minorities – My Bit for Change

Can We Let Jinnah Speak for Himself?

For over 70 years, the vision of the founding father Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah has been a matter of intellectual debate, where points and counterpoints are made by writers in order to prove validity of their own personal views and vision of Pakistan. Dialogue, discussion and even debate always helps in at least understanding the positive and negative dimensions of an issue. It is highly unfair and unethical to make a generalisation based on an individual understanding of a single incidence, that too considered out of its context. This onslaught has been going on for a long time specifically with reference to the August 11, 1947, speech of the Quaid as the first President of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. This presidential speech is mentioned again and again as perhaps his legal will. No one has the courage to stand up and say that even if a particular interpretation of this speech is allowed, his more than 100 statements contradict this interpretation made by some scholars.

Setting emotions aside’ no one can doubt the honesty, boldness, integrity and clarity of ideas of the Quaid. He was a man of strong principles, integrity and resolution. He never played with words nor with the emotions of people. If we read his post-1940 public policy statements, messages and speeches, he is consistent, coherent and uniform in his views. He never used doublespeak. Let us first understand the context of his address as President of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan.
The Quaid first touched on three social evils that he called “curses” inherited from the colonial past, namely bribery and corruption, black marketing, and nepotism and jobbery. He declared jihad against all these and stated his zero tolerance towards them.

Then he mentioned the mixed feelings among Hindu and some Muslim segments about the division of India into two sovereign states. Respecting their difference of opinion, he advised them to be realistic and accept the ground reality as a unique event in the modern history of mankind. This is because Pakistan is the only country founded on an ideology of two nations based on their faith and not on ethnicity, color, race or geographic territory like the European nation states.

He referred to another national problem of looking at the Hindu or Sikh minority in the context of the communal riots, brutal murders, rape, hate and violence during partition. He said: “As you know, history shows that in England conditions some time ago were much worse than those prevailing in India today. The Roman Catholics and the Protestants persecuted each other. Even now there are some states in existence where there are discriminations made and bars imposed against a particular class. The people of England in the course of time had to face the realities of the situation and had to discharge the responsibilities and burdens placed upon them by the government of their country and they went through that fire step by step. Today you might say with justice that Roman Catholics and Protestants do not exist; what exists now is that every man is a citizen, an equal citizen, of Great Britain and they are all members of the nation.”

In the same context the Quaid said:

“Now I think we should keep that in front of us as our ideal, and you will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the state.”

The context of this statement makes it very clear that he is not talking about relation between “religion” and state which has been haunting the minds of most of the so-called liberal intellectuals globally. The context is Hindu-Muslim riots and violent clashes during partition. He is saying once Pakistan is created, this bitter past need to be buried and like England there shall be no more hate and clash between Hindus and Muslims. They will be just citizens. Why he talks about religious freedom of going to temples and mosques again has to be understood in its proper context. Even before independence that much religious freedom was enjoyed by all religious communities in India. Then why does he mention it?

Dr Javed Iqbal, a known jurist, intellectual and former chief justice and for sure not a ‘fundamentalist’, puts this matter in its proper perspective: “Islamic theology recognises Continue reading “Can We Let Jinnah Speak for Himself?”

Say No to Extremism – Stand Up

What happens when events recur so often that we become accustomed to them? They end up becoming a part of our lives and we learn to live with them.

Pakistan came into existence because it was seen as the sole solution to safeguard the rights of the minority i.e. Muslims. However, the very basis of the creation of Pakistan was soon violated by its people; a country where Quaid had promised utmost respect and security for the minorities became the breeding ground for extremism and intolerance. A country which had been envisioned to be a land of justice has faced nothing but disappointment because we all failed to live up to the expectations of the father of the nation. We have not been able to make the country into what it was supposed to be.

It might be a just argument to say that it’s not the ‘us’ but ‘them’; the terrorists, the extremists, the corrupt politicians and the rival countries adamant to crumble our country. However, we have failed to grasp the fact that in reality we are the ones who are nourishing this injustice and violence. What else can make those militants who are not even 1/10^th of the population annihilate our peace? We believe that we cannot make a difference by talking about sectarianism and genocides, that we are not capable of changing the course of things. We have made our lives congested for ourselves, being oblivious to everything happening around us and remaining silent to the attacks intended at minorities. And once we allowed this oppression to exist, its grotesque growth became inevitable. In our country, each terrorist attack is treated as a forgotten memory and a ghost which lurks to haunt us. “Iss mulk ka kuch nahi ho sakta” and other such phrases define our meek submissiveness to fate. We have entitled ourselves as the ones in disdain, the ones who are helpless.

