How we made Pakistan

How we made Pakistan

The Frontier Post 

Waqar Abro

Pakistan is the acronym of Persian word “Pak” which means pure and “Istaan” which means territory. Hence, Pakistan can be categorically defined as land of pure people. Before leading the topic towards present scenario, history of Pakistan should be given a focused view.
Basically, Pakistan did not get independence on 14th of August 1947 rather it was made independent in the skies by the lord of heavens, earth, and all universes on 712 A.D when Muhammad Bin Qasim for the very first time hoisted flag of Islam in Sindh and planted roots of Islam in Subcontinent which immediately grew up after Hindhi-Urdu controversy in post war of independence (1857) period. Though, it took time for Pakistan to be officially independent yet it came into being on 27th of Ramzan considered as Lailatul Qadar a night better than thousands of nights on 14th of August 1947.
During the course of independence struggle, our Muslim brothers burnt their all boats to make possible an independent sovereign state yet it’s worth mentioning that Education played pivotal role in the whole struggle. Coming back to the roots that were planted in our soil by Muhammad Bin Qasim that why they took a number of centuries to be grown.
Although, during this time course many rulers ruled the masses yet their part can never be considered as independence struggle cause they all were practicing the nefarious designs of Hizbu Shiyateen ( party of Ibless). Few of them went to such extent that Islam should be mixture of all religions and termed it as Deen e Ilahi. Though, their motive of mixing Islam with other religions was completely political yet they were unsuccessful in their plans. In surah Al-Imran Ayat no 3:54 Allah says:” And they planned and Allah (also) planned, and Allah is the best of planners”.
Allah punished all those rulers who misused his religion for their personal vested interests and most of the sufferers were Mughals. Not only He punished them but also brought changes in polluted Muslim societies which were affected by Mughals and other rulers through “Shaikh Ahmed Sirhindi , Shah Waliullah and other Sufis. It appears as Allah went on cleaning this land (Pakistan) to make it the Land of Hezbollah (Party of Allah). And, during all these happenings, a number of wars also took place between Muslims and Infidels.
The most prominent among those wars was “War of Independence” for which Muslims were declared responsible for the carnage and mutiny. In the post war period, Prophet of Education; Sir Syed Ahmed Khan emerged as a glimmer of hope for the Muslims.
Though, he was like a drop of water in the drought yet many Muslims started pointing on their fingers over the credibility of Sir Syed. They went to such extent that they declared him through Fatwas as Kafir (Infidel). Reason of their in depth loathe was mainly to not regain lost glory of education. They were of the view that Sir Syed wanted them to be like English but they did not understand the depth of his emphasis that it was not of English’s education but of Muslims. And, a few decades later “Allama Iqbal” endorsed the same views in his poetry. It goes without saying that “Sir Syed” was the next gardener of the plant that had been planted by Muhammad Bin Qasim. Sir Syed asked Muslims who were in the grip of chaos to acquire education.
He knew that if Muslims would dedicate their head and heart towards politics their growth and separate state dream would be unachievable. That is the same we notice in the divine instruction. Allah says 857 times in Quran to get education more than salaat and zakat.
It is also worth mentioning that Allah himself chose education to guide his people however he revealed four different sacred books to different Prophets. To continue with post war period, though Sir Syed was neglected by many Mullahs yet he was helped by Allah to complete his mission of creating a separate Muslim state.
Since, he disallowed Muslims to take part in politics even after the creation of “Congress” yet he himself politically declared in his two nation theory that Muslims and Hindus have different religion and culture thus they could not exist together. Moulana Abdul Haque has rightly said that “First stone of Pakistan was laid down by Sir Syed” During his time of struggle, Allah had already sent down his other soldiers to make possible a separate Muslim state and a few of those soldiers were Quaid e Azam, Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Moulana Muhammad Ali johar, Moulana Shaukat Ali, Hasrat Mouhani, Salimullah Khan,Wiqarul Mulk ,Mohsinul Mulk etc. All these leaders contributed their best in pre-independence struggle period and most of them were either disciples of Sir Syed or his students. Since, role of Congress was getting influential Muslims thought that they should also have a political party through which their genuine demands could be heard by the ruler.
Hence, Politically, Pakistan came into existence on 1906 when Muslim League was formed. Today, the same Pakistan which had been made independent after a long struggle, is in the grip of chaos. It is in the dire need of the same spirit which liberated it from shackles of Hindus and British.
To make it a New Pakistan, it is necessary to revive the lost glory.

