Pakistan- Courting the Abyss
by Tilak Devasher
Non fiction genre narrating the formation and the current state of Pakistan
Long post ahead with summary of the book; since this is not a suspense thriller there is of course no spoiler. The review is in fact a summary of the book in case you never get around to read it! For those who are going to read the book anyway, this would be a detailed trailer of what to expect!
Disclaimer- Every note by the author has been linked to a valid reference which has been given in the end. In fact the reference and Bibliography forms more than twenty five percent of the book!
So the points mentioned in the review are mere reproduction given in the book and not my own.
Having said that, the conclusions are not secret and the facts are known to one and all but who will bell that cat!
The book is so well researched and written, it feels that you are reading a newspaper and that makes it interesting though there are some basic points which feel like repetition.
Jinnah vs Liaquat ali is the the beginning of the book. The rise of Jinnah from someone who never had a future in his own party the muslim league and even muslim league was not a major player in the country! The world war and quit India movement changed everything when the league found favour with the British and rose in to prominence. After that there was no stopping Jinnah who was actually terminal as revealed later. The formation of Pakistan and the first journey of Jinnnah like a king has been described. In an anti climax; his last journey was alone in a ambulance which broke down half way. The author has done full justice to this section and after Freedom at midnight, this is a good summary. Liaquat Ali who till 1930s was a formidable leader of the Muslim League was relegated into a corner.
The number one thing which formed the country has been the Hatred of hindus and Indians which has been taught and preached all over Pakistan and that is the only common thing which they share since religion is a burning issue. Add to this you have the pasktun issue, the punjab isssue, the issue of Baluchistan and finally Bangladesh- where urdu as a language was promoted with central support which lead to disaster and finally the creation of Bangladesh.
Muhajir who came from India were the chief supporters; then they had clash with original Pakistanis. Till 1970s they got official patronage which changed. So much so that around 3lakh Muhajir who migrated to Bangaladesh during 1947 were not taken back by Pakistan and now they still live in pitiable conditions
The big disparity of Balochistan vs Punjab is a time bomb waiting to explode! Balochistan and Sindh produces the majority of the natural gas production (93 percent) but they get peanuts in terms of funding and support from the government. For many reasons as enumerated by the author, Baloch have come to see insurgency as their last option to defend their homeland from the predatory colonisation by the Punjabi dominated civil and military government in Islamabad.
The situation in KPK Sindh and even in Punjab itself is burning and could explode for different reasons.
Tariq Ali writes about an incident in December 1999, when India had informed Pakistan that one of the peaks in Kargil-Dras was still occupied by Pakistani soldiers, contrary to the ceasefire agreement.
A senior officer went to investigate and ordered the captain in charge of the peak to return to the Pakistani side of the LoC (Line of Control). The captain accused the senior officer and the Military, high command of betraying the Islamist cause and shot the officer dead! The Islamist officer was finally disarmed, tried by a secret court martial and executed! But this is the state of army in Pakistan. Anyone and everyone can be branded as a traitor and punished!
Milbus is a term which refers to military capital that is used for the personal benefit of the military fraternity, especially the office cadre which is not recorded as part of the defense budget. This does not follow the normal accountability procedures of the state, making it an independent genre of capital. So you have a fund which is like a white elephant but you cannot ask or question its use!
Of the role of army in the Constitution; when asked Jinnah who had been listening, patiently raised his finger and said never forget you are the servants of the state and you do not make policies. It is we the people’s representatives and who decide her the country is to be run. Your job is to only obey the decision of your civilian Masters. This was when the country was formed and the army was still in the nascent stage.
Can any politician have the Temerity to say this to an army chief today? The answer according to the author is a resounding no!
The most glaring thing to note is that the civilian leadership in Pakistan has no real control over the country‘s nuclear assets and policy!
The growth of terrorist organizations in Pakistan is the direct result of the support given to them by the state which uses terrorism as an instrument of domestic and foreign policy. Their continued existence is primarily because of the selective approach adopted by the army in dealing with terrorists, targeting some and encouraging others. Resultantly, Pakistan today is perhaps the most radicalized and violent state in the world! And this is not only the author’s commentary but also the comment by US!
