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From threatening Pakistan in 2011 to holding hands with Nawaz Sharif, Modi has come a long way

http://www.dawn.com/news/1228759/from-threatening-pakistan-in-2011-to-holding-hands-with-nawaz-sharif-modi-has-come-a-long-way

Madressah reforms

IN the National Action Plan (NAP), points 10 and 18 convey the state’s resolve to register and regulate madressahs and eradicate sectarian terrorism. Both actions fall primarily within the preview of the criminal justice system but we are still far from achieving these objectives. We need to undertake a forensic analysis of the madressah landscape in Pakistan before we can move forward.

The commonalities and differences bet­ween formal education and madressahs can be identified through a diagnostic approach whose terms of reference should include the following: what percentage of school dropouts is attracted by madressahs? Is there any established link of madressah curriculums with militancy and terrorism? Are madressahs really spreading sectarianism and extremism? Is integration of madressahs into the formal education system a viable option?

Would it be appropriate to reform madressahs in isolation or should such reforms be part of broader educational reforms? What are the hurdles in communication between government and madressahs? What is the actual number of madressahs and their students?

Where schools are absent, madressahs are an alternate educational facility. Our madressahs have multi-dimensional characteristics, including political, sectarian and foreign leanings. According to the report The Madressah Conundrum, there are approximately 35,000 seminaries in Pakistan. Organised under five boards of different ideologies, most of them are of Deobandi and Barelvi persuasion and, according to media reports, are imparting religious education to approximately 3.5 million students.

There has been a mushroom growth in the number of women’s madressahs, and the reasons for this should be explored. Although a clear breakdown of male and female madressahs is unavailable, it is estimated that girl students constitute 30pc of the total strength.

Foreign students in madressahs are not really an issue. Over the years, strict government regulations as well as the obsolete curriculums taught at madressahs, have led to a 74pc reduction in foreign students’ enrolment. In 2006, there were 10,117 foreign students from 45 countries enrolled in Pakistani madressahs; currently, the figure is down to 2,673 from 37 countries.

Religious leaders too have been the target of militancy.
A total of 182 suspect madressahs have been closed since NAP was announced. Of these, two were in Punjab, 167 in Sindh and 13 in KP. A research-based study can determine how many graduates of madressahs have been involved in militancy or criminal activities. Has anyone devised a programme to integrate madressahs into the formal education system? How about examining the ways in which the clergy can be used to counter extremism?

Section 21 of The Societies Registration Act, 1860, which was inserted in 2006, requires registration of madressahs within one year. Originally the act was meant to cover the registration of literary, scientific and charitable societies in colonial times. As per Section 21, madressahs must submit annual reports of their educational activities and audited accounts to the registrar’s office. Section 21(4) clearly states that such institutions shall neither teach militancy nor spread hatred.

Seminaries are generally regarded as traditional educational facilities not compatible with modern educational values. However, such perceptions need to be objectively evaluated. For their part, madressahs, which tend to believe that curriculum and management are their exclusive jurisdiction — in the process of which they neglect curriculum development and teacher training — must cooperate with the state and prove they are not in conflict with it.

Without a partnership between academic institutions, madressahs, the National Counter Terrorism Authority, investigation and intelligence agencies, it will be difficult to determine the exact linkages between madressahs and militancy.

Reforms cannot be effective until the reasons for mistrust between the clergy and state are understood. For the majority of the clergy, madressah reforms are an initiative driven by an external agenda with foreign funding.

After 9/11, and more recently following the announcement of NAP, madressah reforms once again are in the forefront. However, reforms without the clergy’s participation prove futile. Although registration is a legal requirement, madressahs do not want to surrender their autonomy. To equip the faculty with modern teaching skills, it is imperative to establish teacher training colleges for mohtamims at provincial levels. They should be trained in human rights, religious tolerance, interfaith harmony and computers.

One should not forget that madressahs too have been the target of militancy. Religious leaders like Maulana Hassan Jan and Maulana Sarfaraz Naeemi lost their lives at the hands of extremists against whose tactics they spoke out.

