United We Win ; Divided We Fall
On this 25th December, as we celebrate the founder’s birthday (read: enjoy our day off from work), it is crucial to take a moment and ponder over this words and thoughts, and compare our present day situation to what the dream of Pakistan really was. Today, we are picking up the most popular slogan associated with the Quaid regarding his idea of the new state: “unity, faith, discipline”. We’ve all grown up reading these, we have them plastered on the walls of every government building, on roads and in schools. Yet, we are devoid of any semblance of either of these words in the overall fabric of this nation. In this piece, we will talk about only one of these – unity (or the lack thereof).
Pakistan as a nation state has always been interesting. Unlike most nation states, there wasn’t much of a ‘homogenous’ factor to begin with. With numerous different ethnicities, races and nations forming what came to be known as Pakistan, there was a need to find a glue to hold the country together. Islam, for the most part, became that glue which led to the formulation of the country. But it couldn’t be sustained for long given the underlying differences in Muslims as well – shia vs sunni, barelvi vs deobandi, ahl-e-sunnat vs ahl-e-hadees and more. It also didn’t help that Pakistan was never an Islamic country per se, with the laws and institutional hierarchy rooted in British colonial history rather than Islam.
So with that one overarching homogenous factor essentially gone, it was a struggle to maintain the unity between the entire country. Unfortunately, we have always failed to do so, which resulted first in the separation of Bangladesh, and still continues in the form of alienation of the Baloch, the Hazaras and many other groups. The root cause remains that our authorities, in their efforts to find a common ground, have always tried to impose a Punjabi-dominated world view on all of the different groups, and expected it to be accepted by all. The result was the further disintegration of the society into differences – political, ideological, religious, ethnic and more.
What we see today is a Pakistani society in a highly disintegrated form, where every group has high levels of distrust for the other, and the authorities, instead of finding a solution, are using these differences to squeeze out their own benefits. If this isn’t put an end to, every group will suffer in the long run.
Back in 1970, those in power exploited this disunity to portray those in East Pakistan as the terrorists, while it was the state itself that had been oppressing them for decades. The schism between the two halves of the country was so deep, that it is only after five decades that the mainstream narrative has shifted to believe the state as wrong. The same divide has been used in Baluchistan for many decades, yet the majority of the Pakistani population has been made to believe that the state is justified. The “us-vs-them” ideology has been sustained over decades to the point where Balochis too – like those in East Pakistan – have been demanding a separate state. We are on the verge of losing another part of our country owing to this lack of unity.
The thing about oppression is that it doesn’t stay limited to a certain group. Once the oppressor gets used to misusing their power, anyone who comes in the way of this unbridled power gets the same treatment. Punjab, which had always remained relatively secure in terms of treatment from the state, has been on the receiving end of state brutality for the pas year. Punjabis have historically always denied abuse targeted towards Balochis and Bengalis, and furthered a very positive image of the state. However, the moment they opposed the state, they were woken up to the reality of oppression in Pakistan, and the truth of Balochis and Bengalis.
The use of tear gas, tanks and shells on protestors, thousands of extra-judicial arrests, breaking into houses at night, harassment of women, children and elderly at the hands of state authorities and the curbing of all kinds of rights has become the new reality across Pakistan. It started with just PTI supporters, but has extended to any individual who dare speak against the oppression. The level of state oppression is so high that the highest court of the country has sanctioned trial of civilians in military courts!
There has to be some point at which the nation decides to draw a line. It is unfortunate how throughout history, every group has sat back and enjoyed the persecution of the other, while reaping benefits with the false hope that they themselves will not be subjected to the same behaviour. Time and again, this has been proved wrong. The oppressors are true only to themselves and their power, while everyone else is a mere pawn.
Today, it’s the largest political party of the country which is being subjected to the worst crackdown. Political differences aside, the entire nation should be up in arms seeing the mandate of the nation be toyed around with. Over and again, it has been shown through polls and by-elections that PTI is currently the most popular party. Despite that, their leaders – including the supreme leader, Imran Khan – have been jailed over bogus cases, being denied the right to free trial. While the opponents of PTI are actively cheering today, they must be mindful that this same treatment will be vetted out to them once the establishment is no longer in need of them.
The nation has to decide for how much longer it will allow itself to be treated as mere tools to be handled. It is beyond clear at this point that the civilians and their problems are of no importance to those in power. Even as the nation starves to death in the face of the worst inflation and recession, the authorities are focused on a single point agenda: cornering Imran Khan. People are committing suicides because of poverty, but clearly it is not an issue that deserves attention. Crime rates are skyrocketing, so is terrorism, but the nation must only be concerned about the validity of Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi’s nikkah!
That is the rock-bottom we have reached, and it is about time we stop and seriously ask ourselves: are we going to continue living like this? For how much longer will we allow this to continue?
Today as we celebrate Jinnah’s birth, it is also important to remember the kind of live he led, and take inspiration from it. Despite living under colonial rule, the Quaid did not bow down to the oppression and took it upon himself to do everything to stand up against it. And he succeeded in it. Today, if he saw how the people are again allowing themselves to live like slaves in the country that he fought so hard for, can we imagine how he would react?
Today, we should all self-reflect and make an oath to change this reality. We should decide against being used like pawns at the hands of the state – just like our religion and our humanity demands from us. If we fail to rise for ourselves and our coming generations, we will continue to be exploited. Remaining silent at the persecution of other groups is never a guarantee of safety. Tomorrow, it will be you and me who are persecuted and people will remain silent on it. It’s a cycle that continues.
If we fail to unite as a nation even now, we will all be annihilated. Just like our ancestors were unable to stop the partition of East Pakistan, we will be unable to stop the separation of Baluchistan. We will continue to pay beyond our incomes for necessities like fuel and flour, while the rulers continue to take our money to build castles abroad. Today, our government has essentially forgone our historical pro-Palestine stance by remaining silent, tomorrow, they will go on to normalise ties with Israel. Today, they have sent back Afghan refugees and we remained silent, tomorrow it will be you and me.
Nations that fail to unite and set red lines, are bound to fall. In all aspects, we are close to free-falling to rock bottom. We are only left with a few moments to wake up and take charge.
What better day than the founder’s birthday to do so?
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