1940 Indian nationalists Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru as well as Muhammad Ali Jinnah leader of the All-India Muslim League call for India s independence. March 1940 Gandhi seeks a unified India after the British Raj is dismantled. Jinnah favours partition of India into Muslim and Hindu states. Manchester Guardian 30 March 1940. 1942 The British government forget about their demands as a substitute it calls on its colonies to present their complete support as struggle rages in Europe. August 1942 Gandhi having said his competition to the British battle effort then starts offevolved a Quit India campaign. This ends in his arrest. Demonstrations and violent protests comply with. 1946 The British Raj begins
https://www.zintro.com/profile/zi7b397c77?ref=Zi7b397c77 to resolve as spiritual groups switch on each different. In Calcutta Muslims fearing Hindu domination once the British depart name for a day of action. Thousands on either side die in the violence. February 1947 The British rent Lord Louis Mountbatten as remaining viceroy of India. His challenge is to transfer strength as speedy as viable. Manchester Guardian 22 August 1946. June 1947 Mountbatten publicizes that partition will pass in advance. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jawaharlal Nehru (a ways left) Lord Mountbatten (centre) Muhammad Ali Jinnah (proper) talk partition in 1947. Photograph: Alamy July 1947 British judge Cyril Radcliffe attracts up the border between India and Pakistan. The swiftly devised plan the use of out of date maps cuts the Punjab and Bengal in half of creating an east and west Pakistan separated by greater than 1 500 km (930 miles) of Indian territory. August 1947 Separate states of Pakistan and India are born. Pakistan s population can be specifically Muslim; India s can be Hindu. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Manchester Guardian 15 August 1947. September 1947 Within days of partition a number of the worst sectarian violence in India s records occur. Hindus Muslims and Sikhs scrambling to get to their aspect of latest borders clash leaving an predicted 1,000,000 dead. Manchester Guardian 24 September 1947.
Mine is a own family of hoarders. Nothing really worth any money sadly however perhaps complete of precious memories. Yet what recollections can old financial institution statements of their original envelopes strength bills and thank-you notes in all likelihood maintain? Age lends even scraps of paper an aura that means you can t summarily discard them. So we supply the trunks with their mysterious contents from place to location and desire someday to find something of cost in them. The different day
http://noisetrade.com/fan/thoughtforday I did: a small battered spectacle case. In it was a pair of Gandhi glasses with the familiar small circular rims. What caught my attention other than my mother s call handwritten inside the case changed into the imprint at the field in gold lettering: Kirpa Ram Pakistan s new Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi today blamed India for the impasse in bilateral ties saying New Delhi s expansionist designs was the main hurdle in constructive relations between the two neighbours. Addressing the nation on its 70th Independence Day Abbasi said Pakistan desires positive and constructive relations with all countries based on sovereign equality. Our government has invariably made efforts to initiate the process of meaningful dialogue and adoption of peaceful means to resolve the issues but unfortunately the expansionist designs of India have remained the main hurdle in this regard he said as Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang attended the celebrations as a special guest of the country. Yang arrived in Pakistan yesterday for the event. He said that China and Pakistan have always stood by each other in difficult times and their friendship will stand the test of time and grow with coming generations. Abbasi called on the international community to play its role in resolving regional conflicts particularly the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan in conformity with the UN resolutions to ensure durable peace in the region. Abbasi 58 was sworn-in as Pakistan s 18th prime minister on August 1 after the Supreme Court disqualified the incumbent Nawaz Sharif for dishonesty following the Panama papers scandal. The people of South Asia have suffered enormously in the last fifty years due to the festering conflicts. Until and unless those conflicts are resolved amicably the people of the region cannot achieve prosperity and progress he said. President Mamnoon Hussain in his address called for unity among the people for a developed Pakistan. He said it is time to forget personal grievances and stand by the Constitution apparently referring to Sharif s ouster as prime minister and his charge that his removal was pre-planned . The day began with a 31-gun salute in the federal capital Islamabad along with a 21-gun salute in provincial capitals to mark the official Independence Day celebrations. Major public and private buildings roads and avenues have been decorated with national flags portraits of the national leaders banners and buntings to give a festive look. Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa hoisted a huge national flag at the Attari-Wagah border with India soon after midnight last night kicking off the day-long celebration. The flag flew at 400 feet the highest in South Asia. The 120x80 feet flag is also the largest in the history of the country Pakistani media reported.