Madressahs should not be seen as an adversarial educational system but rather as an alternative. But it is the state’s responsibility to regulate them.
By MOHAMMAD ALI BABAKHEL
The writer is a police officer.
Source: http://www.dawn.com/news/1225968/madressah-reforms

Bad Governance & Democracy

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Let me start with the famous remark made by Winston Churchill on democracy: “Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” It is quite common in Pakistan to see people complaining against democratic governments over every major or minor issue. There is widespread public disappointment with the performance of governments today, but this has always been the case whenever we have had elected governments. Let us acknowledge, with open minds, that dynastic leaders, parties, the electoral elite, political families and powerful political groups, in every region of Pakistan, have very few achievements and little success to show to the public. They are long and strong on rhetoric and very short and weak on performance.
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One more thing in our social and democratic context is very important, which is also true for other Muslim majority societies, i.e., the solid connection between misrule and rise of extremism, terrorism and militant ethno-nationalism. Misrule is perhaps a polite and benign expression for the massive plunder of Pakistan by the ruling elite, often elected on the strength of illegal monies and strong political networks they have created. Most of the ruling elite have little respect for the people of this land or any real interest in the development of this society. They are here for the easy money they can make and when the going gets a little tough, they escape to their safe havens abroad — and live in peace, prosperity and happiness.

The rise of radicalism in every Muslim society has been a real cause of the neglect of education, rule of law, good universal values and governance. Unlawful behaviour of the elite and the immunity they enjoy through their power and political clout, have in turn produced many forms of illegalities in society. The deterioration of values, decline of institutions and weakening of laws and their implementation have spread to every part of society. Political catchwords like ‘we have done nothing wrong’ and ‘no court has convicted us’ tell us more about the failure of the system of accountability than the innocence of all famous and infamous political players of the country. Their conduct in power has created a vacuum of ethical legitimacy that has been effectively exploited by radical ideology, which argues that the failure of the ruling elite is actually the ‘failure’ of Western democracy, and that elected public figures are nothing but ‘tools’ of Western powers.

Add to this pervasive social discourse and popular narratives at the lower levels of society is the problem posed by our young population that is without adequate, let alone good education, and has limited employment opportunities and avenues for personal progress. Indeed, these are all serious problems that may continue to pull Pakistan down. Ignoring these problems, which are often associated with democracy and ‘democrats’, is not an option anymore.

What is the alternative to bad democracy? Frankly speaking, none. After four military interventions and more than four democratic movements as well as the restoration of the Constitution, democracy has emerged as a ‘default position’ for Pakistan. Our institutional endowment for democracy is far stronger than any other Muslim state’s, and we have a long history of development of political and state institutions going back to colonial times.

We have the means to improve conditions under democratic rule, and we know how others have transformed bad democracies into good ones. Chief among them is public awareness, which is better than before. We have laws and institutions that need to be strengthened and should be made to work in the areas of accountability and rule of law. Pakistan’s future progress, order, stability and coherence depend on good democracy.
By Rasul Bakhsh Rais: The writer is a professor of political science at LUMS
http://tribune.com.pk/story/997619/living-in-a-bad-democracy/
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Fuss over good governance:

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By Imtiaz Gul:
The Pakistani media has been awash with heated debates over the ‘unconstitutionality’ of the concerns on good governance that General Raheel Sharif conveyed during the November 10 Corps Commanders’ conference. Opposition members of parliament pounced upon the army chief’s advice in order to settle scores with the government. The discourse in the media clearly stemmed from the civilian government’s displeasure over the advice coming from a “constitutionally subordinate institution”.

But was this really something unusual given Pakistan for decades has been guided by the military establishment and an erratic, self-serving civilian ruling elite? Certainly not. So, why all the fuss? Let us first see how the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific defines good governance. It describes it as “decision-making by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented)”. It also identifies eight major characteristics that constitute good governance: a system that is participatory, consensus-oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive, and follows the rule of law. It assures that corruption is minimised, the views of minorities are taken into account and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. Can the federal and provincial governments claim they are following all or some of these ingredients of good governance? The answer is largely in the negative on many counts.

Despite Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s rosy projections, Pakistan is ranked a lowly 138 out of 189 countries on the World Bank’s Doing Business 2016 ranking. Has the government elevated or jolted the confidence of multinationals already operating in a fragile situation? We understand that the FBR is acting like a ‘robber baron’ to extract funds for its IMF-dictated resource mobilisation campaign. In a high-handed, unbecoming manner, individuals and businesses are being asked to cough up funds to meet IMF demands. This state of affairs will certainly not encourage foreign investments, nor will other countries remove travel advisories for those of their citizens intending to visit Pakistan.

