During last few years, Pakistan has been in the news in context of extremism. People somehow feel that our society is a radical and extreme one. I feel that this perception is partially true.
I try to figure out some of the factors which have been playing some role in giving our society current shape. Please go through them patiently to have better understanding of Pakistan and Pakistanis.
I think that all the perceptions which are made about Pakistani people are mainly based upon the information gathered through few resources like media and selected individuals which might not be true representative of the reality. Sitting thousands of miles away from a society and making guesses is not the real method to judge it, best way to know about us would be direct contact and not total reliance upon media and allies:-)
Following are the few major factors which have been contributing to the extremist philosophy and actions in Pakistan.
1): Lack of broader knowledge and practice of Religion:-I try to figure out some of the factors which have been playing some role in giving our society current shape. Please go through them patiently to have better understanding of Pakistan and Pakistanis.
I think that all the perceptions which are made about Pakistani people are mainly based upon the information gathered through few resources like media and selected individuals which might not be true representative of the reality. Sitting thousands of miles away from a society and making guesses is not the real method to judge it, best way to know about us would be direct contact and not total reliance upon media and allies:-)
Following are the few major factors which have been contributing to the extremist philosophy and actions in Pakistan.
Right from the creation of Pakistan in 1947, we have been facing this dilemma that not many people had broader and realistic picture of Islam. It is true that many people in Indian Subcontinent accepted Islam quite quickly but only this step was never enough. Islam is a broad, deep and diverse source of information and it requires a good amount of study and research to be understood to a satisfactory extent.
It was never going to be easy to understand and to follow a System and i don't see that there was enough research made about how to make connections between religion and ground realities of Pakistani society. I think we always tried to follow Islam strictly and in the form in which it was revealed in Arabian Peninsula about 1400 hundred years ago.
It shows love and sincerity of our people towards Islam. However, I think that unfortunately we ignored four important factors in this context: first, ground realities (culture, society, educational system, language, history etc) in South Asia were quite different as compared to Arabic culture; second, Islam was about 1400 years old so there were naturally changes due to time difference; third, dynamic aspect of Islam which helps in adaptation to the new challenges, lacknesses and needs; fourth, Islamic sources of guidance i.e. Quraan and Sunnah are in Arabic language. not many people tried to learn Arabic language and relied upon translations. There is always a chance of loss of information while translation from one language to another. In addition to that there could be intentional/unintentional manipulation in the meanings by the translator.
Here, I don't mean that Islam was/is unpractical in our society or at any other place; it is a universal and dynamic religion but still with change in ground realities and with time, it itself provides flexibility to adapt but people somehow ignored it and as a result made their lives difficult.
When a person does follow a belief but is unaware of the system which must be followed due to this belief then it creates a lot of conflicts. That person is going to struggle in real life when he/she can't find solutions to his/her problems by the help of his belief. He would quickly turn angry and emotional when he can't defend his belief; reason is simple, he does not know what he has to say and to do due to his/her belief.
The half baked scholars so called Mullahs did not let any chance to misuse the sincere intentions of people towards Islam. There are many ill traditions and theories which ignorant people attach to Islam e.g. in some areas people make a marriage of the girls with Quraan, just to deprive them of their legal share in wealth of father/mother etc, women are forced for the marriages sometimes, many murders happen in the name of protection of respect etc. All these and others similar forms are forbidden in Islam but people are unaware mostly. They prefer their cultural and inherited customs over rules of Islam.
In this case, problem is not with belief rather problem is due to lack of understanding of system attached to the belief. It is very much possible that ignorantly a person is doing something which is totally detrimental to his/her belief.
A simple example: Suppose that a belief is like a very strong racing car which could win a race if used properly but if driver of that car, who loves the car(belief), is unaware of the system of the car, doesn't know about driving rules and regulations then what might be the result? That driver will not only lose race but also will be a big danger for other participants of the race.
Similarly our society is a heavy racing car(having strong belief in God) but there are many illiterate drivers. This not only lead to many different groupings of Muslims but also divided society into extreme poles.
Solution: To make more research about Islam and to increase its awareness among people in Pakistan. Any other solutions would be short lived!!! If people will not get enough education of Islam then their love and sincerity towards it would always be used/misused.
It was never going to be easy to understand and to follow a System and i don't see that there was enough research made about how to make connections between religion and ground realities of Pakistani society. I think we always tried to follow Islam strictly and in the form in which it was revealed in Arabian Peninsula about 1400 hundred years ago.
It shows love and sincerity of our people towards Islam. However, I think that unfortunately we ignored four important factors in this context: first, ground realities (culture, society, educational system, language, history etc) in South Asia were quite different as compared to Arabic culture; second, Islam was about 1400 years old so there were naturally changes due to time difference; third, dynamic aspect of Islam which helps in adaptation to the new challenges, lacknesses and needs; fourth, Islamic sources of guidance i.e. Quraan and Sunnah are in Arabic language. not many people tried to learn Arabic language and relied upon translations. There is always a chance of loss of information while translation from one language to another. In addition to that there could be intentional/unintentional manipulation in the meanings by the translator.