Three times the civilian governments had golden opportunity to assert their authority and control over the army which they did not use and paid dearly for it! First was after the loss of Army in the 1971 war, then after the Kargil war and finally when Osama was shot in Pakistani soil! All these times the army bounced back from severe loss and how! Now even if there is a Prime Minister, the army is in control!
The nature of the sectarian conflict has also undergone a change. Till the mid-1990s, sectarian killings targeted leaders and activists of both sects.
Gradually, the killings shifted to those associated with the government: police officers, judges and the likes. By the late 1990s, there was an escalation and ordinary citizens became target because they happened to be Sunni or Shia!
The latest trend is to target professionals among both communities – doctors, lawyers, etc. Meaning there are people ready to kill but there is constant lack of people who can be killed so everyone is a target!
They tend to indoctrinate children to discriminate against non-Muslims, raising children to classify non-Muslims and Muslims outside their
sects as kafirs (infidels), mushrakeen (pagans), dhimmis (non-Muslims), murtids (apostates), and enemies of the state!
As a result, many of these madrasas produce graduates who lack critical and analytical thinking and are intolerant of other sects; graduates who go on to become maulvis who issue irrational fatwas and spew hate speech against minority groups!
Third, there is a huge gap – economic, intellectual and social and lifestyle – between students who graduate from private and government schools and those from the madrasas just as there is a similar gap between those graduating from private schools and government schools.
However, it is not just the Punjab government that has a soft spot for the madrasas. The KPK government, led by Imran Khan’s PTI, has recently allocated Rs 300 million for just one madrasa – the Darul-Uloom-Haggania – which has the dubious distinction of being the alma mater of some of the most dangerous terrorists on international wanted lists! This money exceeds the total budget of the provincial religious affairs ministry!
The justification given was that it was an attempt to ‘mainstream’ the madrasa. However, the head of the madrasa, Maulana Sami-ul-Hag and a known father figure of the Taliban has categorically said the grant was for building school block and nothing else.
The number of Madrassas were around 130 in 1947 and it reached up to 700, 800 in 1980s. While the current official number stands in the range of 20,000 to 35,000. These are the registered Official ones while there is no accounting of the unregistered unofficial ones!
Other problems include education which is subpar to say the least Water shortage and big issues; Islamization of education where they are taught nothing else and each school of Madrassa has its own version of Sharia which they teach claiming theirs to be the original!, Lack of tax is a major issue and this gives rise to the Dependence on foreign investment.
Critical energy shortage is always a major problem in addition to the rampant population growth as evidenced by being the 14th most populous country in the world in 1950 to being the sixth most populous country in the world!
Jihad in Afghanistan- for this purpose, a host of madrasas were set up with the help of Saudi and Gulf money, not only for the Afghan refugees but also for the Pakistani population.
In his enthusiasm for the cause, Zia-ul-Haq encouraged Islamic volunteers from all over the world to train alongside the Afghan mujahideen. These global jihadis were funded by Saudi charities like Rabi-tat al-Alam al-Islami. One such who responded to the call was Osama bin Laden. It is like the start up center for terrorism in the world!
Many of these ‘foreign fighters’ were to stay back after the jihad was over and settle down in FATA, marrying locals and setting the stage for the next episode of Jihad in Afghanistan.
The article and policy towards India hinge on one factor above all else- the desire for parity- military, political and regional! In an honest reminisce the author states about the monster they face. Maybe, just maybe, now is the time to consider that there is something fundamentally wrong with their foundation. Maybe it is time to consider that a nation state that claims religion to be its reason for creation is bound to turn exclusionist. Consider this: they started with Hindu versus Muslim. Then it became Ahmedi versus Muslim. Beyond that, now comes the question of Shia versus Sunni. Next up, and the contours of it are very visible already, will be the question of Barelvi versus Deobandi versus Salafi! It is like you have the hammer ready and now you are simply searching for the nails!
A state married to religion will always play into the hands of people who have a monopoly over interpreting it and will always lead to a divisive and polarized society fueled by different religious interpreters.
More Muslims live in fear in Pakistani than in India and more Muslims have actually been killed on religious and sectarian grounds in Pakistan than in India!
Finally the author gives us opinion similar to the above points of different Pakistani writers as an end note.
The next book in the series will take this journey further.
All in all a well researched book which sheds light in to the Abyss courting Pakistan…
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