Pakistan’s Passion for a Turkish Drama - Muslim Caliphate Now May Seem Quite Heretic to Most Fundamentalist Segments
By
Elf Habib
February
15, 2021
Pakistan’s
media and drama domains, for quite some time, have been buzzing with
government-sponsored dubbing, discussion and the display of a Turkish drama
based on the life and deeds of Ertugrul. He is believed to be the father of
Osman, after whom the much-adored Osmania Caliphate (1299-1923) was named.
Pakistan’s passion for the initial tribal feuds, fights, expeditions and the
exploits that led to the founding of this Muslim dynasty can be ascribed to its
overtly ostentatious fervour for Islam and a special warmth, affiliation and
interaction with Turkey.
Nawaz
Sharif, after his trip to Turkey, was also so fascinated by its traffic system
that a contract for installing the computerised Turkish traffic signals at 190
crossings in Lahore was almost instantly awarded to a Turkish firm. Even
General Musharraf, despite being a dictator, declared his adoration for Ata
Turk—the founder of the modern democratic Turkey that soon surpassed its
epithet of a sick man vying for acceptance and inclusion into the European
Union.
Now once
again, our government is parading its passion for a Turkish drama that depicts
thirteenth century clan culture, clashes and intrigues to secure and stabilise
a chieftain’s enclave so that he may prosper. The fervour for Turkey, as
evidenced by the excessive outburst of the Khilafat Movement, was rooted
amongst the Muslims of the subcontinent even before its partition. Yet, the
most baffling aspect of this affiliation is that the Muslims in the
subcontinent never moved to embrace Turkish traditions, spirit and the mindset
to accept the realities, pragmatic paths and policies.
Turkey’s
realisation about the receding role of religion as an instrument for state
policies and international affairs manifested in its alliance with Germany
during the First World War. Its caliphate had collaborated with various
Christian countries in many earlier conflicts as well. Such alliances of a
supreme Muslim Caliphate now may seem quite heretic to most fundamentalist
segments. The second great realisation came from rising Arab nationalism and
revolt against the Turkish rule that battered the basis and bonds of the
Caliphate. The Muslims in India, on the contrary, protested for its
continuation. Some of them are still obsessed with the idea of obliterating
democracy and nationalism to recreate a Caliphate through sheer coercion, force
and violence.
Ataturk and
his companions similarly grasped the colossus human and material sacrifices
endured to retrieve Turkey from the Allied war machine. They elicited a
marvellous prescience to accept the reality about the unprecedented western
strides in science, technology, manufacturing and maritime marvels and their
inevitable impacts on human thought and behaviour. They understood the perils
and predicaments of pursuing futile idealistic phantoms and preferred to transform
Turkey into a modern constitutional republic riveted to secularism and sworn to
all terrestrial human needs
These steps
evidently sparked reaction and resistance by the supporters of the conservative
interpretation of Islamic thought and practice. The dominant army control also
fuelled further alienation amongst the segments striving for civil supremacy
over these sectors. This led to the emergence of Islamic minded forces and the
AJK party eventually swept the polls in 2002. It was feared that their
religious leaning would rewind or impede the path of secularism and integration
with the European Union but Turkey, once again, demonstrated remarkable
rationality and resolve to retain the path of secularism and collaboration with
the west.
The Islamic
party even more resolutely strove for integration, amended the constitution and
aligned the civil and criminal codes mostly to European standards. The country
has undertaken eight reform packages and revised 218 articles, spanning 53
different laws and even abolished capital punishment. Internationally espoused
provisions for freedom of thought and expression were instituted instead.
Females also have equal rights in inheritance and matrimonial partnerships.
Decisions of the European Court of Justice, as per some prescribed rules, take
precedence over the national courts.
This trend
of absorbing some egalitarian western values is indeed quite instructive for
religious parties in other Muslim countries, including Pakistan. There is a lot
to be learnt from the Turkish trek to reality and replacement of its morbid
dreams and delusions for a greater glory and grandeur despite the mounting
spiral of debt, dependency, dole outs, derelict economy, utilities and the
worsening of living conditions and sufferings of its masses.
Original
Headline: Adoring Turkish dramas, avoiding the realism
Source: The Nation, Pakistan
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-society/pakistan’s-passion-turkish-drama-muslim/d/124323
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