By: Express Web Desk | New Delhi | Updated: August 14 2017 1:14 pm Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. REUTERS/Caren Firouz Related News Pakistan hoists largest national flag to mark 70th Independence Day11 injured in Independence Day celebratory gunfire in KarachiPakistan Afghanistan to work together to fight terror: Shahid Khaqan AbbasiPakistan newly elected Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Monday said the international community needs to play a role in resolution of Kashmir conflict. In a message to his nation on Independence Day Abbasi said It is incumbent upon international community to play its role in the resolution of regional conflicts particularly Kashmir dispute. He further said that the resolution to the conflict should be brought with UN resolution on the subject in mind to ensure durable peace in the region . Talking about Pakistan s relations with neighbouring countries Abbasi said Pakistan desires to have positive and constructive relation with all countries of world especially with its neighbors on basis of sovereign equality. He further went on to say that peace must be attained in the region to lead a prosperous future. The people of South Asia have suffered enormously in the last fifty years due to the festering conflicts. Until and unless those conflicts are resolved amicably people of region cannot achieve prosperity and progress he said. Shahid Abbasi who held the position of Minister of commerce under Yousuf Raza Gillani s regime was elected as the prime minister earlier this month after the disqualification of former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif by the Supreme Court in connection with the Panama Papers. Pakistan celebrates Independence Day on August 14 a day before India. The ousted PM last week said he wants Abbasi to continue as the Prime Minister till the tenure of PML-N government comes to an end. Earlier Sharif had announced that Abbasi will take over the role until his brother Shehbas Sharif is elected as a member of parliament to become premier. According to PML-N sources fears of facing problems in Punjab where Shehbaz is elected as the Chief minister prompted him to change his mind. For all the latest Pakistan News download Indian Express App IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd More Related News Darshan Lal becomes first Hindu to become Pakistan cabinet minister in 20 years Pakistan Oppn leader Imran Khan faces parliamentary probe into sexual harassment Tags: Pakistan Independence Day Shahid Khaqan Abbasi SShivanAug 14 2017 at 1:32 pmWhile our government and ISI will continue to protect Hafeez Saeed and Masood Azhar to create terror in IndiaReply AanilAug 14 2017 at 1:22 pmNo word about Baluchistan problem solving by international community ? Pakistan should not talk about Kashmir . Their talking is increasing deaths of Kashmir people. The day Pakis stop talking of Kashmir the violence and the problems in Kashmir will be solved.Reply DDamodar BiswalAug 14 2017 at 12:38 pmNow that the terrorists of the valley have been marginalised n the separatists r on the run Pakistan is frustrated n does not understand what it speaks.Reply BBirendraAug 14 2017 at 12:19 pmyes I am a international player pakistan should hand over POK and china should handover ahis chin and tibet to india and afgasthistan should allow permanent military bases to indian armyReply LLovelyAug 14 2017 at 11:54 amPhakistan is war monger and R and D for terrorism. First Phak should vacate PoK and return the land given to China also . Pandits should be rehabilatated without conditions e what may.Reply AA RAug 14 2017 at 11:44 amabe chu tiye pak aur india dono ne written signed agreement kiya hai dusara koi desh nahi ayega. tu pahle terrorist ko idhar bhej raha hai woh bandh kar to aage baat hoyegi. Vajpayee ji ni start ki baat to kargil kiya modi ne start ki to pathan kot kiya. roj terrorist ko idhar bhejta hai aur iye problem solve karne ko bolta hai. gadha kahi ka? nalayak ? pure world mein tere desh jaisa ghinona desh nahi hoga.Reply LLovelyAug 14 2017 at 11:43 amActaually there is nothing to solve in Kashmir Valley.Here Nehruvism has utterly failed. Pakis are very poor diplomats.If the Valley is angry and hungry it is their own making.After displacement of Pandits an average Indian has least interest in Kashmir except for its strategic military value. Moreover Kashmir contribution to GDP is lowest. THE PANDITS WERE DISPLACED IN THE YEAR 1989 SINCE THEN KASHMIR HAS BEEN SUFFERING AND ROTTING.IT WILL BE LIKE THIS FOREVER. IN JAMMU AND LADHAK NO PROBLEM WHY KASHMIR ? SO LET THEM ROT. IF KASHMIR HAD MAJORITY HINDUS THIS PROBLEM WOULD NOT HAVE ARISEN. A SIMPLE FACT. .EVEN A NURSERY KID WILL TELL BUT NOT DRAWING ROOM POLITICOS AND WRITERS WHO ARE MENTALLY ILL.Reply GGopal SriniwasanAug 14 2017 at 11:20 amTo ensure durable peace there is 71 Simla Agreement and Lahore Pact signed by the Present PM s leader himself. All this Johny needs to do is read and reread till it gets into his BullheadReply Load More Comments
