answer to ayaz ameer article regarding Punjab

As the author have poor command on history of the Punjab so i will not comment on it yet his point of view regarding liberal progressive history of 20th century Punjab looks even more problematic. In colonial times there were two type of struggle and it was Punjab who had both examples. Ghadar party and Unionist party, both were secular, it was the Punjab who produce Iqbal and Faiz and if the author read Allah bad address then he should join both Allahabad address and august 11 speech, both r examples of liberal, progressive appeal. After partition, it was Mian Iftiqar u din of the Punjab who resigned as Minister for Muhajreen on a principled stand. He advised Liaqat Ali Khan to stop playing interest game regarding land and property left by Hindu and Sikhs. In 1949 it was Ghulam Muhammad of Mochi Gate who was major hindrance in making Objective resolution, full part of constitution. It was Shurawrdy and Mamdoot who created first opposition party, jinnah awami league. For Bengali issue responsibility lied on the nexus of civil military bureaucracy, who had their own institutional interests? They were/are neither Punjabi nor pulkhtoon but strictly alien to their institutional or personal interests. They used Urdu and Islam to construct centralist authoritarian state. 
Putting all the blame onto Punjabis is a post 1971 syndrome of establishment. From 1947 till 1971, Pakistani pro centralist establishment remained busy in managing with Bengali majority while after 1971; they have a desire to weak or break remaining 4 provinces, especially the Punjab, so that no one can challenge centralist forces. Politicians preempted it and then makers of 1973 constitution included a clause which is still vital regarding provincial autonomy. Even zia once told that i want to divide Pakistan into 100 provinces. From last 30 years it is in the interest of the Punjab to build Kalla bagh dam yet Post 1971 Pakistani establishment is not ready to see Punjab independent in electricity production. In a meeting Khan abdul wali khan himself told at kisan hall, lhore, how could me and pleejo stopped kala bagh dam construction? It was zia who was not interested. If the theory of 'supremacy of Punjabis' is true then, why they failed to build kala bagh dam? Anyway, let us see first half of 20th century Punjab first.
From 19th century till today Punjab remained victim of Frontier Forward Policy. In 1808, Metcalf came to lhore to engage Punjab government. It was his desire, as written in his report, that Punjab would help them in British military campaign in Afghanistan and beyond. They needed a safe passage from Lhore to Turkham yet mharaja of punjab refused three times. To destabilize Punjab govt it was Britishers who sponsored a jihad in the leadership of a man from braille in 1826-31. A lashkar was build in central India and according to Francis Robinson, the British Governor of Bengal allowed Syed Ahmad Shaheed and co to collect funds from bazaars and with the help of imperial power Jihadis started their journey from Deli via Rajistan and after crossing Sind and Baluchistan moved toward peshawar via afghan frontier. Just imagine at that time Britishers, Afghan Government and Jihadis all were united against the Punjab but everyone knew that Punjabis did not support orthodox Islam. It was Royal Bengal Army who fought three wars against the Punjab. it is to be remembered that RBA was consisted of UP, bihar, Maharashter and Bengal people. Annexation of the Punjab was a leap forward in Frontier Forward Policy (FFP). After annexation of the Punjab, Britishers wanted to build an army from Punjab so that they could capture historic old trade route, the silk route. To fulfill that purpose they tried to convert Trade and agro-based Punjab economy into a garrison economy. Before annexation of the Punjab britishers never used the term marshal races yet after annexation their intellectuals extensively used the term marshal races for punjabis who lived between jehlum and attock. Britishers wanted to recruit them. In early 1850s they not only had a policy to reduce RBA but also allocated huge budget for the devopment in newly annexed Punjab. 1857 so-called war of independence was a reaction aginest new policy. Reaction of RBA sepoys has resemblance with now a days jihadis who suddenly turned anti-america when US stopped funding of afghan jihad. After successful ambella campaign of 1862 near Swat, British forces had ample control over the plains as well as mountains of the Punjab. To boast garrison economy they build canal colonies and introduced schemes like cow feeding and horse breeding who served garrison economy in multiple ways. It was a demographic as well as economic shift in the Punjab. Right from that day a battle is being fought within Punjab between garrison economy and Others. After annexation of Punjab new war front was Afghanistan and beyond. Now they wanted to recruit an army from Punjabi areas adjacent to afghan frontier. To appease Punjabis, under the instruction of Lawrence, they started massive construction in Lhore, introduce Railways, construct buildings and formed schools in specific areas. Under two prone strategies they build canal system to feed and recruit army. They distributed lands among loyalists who were subservient to garrison economy. They followed Maharaja and shifted Northern Command Head Quarter to Rawapindi. Raza abdi recorded a story of a british plan to build a huge railway junction between Sukkar and Larkano with the name Ruk in 1879. They had plans to build a railway line via kandhar to turkey though Iran. In 1880s britishers won anglo-afghan wars. They were ready to fight with Tsar directly if required. Before 1894 Durand Line divide, the Imperial power was interested to capture Old SR yet in late 19th century rise of Germany in Europe halted imperial designs to capture SR. Under the threat of Germany, Britishers and Tsar did Durand Line agreement. Hot wars ended temp rarely at Pak-Afghan front and it was beginning of a Cold war yet the Punjab remained hub of activity even in the cold war. According to abdi, RUK station completed in 1896 yet till that time britishers had abandoned the project. One end of durand line was near turkham while it ended at wahkhan corridor, neck of old trade route. Under durand line agreement, britishers carved tribal area and used it as buffer zone. Ike Marsha race thesis they with help of intellectuals like Olaf Cairo, proposed another flawed thesis. They said that pathans or tribal remained independent and no one ever annexed them. In reality, Mughals and mharaja ranjeet singh ruled them yet many pukhtoon nationalists trapped in new thesis under the compulsion of nationalism. After Durand line agreement britishers divided the punjab in 1901, carved six punjabi districts and made NWFP. In 1903 a big durbar was arranged in DELLI . Now britishers were ready to move their capital. In 1911 deli was carved from punjab and declared new capital. These were fall outs of durand line agreement on punjab. In 1916, Lukhnow pact,purposed weight age formula which reduced muslim majorities in bengal and punjab. People like alma iqbal, c r das, hakim ajmal khan and mian shafi registered their opposition. From 1919 till 1937 punjabis not only fought against luchnow pact but also under mian fazl e hussain strengthen punjabis to oppose congress. in 1937 elections it were both the punjab and bengal who did not vote for congress. 
So if u scan 20th century, punjabis never voted in favor of fundamentalists. in 1970punjabis voted for bhutto and they were right. during zia time punjabis remains loyal to ppp , accepted prisons yet civil military establishment tried their best to root out ppp from punjab. They supported nawaz sharief yet in 2006 nawaz sharief signed CoD with ppp which threatened establishment. Lawyer movement or restoration of judges issue once again divided both ppp and nawas yet both parties remained committed not to call army in power game. Due to this establishment produced imran khan yet punjabis r still either with ppp and nawaz. In his article ayaz tried to save civil military establishment and tries to putt all blame on to punjab which is problematic
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Subject: Pakistan's Punjab Problem- Ayaz Amir

