To: sazhar@nyc.rr.com
Sent: 2/20/2008 11:20:24 P.M. Eastern Standard Time
Subj: Debate About Pakistan's Genesis
Begin forwarded message:
From: macd@ime.net
Date: February 17, 2008 5:55:39 PM EST
To: shaheryar.azhar@gmail.com
Subject: Re: More Comments on "Pakistan - What Next? By Shaheryar Azhar"
I see you stirred up a real hornet's nest, which is always fun. What seems to be upsetting your members (and their fathers) the most is your contention about the role of the British, as opposed to Jinnah, in creating two separate states. I have to admit, I know hardly anything about the actual historical facts but I always did have the impression that Jinnah was actually upsetting not just Gandhi's but the British apple cart as well in holding out for two states. What makes you so sure that either he was working with the British or they were behind the scenes hoping for that outcome (and Shaheryar, keep in mind that almost all the 'knowledge' I have of the break-up comes from the movie "Gandhi!").
Mac Deford
MODERATOR'S COMMENT: By way of background this forum in its 12-years has provided space for addressing taboo subjects. The first taboo subject we touched very early on was the army - its incompetence, corruption and predatory nature. The second was the 'Islamic' and therefore, retrogressive nature of the state because religion and politics never mix well. The third taboo subject has been the need for reinterpretation within Islam or the long-awaited debate between Muslims. That is the real debate as opposed to the distraction everybody gets caught up in i.e. the so-called debate between the West and Muslims. And now the fourth - the genesis of Pakistan. It is my hypothesis that almost every major ill or weakness of the state of Pakistan can be traced to the manner in which it came into existence. Each time we have touched a taboo subject, the uproar has been the same - intense and sometimes real nasty. In time, it dies down usually because those making most noise get full airing. But since the point they are fighting also gets full airing - in time, everyone gets used to it and forgets that once just talking about the subject openly and in public was taboo. Being attacked personally is painful to this moderator every time, but holding an honest dialogue about the most critical issues with reason and politeness and in accordance with one's conscience also makes it worth its while - every time!
Proof of British desire to leave a partitioned country is both actual and deductive (I am told that Cambridge University has published 10 volumes of all British papers pertaining to India from 1942 to 1947 costing over $3,000, which I understand make fascinating reading) Further:
(1) "In 1905 the British governor general, Lord George Curzon, divided Bengal into eastern and western sectors in order to improve administrative control of the huge and populous province. Curzon established a new province called Eastern Bengal and Assam, which had its capital at Dhaka. The new province of West Bengal (the present-day state of West Bengal in India) had its capital at Calcutta, which also was the capital of British India. During the next few years, the long neglected and predominantly Muslim eastern region of Bengal made strides in education and communications. Many Bengali Muslims viewed the partition as initial recognition of their cultural and political separation from the Hindu majority population. Curzon's decision, however, was ardently challenged by the educated and largely Hindu upper classes of Calcutta. The Indian National Congress (Congress), a Hindu-dominated political organization founded in 1885 and supported by the Calcutta elite, initiated a well-planned campaign against Curzon, accusing him of trying to undermine the nationalist movement that had been spearheaded by Bengal. Congress leaders objected that Curzon's partition of Bengal deprived Bengali Hindus of a majority in either new province--in effect a tactic of divide and rule. In response, they launched a movement to force the British to annul the partition. A swadeshi (a devotee of one's own country) movement boycotted British-made goods and encouraged the production and use of Indian-made goods to take their place. Swadeshi agitation spread throughout India and became a major plank in the Congress platform. Muslims generally favored the partition of Bengal but could not compete with the more politically articulate and economically powerful Hindus. In 1912 the British voided the partition of Bengal, a decision that heightened the growing estrangement between the Muslims and Hindus in many parts of the country. The reunited province was reconstituted as a presidency and the capital of India was moved from Calcutta to the less politically electric atmosphere of New Delhi. The reunion of divided Bengal was perceived by Muslims as a British accommodation to Hindu pressures."
(2) British papers that show that they put up Sir Mohammad Iqbal (revered equally or just behind Jinnah), Pakistan's national poet, to go to London and convince Jinnah to come back to India from his self-imposed exile and assume leadership of Muslims.
(3) British papers that show advice by Churchill to Mountbatten to take "special care of the Muslims, their interests and Jinnah because t"hey have been most loyal to us".
(4) British papers that show the Governor of NWFP (province bordering Afghanistan) writing to the viceroy why it was essential to ensure NWFP, then ruled by an ally of Gandhi, voted to join with Pakistan
(5) British papers that show how senior Muslim leaders from the Unionist party in Punjab who opposed Jinnah were being prodded by the British to come closer to Jinnah's position.
(5) No one from Muslin League was ever put behind bars by the British, but all major and minor Indian leaders (led by Gandhi and Nehru) spent long years behind bars.
(6) Jinnah was a difficult man to deal with because he was such a masterful pleader for his cause. However, he was difficult strategically for the Indians but only tactically for the British.
There is no other way to deal with Pakistan's problems other than with total honesty and candor, which has been long denied and still not publicly permitted in Pakistan. If as a result another view emerges after all the evidence is compiled, this moderator, will be the first to change his mind. Shaheryar Azhar, moderator, The Forum
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