LAHORE: Pakistan on Saturday hoisted the largest flag in its history at Attari-Wagah border near Lahore to mark the country s 70th Independence Day. Pakistan Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa hoisted the flag at the border at 12 in the midnight kicking off the festivities of Independence Day across the country. The flag is also reported to be the highest one in South Asia and the 8th highest in the world. Made in Pakistan it is 400-feet high and 120 feet by 80 feet in size. Speaking on the occasion Gen. Bajwa said: Some 77 years ago Pakistan resolution was passed in the same city (Lahore). Pakistan came into being on the night of 27th Ramadan - it was a blessed night. Today the country is progressing on the path of the law and the constitution. All institutions are working properly. We will make Pakistan the country of Quaid-e-Azam and Allama Iqbal. Bajwa further said We have rendered many sacrifices - we will never forget our martyrs. We will execute each and every terrorist in Pakistan. I want to tell our enemies whether they are in the east or in the west that your bullets will end but not the chests of our jawans (soldiers). Acknowledging Pakistan s internal and external challenges Gen. Bajwa said I assure you that we will never let you down. Any power that will aim to weaken Pakistan the Army and all other institutions will foil their attempts. Other speakers also paid rich tributes to those killed during migration to Pakistan.
Lahore: Pakistan s national flag today flew at 400 feet the highest in South Asia at the Attari-Wagah border with India to mark the country s 70th Independence Day.The 120x80 feet flag is also the largest in the history of the country Pakistani media reported.Pakistan Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa hoisted the flag near the border after midnight last night kicking off the Independence Day celebrations across the country.The flag is said to be the highest in South Asia and the eighth highest in the world.Gen Bajwa said: Some 77 years ago Pakistan resolution was passed in the same city (Lahore). Pakistan came into being on the night of 27th Ramadan - it was a blessed night. Today the country is progressing on the path of the law and the constitution. All institutions are working properly. We will make Pakistan the country of Quaid-e-Azam and Allama Iqbal. Gen Bajwa enunciated the many challenges Pakistan faced but also tried to drum up the nationalistic sentiment. We have rendered many sacrifices - we will never forget our martyrs. We will execute each and every terrorist in Pakistan. I want to tell our enemies whether they are in the east or in the west that your bullets will end but not thechests of our jawans soldiers . I assure you that we will never let you down. Any power that will aim to weaken Pakistan the Army and all other institutions will foil their attempts. Other speakers at the event also paid tributes to those killed during the migration to Pakistan.(Except for the headline this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
The scrubby lowlands of Jammu are stuck between the Himalayas and the dusty plains of Punjab and home to 19 000 families stuck in time. West Pakistan no longer exists on world maps but in the north Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir clustered in poor villages along the Tawi river there are still West Pakistanis. Like at least 14 million others they fled their homes during the hasty British retreat from India in 1947 when the division of the subcontinent into one Hindu-majority country and another Muslim-dominated triggered religious violence. Unlike those millions the West Pakistanis and their descendants are still officially refugees: citizens of India but stateless inside its borders barred from local government jobs colleges and welfare and unable to buy property or take out loans. They are living embodiments of the lingering scars of partition 70 years on. Map: Pakistan/India border My home village is 8km from here in Pakistan says Melu Ram perched on a woven cot outside his concrete house on the outskirts of Jammu city. A sheet of paper nearby attests that he is a West Pakistan refugee. He has lived in India for seven decades. In West Pakistan now just called Pakistan after the country s eastern wing became Bangladesh in 1971 he spent just a few horrifying days. We had to leave our houses on 15 August 1947 Ram remembers. The day before Pakistan had come into existence. The violence against Hindus started that evening he says. Empty handed wearing only a shirt and lungi Ram his mother and sisters took shelter with other Hindu families in a nearby village. His father had fled to India earlier carrying their most important possessions in a trunk. His grandfather too frail to make the journey stayed behind. He was not touched Ram says. But our valuables cows and clothes were taken by our neighbours and other villagers. Others among the Hindu refugees were less