Here, I don't mean that Islam was/is unpractical in our society or at any other place; it is a universal and dynamic religion but still with change in ground realities and with time, it itself provides flexibility to adapt but people somehow ignored it and as a result made their lives difficult.
When a person does follow a belief but is unaware of the system which must be followed due to this belief then it creates a lot of conflicts. That person is going to struggle in real life when he/she can't find solutions to his/her problems by the help of his belief. He would quickly turn angry and emotional when he can't defend his belief; reason is simple, he does not know what he has to say and to do due to his/her belief.
The half baked scholars so called Mullahs did not let any chance to misuse the sincere intentions of people towards Islam. There are many ill traditions and theories which ignorant people attach to Islam e.g. in some areas people make a marriage of the girls with Quraan, just to deprive them of their legal share in wealth of father/mother etc, women are forced for the marriages sometimes, many murders happen in the name of protection of respect etc. All these and others similar forms are forbidden in Islam but people are unaware mostly. They prefer their cultural and inherited customs over rules of Islam.
In this case, problem is not with belief rather problem is due to lack of understanding of system attached to the belief. It is very much possible that ignorantly a person is doing something which is totally detrimental to his/her belief.
A simple example: Suppose that a belief is like a very strong racing car which could win a race if used properly but if driver of that car, who loves the car(belief), is unaware of the system of the car, doesn't know about driving rules and regulations then what might be the result? That driver will not only lose race but also will be a big danger for other participants of the race.
Similarly our society is a heavy racing car(having strong belief in God) but there are many illiterate drivers. This not only lead to many different groupings of Muslims but also divided society into extreme poles.
Solution: To make more research about Islam and to increase its awareness among people in Pakistan. Any other solutions would be short lived!!! If people will not get enough education of Islam then their love and sincerity towards it would always be used/misused.
2): Misuse of Concept of Jihad(Physical war):
During the war of Afghanistan, it was needed that a lot of people should be trained to fight against Russia. Since this war was an urgent need and true scholars of Islam were not taken into confidence for the decision in this context. Half baked so called scholars of Islam(Mullahs) were used to propagate the message to prove to the innocent people that this war was a holy mission and Muslims must participate in it.
I feel that both the Mullahs and Fighters for this war were brainwashed(by powers and intelligence agencies) and used for this temporary task and direction! I think it was not planned that what to do with such brainwashed individuals after war is over. These Mullahs and Fighters did not had enough capabilities, education and skills to integrate into society, they mostly knew how to fight since they were trained for it. Today, Pakistan and Afghanistan are reaping the results in the form of group of individuals who see physical fight only way out from problems. I personally feel that it is not true Islamic methodology i.e. to talk in the language of fights/threats only, it creates uggly and difficult situations for everyone!
Here i will say that Pakistan, USA and other powers must have been wise enough to plan how to integrate these Fighter Machines(Jihadis) after war is over! I can't understand that when these people were fighting against Rushia they were supported, cheared and trained but after war was over they and other civilians were killed like animals and branded with all possible dirty tags!
Solution: These brainwashed individials need to be treated very carefully, intelligently and sincerily. Killing and cheating these people would increase problem further! One needs to talk to them and build trust, these people must be shown the real and broader picture of reality. Love, care and respect can win hearts and not the missiles and guns can do it!!! Intelligence agencies and powers must be requested to stop from plotting dirty tricks to further misuse innocent brains.
3:) Diversity, Corruption and Dictatorship:
Quite unfortunately true goal and system for the Pakistan were never clearly decided and followed. This country was created in the name of Islam and this was wonderful achievement but later this objective was somehow lost. At the start of the creation of Pakistan, this baby state was very weak in economic, social, defence, political and management sectors. Pakistan was not given even agreed shares in money, weapons and other resources at the time of division. Although things gradulally improved but still a lot needs to be done.
Our society is quite diverse in many aspects e.g. there are quite a few religions and sects(e.g. it contains Muslims(more than 90%), Christians, Hindus, Sikhs etc and sects like Sunnies, Shias, Wahabies etc) , there are those who are native in Pakistan and there are those also who migrated to Pakistan at its creation time, people have contrast in context of wealth, there are many communities(e.g. Balochis, Sindhis, Kashmiris, Punjabies and Pathans etc), there is difference in context of educational qualifications(starting from PHDs to total illiterates) , in context of political influence etc. Such a diversity required individuals who could keep people together but it was not realized.
Political,religious and other forms of corruption have been common and uncontrolled. We had to bear many dictators mostly from army. They were not the only people who made lives of Pakistani people difficult; politicians, religious people and bureaucracy also did not forgive poor people.
To run the affairs of state, is not the business of Army men, they are trained with different view and methodology. Their brains are normally not very flexible and broader to fix delicate political problems. Although sometimes they sincerely wanted to help Pakistan, they miserably failed and brought many problems to us. They mostly tried to use methodology of divide and conquer like sometimes they supported one party, sometimes other one, sometimes created religious fronts etc just to control things.
Politics has been mostly revolving around only few families who possesed resources, had contacts and influence. Most of them were illiterate. This small bunch of politicians only fought for personal gains at any cost to society, politics in our society mainly meant to tell lies and to cheat people.