“The nation which reposes on the pillow of political confidence will sooner or later end its political existence in a deadly lethargy. (Quote by – James Madison)”

We are unaware of our potential, our real power. We are unwilling to believe that we are capable of bringing about the change, the ‘tabdeeli’ that is so much talked about these days. It’s not a single man, a single government that can revive peace in our country overnight. To get rid of the darkness of cruelty we have to gather ourselves, realize our strengths and work together. It’s high time we start owning responsibility for our current condition and realise that it was our negligence which has allowed thousands to be killed till now. Things will not change until we are prepared to change them, until we decide to talk about them and start thinking about the solutions. Discussing an issue is the first step towards eliminating it. Instead of running away from things which scare or hurt us, we should face up to them and start our own war against them, for peace. We should take the fate of our land in our own hands and work for its betterment and make sure that the sacrifices that were made to claim this piece of land which we call home don’t go in vain.

With Friends Like These

Is safeguarding the life and rights of religious minorities a responsibility of the government? In the context of Pakistan, present or past, it appears not to be the case.

So is the targeted killing and persecution of religious minorities actually a credit to the government?

If you follow a certain Mr. Faisal Raza Abidi, it would seem so. For wherever Faisal Raza goes these days, he wears the badge of minority rights with great pride and greater pompousness. It’s quite mesmerizing actually.

For instance, I was dumbfounded when I saw him invoking the names of Shia leaders, at the top of his voice, to batter an anchor into submission. The fact that these leaders had been killed on the watch of a PPP government that seemed not in the least bit interested, or bothered, about their life or death, was lost on Abidi.

We have seen a lot in the last four years or so, granted. But vying for political mileage over dead bodies? That too of people you were sworn to and failed to, or didn’t want to, protect. I really cannot come up with an analogy.

You may ask what allows Abidi and company to get away this. How can they stand by and watch as their citizens are butchered and then shout about it on TV? Well, it’s the media, or a certain section of the media.

This is the section that lays claim to be the champions of free speech, of tolerance and are great friends of the minorities in Pakistan. They are also great friends of the PPP, but don’t say that out loud. Irony, isn’t it?

It’s peculiar how these mild mannered folk, who believe in tolerance and abhor abusive trolls, love the slightly less mild mannered Mr. Abidi. It’s also peculiar how they oversee, every day, what the PPP has done to minorities in Pakistan.

How? The “Deep State” (Establishment)! It remains the refuge of the PPP apologist. They hide behind it, pleading that their liberal party is helpless. They say the party’s hands are tied.

Yet there is much they don’t say.

They don’t say how there is more sectarian strife in the country today than when the military was directly in power, under Musharraf. They don’t say how the siege of Shia-Hazaras in Balochistan intensified under the current regime or how the PPP Chief Minister can’t even feign pity for them. Let alone the President.

They don’t say how this government has failed to control growth of sectarian outfits throughout the country, from Sindh to Gilgit to Balochistan. They don’t say that the PPP has failed to introduce stricter anti-terrorism legislation either. Apparently, the ‘Deep State’ wanted to do away with the third time prime minister clause instead? It also demanded public office holders be granted immunity from contempt proceedings.

It’s not that these people don’t have a voice. They speak ferociously enough, just not when the “secular” parties are involved. Just imagine, if “Sheeda Tully” was involved in forceful conversion of Hindu girls. But it was a PPP MNA, so he’s safe. Similarly, imagine if a ‘Right-Wing’ government were to incarcerate an eleven year old Christian girl on blasphemy charges. Now imagine the state of the self-proclaimed liberal anchors, writers, bloggers and activists! Exactly!

The fact is, an ulema council has actually come out to support the girl. In the meantime, former Prime Minister, upholder of the constitution and champion of the masses, Yousaf Raza Gillani has claimed credit for Bhutto’s Ahmadi achievement.

None of these champions of minority rights will ask the PPP why they have been this inhuman, this unmoved and this complicit in the atrocities committed. They will instead write one harrowing tale after the other, each ending before the victims can lodge a complaint against their government. A government that not only abandoned them, it persecuted them as well.

It is, however, a PPP government, so that must not make it to the papers. It doesn’t need to, man. You wrote a vague story from a distant land, such bravery would put a lion to shame. You outdid yourself sire. Your best article ever, for the third time this week! And it goes on..

Young “jiyalas” don’t grow up to be unbiased commentators. A Radio only broadcasts its feed. Institutes don’t fund themselves.

There is so much this county has given to minorities, isn’t there. And prominent among our many gifts – are friends like these.

