I have been thinking about this for a while now. Somehow for some reason at least to me our religion and our political setup do not seem to add up at all.
Islam has always had since its early and most successful days Authoritarian rule. Whether it was Prophet P.B.U.H or after him the Caliphs or even now in various muslims countries such as Saudi Arabia or Kuwait or Qatar its never been replaced, never been dismantled and things seem to be alright there.
Obviously some of these countries are alright only because of the vast reserves of liquid wealth that they possess, but even aside from the wealth their society seems to function more fluidly than ours does it not? I mean think about it here we are some 52 years after our separation from India on what grounds? Religion my friend and we have yet utterly failed to implement democracy in our land because it is at total odds with our basic mantra…our reason for making Pakistan, Islam.
Right now a lot of you will probably say but we have democracy, but is this what we voted for? To me this is just another face of the past government with the same old masters pulling strings, only the puppets seem to have changed. Just consider the number of decisions that have been taken by the entire parliament and you will understand my view.
This is not just the case now but has been so for each and every time we have tried to implement and settle a democracy in our country. Yes we have been meddled with by the army and their apathetic dictatorships in guise of saving us, however are we in denial to not see that we cannot as a nation even agree on anything aside from our religion?
At least every time I get the chance to see a parliamentary session nothing seems to have come out of it. Nothing achieved except for more talk and resolutions which fall on deaf ears. I would like our leaders to discuss all issues and come to a point of understanding like educated men/women but they aren’t that educated or civil are they? Most of this country is not, whether we choose to accept it or not. As each day brings more news of strife and problems increasing I am starting to agree with the notion that perhaps when all else is failing we should appoint some kind of shurah and have a Caliph or something. Perhaps implementing the shariah will have to be a phased process but there is a way to do it? If it can provide justice for the citizens of this country as laws should? I know it seems like I am condoling the Taliban but I am not, I aint even slightly interested in the brand of Islam they are preaching.
What I would really like though is for our country to get behind our leaders and for that I think we would need to have one and that too chosen on the base of religion somehow so that we could all rally once again and stand tall.
People might say I want a return to the dark ages but look around you, do all the countries in the world with Royals and Kings and Emirs exist in the dark ages? Have not these rulers corrupt as they are called provided their citizens with a good standard of living and high security? Admittedly their record on women’s rights specially in the middle east is abhorrent but how are we doing better in a democracy with our stats for women’s crimes? We cannot pooh pooh S.Arabia for not allowing women to drive when we do not allow them the rights to even chose their husbands in most areas.
We seem to be fractured not only on economic and social terms but more and more on race as well, we were once Pakistani’s but are now Pakhtun, Muhajir, Punjabi, Baloch and Sindhis. To me it is clear all we have left is the religion we have in common to unite us. As it is was it not our religion that united us as one in the first place?
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Tom Humes
how about the fact that most of us are not even really into the whole scene of obeying the rule of law, which is one of the basic requirements of a democratic system?
do any of us stop breaking red lights? littering? paying rishwat? using contacts? showing up late? i mean before we get judgmental towards any government – democratic or otherwise – we need to be, as a collective, acting as model citizens. and before you tell me that’s not possible in an illiterate country, consider how well the literate are doing this job.
Forget the Sheikhyland of Middle East.. a simple example is Singapore – implement the law with fairness and rigor and see the society prosper with confidence. Islam or on Islam is not the issue. And by the way, Pakistan was not created as a service station for the faith but for the faithful to progress, prosper and progress without persecution.
Pakistan was not created as a service station for the faith but for the faithful to progress, prosper and progress without persecution.
Anwar,
spot on bro.
hmm…I think the meaning of democracy is where the confusion begins and ends…differing meanings of the same word…
You do have a point though…its always been one leader…I think we need to a little more on this…
@ Tom thanks man
@ Anwar I do think Pakistan was created for this express purpose because the faithful in India are larger in number than in Pakistan and they are doing better than us over there in secular progress terms. So no it was not for our peoples progress only that this nation was created, rather because the Muslims of India wanted a separate country in which they could “practice” their faith without persecution. The split was ideological.
Frankly your example of Singapore does not apply to us as again you are speaking of a tiny nation with a literacy rate well over our heads. However i certainly agree with you on the implementation of law, but the only law people all tend to agree on here is Islamic law..the rest of the time we take up airspace arguing about the chief justices daughter getting her mark sheet upgraded.
@ KK Who said we are not really into the scene of obeying law? The point I have been trying to make is..stop considering Pakistan as the area between do talwar and landhi the masses do not give a shit about your secular law, they cannot spell the word law, in fact they have not a single clue about their own countries constitution because they don’t give a crap about it, all they care about is their religion. That my friend is the only thing that really matters to them…and anyone of us can take a small cross section of our masses and ask them a few questions pertinent to their law and shariah I can bet they will know more about shariah.
My entire reason for writing this was the fact that I seem to feel that it is time we the secular educated 2% of Pakistan woke up and realized that we are swimming against the tide here, wholesale religious revolution is coming this way from the north and there is not a thing we can do about it. So rather than we flee these shores should we not make a conscious effort to see what all th fuss is about?
I don’t think you should be blaming islam, its the people who have power who screw up things. May be head of a sect of muslims who is an extremist or may be even a screwed up politician. Unfortunately for Pak both these namoonas are available in plenty! =D
India is no different mind you, its just the diversity – which also makes it tough to govern – thats saved it from such people.