fortunate. Families had chopped limbs their noses had been cut off or their breasts. Many male family members were killed he says. He saw similar violence once the family crossed the river into Jammu Indian territory. I have walked on dead bodies says Ram 86 his cloudy eyes widening. Whoever tried to cross from Pakistan was killed. Muslims killed Hindus. And hearing the stories of those who migrated from West Pakistan people already living here became angry. Mobs from Hindu villages started killing Muslims. Ram joined the column of refugees gradually making their way south through Jammu and Kashmir state towards Punjab. Trailing them on the path was a man known as the Lion of Kashmir . Sheikh Abdullah a towering politician was by then running an emergency administration in the state. He was going from here to the Punjab border motivating those migrating towards the relief camps in Punjab to stay here Ram says. He assured our family and other migrants that the land was empty no one was cultivating it and we should remain. Ram and his family made the decision to turn back to Jammu. I regret it more than anything he says. Jammu and Kashmir is a unique Indian state. It maintains its own flag and constitution. Successive wars have left it divided between Pakistan India and China. It is India s only Muslim-majority state. Most crucially for refugees from West Pakistan when the state s leaders agreed to join the Indian union in 1947 they demanded special guarantees of autonomy including to restrict other Indians from becoming citizens of the state. Its relationship with the rest of India is still uneasy. In the northern Kashmir region separatist movements and armed militias have fought for 30 years to join Pakistan or become independent. Central governments in Delhi have also spent decades eroding the state s political autonomy. In this combustible atmosphere no state government has shown an appetite for integrating hundreds of thousands of overwhelmingly Hindu refugees. Among the cruelest consequences of the limbo West Pakistanis inhabit is that it also extends to their children. Roop Lal was 15 when he discovered he was a refugee in the country where he was born and had lived his entire life. I was not allowed to apply for scholarships for my last years of schooling. I asked my parents why. They said we were West Pakistanis he remembers. Until a recent legal change any woman he married would also have become a refugee surrendering her state citizenship. We don t get daughters for marriage from permanent residents he says. Several times families have approached him to marry their daughters. Later they learn about my status and the engagements are broken off. It often happens he says. No West Pakistanis own their homes. Many live on the properties of Muslims who were killed or fled Jammu in 1947 which they rent from the government for a token sum. Moving elsewhere is a constant temptation. Lal and the estimated 19 960 West Pakistan families living in Jammu are Indian citizens and in a state without autonomous status would be granted their complete rights. A few of my relatives are in Punjab he says. There the tag of West Pakistani is forgotten. Only we are still called that. But we have established our house our social circle here. We don t have the finances to move or anywhere to live there. We ve been here for 70 years. Perversely just as in 1947 politicians continue to encourage West Pakistanis to stay. Every election the central government and local politicians of all parties assure us we will soon get our rights says Labha Ram Gandhi the president of the West Pakistan Refugee Action Committee. India and Pakistan prepare for 70th anniversary celebrations Read more It s due to these hollow assurances we ve been suffering. If they just told us clearly we would get no rights we d have thought otherwise about staying. The fate of the refugees is front-page news again. India s supreme court is hearing arguments in favour of scrapping Jammu and Kashmir s political autonomy. In Delhi the official position of the Hindu nationalist government of Narendra Modi is also for extinguishing the state s special status. Gandhi met Modi last year. He says he begged the prime minister to move his community en masse to other states. He told me you have a duty to stay. You are living on the border areas with Pakistan. If you shift these areas will become abandoned. In 1979 West Pakistanis protested for their citizenship by trying to cross the border back into Pakistan. They were stopped by Indian troops. Nearly four decades later Gandhi is threatening another dramatic step. We are hopeful about this government he says. But if they fail to fulfil our wishes we will take up arms. On the outskirts of Jammu Melu Ram is watching his grandchildren arrive home from school. They are still too young to know they are different from their classmates. He hopes never to have to tell them. Before my last breath I want to see my children getting their rights he says. That s my only desire.