Government: Perpetual Pledge for Pakistan

 Perpetual Pledge for Pakistan

Waqar Abro

On 14^th of  August 2013 every Pakistani celebrated the day of independence with full spirit and passion. Celebrating independence was a remarkable occasion but comprehending the glorious sacrifices of our founding fathers could not be seen from the eyes of the people. Wearing Pakistani T-shirts and displaying paper flags on  cars and motorbikes does not mean that one is a true and loyal Pakistani. Loyalty comes with practice not with one day show.  Independence has become an event now. It’s losing its  importance with every passing year. Loving Pakistan is not meant to wear Pakistani shirts but to dedicate your head and heart to make it progressive and prosperous country. Inevitably, Pakistan is tapped with natural and human resources yet it is supposed  to be the most misgoverned country. To lead Pakistan on the path of eternal progress, it is necessary to understand what it demands. It demands sincerity, loyalty and honesty. It demands revival of the same spirit that was with our founding fathers. Hence, it should be kept in our mind that the real celebration is in transforming the dreams of Jinnah and Iqbal into reality. However, we need to  make a solemn pledge with ourselves that we will move heaven and earth to free this country from terrorism, extremism, and corruption diseases. And, make it a progressive, prosperous and peaceful country.

-Karachi

Pseudo Democracy in Pakistan

Pseudo Democracy in Pakistan

Waqar Abro

IMPORTANCE of democracy is abstruse in countries like Pakistan where most of the people do not know about their fundamental and voting rights. Basically, democracy brings political independence but it is meaningless without economic and intellectual independence.

Since the creation of Pakistan, Pakistani people have been searching the real democracy prevailing in the western countries. But due to dearth of education people have not fully understood what democracy means. Though, the current democratic transition is a positive omen yet it would take time to come in its actual form at mass level. Basically the existing political setup in Pakistan is not completely democratic in nature. Politicians are successors of their fathers and contesting such elections can never be named as democracy.

Though Pakistan got independence through democratic struggle yet it survived without real democracy. Plutocracy, aristocracy, theocracy, dictatorship and ethnicity based leadership always prevailed in Pakistan in the name of democracy but astonishing point is that people never agitated or demanded for the democracy Quaid-e-Azam envisioned. They always supported overtly or covertly all forms of governments and made themselves seekers of silence. Their silence could be due to lack of proper understanding of democracy yet they are partly responsible for the prevalent worse condition of the country.

The misuse of religion has also largely contributed for destabilizing the political setup. There is system of (peeri-mureedi) on the basis of which most of the illiterate people cast their votes to said representative whether if h/she fulfills the pre-requisites for contesting elections or not. Apart from this, role of teachers, socialists, media men, civil society and educationalists is also worrisome. They never informed people how to vote, why to vote and whom to vote. Every Pakistani wants his child to be an engineer, civil servant, doctor, teacher, pilot, army men, or sportsman but no body wants to encourage his child to be a politician because contesting election against a feudal lord is not as easy as one perceives.

It goes without saying that most of the politicians in Pakistan movement were also feudal in nature and democrats in practice but their sincerity with the country can only be gauged by peeping into the history of Pakistan. They were the main heroes who hugely contributed for the separate Muslim state for which they not only lost their near and dear ones but also lost their wealth. Contrary to this, current feudal intend to maintain their hegemony on people along with heading all institutions. However, they choose legislation profession for exercising their power at national and provincial level.

Plutocrats, aristocrats, theocrats, dictators and ethnically motivated leaders have enjoyed the taste of absolute power therefore they never brought reforms in education sector and always allocated low budget for it from national exchequer. They know that education develops a sense of judgment of right and wrong and an educated society would never allow such type of rulers to rule the masses. Pakistanis need to work day and night if they want to change the system. They should collectively put their efforts in order to fight against few families. They must teach every citizen of the country whether educated or not the importance of vote. Hopes are high that one day Pakistan would be a complete democratic country in which leaders would be emerging from grass root level and there would be no room for dynastic political system.

