It is one of the mornings of March, 1940. Jinnah is delivering a speech. The Muslims of India are all ears. In English, Jinnah says:
“It is an impossible dream that Hindus and Muslims can ever form a common nationality. The philosophy of United Hindustani nationality is a deception and a sign of destruction for India. Hindus and Muslims adhere to two different religious philosophies, social customs, and traditions. Their connection is with two different civilizations, which are fundamentally based on contradictory theories and beliefs. Their lives and aspects of life are different. The existence of a majority and a minority in one state will only give rise to hostility and insecurity, and in the end, it will lead to chaos in that state. The separation of Muslims is the only solution.”
The Muslims of India applaud vigorously, patting their hands red. As the echoes of the applause reverberate, in 1944 Jinnah once again declares:
“We firmly believe that Hindus and Muslims are two distinct nations on every scale. We are a nation of one hundred million people who have our separate identity, culture, language, literature, customs, norms, distinct names, laws, and ethical principles. Our philosophy of life is entirely different from that of Hindus.”
In the eyes of the Muslims of India, a new country was looming, founded on nothing but Islam. But this dream was only half-baked until May 1947. Demanding the whole of Punjab and the entirety of Bengal for Pakistan, Jinnah decisively told Mountbatten:
“Your Excellency, you must understand that Punjab is one nation. Bengal is also one nation. A person is firstly Punjabi or Bengali, then Muslim. Therefore, these two provinces must be given to us intact without division.”
In response, Mountbatten smiled and said,
“You are absolutely right. In fact, I would go so far as to say that before being Hindu or Muslim, a person is not merely Punjabi or Bengali but an Indian. What you have said is perfect; it resonates with my heart. There can be no better argument in favour of United India than yours.”
The Muslims of India looked at each other in astonishment, wondering what had just happened. Jinnah rose from his seat in a daze and walked out of the meeting room abruptly. While the warmth of insult still fresh, the country was partitioned, and along with it, one hundred million Muslims whom Jinnah considered as one body. It was decided that half of the Muslims would remain in India.
By then, Jinnah had aged considerably. His memory was fading, forgetting what his stance had been on the separate identity of Muslims just a few years ago. Before flying out of India, he had said,
“Those Muslims who are now present in India, it is incumbent upon them to become loyal and responsible citizens of India. They are an integral part of the Indian nation.”
The Muslims of India saw the torn bodies of ten million people. They shouldered lifeless and abused corpses of their mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters. They saw misery, extortion, and the abduction of innocent children lying across the streets with fear in their eyes. But eventually took an oath of loyalty to India. On one hand, Indian Muslims gained the freedom to eat beef kebabs, but the cost of it drowned Amrita Pritam in tears while narrating the tale of horrors to Waris Shah.
The vigilance of Islam was quickly established in Sindh and along the borders of KPK. Balochistan witnessed military operations. Driven by greed for Hyderabad Deccan, Kashmir was lost, along with Hyderabad itself. In the Babrra Massacre, the blood of countless members of Khudai Khidmatgar turned the earth red. The foundation of dictatorship was laid in place of the constitution.
The country that Jinnah had established in the name of Islam for eternity took only twenty-four years to break apart on the basis of language and ethnicity.
Three-fourths of a century has passed. The people who were sold the mirage of Islamic unity are divided into three parts. Those who sought the freedom to eat beef kebabs still wander the world with their begging bowls. The massacre of Bengalis was also at the hands of Muslims, as was the occupation of Balochistan and the KPK.
In Sindh, Muslims also decided that language is a stronger bond than religion and inscribed this belief with blood on the city walls. The Punjabi farmer is still poor, and the feudal lord who was supposed to be affected by land reform in Punjab is no less than an ugly virus on the face of the earth.
Those who stayed in India after partition faced atrocities and riots. However, In the past seventy years, the number of deaths due to these atrocities couldn’t reach beyond six thousand.
Here, observe our progress; we placed the corpses of hundred thousand Muslims on the streets. In the name of cow protection, we embraced the philosophy of blasphemy. They killed Muslims; here, we didn’t just kill Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, and Christians, we even killed Muslims a thousand times over. And if that wasn’t enough, for the first time in human history, parliamentary laws were enacted to banish and exclude people from their own religion.
As the dust settled, India had become one of the world’s top five economies. The largest democracy in the world. A trade exchange of six hundred billion dollars. A new superpower reaching the moon and aiming for Mars.
And we are here ‘Bloody Civilians’, with a sinking economy. Slaves of Military Establishment under the guise of democracy, who still do not have the power to choose their rulers. A currency four times weaker than India’s and a trade exchange of six billion dollars. We may not know the way to the moon and Mars, but we’ve also managed our own ‘Madni’ space shuttles and rockets.
As for beef kebabs, we couldn’t manage much either, as they’re still widely available and popular throughout South India. I don’t understand how to still keep hope on the eve of ‘General’ Elections. The same nation that was portrayed as special in its composition now begs for alms outside non-Muslim embassies every day, seeking asylum in western non-muslim countries discarding their own special nationality. If they don’t get alms, they take the ‘Dunki’ route to leave in disgrace from the fortress of Islam.
Do you remember in the Titanic movie, when a half-dead Kate Winslet hits the bench on the wreckage of the sinking ship to signal the rescue boat that she is still alive? That is exactly what our situation is. Holding onto the wreckage of a sinking country, we struggle with the daily horrors of life between election cycles thinking about how to survive. Plus, we don’t even get to see the regular election cycles even.
Then, when the day of ‘General’ Election finally comes, the not ‘Bloody Civilians’ and the finest sons of the promised Islamic State makes sure that we stay on the wreckage of a sinking ship and hit it loudly to let everyone know that we are still sinking but not sunk.
In a compromised, and crippled democratic system like Pakistan, expecting change through a ballot is nothing but a delusion. Here, the rescue boat of change through ballot will never come. Only hope is the street struggle, a dedicated people’s movement without a fake Messiah.
However, if your urge is just to vote against the desires and aspirations of the military establishment even if there’s no Maula Ali, hatred for Muawiya remains. So, go ahead and exercise your right.