By: Express Web Desk | New Delhi | Published:August 14 2017 5:12 pm This is the second ceasefire violation in north Kashmir by the Pakistani Army in the last 24 hours. (Photo for representational purpose) Related News Shopian encounter: Army bids adieu to three soldiers killed in Jammu and KashmirPakistani shelling keeps residents near LoC away from their homes in NowsheraIndian Army team crashes out of global tank race in RussiaPakistani troops on Monday violated ceasefire and targeted two Indian posts along the Line of Control. The incident happened at Tangdhar sector of Jammu and Kashmir. The firing lasted for more than an hour and no casualties were reported. Pakistani troops violated ceasefire by firing towards our positions at Chath-Khadi Saidapora and Taad in Tangdhar sector at around 2.20 am an army official was quoted as saying by PTI. This is the second ceasefire violation in north Kashmir by the Pakistani Army in the last 24 hours. Three army jawans were injured when the troops opened fire at Indian positions at Baaz Post in Uri at around 4 PM on Sunday. The soldiers were admitted to the 92 Base Hospital of the Army in Srinagar according to Army sources. The troops had also violated the ceasefire agreement thrice in Rajouri and Poonch districts on Sunday. Pakistani Army has resorted to firing and shelling along the LoC in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district a senior district official added. Indiscriminate firing of small arms automatics and mortars took place in the Krishnagati sector of Poonch district. The firing began at 6 AM and continued till 12.30 PM. There was also a brief ceasefire violation by the Pakistani troops along the LoC in Mankote sector of Poonch district on Sunday morning. No casualties were reported. Till August 1 this year there have been 285 instances of ceasefire violation by the Pakistani forces. In 2016 the number was significantly less at 228. (With inputs from PTI) For all the latest India News download Indian Express App IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd More Related News For every Pakistani bullet Indian Army retaliating with 10 says Deputy CM Nirmal Singh High Altitude Warfare School unit scales 2 highest peaks of Kashmir valley Tags: ceasefire violation Indian army Line of Control (LoC) Pakistan Army No Comments.
India and Pakistan mark their 70th year of existence on 14 and 15 August. Seventy years ago both nations stared at an uncertain future after the tumultuous episode of Partition which killed more than a million people on either side of the new border.As Jawaharlal Nehru and Muhammad Ali Jinnah were addressing their respective Constituent Assemblies they knew the task ahead was not going to be easy. Both nations lacked the institutions that could sustain the test of time. Democracy was an alien concept in both countries more so in Pakistan. A model of governance had to be institutionalised through a written Constitution. Moreover both nation-states had a myriad of socio-political issues to resolve ethnic and linguistic sub-nationalism role of religion in state affairs devolution of power to constituents and implementing land reforms.While both countries faced similar socio-economic issues India had the advantage of being the successor state of the British Raj. In 1947 India was home to about a quarter of the world population and ranked among the top five industrialised nations in the world. Pakistan on the other hand was nothing more than an amputated piece of land without a coherent industrial base or
https://www.changemakers.com/users/thought-day-0 even a capital city.In the backdrop of such challenges Nehru and Jinnah came up with impressive inaugural speeches. While Nehru s Tryst with Destiny speech set the tone for India s future role as a responsible voice of the third world Jinnah s secular State speech sought to position Pakistan as a country where every citizen irrespective of his religion will be treated equally.Although Jinnah s speech sounded an antithesis of the very concept of Pakistan a state for the Muslims of India. However both leaders would not have had the slightest of idea on how the destinies of their countries would pan out in the next seven decades.Lord Louis Mountbatten decided on the Partition of the Indian Subcontinent on 3 June 1947. Wikimedia CommonsThe sheer power of personalitiesIndia had Jawaharlal Nehru at the helm of affairs till his death in May 1964 while Jinnah lost his battle against tuberculosis within 13 months of Pakistan s creation as a separate homeland for the Muslims of the Indian Subcontinent.Strong personalities have often shaped the early destinies of countries. Kemal Pasha Ataturk ruled modern-day Turkey from 1923 to 1938 transforming the Islamic Caliphate into a modern secular republic. Similarly George Washington the founding father of the United States led the world s first oldest democracy first as a military leader and then as its inaugural president in the