Thoroughly atoned and having lived in exile for 20 years now, the MQM chief, Altaf Hussain seems to be a metamorphosed person. Now he speaks for the integrity, unity, and sovereignty of Pakistan. He has been issuing clarion calls one after another, for the reconstruction of Pakistan and cornering and curbing such elements who are antagonistic towards the well- being of the masses and that of the country.
Let us deliberate today upon a prickly subject. I strongly urge you to vote for Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) for an epoch-making change of the repulsive status quo and for structural transformation that the people of Pakistan have been yearning since August 14, 1947. Everyone is aware what this date means to the free citizens of Pakistan.
Following the end in 1857 of the Mughal Empire confined to a few miles around the Royal Fort of Delhi (Shahi Qila) and Chandni Chowk, the Muslims of the sub-continent looked like a lost Diaspora facing two inveterate and bloodthirsty enemies. The Mughal empire lasting from 1526 to 1857 was a paradise-like and extravagant pastime for the Mughal invaders who were Muslims in names and lecherous in their practical lives. Such immoral dynasties were destined to crumble eventually.
The die was finally cast when trigger-happy white bandits of Royal British army, in tandem with the local soldiers roamed blissfully in the streets of Delhi and engaged for days in a spree of shooting and hanging the Muslims at the nearest tree. That was one of those gruesome tragedies in the human history when nature or divine forces look at humans with complete indifference and prefer not to intercede.
That bloody chapter was closed with complete sway of the British colonialism over the entire India. For 90 years, both Hindus and Muslims entered into a phase of struggle waged for freedom from the Yoke of British imperialism. That day finally ascended on the horizon of the subcontinent. Two separate independent states for Muslims and the other for the predominant Hindu population emerged on the map of the earth. I must add hastily that this independence was genuine and not like the one that the people have had during a thousand years of Muslim rulers in India.
The new state of Pakistan is not a dynasty built or erected by an invader or snatched by one militarily powerful conquer from another weak Muslim potentate. Even Muslims or any other race could not be treated as free under those dynastic dispensations. Those were the times when there was a supreme master called a king or monarch and the people, irrespective of their religions, were named as subjects. The concept of fundamental rights was forlon and not yet born. The dynastic or monarchical outfits were the products of those eras. The concept of democracy was alien to the rest of the world barring United Kingdom and beyond in the United States of America.
The civil and human rights were inherent in the formation of the two newborn states of India and Pakistan. Pakistan in comparison to India could be defined as a sham democracy from the inception but still democracy it has been. This country being run with fits and starts and alternating between alloyed democracy and pure dictatorship is a thousand times better than the polygamist Muslims and non- Muslim rulers of the past, who were mostly titular under the British umbrella. As rulers, they were not different from their imperialist masters except in pigment and color of their skin.
Let me not stretch this historical narrative too far because I would like to enter into a dialogue with you on voting for the MQM in the next elections. I would spell out my reasons in a short while. The MQM is a liberal, progressive, and secular party. In the past, it could be portrayed an ethnically fanatic organization but not religiously. It is a grassroot party with cadres drawn from the middle and lower middle classes. Now here is a straight question whose answer we all know. Who suffered unspeakably and atrociously in the wake of the partition of the subcontinent? The answer is: the refugees who crossed a sea of blood and fire; cut down, and slaughtered in countless numbers by Sikh and Hindu brigands while moving towards Pakistan.
Do you remember the way the Sikhs and Hindu savages tore into pieces even the babies in the wombs of mothers. Their only sin was that they opted to live in a new country indentified by Islam and the rebirth of a Muslim nation in the sub-continent. This monumental sacrifice alone entitles the Mohajars from India to be treated as heroes and the vanguards of independence. Their supreme sacrifices and unspeakable sufferings, for a sublime cause should be scribed with golden words in the annals of the Sub-Continent. That was their destiny by choice and this noble choice must always be upheld and adored.
In earlier years after its formation, the MQM was branded as an ethnic and parochial outfit that was exclusively focused on the issues concerning the Mohajars community. There was also a phase when a long drawn war of vendettas and target killing between MQM and their rival groups including the secret agencies was rife. It had a litany of charges against it, including inter-alia, generating income through kidnapping for ransom, extortion of money from non-Mohajar shopkeepers and businesses. It was also accused of numerous killings, bombings, and assassinations in the city of Karachi. During those tumultuous periods, it was alleged that the MQM has turned against a united Pakistan. It was further insinuated that it was planning to cut off a part of Sindh province to be rejoined with India.
There might be some truth in these allegations. However, let us also concede that MQM in its early formative stages was fighting for its survival and identity. Thus, there was collateral damage between MQM and those braced against it. However, much water has flown down the rivers and MQM has been recast as a Muttahida Qaumi Movement that refurbishes its national character and broader image.
It is no more talking about Karachi or Mohajars but for Pakistan
-
-
Archives
- August 2024
- May 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
-
Meta