Not Committing Another Mistake
Yousuf Raza Gilani, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, made a statement in Islamabad on February 6, 2012, to the effect that ‘Kashmir can no longer afford any other war with India for Pakistan. He said that he had fought four wars with India for Kashmir (1948, 1965, 1971, 1999) but that had yielded no gain, and that the issue of Kashmir can be settled only through negotiation.
This statement made by Prime Minister of Pakistan, reported by both the print and electronic media is adding one mistake to another. Going to war was Pakistan’s first mistake. The second mistake is that of offering to enter into negotiations after vitiating the relationship of mutual trust to the ultimate extent. War is not a simple event. War is a step of the utmost negativity, almost always resulting in an increase in feelings of hatred and a widening of the distance between the two sides. Furthermore, a region which had earlier been of purely geographical significance, now becomes a prestige issue. And when the result of war takes the form of unilateral defeat, it only adds greater conviction to the stand adopted by the victor.
The results of these futile wars of the past have now become a stark reality: the normal atmosphere that prevailed between the two countries prior to the wars has now been totally destroyed. In such a situation there is no further possibility of negotiations bringing about any fruitful result. A normal atmosphere is a must for negotiation; but such an environment no longer exists.
The truth is that, owing to the unwise policies adopted by Pakistan, the path of negotiation is no longer an option. Now what Pakistan must do is to cast the issue of Kashmir into oblivion. It should plan the building of Pakistan without Kashmir. It should erect the edifice of Pakistan’s progress on what it already has in its possession. This is the only wise course for Pakistan to follow.
Peace and Progress
A religious scholar of repute who lives in Islamabad (Pakistan) came to India in February 2012, at which time he visited many Indian cities. In the course of his travels, he had the opportunity to observe Indian Muslims from close quarters. When he met me on February 7, 2012, he expressed his astonishment at how peaceful a country India was and how great the progress Indian Muslims were making. For the Pakistani scholar this was totally unexpected, because through the Pakistani media, he had come to regard Indian Muslims as suffering in every respect, having neither freedom nor any opportunity to make any progress, etc.
The truth is that progress is not related to carving out a separate block for the Muslims, or being highly vocal in launching movements in the name of Nizam-e- Mustafa. Such movements are totally irrelevant to progress. Only two things are required for progress—peace and freedom, both of which exist in India. These are the things that have given the opportunity to Indian Muslims to make progress.
Progress is possible only in normal circumstances, and such circumstances are called peace. The secret of securing peace, in one word, is “status quoism”. Those who want to make progress should never adopt the way of so-called revolutionary movements. They should accept the status quo for whatever it is. They should make peaceful use of the available opportunities, and leave all other things for the future.
Another name for this constructive method is wise planning. Any result-oriented goal can be achieved in this world through wise planning, and not through movements driven by emotion. Emotional politics only exacerbates the situation; it is not going to yield any positive result. The observations of the Pakistani visitor to India should be taken seriously by the people of Kashmir.
The Double Standard of the Leaders
Osama bin Laden, who was killed in Abbottabad in Pakistan on May 3, 2011, had always figured as a dire enemy of the West, and the greatest champion of violent activities directed against the West in the name of jihad. Such was his character as a leader. But his character as a father was totally different.
Zakaria al- Sadah, brother-in-law of Osama bin Laden, stated in an interview with the Sunday Times (London) which was reproduced in the Times of India, New Delhi, February 14, 2012, p.20, that he (Osama bin Laden) had told his own children and grandchildren, ‘Go to Europe and America and get a good education, and live a good life. You have to study, live in peace and don’t do what I am doing or what I have done.’
This is not just an individual case. The same is true of all Muslim leaders of the present times. They teach others to hate the West; they lead the children of their community to the path of violence in the name of jihad, but they want their own children to receive a modern education and settle in Western countries, and lead peaceful lives there. Giving any advice to such leaders will yield no result, for they will never change their stand. But those who support their leaders in ignorance should adopt the way of wisdom. They should never listen to the emotional speeches they make. They should be guided by their reason, and adopt the way of peaceful construction for their children.
The Loss of Emotional Politics
In the wake of 1947, the state of Kashmir became a controversial issue between India and Pakistan. Now after innumerable losses, Pakistan has adopted a wiser policy on this issue, i.e. the Pakistani government has unanimously decided that India should be given the status of the Most- Favoured Nation. This development has been extensively covered in the media (Hindustan Times, New Delhi, March 1, 2012, p.15)
According to this report, India had given the status of Most- Favoured Nation to Pakistan in 1996. In response to this, Pakistan should have followed suit, but Pakistani leaders delayed doing so. They were afraid that the Pakistani people, being sensitive about Kashmir, would react strongly against such a stand.
There is a great lesson for any leadership in this incident. Leaders should never on any issue be guided by their emotions. Adopting a high-profile stance is a very unwise approach for any leadership. For when the public is once provoked by emotional speeches, it loses all sense of realism; however the situation deteriorates, they are not ready to make a U-turn. Their thinking is – they will shed their last drop of blood, but they will not be willing to make any adjustment.
This kind of thinking is anathema to the progress of a nation. In social life, emotionalism never succeeds. The whole equilibrium of life depends upon successful adjustment between one’s own thinking and the thinking of the other party. Matters in social life are not decided on a unilateral basis. They are rather decided on a multilateral basis. It is a fact that in social matters, allowing emotion to direct politics poses an extremely serious obstacle to peaceful living. In social life, matters have to be solved by making concessions to the opposite party, or they are never solved at all.
No Unprincipled Stand
An unprincipled stand should never be adopted in controversial matters, for such a stand inevitably proves counter- productive.