process creating an edifice by which the country still stands by more or less.Despite all his flaws Nehru was an institution builder creating and nurturing several institutions that have endured the test of time. The Election Commission arguably the best-run State institution is perhaps the single biggest contribution of Nehru.Whether every Nehruvian institution was effective is still debatable but nevertheless Nehru turned his vision of a socialist democratic and secular India into reality before he passed away on 27 May 1964.Nehru s impact on India s early history can be gauged by the fact that it was a young Atal Bihari Vajpayee who had paid the richest tribute to his dear Panditji in the Rajya Sabha: A dream has remained half-fulfilled a song has become silent and a flame has banished into the Unknown. The dream was of a world free of fear and hunger; the song a great epic resonant with the spirit of the Bhagwad Gita and as fragrant as a rose the flame a candle which burnt all night long showing us the way. Mother India s beloved prince has gone to sleep. Jinnah died too soon to turn his vision of a Turkey-like Pakistan into reality. However historians still debate whether Pakistan could have become South Asia s Turkey had Jinnah lived long enough to fulfil his dream of emulating his idol Ataturk.But history is the saga of many ifs and buts.The reticent Jinnah never developed a second generation of leadership in the Muslim League. When asked who all he thought helped him achieve Pakistan Jinnah remarked I my secretary and his typewriter .Jinnah s death created a huge void in the national leadership which could never really be filled. Pakistan struggled with political instability the Constitution took nine years to take shape while the idea of democracy failed in the nascent nation-state.India s first education minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad predicted the rise of army in Pakistan. Twitter @INCIndiaIndia s Damocles SwordsIn 1958 General (later field marshal) Ayub Khan took over the reins of the country. Since then the military has shaped the destiny of Pakistan either directly or indirectly.Towards the end of 1960s Ayub had strengthened the military s hold over the State machinery and inaugurated a Constitution establishing a presidential form of government elected by basic electors a concept which was as vague as it sounds.Meanwhile India had begun to take baby steps into the world of democracy. Proving critics wrong India successfully held four general elections. The Centre aided by several states also introduced legislations to implement land reforms albeit with limited success.Between mid-1950s and 1960s India witnessed the climax in two major issues: official language and language-based statehood.Nehru for the record was opposed to idea of creating states based on languages fearing the rise of sub-nationalism. While Nehru s fears might have been true to some extent the move ultimately helped India to enrich the edifice of federalism an idea which was already enshrined in the Constitution.The federalism debate was compounded by linguistic zeal in non-Hindi parts of India. While the federalism debate was being settled the issue of a common language propped up. With none of the languages being spoken by the majority the question was always expected to be the Damocles Sword for the Centre.As the Centre s deadline of 31 January 1965 the day Hindi would become the sole official language approached Tamil Nadu erupted against the decision. Other non-Hindi speaking states like West Bengal too voiced their dissent. It took days of rioting in Tamil Nadu for the Centre to scrap the idea.In 1967 the Union government amended the Official Languages Act 1963 to allow English to continue as a link language until the Parliament passes a resolution to reverse the decision. The Constitution had already accorded the status of official language to 14 (now 22) languages through the VIIIth Schedule of the Constitution.Thus India was saved from possible Balkanisation. Although debatable one can say that India could take such decisions partly due to its perceived commitment to socialist and pluralistic ideals along with the strong leadership provided by the Congress party.But the language issue turned out to be the death knell for the two nation theory in Pakistan.Muhammad Zia ul Haq a Jalandhar-born Punjabi visited India in 1987. Twitter @IndianhistorypicsA farce called two-nation theory Pakistan was the product of the two-nation theory a belief that Hindus and Muslims had always been separate nationalities within India. It did not matter whether Indian Muslims came from different cultures and ethnicity. The proponents of the theory believed that religion will be the glue to stick every Indian Muslim.However the theory proved to be farcical from 1950s onwards when ethnic sentiments emerged in East Bengal over the alleged economic and cultural indifference by Pakistan s western wing.Separated