—The writer is a Islamabad-based researcher.

PPPP: Successes & Failures of Democracy

Successes & Failures of Democracy

WAQAR ABRO

There is a notion in everyone’s mind that what are the successes of democracy in the last five year. Though, there is a big list of failures yet positive aspects are always neglected. Democracy has brought revolutionary and evolutionary changes in Pakistan. Yes,it had brutally failed to adopt welfare-oriented democratic norms but it has still delivered. Mental poverty is worst then social and economic poverty.

The main reason that always prevented democracy to thrive was intellectual bankruptcy.Though democracy brings political independence yet it is meaningless without economic and intellectual independence. In the last five years, people have started learning political system and its functioning.Today, due to modern means of communication and free media, people are more aware of politics then before. They know very well that what is going on in the capital. They in their street gossip do not only exchange their political opinions but also analyze different manifestos and past performances of various political parties.And, the main actor of this success is electronic and print media.Unavoidably, democracy is flourishing and people are keenly observing each and every thing. It seems as people are intellectually liberated. To further elaborate the successes and failures of democracy, the writer has enlisted the crux of the topic as follow;

Successes: 1) Judicial Populism 2) Freedom of Media 3) Social Media and its effects on society and Institutions. 4) Intellectual, Political and Economic bankruptcies addressed 5) Pluralism In Politics (First time ,in the history 216 political parties will contest general Elections) 6) Openness in System 7) Accountability of Army and wealth eaters 8) Political Socialization 9) Women rights to some extent addressed and their status also elevated (Fehmeeda Mirza, Shela Raza, Malala etc) 10) Legacy system nosedived 11) Mature and Harmonized Political system (APC example) 12) Provincial Autonomy 13) Independent Election Commission 14) Change in Status quo mindset 15) Constitutional Amendments.

Failures: 1) Bad governance 2) Politicization of institutions 3) Corruption 4) Target Killings 5) Poverty 6) Energy Crisis 7) Economic meltdown 8) Unemployment 9) Slaughter of merit 10) Drone attacks 11) Unfair distribution of resources 12) Balouchistan Issue 13) Tax evasion 14) Institutional disharmony 15) Sectarian violence.

Though, there may be few more points to be added in the failure list yet successes of democracy should not be neglected. Someone has rightly said that democracy may be a terrible system but it is the best system that we know. Now,the future of Pakistan is to be decided by the people in the upcoming general elections.whom they want to bring to the parliament a cheater or a changer? To conclude,the best form of revolution is the positive and correct use of vote.

PCS Age Relaxation: A New Drama

Age relaxation: A new drama
The Frontier Post
13-07-2013

Theoretically, Sindh Public Service Commission is considered to be an independent body of recruiting meritorious candidates of Sindh but practically it is the most corrupt, dishonest, and dysfunctional institution of the province.
Though, all other Provincial Service Commissions announce PCS exam every year with a margin of 5-year age relaxation while our legacy based or merit slaughtering institution SPSC takes 5 years to announce PCS exams for dedicating and hard-working students of Sindh. Corruption charges against SPSC Chairman is not something new and not subject to be discussed but what drives me to wonder that if he could manage to relax rules to benefit his own son then how come he forgot to discuss the 5-year age relaxation- which is in benefit of poor Sindhi students who wasted their precious years by waiting for the exams? Not only this, The Chief Minister and Chief Secretary who are solely responsible of Sindhis’ future, should have taken notice of this advertisement and asked why age relaxation has not been granted which is fundamental right of the students?
The intensity of depravity has gone to such extent that students of Sindh have started committing suicides for not having decent jobs despite hard-work of five years. I appeal to heads of all institutions to take notice of the situation to save lives of the poor students.

