Pakistan and the Modern World

Liaquat Ali Khan

Pakistan and the Modern World

Q. No. 1:         What were the differences between the Hindus and the Muslims?

            Liaquat Ali Khan was the first prime minister of Pakistan. On a visit to U.S.A he addressed the Americans in the University of Kansas City.  In his address he threw light on the demand, creation and future of Pakistan. He enlisted the causes that led to the creation of Pakistan.

The main cause was that of the differences present in the Hindu and the Muslim ways of life. In the sub-continent one hundred million Muslims lived with three hundred million Hindus.  Their ways of living, their history, their heroes, their opinions and their beliefs were totally different. They came in conflict at almost every step.  Moreover, the Muslims were ruling Hindustan before the British, so it was natural for the British as well as the Hindus to be hostile to them.  The gulf between these two nations was so unfathomable that it was impossible for them to live together. Just consider if the touch of a Muslim could have corrupted the religion or belief of a Hindu, so there was no question of their living together in harmony.

            The basic difference was socio-religious. The Muslims believed in one God but the Hindus had many gods. The Muslims believed in the Prophets of Allah and specially in the last Prophet, (P.B.U.H) but the Hindus did not. Their rites and rituals were quite contrary to each other.  The social system of Islam stood in sheer contrast with the Hindu ways of living. The Muslims believed in equality of all men while the Hindus observed a strict caste system.  They considered the members of upper caste as super-human and the members of lower castes were thought to be semi-human. The lower classes had no rights and they were not even a allowed to enter in the cities while Islam was totally opposed to such beliefs and practices.  The Muslims regarded even priesthood as unnecessary hurdle in the relation of man and his Creator. The Muslims had definite laws of inheritance but the Hindus did not have. Islam stressed on trade while the Hindus preferred interest.  The Muslims gave the right of private ownership to all whether a man or woman but the Hindus did not. They treated their woman as a “thing” and gave no rights to her but Islam gave respect to a lady and she was given all the human rights.

            The differences of these two nations were so deep rooted and pervasive that it had become impossible for both of them to co-exist.  The differences were so deep and wide that even their dressing style, eating habits and the way of constructing their homes were at the opposite corners of a gulf.

            If we carefully analyze these factors, we come to know that the demand of Pakistan was quite reasonable.  These differences were so strong as to cause serious conflicts between the two nations, which have now been dissolved to some extent, by the creation of Pakistan.

                                        QUESTION# 2

            What is freedom? Why did the Muslims of the sub-continent demand a separate homeland for themselves?

            Every man has a right to live freely, so is the case with the nations.  All the nations have a right to spend their lives according to their own specific principles and codes of life.  Freedom means to be free in all respects.  In past, the freedom was considered to be an external phenomenon.  A nation free from foreign domination was considered to be free. But today its meanings have widened. Now freedom means to be free physically as well as mentally. The freedom of belief, the freedom of action and the freedom of expression all help to construct this idea.  The true freedom is to be free from want, from poverty and disease. These factors are very important to make a nation strong.  If a nation is lacking in all these aspects, it can never be able to preserve its freedom because to get the freedom is hard but to maintain it, is harder.

            In the British India the Muslim were leading a backward life.  They were not given equal chances to develop side by side with the Hindus.  Almost all the Muslims were uneducated; they were not in the jobs. Civil and military bureaucracy was in the hands of the British or the Hindus.  The Muslims had no industries.  They had no traders.  They had very few skilled people.  In a backward country, the Muslims were even more backward economically and industrially.

            Politically, the Hindus joined hands with the British against the Muslims.  As a result of all these conspiracies the Muslims were undermined at every stage.  The Hindus cheated the Muslims in all the joint movements and left them in lurch.  A glaring example is the Tehrik-e-Khilafat, when Mr. Gandhi retreated with out taking the Muslim leaders in confidence and the Muslims had to bear the brunt of this war and its consequences. They were victimized in every way.