The recent Midterm Report Card for Members of National Assembly (MNA), launched by Alif Ailaan, states that only three out of a total of 272 elected MNAs managed an overall ‘A’ grade in the scorecard for progress in terms of school facilities, student retention, gender parity and the student-teacher ratio in public schools of their constituencies. So much for the democrats’ love and commitment to education! Has the Model Town case of 2014 or the Kasur child sexual abuse case been resolved to the satisfaction of the aggrieved? What steps have been taken so far to review and amend the dated Criminal Procedure Code or the 1861 Police Act — both being at the root of low conviction rates, heavy pendency and unreasonably protracted trials often to the disadvantage of the poor and the victims?

Has the Punjab government followed principles of transparency, fairness and the rule of law when approving funds for the Orange Line project or for the security of the Sharif family in Jati Umra? Removal of reluctant government officials and replacing them with yes men certainly doesn’t bespeak good governance. Hospitals, even in provincial and federal capitals, are extremely short on critical, life-saving vaccines and equipment, such as ventilators. Hospital administrations have to wait for months to get petty amounts approved, while pregnant women are forced to give birth on the stairs of hospitals. On the other hand, the bureaucracy and chief ministers hardly waste a minute in approving tens of millions for their own security, with some 2,751 police officials already in the service of the entire Sharif family. Is this good governance? Has the government transparently resolved fiascos such as the Quaid-e-Azam Solar Park and Nandipur project? Or do ‘democrats’ believe that the poor man’s vote makes them accountable for their deeds?

The list of such questions is endless and this obligates civilian rulers to handle the poor man’s trust, i.e., votes, with some sincerity. All stakeholders — politicians, bureaucracy, the military, media and the civil society — are supposed to raise concerns when there are administrative lapses and legal deviations, more so in a culture where abuse of power and deviation from the rule of law are norms. Votes from the public do not give our rulers the carte blanche for arbitrary and self-serving governance. Questions, like the ones raised by General Raheel, will continue to be asked as long as rulers continue to abhor the rule of law and transparency.
The writer heads the independent Centre for Research and Security Studies, Islamabad and is author of Pakistan: Pivot of Hizbut Tahrir’s Global Caliphate
http://tribune.com.pk/story/997587/fuss-over-good-governance/

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Paris equals Peshawar?


Can Paris and Peshawar have a fundamental moral equivalence at some basic minimum level? Can we in Pakistan say with all our hearts that slaughtering of innocent men, women and children cannot be justified under any pretext? Can we bring ourselves to genuinely proclaim that there must be no ‘but’ when condemning the slaughter of innocents? If the answer is yes, it proves we can de-complicate the layers upon layers of toxic arguments in favour of violence against ‘others’ that we have internalised over the decades.

But if the answer is in the negative, or falls somewhere in the middle, let us then admit that our supposed consensus against terrorism rests on very thin ice. As it does for the United States. And the United Kingdom. And France. Washington, London and Paris do not shed tears for Islamabad when blood splatters on our soil. Their domestic consensus on terrorism is a consensus on keeping them safe. Their history is based on ‘otherness’ and therefore hard-nosed policy trumps humanity, and self-interest dominates universal principles of compassion and the intrinsic value of human life.
Read full article :
http://tribune.com.pk/story/991537/paris-equals-peshawar/

FEATURED POSTS


The political instability in Pakistan is generally attributed to the frequent military interventions, though apparently true but history is witness that military only intervenes once incompetent corrupt politicians fail miserably. The people always welcome the change, but after few years the military rulers also fail to deliver and leave in more mess. Then "Democracy" is restored but again they are booted out, the cycle continues. keep reading >> 
More Featured Posts:
  1. Corruption
  2. Altaf Hussain - MQM & Pakistan Politics - Analysis
  3. Ideology of Pakistan - Debate 
  4. Bad Governance & Democracy 
  5. Liberalism, Secularism & Islamism  
  6. Peace in pluristic societies through tolerance
  7. Role of Ulama in Islamic state 
  8. Democracy and governance 
  9. Peril of ignoring the building blocks of knowledge..   

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Peace in pluristic societies through tolerance

“The people of India thrived in a pluralistic society from the time of Ashoka until the British arrived there and started their divide and rule policy,” said historian Dr Mubarak Ali.

