A bitter pill from PTH

Salman Arshad:

Sitting in 2011 we are looking at a reality that British India was a secular country, that Nehru/Congress were a group of very mature leaders (in contrast to Jinnah’s constituency).


This is not “easy to say”, otherwise everyone would be saying that today, this is difficult to swallow, was my point.

It is “easy to say” simply because its the reality. Whether any of us “says” it out loud or keeps quiet, the reality is just what it is.

I have repeatedly implied that Jinnah did not have bad intentions that could make him look a “separatist”. That I have to reconfirm my “Pakistaniat” by saying this out loud, is a BAD sign, if I have to do this even on PTH. This is part of the point I am making so its bearable.

The reality that he was wrong about the insecurities of the “Muslim nation” is something we can do nothing about now.

We have been trying to LIE in Pakistan that the Muslims of India are living in a hell, but is that even necessary to be “loyal” to Jinnah that way?

History is grey or not, we make history, but fact is fact.

Fact is that the Congress did not heed to Muslims calling themselves a “nation”. And Fact is that Muslims FELT insecure (“insecurity” is a feeling) because of that. This led ultimately to separation.
And that is pretty much all that is FACT. The rest is details and details and details. Just more and more stories of how each time Congress could not “see” the Muslims as a “nation”, and how consequently each time the “nation” FELT insecure.

This is all that we INCLUDE in our history and build our identity on.

Now there is one another glaring FACT that we must include in our history, or history will force it upon us in a way we would not be able to handle.

And that fact is that we are NOT a nation. We never were. We “Muslims” came together when we could not bear to see how we, the “rulers of hindustan”, were going to have to COMPETE in a democracy. This is narcissism.

But coming together on a narcissitic notion is NOT nationhood. Its narcissism still. The name a narcissist gives to his narcissism doesn’t change the fact that it is narcissism still.

Immediately after we “got” what we wanted, there was nothing left to feed our narcissism. We had to build a new country which was a much LARGER task than competing in a democracy with the majority, at least the economy would have been shared. Thats a huge relief, we severed ourselves from.
And we are not still ready to leave our stupidity behind.

This is what I asked about to Yasser L. Hamdani. Is there an OBJECTIVE reason the Muslims should separate from India ? I still have to hammer him to come up with something objective.

The fact was that the Muslims were a minority, but democracy as a system is not predatory towards a minority. This was only a ghalat fahmi of the Muslims (and Jinnah too?) that democracy as a system would crush their identity, or perhaps the even greater ghalat fahmi that India was NOT going to be secular or democratic.

Are we going to ever face this ghalat fahmi in the eye ?? This will determine whether we progress, or derail further.

You said:
By casting Jinnah as an unfailing separatist, India avoids tough questions about its conduct leading up to 1947.

What if there was no such “conduct” to begin with? Why doesn’t the “proactive” Muslim nation of Pakistan answer the real TOUGH question: Why did India take a U-turn in its conduct OVER NIGHT on 15 Aug 1947, and instead of crushing the identity of the Muslims living in India, it decided OVERNIGHT to give them their democratic space ??

Why did India decide to go for a system of govt. OVERNIGHT that would eventually result in the weakening of Hindutva, Mahasabha, etc. instead of crushing the Muslims or other minorities ?

Fact is that there are competing nations in India. But is separation better that remaining together and sorting things out democratically ?? Jinnah made the wrong decision here. Bengalis made the right decision. The Baluchis are right to separate. BECAUSE Pakistan was and is not ready to give them their democratic space.

But those getting a democratic space wanting to separate out of immaturity and lack of willingness to face their own inherent weaknesses, rejoicing instead over being a “nation”, are really like our cricket team, praying to Allah for a win DESPITE their weaknesses, but not ready to do something about the weakness, and insisting in being proud to be Muslims. This is also how “Islam” became an integral part of Pakistan’s formation, and continues to be its soothing balm.