from each other by over a thousand miles religion was the only common factor between the two wings of the country.The obsession with the theory meant that ethnic and language issue was never given serious consideration.Since the establishment of Pakistan it was amply made clear that Urdu would continue to be the national language of the newly-carved nation-state. This is what Jinnah said in a speech at Dhaka: Let me make it clear to you that the State language of Pakistan is going to be Urdu and no other language. Anyone who tries to mislead is merely the enemy of Pakistan. Without one State language no nation can remain tied up solidly together and function. Look at the history of other countries. Therefore so far as the State language is concerned Pakistan s language should be Urdu; but as I have said it will come in time. Nevertheless Bengali was made an official language along with Urdu but it remained so only on paper. Bengali as conventional wisdom suggested was always considered a Hindu language while Urdu came to be signified as the symbol of Islam in the Subcontinent.Federalism as an idea never took off in Pakistan.In 1955 four provinces of the western wing Punjab Sindh Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were unified under the One Unit scheme to bring parity between the two wings of Pakistan. The plan also nullified the numerical advantage of the Bengalis ending up alienating the eastern wing. The controversial scheme was ultimately scrapped in 1970.The Anti-Bengali sentiment
http://www.care2.com/c2c/people/profile.html?pid=789705569 transgressed the economic realm too. The eastern wing was discriminated in the allocation of central funds with western wing receiving 70 percent of the funds between 1950 and 1970.All these factors forced Awami leader Mujibur Rahman to seek more autonomy in the 1960s. However Pakistan s military dictatorship brooked no dissent as Mujibur and fellow leaders were jailed for their demands.Things reached the nadir when Bengali nationalists declared independence in March 1971. Nine months later Bangladesh was born.After the liberation of Bangladesh India signed a friendship treaty with the newly independent country. Twitter @INCIndia Bhuttoism and Indira s India Nine months before India entered the 13-day war with Pakistan which created Bangladesh Indira Gandhi comprehensively won the fifth general elections. But Indira s ascendancy also sowed the seed for her ultimate ouster.With a mammoth parliamentary majority and control over most of India s state governments Indira wielded absolute power. But as John Dalberg-Acton once said Power corrupts but absolute power corrupts absolutely. Indira s new found absolute power soon came under Opposition s fire.The anti-Indira sentiment reached its zenith when the Centre declared Emergency in June 1975. In the next 18 months Opposition was suppressed media was silenced lakhs were forcefully sterilized and a 20-point economic programme was enforced: all this only because she was convicted for electoral malpractice.While Indira s India was flirting with authoritarianism a truncated Pakistan finally saw the dawn of democracy under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. In 1973 Bhutto became Pakistan s first democratically elected leader after drafting the country s third Constitution.For the first time in Pakistan s political history a government pursued an ideology-based policy. Bhutto embarked on a socialist sojourn nationalising heavy industries addressing labour issues implementing two phases of land reforms with limited success and improving ties with the Warsaw Pact countries. In the process Bhutto created a political ideology called Bhuttoism .It was probably the only time in subcontinent s history when both countries seemed to be on the same page on the question of economy.Vajpayee made a historic trip to Pakistan in February 1999 where he and his Pakistani counterpart signed the Lahore Declaration. Reuters1977: watershed year in the SubcontinentIf 1947 was the year both countries won their Independence 1977 was the year when the destinies of two countries took completely opposite turns.After the Emergency was lifted in March 1977 Indira was booted out and the hodgepodge coalition Janata Party led by Morarji Desai came to power. Although the coalition collapsed under the weight of its own contradictions the Janata experiment proved for the first time that the hegemonic Congress could be defeated.While India applied the break on authoritarianism Pakistan applied reverse gear to return to dictatorship.On 5 July 1977 General Muhammad Zia ul Haq overthrew the democratically elected Bhutto government. The racoon-eyed Zia cruelly put his former boss Bhutto to death in an obscure murder case and went on to rule for 11 years. Lacking a constituency of his own Zia introduced Sharia law in a bid to gain the approval of Islamists. While reneging on his promise to hold elections till 1985 Zia consolidated the