Many of the problems in our sub continent today are because we were befooled and taken for a ride by the Britishers by their wicked divide and rule policy, and the bogus, phony and fraudulent two nation theory, and making Hindus and Muslims think that they are enemies of one another, and must live separately. Many of our people of the previous generations were deceived and emotionally carried away by this historical swindle, which led to the Partition of 1947, and the consequences, due to which we are suffering terribly even till this day. Unless we see through this gigantic fraud and reunite under a strong, secular, modern minded government which does not tolerate religious extremism, whether Hindu or Muslim, and crushes it with an iron hand, we will keep suffering.
The truth is , as I have been repeatedly saying, that Pakistan is no country. It is a fake, artificial entity created by the British so that Hindus and Muslims keep fighting each other, and thus India ( of which Pakistan is really a part ) does not emerge as a modern, powerful, highly industrialized and prosperous country, like China, of which it has now all the potential with its huge pool of bright and highly competent engineers, technicians, scientists, and managers, and immense natural resources.
This does not mean that I am against the Pakistani people. I am a humble disciple of the great French political philosopher Rousseau, who believed that people are good by nature. So I believe that 99% of Pakistanis, like 99% Indians, are good by nature, and they are facing basically the same problems as Indians, of terrible poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, lack of healthcare and good education, etc. But they are simple people who can be misguided by wicked persons with vested interests, often acting through their agent provocateurs.
What is the truth ? The truth is that Pakistanis ( and Kashmiris ) are really Indians. This does not mean they are Hindus. It means that we share the same multi-religious culture.
What is Pakistan ? It is Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan and NWFP. These were all part of India from the time of the great Emperor Ashoka ( whose edicts are still found there ), in Mughal times, and under British rule. We were befooled by the Britishers into thinking we are enemies, but how much longer must we remain befooled ? How much longer must blood flow ?
See what the result of creating a theological state ( Pakistan ) has been. First the non Muslims have been persecuted ( in blasphemy cases, forcible conversion, etc ). Ahmadis were persecuted because allegedly they did not believe that Muhammad was the last Prophet. Shias are persecuted because they do not accept the first three Khalifas. Even Sunnis who are Bareilvis are persecuted because they go to dargahs, which are shrines built on the graves of Sufi saints, and are therefore regarded as places of idolatry by the Wahabi type fanatics. Recently reports came of a poor Christian couple burnt alive on a false charge of blasphemy. Ahmedis and Shias are regularly killed. Asia Bibi, a Christian and a mother of 5 children was sentenced to death on a blasphemy charge, and her sentence has been shamelessly upheld by the High Court in Pakistan.
If Hindus practice idolatry ( which is forbidden by Islam ), if Ahmadis do not believe that Prophet Muhammad was the last Prophet, if Shias do not accept the first three Kahalifas, and if people go to dargahs, are they breaking anyone's head or cutting off anyone's limbs ? In a sub continent of such diversity as ours tolerance is absolutely necessary if we wish to progress. Let anyone believe whatever he/she wishes to believe. It does no harm to anyone.
Some of my Kashmiri brethren ( I am a Kashmiri myself, and love all Kashmiris, whether Muslim, Hindu or Sikh ) have been misguided into demanding separation from india, or independence. This is totally unacceptable. Kashmir has been part of India ever since it was incorporated into the Mughal Empire in 1586 by the great Emperor Akbar
If Kashmir leaves India today, then the Nagas may demand the same right tomorrow, then the Mizos, Tamilians, Maharashtrians, etc. Where will this lead to ? India will break up. No,such a demand must never be acceded to. It is totally short sighted and misguided, and its leaders are people with vested interests and their own agenda, which will only lead to catastrophe. So Kashmiris must now give up such demands , and instead demand reunification of India and Pakistan ( and Bangladesh ) under a strong secular, modern minded, federal system. This will automatically solve the problem of Kashmir.
To explain all this I had written an article which was published in the Pakistani newspaper ' The Nation ' some time back. It is reproduced below.
The Truth about Pakistan
“Dekho mujhe jo deeda-e-ibrat nigah ho,
Meri suno jo gosh-e-naseehat niyosh hai.”
– Mirza Ghalib
According to reports, Pakistani cities - Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar, etc - are rapidly becoming killing fields, with bomb blasts and gun firing a regular occurrence, and ethnic violence between Sunnis and Shias, and persecution of minorities escalating. Nobody knows that when he steps out into the streets of these cities whether or not he will return alive. A beautiful metropolitan city like Karachi is becoming, if it has not already become, a Jurassic Park
Some Pakistanis believe that the present situation in Pakistan is due to “a failure of governance, not of the nationhood.” I respectfully beg to differ.
In my opinion, the present violent strifes and disturbances in Pakistan are the logical and inevitable result of creating a theocratic state in this subcontinent of such diversity, and, hence, the only solution is the reunification of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh under a strong, secular, modern minded government, which does not tolerate religious extremism and bigotry, whether Hindu or Muslim, and crushes it with an iron hand.
To explain my point, I have to delve into history. As explained in my article, “What is India”, in my blog: justicekatju.blogspot.in as well as in the video on the website: kgfindia.com, India (in which I include Pakistan and Bangladesh) is broadly a country of immigrants like North America. The ancestors of 92 to 93 percent people living today in our subcontinent were not the original inhabitants here, but came from outside, mainly from the northwest (the original inhabitants being the pre-Dravidian tribals). People migrate from uncomfortable areas to comfortable areas, and India was a paradise for agriculture, with level land, fertile soil, plenty of water for irrigation, etc. Why should anyone living in India migrate to say, Afghanistan, which is cold, mountainous covered with snow for several months in a year , and very uncomfortable? Hence for thousands of years people have been pouring into India, mainly from North West ( though also from the North East ). It is for this reason that India has so much diversity - so many religions, castes, languages, ethnic groups, etc because each group of immigrants brought their own language, religion and customs with them.