      

           Religiously, the Hindus were very intolerant towards all other religions, especially Islam.  Every other day there erupted the Hindu- Muslim clashes on religious grounds. in fact India was badly plagued with these riots.

            These were the conditions that prevailed before the demand of Pakistan.  The Muslims realized that in British India, their future would be completely tarnished and they would never be able to make themselves developed in any way.  So they decided to make the demand of Pakistan.  It was a reasonable demand on political, geographical and human grounds.  With utmost efforts they managed to carve the name of Pakistan on the map of the World.

Q No. 3:          What were the problems of Pakistan as a new state?

            In 1947, Pakistan was carved out on the map of the world.  The Muslims, being backward and victimized in the united India, were not expected to build up a new state of eighty million people.  The infrastructure of the government was yet not made.  It had to be started from scratch.  They had no capital and no flag.  The administrative machinery had to be built up from zero. Pakistan was given an army but its personnel were dispersed far and wide. They had no military equipment. Their share of the military equipment of the British India, which was allotted to them on paper, remained largely undelivered even after too many years.

           

The industrial and economical base of the nation was practically nothing.  There was no industry, trade or skilled workers in the country.

           

The biggest problem that Pakistan had to face was the inrush of seven million homeless refugees who had been driven out of India.  They came over to Pakistan in a miserable plight to seek shelter.

           

It was the resolution and faith of the Pakistanis that supported them in this time to solve all these problems and a strong country was created in the world by a determined and brave nation.  

                    Question # 4

            How was the creation of Pakistan necessary for the peace of the world?                                   

            After the Second World War, scenario of the world greatly changed.  The British had to leave their colonies.  India was also a colony of Britain and the international pressure forced them to leave India too.  But before leaving India, they had to divide it into two parts; India and Pakistan.  The creation of Pakistan was very vital for the world peace.  The Muslim and the Hindu factions of India always remained at daggers drawn.  Their leaders and followers all were incompatible with each other.  Communal violence was a matter of every day.  Both the communities were highly intolerant and violent towards each other.  Its stark evidence came at the time of migration when thousands of men were slaughtered mercilessly.  The enmity and hostility was let loose and inhuman cruelty was witnessed.

            By the creation of Pakistan, this problem was solved once and for all.  But if these two inflammable nations would have to live together, the intensity and magnitude of disruption could easily be gauged.  In such a case, the sub-continent would have become a danger zone in Asia. The peace of the whole world would have been on stake.  Even now, when they live in separate countries, they have to fight several wars but if these wars were to take place inside a single country, the extent of danger would have been thousand times more than it is now.

            So the creation of Pakistan was important for the peace of the world as well as for the development of the Muslims of the sub-continent.

Q No. 5:          How can the Western Countries help third-world countries?

            The Asian countries had been languishing under the British rule for many centuries.  They had to undergo two world wars as their fuel.  Britain badly exploited and looted the resources of this region during the middle ages.

            The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were the times, when on one hand these oppressed countries of the East were fighting to get themselves free from the clutches of slavery while on the other hand the West was making enormous progress on a very swift pace.  The industrialization and the advent of science had altogether changed the face of the world civilization.  These were the times that the eastern people missed due to the tyranny of the West.  They were pushed at least two centuries back.

            Now, when they have gained their freedom, they can get this treasure of knowledge and skills from the West and utilize it in their own region.  The differences between the East and the West have created a wide gulf between the living standards of both the people.  The dissatisfied and deprived masses of this region are quite impatient they want to wade through this gulf as soon as possible.  This impatience can cause some serious problems for the peace of the world.  The West and specially America should share its fund of knowledge, skill and scientific progress with these backward nations so that the balance in the world civilization can be established and maintained.  In this way the world can be saved from the revolutions, wars and riots.

            The ideological funds, like the values of liberty, freedom of expression, rights of the individual and democracy can also be shared with these people.  This is the only way to create equilibrium in the world.