 
Pakistan's Punjab problem 
 
 
Ayaz Amir <http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintWriterName.aspx?ID=9&amp;URL=Ayaz%20Amir> Friday, February 03, 2012 
 

Punjab is more than half of Pakistan, in politics, culture and industry. Whether anyone likes it or not, the task of governing Pakistan, of getting Pakistan right, falls heaviest upon the land of the five rivers (now three after the Indus Basin Waters Treaty).Call this the burden of geography or the curse of history.

History, however, left Punjab unprepared for the task of leading Pakistan. Punjab had a long tradition in poetry, literature and culture. But the one tradition it did not have, or did not possess in abundance, was that of rulership. In all of recorded history, from Alexander to the present, who are the Punjabi rulers that we know of?

In Alexander's time Porus whose kingdom straddled the River Jhelum, the battle between him and the Greeks commemorated in legend. Then after a gap of two thousand years just one name: Maharaja Ranjit Singh. A few Punjabi politicians attained prominence under the British: Sir Fazal-e-Hussain, Sikander Hayat of Wah and Khizr Hayat Tiwana. And then, after the horrors of Partition, the sorry lot whose contribution has been second to none in mismanaging the affairs of the new republic.

Our historical memories were those of the Muslim conquest of India. Our heroes were Mahmud of Ghazni and Muhammad of Ghaur, Babar and Akbar. But these were transnational heroes, from beyond the high mountains separating Hindustan from the lands to the west, of little use to us, except as flickering memories, when Pakistan came into being and we were very much on our own, having to manage things ourselves.

In any case, there were no infidels to fight and subjugate. There were no more battles of Panipat to be fought except with our own problems and, in many instances, our own demons.

The choice before the new state of Pakistan was either to step into the modern age or seek comfort in the past. With more visionary leaders Pakistan could have reconciled Muslim nationhood, the basis of Pakistan, with the demands of modernism. But this was not to be.

What constituted the Pakistani leadership? (1) Conservative Punjabi landlords instinctively averse to anything calculated to upset the established order of things; and (2) the Urdu-speaking elite migrating from India which could not afford to forget or downplay the passions behind the demand for Pakistan for that would have meant laying open to question the wisdom of their great pilgrimage. So we remained stuck in the past and this had fatal consequences with which we are still grappling today.