“There are two kinds of societies –– pluralistic and monistic. Pluralistic society is a diverse society based on tolerance for all kinds of beliefs whereas theories of monism give way to a society where there is no freedom of thought and everyone is expected to have one belief. There are examples of such societies in old Europe where wars over religion and ideology would take place and people who didn’t follow Christianity migrated from their lands in their search for peace,” Dr Mubarak Ali said.

“During the Mauryra period Ashoka realised the effects of war over petty issues of difference and thought of starting a model secular and united society where all religions are accepted by everyone. Then when the Turks arrived in India, things further improved as they brought with them technology which improved the status of artisans and craftsmen. There were the Sufis, too, who saw the goodness of God Almighty in all people and hence everyone was equal. India also saw the Bhakti Movement that saw Bhagat Kabir go from village to village to educate people through his songs of devotion.

“Then we see during the Mughal era, Babar telling Humayun not to slaughter cows as the animal was considered holy by the Hindus and slaughtering cows for food would hurt the feelings of that community. He also made him respect the worship places of Hindus and all other religions. Within the kingdom all festivals were celebrated to promote harmony. Then in Akbar’s era there was a universal peace policy. Rajput Hindus got posted on big positions as traditions of sati or marrying girl children were abolished.

“Places of worship were open to all religions, too. Due to Akbar’s policies, the Mughal Empire grew stronger. He bound India together and made it united,” the historian narrated.

“The intolerance for other religions that we see in our society now is basically a thing from the British era in India. The British believed in divide and rule. But we also have before us the successful example of pluralistic societies. Doctors don’t ask a patient’s religion before treating him or her. We should all be like doctors to remedy an intolerant society. Our politicians should cure our society like that.”

In his address, religious scholar Dr Mohsin Naqvi focused on the wrongs in society. “There are two basics –– sin and crime,” he said. “Crime can be punished in this world but sin is punished by God. There are three types of people when they commit sin are not looked at as sinners –– children, people who are sleeping and those who may be mentally ill or not of sound thinking,” the scholar explained.

“There can be several crimes being committed here that may be reviewed as actions of insanity such as serial killing or compulsive theft. Because committing a murder or theft once is a crime but doing it again and again points towards something wrong in one’s head.”

By Dr. Mubarik Ali, the historian, speaking at a national symposium titled ‘Medical sciences, spirituality and mental health’ organised by the United Medical and Dental College (UMDC) in collaboration with the Dow University of Health Sciences. Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2015
http://www.dawn.com/news/1216669

Earthquakes – through science and religion

An earthquake is ground shaking caused by a sudden movement of rock in the earth’s crust. Such movements occur along faults, which are thin zones of crushed rock separating blocks of crust.

When one block suddenly slips and moves relative to the other along a fault, the energy released creates vibrations called seismic waves that radiate up through the crust to the earth’s surface, causing the ground to shake.

Related: Google launches ‘Person Finder’ to help locate missing persons in Pakistan, Afghanistan earthquake

Plate Tectonics

Earthquakes may last only a few seconds or may continue for up to several minutes. They can occur at any time of the day or night and at any time of the year. They are caused by stress that builds up over time as blocks of crust attempt to move but are held in place by friction along a fault. (The earth’s crust is divided into large plates that continually move over, under, alongside or apart from one another atop the partly molten outer layer of the earth’s core)

When the pressure to move becomes stronger than the friction holding them together, adjoining blocks of crust can suddenly slip, rupturing the fault and creating an earthquake.

Religious Belief

According to Islamic scholars, earthquakes are one of the great signs of Allah in this universe, with which He tests His slaves as a reminder or to instill fear of Him or as a punishment.

When Our Torment reached them, why then did they not humble themselves (believe with humility)? But their hearts became hardened, and Shaytaan (Satan) made fair‑seeming to them that which they used to do.
So, when they forgot (the warning) with which they had been reminded, We opened for them the gates of every (pleasant) thing, until in the midst of their enjoyment in that which they were given, all of a sudden, We took them (in punishment), and lo! They were plunged into destruction with deep regrets and sorrows” [al-An’aam 6:42-44]
DUA: It is better for everyone to beseech Allah in supplication and so on when earthquakes and similar events, such as thunderbolts and strong winds, happen, and to offer prayers on his own in his house lest he be negligent, because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said, when the wind blew strongly: “O Allaah, I ask You for its good and the good of what is in it and the good of what it is sent with, and I seek refuge in You from its evil and the evil of what is in it and the evil of what it is sent with.” Narrated by Muslim.