Waqar Abro
Karachi

Letter To The Editor: History repeats itself

History repeats itself

The Frontier Post 

10-06-13

It’s quite natural that historyrepeats itself. Few years ago when the then President Pervaiz Musharraf was in power, he did his best to oust all the senior politicians. Musharraf went to such extent that he expelled Nawaz shareef and Benazir Bhutto with immediate effect. Prior to banishing Nawaz shareef, he was made a prison under the charge of hatching conspiracy against the Chief of Army staff and kept him in captivity for few months in Adiala Jail. Today, the same person who was violently and restlessly exercising his power , has been made a prison. His lack of political far-sightedness  has largely affected his political highness and devalued him in the political arena.  He must be thinking that it was his grave mistake to act peculiarly against powerful elites of that time. History is full with examples that whosoever turned out to be part of power corridor , behaved abruptly and unconsciously. But, the victory speech of Prime Minister Nawaz Shareef implies that he has learned from the history and trying his best to improve his political behavior. His words of forgiving all the wrong-doers did not only promote his visionary approach but also showed his mature and grown democratic mindset.  This is what our democrats need to adopt. Playing dirty politics based on character assassination will not bring any productive result. It is the maturity that is required for wealthy democratic system. Hence, attacking one and other is useless because history repeats itself. 

Waqar Abro

Karachi

HOW TO EXPLOIT EVERLASTING TREASURE OF KNOWLEDGE?

By

 Waqar Abro and Siraj Memon

There has not been a single ruler in the world that has emerged from the masses without sinking into the ocean of books. No one can deny the importance of books, and these are the books which have changed the economies of the world from socialism or capitalism into knowledge based economies. Now, the world is moving towards the knowledge based economies, and the experts of social sciences are claiming that the future of the world powers will highly be dependable on the educated population. And, the goals can not be achieved with out the effective and leading role of libraries.

Unfortunately, Pakistan is lagging behind in the race of exploiting treasures of knowledge- libraries. The European and other western states are on the line to make library as a significant part of their cultures as we celebrate cultural days. Hence, in the same way, library days will be celebrated to highlight the importance of the library and empower the nations with power of knowledge.

The role of library is very important in the development of civilized and educated societies. Why libraries in Pakistan are in dilapidated conditions? Why the readers` interest is decreasing? Why there is not legislation for libraries to keep them abreast with the today’s information age? There are other questions too that are wriggling in the mind, but we people are responsible in not cultivating the library culture at large. The government and non-governmental organizations are also equally criminal for this huge catastrophe. Needless to say that despite possessing human resources in enormous amount, potential of students has been misused in our country, and in spite of depicting attention of the students towards libraries that have less bad effects, are motivated towards the technological age.

Now the question raises what concrete step to be taken to take advantage of treasure of knowledge and make it more glitter, influential, sweeter and purposeful for all.

Firstly, the law should be legislated for National policy of libraries of which most important stance to promote libraries culture at grass root level, be considered.

Secondly, there should be a separate directorate in the ministry of education.

Thirdly, existing libraries should be restructured- easy access to the latest books, should be opened 24/7 like in Singapore, Sri Lanka and the USA.

Fourthly, the role of teachers and educational institutions should be used as a catalyst for backing up the library culture.

Fifthly, financial stability is the backbone of all institutions. However, funds can be raised through the advertisement and sponsorship of the private and public firms.

Sixthly, libraries should be established at the ratio of 180 million/0.5 million at the minimum level.

Lastly, the role of media and non governmental organization should be devised for creating awareness for the readership. Moreover, it has been observed that communities libraries are benefiting a certain class, and that should be discouraged. The pleasure of reading books is sweater than the pleasure of reading on the electronic devices. However, campaigns and seminars must be organized to increase the numbers of readers. Although, associations like PLA (Pakistan Library Association) has not played its pivotal role for increasing the readership and augmenting standard of libraries.

In the 7^th century, the Muslim scientist in the dark ages emerged due to the effective role of libraries and educational societies, which not only lit the world and opened the doors for other developed states to exploit the unending treasure of knowledge, but also laid the foundations of many natural and social science disciplines. Therefore, it has become the need of the hour to regain the same lost glory again through above mentioned measures in order to bring out our motherland out of the shadowy world.