The two-nation theory was great for the quest of achieving Pakistan. Indeed, it was a necessity in that the demand for Pakistan dictated the emphasis on Muslim separateness. But once Pakistan was achieved, and the boundaries of the new state were fixed on the map, history should have moved on. Once Pakistan was achieved the necessity was no longer there to keep raising the banner of Islam. In a Muslim-majority country where the last thing under threat was Islam, it was pointless to keep proclaiming that Pakistan was a fortress of Islam. It just wasn't necessary.

Jinnah was the first to recognise this. Hence his great speech of August 11, 1947, in the Constituent Assembly in which he spelled out a creed of secularism for the new state. In so doing he was not repudiating the tenets of the Pakistan movements but he was certainly modifying some of the messianic zeal which had animated that movement.

Both the Congress as personified by Gandhi and the Muslim League led by Jinnah had stoked the fires of religion in order to advance their political ends. In Nirad Chaudri's Autobiography of an Unknown Indian there is a haunting passage about where, in times to come, the descent of politics into religion would lead. But it is remarkable that once Partition was a done deed and freedom was achieved for India and Pakistan, Gandhi's was the strongest voice raised in India for Hindu-Muslim tolerance and on this side of the divide Jinnah the lone voice raised for secular tolerance.

But Jinnah was ahead of his time. And most of the Muslim League members of the Constituent Assembly could not understand what he was saying. Jinnah would never have countenanced the Objectives Resolution. We can't seem to get out of its mesmerising orbit.

For Punjab Partition brought other consequences too. Punjab had not a single past but two. That of its Muslim conquerors, Mahmud and the Mughals and so on, which was turned into a philosophy and made the basis of Pakistan by the poet Iqbal; and that of its indigenous culture as represented by Waris Shah, Bulley Shah, Guru Nanak and Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Which past was it to accept? The virtues of which past was it to proclaim? Here was a dilemma.

Punjab post-1947 was no longer an Afghan or Turkish colony. It was the most powerful portion of a new republic and running that republic, and doing it well, depended heavily upon the kind of performance Punjab delivered. Jinnah's Aug 11 vision might have implied a tolerant, all-including view of the past. But the requirements of the Pakistan movement, and the horrors of Partition whose memory was still fresh, dictated a heavy emphasis on the theme of Pakistan being a fortress of Islam. This was enshrined later in what we know as the ideology of Pakistan, a source of endless befuddlement and confusion.

For Punjab this meant an erasure of memory. We were the inheritors of Mahmud and Babar, our spiritual axis went all the way from the land of Hejaz to the mountains of Afghanistan and beyond, but it had little to do with the cultural tradition honed over the centuries in the historic doabs (the land between two rivers) of Punjab.

It would not have mattered if this selectivity had no practical consequences. But it did. The choice our part of Punjab made led to a closing of its mind, a shrinking of its mental horizons. Punjab should have been large-minded and been in the forefront of the struggle for a modern Pakistan, its mind liberated from myths and shibboleths. Where Punjab should have led the rest of Pakistan would have followed.

Our creed should have been not the ideology of Pakistan as we know it but the ideology of progress. We should have been a beacon of light not only for our own selves but for the nations to our west. India should have looked upon our progress and enlightenment with envy and admiration. Instead of being a bedfellow of the military and the bureaucracy the Punjabi elite should have sought a partnership with the political elite of East Pakistan.

But these are the might-have-beens of history. Instead of being an engine of progress Punjab became a redoubt of reaction and intolerance. The seeds of East Pakistan secession were planted not in Bengal but Punjab. The true fathers of Bangladeshi independence are the politicians, mandarins and generals of Punjab.

From the Objectives Resolution to the ideology of Pakistan, from there to Ziaul Haq's Islam, and from jihad to the nightmares now haunting us, this is the route we have traversed. One reason for this is the closing of the Punjabi mind and since Punjab was in the driver's seat what it did or failed to do had consequences for the rest of Pakistan. In the field of intellect, or what passes for it with us, Punjab does service for the rest of Pakistan. GHQ's obsessions are Punjabi obsessions.

Are we for the liberation of Pakistan, the sweeping away of the cobwebs which are such a screen over its eyes? Then first of all must be liberated the Punjabi mind. So let us think again and reconstruct the Punjabi pantheon.

In all of history who are the true heroes of Punjab? I hazard a few names: Waris Shah, Bulley Shah, Khawaja Ghulam Farid (for Seraikis are part of Punjab too), Ali Hajveri, Guru Nanak, Iqbal, Munir Niazi (yes, we should include him), Kundan Lal Saigal and (all right) Noor Jahan too. Let us honour their memory. (Bhagat Singh Shaheed was hanged in Camp Jail, Lahore. Will there come a day when Shadman Colony is named after him?)

Let us then hope that from the mental depths Punjab is in today there is a miraculous recovery. That will be the day Pakistan comes into its own.



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