Nothing Seems To Be Left Of Islam In Islamic Country Pakistan
By
New Age Islam Staff Writer
23 May 2023
Even The
Term Jungle Raj Would Be Inappropriate For Pakistan
-----
The 'Poet
of the East' Allama Iqbal had sowed the seed of the idea of Pakistan by
proposing that a confederation of Muslim majority states in the north west of
India should be given autonomy so that the Muslims could work for their
economic and political prosperity. He egged Mr Jinnah on to take up the cause
of the new state within India and gradually the idea of Pakistan evolved.
Though Iqbal 's defenders say that he did not proposed an independent and
separate state for Muslims carved out of India, they cannot deny that the seeds
of separatism in the Muslim mind was sown by him and the idea of a separate
state which was later called Pakistan grew out of the seed of separatism.
Iqbal's proposal of a separate state for Muslims came from his fear of Hindus
and he had argued that after the independence, the Muslims would be in a
minority and so they would be dominated and suppressed by the majority
community.
Today his
idea of a separate state for Muslims has proved wrong. Pakistan has proved to
be a failed state. Pakistan is in a total mess. A civil war like situation
prevails in the country. The country is in a debt trap with its foreign
reserves below $ 3 billion. The regime change at the instance of the army last
year has proved disastrous because of the bad governance of the PDM government.
Imran Khan's government was toppled by an unholy nexus of army and the PDM, an
alliance of different political parties but has not been able to provide
political stability and economic relief to the country. To make matters worse,
the Shahbaz government and the Election Commission off Pakistan have failed to
hold elections to the Punjab and Khaibar Pakhtunkhwa assemblies despite the
Supreme court order to hold elections, within 90 days. The deadline ended on 14
May, 2023 and the government and the Election Commission are facing contempt of
court charges but the judiciary appears to be too helpless to take any step
against the two.
Imran Khan
has proved to be the goliath to the all powerful army. The Shahbaz government
and the army do not find the courage to hold the elections for the fear that he
might come back with a majority as a recent survey has revealed that Imran Khan
is the most popular political leader of Pakistan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
is supported by 70 per cent population. Therefore, The Shahbaz government-Army
nexus wants an Imran-free Pakistan. For that, two attempts on Imran Khan's life
have been made within the last few months. He has expressed his threat
perception and to avoid any fatal attack on him, he has got manufactured a
special head cover in the form of a box which covers his entire head including
his face when he had to be physically present in the court in connection with a
case. It is not only farcical but at the same time unfortunate for a country
which boasts of being Islamic that its former Prime Minister has to arrange for
his own security in this manner and the courts express their helplessness in
this regard.
Another
unfortunate and farcical aspect of Pakistan's police and judicial system is
that more than hundred FIRs have been registered against Imran Khan and he has
to be present at one or the other court to seek bail. And the number of cases
increases without his knowledge. No politician in Pakistan knows when an FIR
would be lodged against him and when he would be arrested or kidnapped. The
hundred plus FIRs against Imran Khan have been lodged only within the last few
weeks. The leaders are arrested soon after they come out of the court after
getting bail in a particular case. Senior PTI leader Fawad Choudhary ran back
to the court to evade rearrests after getting bail from the court as he saw the
police approaching him. Other PTI leaders were not so smart or lucky. They got
bail from the court, came out and were rearrested. The courts have been
helpless.
The violent
protests of PTI workers and supporters on May 9-11 was the fallout of this
harassment of their leader Imran Khan and the misgovernance of Shahbaz
government. The enormity of the violence and defiance of the protesters was so
that a number of army officers refused to take orders of their seniors and
crack down against them. They were protesting against Imran Khan's arrest. But
the army launched a crack down on the suspect protesters involved in arson and
vandalism in army installations and offices. In its crackdown, the Pakistan
army crossed all limits of ethics and broke all rules itself. It has so far
arrested about ten thousand people. Many have been reported missing. Women and
girls have been allegedly tortured in custody. Dr Yasmeen Rashid, a 70 year old
cancer survivor and a senior PTI worker has been arrested and booked under
terrorism related cases though in the videos she is clearly heard as asking
protesters not to enter the army area. One PTI supporter Khadija Shah, who was
present at the protest site but was not involved in vandalism said her whole
family had been arrested because the police could not arrest her. Another PTI
activists Sanam Javed and Tayyiba Raja were arrested and got bail after a week.
The police had dragged her by her hair. They said that while in custody, they
were misbehaved. The crackdown continues and the family members of suspects are
being picked up and tortured.
There are
some journalists and intellectuals also who have been arrested, rather
kidnapped for speaking against the government or the army. The popular
journalist Imran Riaz Khan was first arrested by the Punjab police and then
kidnapped by 'namaloom'(unidentified) persons. In Pakistan, Na Maloom is
referred to the army. He is still untraced. The Lahore High Court summoned the
IG Punjab and the Chief Justice asked him about his whereabouts. The IG said he
does not where Imran Riaz Khan was because the police had released him. He then
guessed that Imran might have gone into hiding and so when someone goes into
hiding himself, it was not possible to find him, he said. The Chief Justice
broke into tears at his helplessness. However, he gave the police two days'
time to produce him in the court. Two days have elapsed but he is yet to be
produced in the court. However, reports hint that he is safe and may be
released soon.
The Ghazwa
-e-Hind fame intellectual of Pakistan, Oriya Maqbool Jan has also reportedly
been kidnapped by ' Na Maloom ' persons after he wrote a column against
the establishment. But, interestingly, there is no hue and cry for his release.
Coming back
to Imran Khan, he has put up the kind of resistance against the army, no
political leader could do before. It has become the political norm in Pakistan
that if a political leader challenges the authority of the army, he is forced
to flee the country and take refuge abroad. Nawaz Sharif had to take asylum in
Saudi Arabia. He came back after few years but was again forced to take asylum
in London. Pervez Musharraf was also made to flee Pakistan, was convicted in
treason charges and died in Saudi Arabia. Those who do not flee Pakistan are
assassinated. Benazir Bhutto is one of them. Imran Khan is made of a different
stuff. He says he will at no cost leave Pakistan. Last week, the establishment
reportedly even arranged for an airplane for him to give him a safe passage but
he refused to accept the offer. The government then spread the theory that 40
terrorists were hiding in Zaman Park, Imran Khan 's house and then conducted a
search operation. Nothing came out of it. Now the government says that Rs,14
lakh have been due on Imran Khan as property tax. And if he does not pay it in
a couple of days, his house would be sealed. It should be noted that 90 days have
lapsed and the government of Punjab has lost its constitutional status.
In short,
Pakistan is in a state of chaos and lawlessness. The Supreme Court and the High
courts have become laughing stocks. The police and the Army have hijacked the
whole system. They do whatever they want. Some journalists in Pakistan say that
there is a jungle raj in Pakistan. In reality, calling it even a jungle raj
would be inappropriate. Even in the jungle, there is an order.
URL: https://newageislam.com/the-war-within-islam/islamic-country-pakistan/d/129836