dream of annihilating India, whereas Justice Katju lives the fantasy of annihilating the very idea of Pakistan.
In the end, all we want to do is to repeat the facts to the memory of the nation. Intellectually and even practically, India does not accept the creation of Pakistan as a legitimate, justified event. It is anti-Two-Nation-Theory, a notion prevalent in its national thought; embedded in this mentality is the seed of mutual destruction, from which even Pakistan cannot be free of blame, as dissent inevitably begets dissent. Frankly, we do not have any clue for a quick fix to end this impasse; it is a matter of perception, which can change in one moment, or not change for millions of years.
Muhammad Umer Toor is a wanna-be philosopher in distant future. Based in Lahore, with a BSc in Business, he blogs at[url]www.toorumer.blogspot.com[/url].* He can be reached at i.umer.toor@gmail.com
Hira Shamim is a thinker and writer working towards a positive change in Pakistan. She has a multidisciplinary degree in psychology, Islamic studies, etc.
Source
PKKH Exclusive | by M Umer Toor and Hira Shameem
India has always been against the idea of Pakistan, be its expression mild or sharp. Given the innate nature a Hindu India, a section of these people always remained extreme against Muslims, never allowing to give them equal part in their society nor treating them on equal-human basis; although we hope that things will get better. When Pakistan was carved out in the map of the subcontinent, the Hindus went to extreme measures halting the partition and openly rejected the creation of a separate country based on Muslim/Islamic identity (see Stanely Wolperts Jinnah of Pakistan; Khalid b Saeeds Pakistan: The Formative Phase 1857-1958). Mahatma Gandhi, with all due respect, did accept Pakistan as a reality but never accepted its legitimacy in his mind. Therefore, the roots of anti-Pakistan mentality - no matter how fair or unfair India is in its practical relations with us - is not limited to post-independence era, but goes far back into the pre-independence era as well.
With tireless and honest efforts of Muslim leaders and with the blessing of Allah, Pakistan was created in the face of many hardships. But India could never digest the creation of Pakistan and always made false hurdles in the way of her progress.
Lets talk about the situation in 2013. Very recently, an Indian supreme court judge, Justice Markandey Katju, said that principally Pakistan is not a real country at all. Its imaginative foundations in mind doesnt even come to parallel the realness of India, as he defines the golden principle of the game, he says:
"First of all let me tell you one thing Pakistan is no country. It's a fake country, it's an artificially created country by the British who had the policy of divide and rule by starting this bogus two-nation theory that Hindus and Muslims have two separate nations."
This comes from a guy who criticized Indian Gujrati government for its anti-Muslim attitude in a Pakistani daily. As for the conspiracy theory that Britishers gave birth to Pakistan, we wish to know if what he says is grounded in documented facts; although he didnt mention any references to historical documents. On the contrary, Pakistanis have always believed in the two-nation theory since the 1850s and it culminated in the clear-cut dream of Iqbal. Talking to the young Jew convert to Islam, M Asad, Iqbal told him that he was foreseeing a future Islamic state in Indian sub-continent, and urged Asad to abandon his travelling plans and to sit, study and work for that future state. We do not see any involvement of the British there and even if the British allegedly supported the two-nation theory, Muslims could not afford to reject it. Because, it was ours before it was of anyone elses.
We might be charged with over-exaggerating a statement from a single highly-placed professional. But, we have reasonable grounds to believe that this statement of a SC justice is not a singular event. Take the example of LK Advani, who had praised the Quaid-e-Azam, yet he has never been able to reconcile with the very event of partition, describing it as too painful.
This translates into the practical policy action from Indias side: ally with Pakistans enemies and create problems for it. Pakistan cannot be absolved from the blame of self and mutual-destruction; but neither can India be.
It all boils to a perpetual situation where India always tries to pull back Pakistan from its development (and Pakistan allows it to do so). But much more worrying and blatant an opposition is Indias maneuvering in Afghanistan with which it doesnt even share its borders! One of their latest stunts has been pulled in the on-going Afghanistan war. India triggered insurgency in Afghanistan creating difficulties for Pakistan on the borders; hurdling peace-steps taken between the Afghanistan and Pakistan governments; India wanting to become the proxy ruler of Afghanistan for its Friend the USA, and wanting to realize its dream of being a regional power, and most of all to be able to destabilize Pakistan to the greatest extent. Where are the roots of this irrational hatred? Primarily, we believe it lies in its embedded opposition to the two-nation theory.
This policy continues from Indias side and has been manifested in its role in Afghanistan. Let us quote the buzz-quote of the week:
India for some time has always used Afghanistan as a second front, and India has over the years financed problems for Pakistan on that side of the border, Hagel says in the speech. And you can carry that into many dimensions, the point being [that] the tense, fragmented relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan has been there for many, many years.
This is an open proof for what India has been denying for decades.
Pakistanis do not wish seduce themselves with irrational hatred of India. They do not wish to live in a delusional state of having a need for an enemy to motivate its people. But, Indian opposition is a reality we have to confront; the moment we forget it, we wreck the foundations of Pakistan. And, at the same time, this does not stop us from having a peaceful time with India on earth. This is an impasse which we too want to resolve at the deepest levels, as we simply cannot dream of annihilating India, whereas Justice Katju lives the fantasy of annihilating the very idea of Pakistan.
In the end, all we want to do is to repeat the facts to the memory of the nation. Intellectually and even practically, India does not accept the creation of Pakistan as a legitimate, justified event. It is anti-Two-Nation-Theory, a notion prevalent in its national thought; embedded in this mentality is the seed of mutual destruction, from which even Pakistan cannot be free of blame, as dissent inevitably begets dissent. Frankly, we do not have any clue for a quick fix to end this impasse; it is a matter of perception, which can change in one moment, or not change for millions of years.
Muhammad Umer Toor is a wanna-be philosopher in distant future. Based in Lahore, with a BSc in Business, he blogs at[url]www.toorumer.blogspot.com[/url].* He can be reached at i.umer.toor@gmail.com
Hira Shamim is a thinker and writer working towards a positive change in Pakistan. She has a multidisciplinary degree in psychology, Islamic studies, etc.
Source