Zofia and Władysław Turowicz – Pakistanis By Choice

I, the author of this memorial, am a 31 years old urban female who lives in a big developed capital city of the 18^th wealthiest economy in the world and every single day I am fed with stories of blasts and bombings and picture of hostile Muslim world, especially Pakistan.

However I am an orientalist focused on East Asia and a traveller. So my mind embraces the core of the matter and not just the media image. Yet I humbly admit that I was always reluctant and afraid to go to Karachi or Islamabad having impression that I will be either abducted or killed in an ambush as a foreigner.

My surprise however was big when today on the radio I heard about the death and burial of Zofia Turowicz. Both she and her husband left Poland in 1939 to join the battlefield of the Second World War. The political changes on the map of Europe never allowed them to go back because Stalinist regime hunted down intellectuals and officers of pre-war independent Poland. Mrs Turowicz or Turowiczowa how her last name is gendered in old-style Polish, was one of the first ever Pakistani gliding teachers who created gliding training programme, the basis for later military pilots, as early as in 1950. She stopped military career in 1957 and later worked at the American School and the University of Karachi where she taught applied mathematics and other core subjects.

Her husband Władysław Turowicz died in 1980 after long term career in Pakistani military aviation industry and forces. He came to Pakistan in 1948 and his wife joined soon after for the three-year contract with Pakistan Air Force which aimed to transform Pakistan Air Force into permanent and effective Air Force of the region. Turowicz set up technical institutes in Karachi. He taught and revitalized Pakistan Air Force Academy as its chief scientist. He initially led the technical training in the airbase and a part of the Polish specialists in the technical section in Karachi. However, they were transferred and accommodated in Peshawar.

In 1952, Turowicz, along with several Polish fighters, were promoted to the rank of Wing Commander. He was also promoted to the rank Lieutenant Commander when he became an Air Force Commander of Pakistan Air Force’s Chaklala Airbase. Promoted several times again along with other Polish Air Force general, became an Air Commodore and a Deputy Chief of Air Staff, in charge of Pakistan Air Force Training Department.

Turowicz was involved in building the face of what is called modern Pakistan. His service added to the pride of the new nation and likely added Polish sense of being statesman to the military and scientific personnel he trained over the years.

During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Turowicz along with other Polish pilots rose to prominence and fame as they helped in successfully defending Lahore and Pakistan. Turowicz, Squadron Leader Anotnii Zbigniew Jedryszek, and other Polish pilots were awarded the Sitara-e-Pakistan. Honorary Pakistani citizenship was also bestowed upon Turowicz, as well as, some other Polish pilots by the President of Pakistan, Ayub Khan.

Turowicz was actively and heavily involved in Pakistan’s space program. According to his close sources, Turowicz was passionate and fascinated with the Russian and American space program. In 1966, the Government of Pakistan transferred him to SUPARCO, Pakistan’s national space agency, where he worked as a chief scientist and an aeronautical engineer. Together with noted Pakistani theoretical physicist, Dr. Abdus Salam, who later won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1979 convinced president Khan to launch space program for peaceful purposes. He was sure that Pakistan will develop rocket technology and launch its first satelite due course of time. He insisted on sufficient funds for research and development of this sector. His prediction came true, when 10 years after the death of Air. Mar. Gen. Władysław Turowicz, Pakistan launched its first indigenously developed experimental digital communication satellite from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, People’s Republic of China aboard a Long March 2E. His vision did come true but unfortunately, he wasn’t there to see it.

He successfully convinced the United States Government to invest and train Pakistan’s scientists in the field of rocket technology. He is widely credited with setting up the rocket fuel factories and rocket technology laboratories and research institutes in Pakistan. He was one of the chief designers of Sonmiani Satellite Launch Centre.

He did not stop with Space Programme though. Turowicz initiated himself Nuclear weapons programme in 1970 and laid foundation of research and production that led to Pakistani independent source of Nuclear military potential.

His entire family lived in Pakistan ever since they have entered the country in 1948. His three daughters live in Pakistan and two of them married Pakistanis.

Zofia and Władysław Turowicz were partners both on the ground and in the air where she often joined him as a navigator during his flights. They both had independent military aviation careers before arrival to Pakistan and had been multiawarded and internationally recognised gliders and para shooters.

They are both buried at the catholic cemetery in Karachi in Pakistan and both had been awarded Pakistani citizenship.

Their story reminded me to watch the world with my own eyes and be even more curious and even more brave and less cuffed in the ready stereotypes I am being fed everyday by media and society.