INDEPENDENCE DAY
HAS Pakistan really come to stay? In facing and finding an answer to this question lies the true celebration of this third anniversary of the foundation of Pakistan.That Pakistan has surmounted heavy odds is admitted by friend and foe. He must, however, be a bold prophet indeed who would predict that it is out of the wood. All that may reasonably be claimed for it is that it has turned the corner. It will be some time before an answer could safely be given to the above question in the affirmative.
India (the greater part of it) has never accepted partition. Independence Day in India has been announced as a day of mourning by this section of the people, since, as put by the Mahasabha President, it connotes the vivisection of Bharat, the land of Hindu faith and Rishis. The poser at the top assumes added significance against this background.
The Mahasabha openly demands a slice of territory to be chopped off from East Bengal and added to the West, or, failing that, the annexation of East Pakistan by force. Is Pakistan capable of taking up this challenge? Until we can confidently say ”yes” to this all-important question, it will mean a false sense of security to assume that Pakistan is on safe ground.
The fate of 40 million Muslims in Bharat is another standing challenge to Pakistan. Nehru-Liaquat Pact has affected only surface cure. Underneath, the furnace of communal bitterness burns unabated. Leading newspapers in Bharat are out to torpedo the Pact. This means a black and dreary future for Indian Muslims. Shall Pakistan keep quiet while 30 million of their kith and kin across the border are made scapegoats to the wild dream of Hindu Raj?
The three million of Kashmiris under the heels of Indian soldiery are still crying for deliverance. It constitutes an act of open high-handedness against Pakistan. If Kashmir goes, Pakistan will not be worth much. And yet it looks that it can never come to Pakistan, short of war. Under the intoxication of power, India is flouting the will of the United Nations and making plebiscite impossible. That body has not the guts to enforce the dictates of justice and fairplay against a powerful country, thereby reducing its democratic professions to a farce.
On this Independence Day, the millat must know where exactly it stands. The path of Pakistan is still beset with Himalayan difficulties. The parades and processions must not lull us into false “All-is-well” feeling. Facts tell a different story. Pakistan is yet in the thick of the battle. And the nation must gird up its loins and brace up to the struggle that lies ahead.
This is the meaning of the Day of Independence which the nation is to celebrate on August 14. Pakistan is yet faced with a serious threat to its very existence. The nation must be inspired with a new determination to face this danger. With Unity, Faith and Discipline, mountains may yet be moved. Pakistan has a magnificent army, with a high morale. It is a great reservoir of manpower and is gifted with abundant natural resources. Its greatest strength, however, lies in an oft-forgotten quarter – in the Islamic character of its people. There is, however, very little realization of the fact that Islam is the greatest need and security of this Islamic state. Those who think that Pakistan will save Islam are thinking in an upside-down way. Pakistan without Islam will crumble like a house of card. Pakistan’s greatest danger, however, lies in this very direction. Islamic character is not much in evidence. The secret of Pakistan’s security lies, not so much in armaments or manpower or heavy industries, as in the burning glowing faith in the bosom of the Muslim.
On this Independence Day, let the nation, out of a sheer instinct of self-preservation, embark on a quest after rediscovering the lost spark of faith. That is the key to Pakistan’s security. But for this no state can long survive.
“The earth is inherited by the righteous people (Salihin)” – declares the Holy Quran.
(Al-Anbiya (The Prophets) 21:105)
M.Y. K.
(Wednesday, August 16, 1950)
