August 1947 brought freedom from foreigners who ruled India and exploited its resources to enrich the British. Indian politicians insisted they must rule their native land. The British, who built roads, railways, schools and hospitals, left India. Had the British been defeated in 1857 and independence came a few decades earlier, would we still have all that railroad and infrastructure that carried us until now?
Nation-states, that replaced dynastic-empires, went through transformation rather quickly. Two states that separated a culturally homogeneous nation Germany, became one. A state that united multiple nationalities broke into smaller units. The Czechs and Slovaks parted ways and Yugoslavia broke after bitter genocidal wars. Cultural-identity related fault lines decided the fate of some conflicts but the new states desire integration on an international level. Globalization and Internationalism is an irreversible reality that inspires participation or precipitates inclusion.
The two states that British Empire delivered in South Asia, India and Pakistan, imbibed the same desire of nation-building but experiments carried out in each of them were quite different. India adhered to a pluralist democracy despite bitter conflicts between communities. Pakistan ventured on creating one nation. Jinnah prescribed one language. Religious identity had already been the binding force for the movement of secession from India.
Building an army must have been a hot trend. The eternal pacifist, great leader of non-violence Mahatma Gandhi’s views were reported in The Times, on September 27, 1947, under the headline “Mr. Gandhi on ‘war’ with Pakistan”:
“Mr. Gandhi told his prayer meeting to-night that, though he had always opposed all warfare, if there was no other way of securing justice from Pakistan and if Pakistan persistently refused to see its proved error and continued to minimise it, the Indian Union Government would have to go to war against it. No one wanted war, but he could never advise anyone to put up with injustice. If all Hindus were annihilated for a just cause he would not mind. If there was war, the Hindus in Pakistan could not be fifth columnists. If their loyalty lay not with Pakistan they should leave it. Similarly Muslims whose loyalty was with Pakistan should not stay in the Indian Union.”
Soon after its inception in August 1947, Pakistan sent a rag-tag militia into Kashmir. The army became the most important pillar for survival in Pakistan’s ideology, besides Islam and Urdu. Class and ethnic rivalry flared conflicts that were doused by military power. The army became the care-taker, direct-ruler and ultimately the owner of Pakistan.
Democracy never flourished and the majority opted out after a genocidal operation in 1971. The remainder Pakistan kept up with the high cost of maintaining a big army. Impoverished citizens were squeezed and international bidders solicited. Everything else, education, police, infra-structure, rights of smaller provinces and minorities were shelved for keeping the boots of the soldiers shining. The civilian elite helped the army in this exploitation. Urdu gave way to the language best suited for international aid-collection and religion became deceit, thievery, oppression and murder.
Millions of Pakistanis were made destitute by the floods and thousands perished but the international community is reluctant in coming forward to help. The money they give could end up in grooming Islamist militia that strengthens Pakistan’s army in lording over a country of 180 million.
Pakistan has declined into no-governance. A communal anarchy could be seen in the largest city Karachi. Skills of deception and corruption are displayed with pride. Society has fallen apart. Without international-aid this nation-state will perish.
A self-rule, based on global-ethic, at the local level, has become necessary at this time.
Freedom and religion were abused like another false promise of food and shelter in Pakistan.
The following poem by Dr. Shams Hamid glances through some realities of the sub-continent that I tried to explore in my article above.