military as part of Operation Cyclone the covert US plan to back Mujahideens in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan.Zia s policies created the mullah-military complex a byword for rabid Islamisation of the State machinery. The dominant moderate voices were sidelined while Islamism gained ground in Pakistan.The general was also single-handedly responsible for the rise of Pakistan as the motherboard of terrorism .When Zia was planning a non-party election in 1985 Rajiv Gandhi had just won the largest ever mandate in India s history. India s youngest prime minister brought about many reforms in India s democratic system such as penalising defections to bring long-term political stability and reducing the voting age from 21 to 18.Rajiv also gave the initial impetus to empowering India s urban and rural local bodies. In 1992 his idea took form of the 11th and 12th Schedule of the Constitution.The contrast between Zia and Rajiv administrations could not be starker than this: when Rajiv was overhauling the education system through the 1986 National Education Policy Zia regime was busy promoting Jinn sciences with Saudi Arabia s backing.Pervez Musharraf first took power as a military ruler in 1999. He continued in power as president until 2008. ReutersGoing nuclear amid uncertaintyIndia and Pakistan were again at the cross-roads of destiny in the mid-90s.India had three prime ministers HD Deve Gowda IK Gujral and Vajpayee between 1996 and 1999. Coalition politics seemed to be failing once again after the Janata Party and National Front debacles.While India was struggling with coalition politics in its 50th year of Independence Pakistan had elected its most powerful government. In the February 1997 elections Nawaz Sharif secured his second term as prime minister with a two-third majority.If 1977 was politically significant in Subcontinent s history 1998 will go down in history as the year that changed the strategic balance of the region.India conducted its first thermonuclear tests Shakti I and II on 11 and 13 May while Pakistan followed up with its own tests codenamed Chagai I and II on 28 and 30 May.While many argued that the threat of nuclear war loomed after 1998 experts like Sumit Ganguly believed that the nuclear power has brought about a deterred both countries from going for an all-out war fearing MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction). However in his book India Pakistan and the Bomb: Debating Nuclear Stability in South Asia Ganguly also added that Pakistan would indulge in more unconventional warfare emboldened by its nuclear capabilities.In less than a year however the political situation in the nuclear-armed neighbourhood changed; that too in a matter of less than 48 hours in October 1999.A day before Vajpayee was to take oath as the leader of the first majority-enjoying coalition government in India s history General Pervez Musharraf disposed Sharif on the night of 12 October 1999. And the reason for Vajpayee s ascendency to power and Sharif s downfall was the same: Kargil War.Vajpayee went on to become the father of modern coalition politics. The UPA I and II governments that followed NDA I as well as the current NDA II regime have proved the power of coalition dharma .Narendra Modi is the first Indian prime minister from the Right-wing to enjoy a parliamentary majority. ReutersTime to re-route our destinies in the 21st Century?In the 21st Century both India and Pakistan have been victims of Islamist terror. Although in Pakistan s case it was more of its own doing. While the bane of terrorism binds us Pakistan s sponsorship of terrorism sets us apart.In 2013 Pakistan saw a democratic transition of power for the first time a significant event in the country s chequered democracy. However no Pakistan prime minister has ever completed a full five-year term. The one who was expected to break the jinx Sharif was recently dismissed by the Pakistan Supreme Court on corruption charges.Our neighbour is yet again passing through a phase of political uncertainty. But the army does not seem to be taking over the reins
http://www.dead.net/member/thoughtfrday of the country. When Pakistan goes to polls in early 2018 it will be the first time since Independence that two consecutive governments would have completed their full terms. This will be a good sign for democracy in the country.Meanwhile India under Narendra Modi arguably the strongest prime minister after Indira is witnessing the resurgence of the right-wing the gradual repudiation of the Nehruvian legacy and the restructuring of India s governance model.There is however one question that needs to be asked.Will there be any period in future when both nations would simultaneously be moving on the path of stability?Nobody can answer the question right now. Only time will tell whether destiny will keep the two nation-states moving on opposite directions or help bring them closer at some point.
No comments:
Post a Comment