Hence, the only policy that can work in our subcontinent is secularism and equal respect to all communities and sects. This was the policy of the great Emperor Akbar, whom I regard (along with Ashoka) as the greatest ruler the world has ever seen. At a time when the Europeans were massacring each other in the name of religion (Catholics massacring Protestants and vice versa), Akbar, who was far ahead of his times, declared his policy of Suleh-e-Kul, i.e. Universal Toleration of all Religions, and it is because of this wise policy that the Mughal Empire lasted so long. It was Emperor Akbar who laid the foundation on which the Indian nation is still standing, his policy being continued by Jawaharlal Nehru and his colleagues who gave India a secular constitution.
Up to 1857, there were no communal problems in India. All communal riots and animosity began after 1857, artificially engineered by the British through their agent provocateurs. No doubt even before 1857, there were differences between Hindus and Muslims, the Hindus going to temples and the Muslims going to mosques, but there was no animosity. In fact, the Hindus and Muslims used to help each other; Hindus used to participate in Eid celebrations, and Muslims in Holi and Diwali. The Muslim rulers like the Mughals, Nawab of Awadh and Murshidabad, Tipu Sultan, etc were totally secular; they organised Ramlilas, participated in Holi, Diwali, etc. Ghalib’s affectionate letters to his Hindu friends like Munshi Shiv Naraln Aram, Har Gopal Tofta, etc attest to the affection between Hindus and Muslims at that time
In 1857, the ‘Great Mutiny’ broke out in which the Hindus and Muslims jointly fought against the British. This shocked the British government so much that after suppressing the Mutiny, they decided to start the policy of divide and rule (see online “History in the Service of Imperialism” by B.N. Pande). All communal riots began after 1857, artificially engineered by the British authorities. The British Collector would secretly call the Hindu Pandit, pay him money, and tell him to start speaking against Muslims, and similarly he would secretly call the Maulvi, pay him money, and tell him to speak against Hindus. This communal poison was injected into our body politic year after year and decade after decade.
In 1909, the ‘Minto-Morley Reforms’ introduced separate electorates for Hindus and Muslims. The idea was propagated that Hindi is the language of Hindus, while Urdu of Muslims (although Urdu was the common language of all educated people, whether Hindu, Muslim or Sikh up to 1947). All this vicious propaganda resulted in the Partition of 1947, which created a fake, artificial theocratic nation called Pakistan.
Nation states arose in Europe around the 15th century because of the rise of modern industry. Modern industry, unlike feudal handicraft industry, requires a big market for its goods and a large area from where it can get raw materials.
The creation of a state based on religion destroys the very basis of a nation, because it cuts off industries from markets and raw materials. British imperialism created India as a big administrative unit. The British policy was to prohibit the growth of heavy industry in India; otherwise, the Indian industry, with its cheap labour, would have become a powerful rival to British industry.
When the British left India, they divided us so that we may remain backward and weak, and not emerge as a modern powerful industrial state (for which we have all the potential). This was the real reason for creating Pakistan.
I submit that Pakistan was doomed from its very inception; firstly, because there is such tremendous diversity in our subcontinent that only secularism can work here and secondly, because a modern nation cannot be based on religion (because this will cut it off from its markets and raw materials).
Some people say that we should try to improve relations between India and Pakistan,instead of challenging the very raison d’etre of Pakistan. In my opinion such people are living in a fool's paradise. There can never be peace between India and Pakistan. Pakistan was created on the basis of the bogus two nation theory so that Hindus and Muslims keep fighting each other.
This serves two purposes. Firstly, it prevents India ( of which Pakistan is really a part ) from emerging as a modern industrial giant, like China, for which it has all the potential, and thus become a rival to Western industry. Secondly, it ensures that the Western arms industries have huge sales ( India is the largest importer of arms in the world, over 40 billion dollars annually, and Pakistan also a huge amount ).
If there are genuine good relations between India and Pakistan, then the very purpose of creating Pakistan will disappear
I am confident that with time people, both in India and Pakistan, will realize the truth in what I am saying, and India and Pakistan will reunite under a strong, secular government that deals with religious extremism, whether Hindu or Muslim, with an iron hand.
Secularism does not mean that one cannot practice his own religion. It means that religion is a private affair, unconnected with the state which will have no religion.
When I meet my Pakistani friends (and I have lots of them), we speak in Hindustani, we look like each other, and feel no difference between ourselves. We were befooled by the Britishers into thinking that we are enemies, but how much longer must we remain befooled? How much longer must blood flow in religious violence in Quetta, Karachi, Gujarat, Kashmir etc.
When I sent my article for publication in Pakistan some peole doubted whether any Pakistani newspaper would publish my article challenging the very existence of Pakistan. I replied that I did not care whether it would be published or not, but I will not deviate from what I believe is the truth.
In Sanskrit, there is a saying, “Satyamev Jayate”, which means “truth ultimately triumphs”. And as Nietzsche said in “Thus Spake Zarathustra”: “What matter about thyself, Zarathustra! Say thy word and break into pieces!”
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