Pakistan provides a recent example in this case, having adopted an unprincipled stand in its “war” with India. It gave weapons to non-governmental organizations, and trained them so that they might wage a proxy war with India. This was done in Pakistan on a large scale. There was a general awareness of this fact in Pakistan. But, according to my knowledge, no individual or organization has condemned it publicly. No one performed the duty of Nahi anil Munkar (forbidding the evil) in this matter .Now after a period of 60 years, this policy has proved destructive for Pakistan. The media have borne witness to this on innumerable occasions.
This course of action was against all principles. According to established principle, the use of weaponry is permissible only for an established government. On no pretext are NGO’s allowed to take up arms. So far as NGO’s are concerned, they have only one of two options: either they confine themselves to working towards achieving their goals in an entirely peaceful sphere or they opt to remain silent. Apart from this, the taking up of arms or engaging in violence means a third option for them. And in this case going for a third option is a crime in itself; it is not at all an act of reform.
In social life, one should be extremely cautious in taking any serious step and only such steps should be taken as are rationally justified. Man should take only lawful steps but if taking lawful steps is not possible, then he should refrain from taking any steps whatsoever. He should rather pray to God to rectify the situation.
Non-Islam in the name of Islam
In March 2012 a Hindu extremist leader on a visit to a prominent Indian city, made a speech in which he said that the Kabah in Makkah had in actual fact been a mandir with idols, but that Muslims had occupied it and turned it into a mosque. Muslims found this speech so outrageous that they marched in a procession through the streets, shouting provocative slogans. Predictably, the situation escalated to the extent of causing Hindu-Muslim riots. People suffered greatly in terms of the loss of life and property.
This reaction on the part of the Muslims was a wholly communal one, and had nothing to do with Islam. Had these Muslims been truly religious, they would have remembered that when the Prophet of Islam started the mission of monotheism in 610 AD, there were several hundreds of idols in the Kabah, but the Prophet was not provoked by this, and continued to call people, peacefully, to accept the message of monotheism.
In such a case, bearing in mind this example set by the Prophet, Muslims should refrain from being provoked by such baseless speeches, and should simply ignore them. They should rather take it as an opportunity to convey to people the message of Islam, just as the Prophet did.
This is an example which shows how present-day Muslims are engaged in non-prophetic activities, ostensibly in the name of following the way of the Prophet. They launch such movements in the name of Islam, as have nothing to do with Islam. Such Muslims must learn that the matter is not going to end in this world itself. They will be questioned in the Hereafter as to how they invented a religion which God had not revealed to His Prophet.
Violent agitation is, without doubt, against the spirit of Islam. Its instigators are never going to receive God’s blessings for such action.. This is the reason why such agitations in present times only aggravate bad situations rather than improve them.
The People of Kashmir on the Day of Resurrection
During one of my journeys to Kashmir I came to know of a significant incident concerning one Mirza Mohd Azam, who worked as a forester in Jammu. It is as follows: whenever he went home after his day’s work (See Al Risala, July, 1978) he would take some sweets or other eatables for his children. One day in September 1975, for some reason, he reached home without taking anything for his children. As usual, the children gathered around him when he arrived. When they did not receive anything from their father, one of his children, a 6-year old called Arshad Mahmud Tariq, said in his local dialect: “Agar tusan asan waste kujh ni anda phir tus kumhane waste aaye?” (If you did not bring anything for us, why did you come here?) The forester was shocked at what his son said. He began to think: Soon I will leave to appear before God. What if God says: “If you have not brought anything for Me, why did you come here?” Then what answer would I have to this question? (p.22)
In this true story there is a great lesson for the people of Kashmir. Kashmir is a region to which people flock from the outside world— tourists from the west and other parts of the world, Hindu pilgrims, Indian soldiers, etc. Their total number is put at about 30 lakhs annually. These people are like madus sent to them by God. They come to the people of Kashmir in order that the latter may convey to them, the méssage of God and tell them of His creation plan.
This is an extremely delicate situation. The time for Doomsday to come is not far off: then all the people of Kashmir will be brought before God on the Day of Resurrection. If at that time, God asks them -- in the context of His having sent to them such large numbers of people, who were unaware of the truth, and their having His book, the Quran in their possession
-- what they had done to make those people aware of the truth, and if the people of Kashmir have no positive answer to this question, and then God asks them: “When you did not do My work, then why did you come here?” --- Then what will be the plight of the people of Kashmir? This state of affairs demands that they think over this question more than anyone else, and without a moment’s delay, begin to perform dawah work in order that the message of God may reach everyone before they die.
The Valley of Peace
There is beautiful natural scenery all over Kashmir—green trees, flowering shrubs, springs, lake and flowing rivers, and with the chirping of birds, and the abundance of fruits and flowers, the whole of Kashmir seems like a garden. This environment of nature is calling out in silent language that here there is no room for hatred or enmity. Engaging in the culture of violence here is totally against the creation plan of God and something which goes against it, can never meet with success in this world of God. In the winter of 2012, Kashmir had a snowfall which was much heavier than usual. Snowfall is a beautiful natural phenomenon. Someone has rightly remarked that it looks like spiritual rain. On February 13, 2012, a Kashmiri Muslim sent the following sms to one of the Cps members: “Kashmir has become white due to snowfall today. White is the symbol of peace. This is the lesson from nature, and violation of the law of nature always leads to destruction.”
This message by a Kashmiri Muslim is like a call from the soul of Kashmir. The soul of Kashmir is calling out in the language of nature that Kashmir, by its very creation, is a valley of peace. Kashmir has been selected by its Creator to convey the message of peace to the world. It is a cradle of nature from which God’s servants may receive the message of peace and humanity. This is the actual role of Kashmir. The secret of success and progress for the people of Kashmir lies in their recognizing this role bestowed upon them by God, and then performing their role in the fullest sense.
