You said Pakistan was the fortress of Islam, made for Islam by Muslims. You never defined which Islam. Now to be fair that definition was not required for the enlightened and human lot but for the current crop it is something that overwhelms their intellectual capacity in terms of formulating that definition . Any person or organisation which can cloth itself in Islam and use it as a pretext then becomes a de jure and recognized (as far as the common folks are concerned) group with "legitimate views".
Why does this surprise you? For these folks Pakistan is not defined by the people, not by its institutions or the democratic and representative framework that its founder wanted to enable a prosperous life for its citizens- as far as they are concerned Pakistan is no its government, not its local cultures, not the aspirations of its people, not even the constitution (in terms of defining the state). For them as long as someone, anyone who claims to represent "true Islam" is at the helm its still Pakistan even if all the hazaaras are dead, shias rounded up, sovereignty in terms of foreign policy and economy relinquished...none of that matters as long as the core principle of its founding (as they see it) is maintained in a manner in which they wish to see it maintained (black turbans, back flag and "proper sharia"). The attributes of a state and what the state of Pakistan stands for is condensed into a narrow and un-accommodating scheme..now if only the inconvenient "liberal fascists" (an oxymoron if there ever was one) would up and leave...
Dillinger , the timing is what surprises me , the statement isn't surprising , since these people aren't considered Pro-Pakistan by me and a vast majority of people - mostly educated or tagged " secular/liberal/infidel/communist/Marxists " and what-not
. Aren't you assuming something wrong here , mate ? Because if I were to agree for the sake of argument , that " the country and religion " weren't properly defined by its founders nor by the people , they were influenced by . Then , it would beg the question that " What exactly are we seeing these things only recently ? " , I mean then the distortion would have to be , from the beginning in that case , right ? Pakistan should have been in the state , it is today , from the day the Founder of the Nation passed away , but that wasn't the case . The reality , my friend , is much different . Both Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Iqbal had a very firm , comprehensive and clear idea of how should the new Islamic state be and how it should be run . It is a common misconception on both that the Muhammad Ali Jinnah wanted a fully religious or secular state , actually he wanted neither of them , he basically wanted a state which is not wholly and strict religious state with secular credentials running on a democratic system , just a place " where Muslims are allowed to practice their religion freely " without any " imposition on gun point " - something prevalent today here , a place where every non-Muslims are allowed to practice their religion freely too . This is the speech quoted frequently everywhere . However , fate wasn't with us , only after a year after the formation of Pakistan , the founder passed away and since then , the country was taken on a wrong path by different leaders , culminating in the lawlessness , chaos , anarchy , intolerance , extremism and terrorism that we see today . The generations after the people who migrated or lived here before the partition stopped bothering to have a look and think at deep Iqbal's poetry and the Jinnah's speeches on all aspect of running the country and advise to the nation to not go on the path that leads to " destruction " ultimately . One can always curse the wrong decision taken by the leaders - both military and political sure and the failure of the generations after , to study the true purpose and role of Islam , and the ideology their state was founded on , the system the founders wanted to run the country on , the freedom they wanted for all and something the people started to take for granted , until the extremist rose after 2004 and threatened and at times deprived them of such , the revivalism is happening again today . There are people rising in numbers who want to now research the ideas , thinking and thought patterns of the founding fathers . Not for the " uneducated " ones devoid of common sense and not willing to accept logic , reasoning and facts of course , but I can see the change in the attitude of the people - alongside the " radicalization " happening separately .
As for the " fortress of Islam " thing , it was actually something alien to us , brought into the mainstream by the Mullah who convinced the nation afterwards that somehow there existed a sort of brotherhood between like minded Muslim countries - the greatest myth ever created and still believed . The country started to interfere in things - in which it had no stake and no interest to begin with and worse of all , even damaged its own " interests " in the process . That idea comes from the blunder of " putting other nation's interest first " before our " own " , from running the foreign policy on " religion and emotion " rather than " national interests and security " . Jinnah asserted after the creation the famous words " No friends nor enemies in International politics , but only permanent interests " . Why did the leaders and the nation not pay heed then to it ?
Lets make it more clear . You know why it surprises me , the JI and others of religious Deobandi school of thought actually opposed the creation of our country yet migrated to it and started their politics in the same country , they despised . They never have been loyal to the state , they have been loyal to some fictitious brotherhood , they believe in saviors and utopias and they pledge their allegiance to Riyadh instead of Islamabad . But at such a crucial time where the nation is confused about its enemy , at such a time where we are looking for unity against the terrorists who have become a threat to our country , at such a time where twisted religious interpretation carry more weight than common sense/logic , at such a time when the people want to blame everything on foreign powers , they are making such a statement ! Now , you may not be able to understand it properly , not living in this country , but the lack of " public protests " against these nothing short of treason statements , stomping over the grave of our martyrs and just everything that we stand for , is the majority so fearful for its life now that it doesn't even dare to raise its voice against these traitors and or are they " radicalized " to the extent now , that this in indeed acceptable and even something appreciated ? On an optimistic note , maybe they do not give a darn about these leaders , I would like to believe rather than the first two explanations . The worrying part is what is giving these religious leaders the courage to speak such things , to openly speak what is in their mind , to expose their true face in these troubled times , to show once again that they aren't loyal to the country they live in and are fed by . Do they think that the time has come for their dear Taliban to take charge somehow ? An extremist takeover if my worst fears be true ? I do not see it happening though , since the extremists/terrorists control nothing more than even 0.5% of the country but what is it in the minds of those leaders making such statements in public now ? What do they know , that maybe we dont or maybe they are just shooting " arrows in the air " ? Just what !
I will deny not that for a certain group of people , the state is defined by the religion only and not by its characteristics and attributes , they would be willing to destroy their country gladly if it comes to Islam . Sheep in the herd mentality , the submissive thought pattern actually , following blindly the words of " God's viceroy " even if their far far subconsciousness tells them its wrong . Anyone who claims fighting for " Islam " regardless of if he's or not , will be followed with enthusiasm . Actually , these people haven't even learnt the religion by themselves , they gladly and voluntarily gave away the gift of " free and critical thinking " and outsourced all their decisions , ways of life , free will for some promise of " heaven " and " eternal bliss " . Opiate of the masses , they say , right ?
Read this ,
Jinnah wanted to model Pakistan after the United States.