Bureaucracy has been like a wild horse since normally no one asked them what they were doing and why? They were used by the Politicians and Intelligence agencies for the vested interests and vice versa.
Judiciary also has been servant of Army and Politicians! People did not have any place to get comfort and compensation. As a result society became a place full of crimes and there were no rules and regulations except the rule of power.
Most of religious people obviously lacked the competence and they mostly escaped all kind of accountability and control. They learned and propagated normally only that part of religion which suited their personal interests.
So all these factors lead to a society full of despair, corruption and aggression.
Solution: Religious, human and national attachments are the main factors which can keep people united so they must be used. Army must avoid politics and politicians must be sincere and educated ones, Bureaucracy should be controlled through a good system of check and balance, Intelligence agencies should be brought within rules and regulations, Judiciary should get responsible and must lead from the front and religious people need to learn more and practice themselves sincerely first what they learn.
In part 2, i would mention few more reasons e.g. educational system, Media, external invasions and Kashmir conflict etc.
I feel that both the Mullahs and Fighters for this war were brainwashed(by powers and intelligence agencies) and used for this temporary task and direction! I think it was not planned that what to do with such brainwashed individuals after war is over. These Mullahs and Fighters did not had enough capabilities, education and skills to integrate into society, they mostly knew how to fight since they were trained for it. Today, Pakistan and Afghanistan are reaping the results in the form of group of individuals who see physical fight only way out from problems. I personally feel that it is not true Islamic methodology i.e. to talk in the language of fights/threats only, it creates uggly and difficult situations for everyone!
Here i will say that Pakistan, USA and other powers must have been wise enough to plan how to integrate these Fighter Machines(Jihadis) after war is over! I can't understand that when these people were fighting against Rushia they were supported, cheared and trained but after war was over they and other civilians were killed like animals and branded with all possible dirty tags!
Solution: These brainwashed individials need to be treated very carefully, intelligently and sincerily. Killing and cheating these people would increase problem further! One needs to talk to them and build trust, these people must be shown the real and broader picture of reality. Love, care and respect can win hearts and not the missiles and guns can do it!!! Intelligence agencies and powers must be requested to stop from plotting dirty tricks to further misuse innocent brains.
3:) Diversity, Corruption and Dictatorship:
Quite unfortunately true goal and system for the Pakistan were never clearly decided and followed. This country was created in the name of Islam and this was wonderful achievement but later this objective was somehow lost. At the start of the creation of Pakistan, this baby state was very weak in economic, social, defence, political and management sectors. Pakistan was not given even agreed shares in money, weapons and other resources at the time of division. Although things gradulally improved but still a lot needs to be done.
Our society is quite diverse in many aspects e.g. there are quite a few religions and sects(e.g. it contains Muslims(more than 90%), Christians, Hindus, Sikhs etc and sects like Sunnies, Shias, Wahabies etc) , there are those who are native in Pakistan and there are those also who migrated to Pakistan at its creation time, people have contrast in context of wealth, there are many communities(e.g. Balochis, Sindhis, Kashmiris, Punjabies and Pathans etc), there is difference in context of educational qualifications(starting from PHDs to total illiterates) , in context of political influence etc. Such a diversity required individuals who could keep people together but it was not realized.
Political,religious and other forms of corruption have been common and uncontrolled. We had to bear many dictators mostly from army. They were not the only people who made lives of Pakistani people difficult; politicians, religious people and bureaucracy also did not forgive poor people.
To run the affairs of state, is not the business of Army men, they are trained with different view and methodology. Their brains are normally not very flexible and broader to fix delicate political problems. Although sometimes they sincerely wanted to help Pakistan, they miserably failed and brought many problems to us. They mostly tried to use methodology of divide and conquer like sometimes they supported one party, sometimes other one, sometimes created religious fronts etc just to control things.
Politics has been mostly revolving around only few families who possesed resources, had contacts and influence. Most of them were illiterate. This small bunch of politicians only fought for personal gains at any cost to society, politics in our society mainly meant to tell lies and to cheat people.
Bureaucracy has been like a wild horse since normally no one asked them what they were doing and why? They were used by the Politicians and Intelligence agencies for the vested interests and vice versa.
Judiciary also has been servant of Army and Politicians! People did not have any place to get comfort and compensation. As a result society became a place full of crimes and there were no rules and regulations except the rule of power.
Most of religious people obviously lacked the competence and they mostly escaped all kind of accountability and control. They learned and propagated normally only that part of religion which suited their personal interests.
So all these factors lead to a society full of despair, corruption and aggression.
Solution: Religious, human and national attachments are the main factors which can keep people united so they must be used. Army must avoid politics and politicians must be sincere and educated ones, Bureaucracy should be controlled through a good system of check and balance, Intelligence agencies should be brought within rules and regulations, Judiciary should get responsible and must lead from the front and religious people need to learn more and practice themselves sincerely first what they learn.
In part 2, i would mention few more reasons e.g. educational system, Media, external invasions and Kashmir conflict etc.