Also recite the Kalima and Astagfirullah alternately because the one who dies with Kalima on lips will go to paradise and the one who repents Allah loves them

Hadith: “Whosever last word is lailahaillaAllah will enter Jannah”

“…And beg Allah to forgive you all, O believers, that you may be successful.”

Quran (Surah An-Noor, Verse 31)

A WAKE UP CALL: “And if the people of the towns had believed and had the Taqwaa (piety), certainly, We should have opened for them blessings from the heaven and the earth, but they belied (the Messengers). So We took them (with punishment) for what they used to earn (polytheism and crimes).” [al-A’raaf 7:96]

CHARITY: It is also mustahabb (recommended, encouraged) to show compassion to the poor and needy, and to give charity to them, because the Prophet (PBUH) said: “Show mercy, you will be shown mercy.” (Narrated by Imaam Ahmad, 2/165)

FEAR ALLAH: “And whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty). And He will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine. And whosoever puts his trust in Allah, then He will suffice him.” [al-Talaaq 65:2-3]

How Do Earthquakes Affect People?

Although thousands of earthquakes occur in the world each year, most are too small to affect us. Earthquakes of larger magnitude, however, which release more energy during fault ruptures, can be hazardous, exposing us to the risk of harm or loss.

The stronger ground shaking generated in such events is unlikely to affect people directly (other than by startling or frightening them). It is what these ground motions can do to the natural and man-made environments around us that can significantly affect us by endangering our lives, property and livelihoods.
Earthquakes – through science and religion; by Khawaja Daud, en.dailypakistan.com.pk

http://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/earthquakes-through-science-and-religion/

How Churchill Fought The Pashtuns in Pakistan

“Horrible and revolting” – that’s how 22-year-old British cavalry officer turned war correspondent for The Daily Telegraphnd Pioneer newspapers, Winston Churchill, described in a dispatch what he saw when entering the ruins of the village of Desemdullah in the Mohmand Valley in British India’s Northwest Frontier (today’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province  in northwestern Pakistan) on the morning of September 22, 1897.

Pashtun tribesmen had unearthed the 36 bodies of fallen British and Indian soldiers, hastily buried a few days earlier in unmarked graves, and mutilated them beyond recognition. “The tribesmen are among the most miserable and brutal creatures on earth. Their intelligence only enables them to be more cruel, more dangerous, more destructible than the wild beasts. (…) I find it impossible to come to any other conclusion than that, in proportion that these valleys are purged form the pernicious vermin that infest them, so will the happiness of humanity be increased, and the progress of mankind accelerated,” a shaken and sulfurous Churchill jotted down in his notebook that day.

The Pashtun tribesmen, the forebears to today’s Pashtun insurgents in Afghanistan and Pakistan, had risen against the British in 1897 due to the division of their tribal territory by the Durand line in 1893, as well as the gradual British occupation of Pashtun lands. They rallied under the leadership of the Pashtun fakir Saidullah, nicknamed “Mad Mullah,” by the British, who declared a “jihad” against British India and rallied more than 10,000 warriors to his cause.

Pashtun warriors under Saidullah attacked forts and camps guarding the Malakand Pass and by doing so threatened British control of the entire Northwest Frontier. ”The British held the summit of the Malakand Pass and thus had maintained the road from the Swat Valley and across the Swat River by many other valleys to Chitral,” Winston Churchill summarized the strategic importance of the pass in his autobiography My Early Life.

The British reacted quickly and assembled  a punitive expedition, the so-called Malakand Field Force, to pacify the Pashtun tribes along the Afghan-Indian (today’s Afghanistan-Pakistan) border. The force included young Churchill, who for around $420 (in today’s value) per piece, wrote a number of dispatches under the heading of “The War in the Indian Highlands,” which were signed—much to Churchill’s consternation, since he wanted to become famous through his writing—“By a Young Officer.”

Yet, finding the mutilated corpses on that September morning put a slight temper on the “medal hunter” as he was sometimes dismissively called. Some of the desecrated dead he found in Desemdullah were young British soldiers of his age, perhaps bringing home for the first time the realities of war to Churchill, who joined hoping “like most young fools” that “something exciting would happen” while he was with the troops.

Churchill would later on sardonically boast in My Early Life that luckily for those, like himself, who were fond of war “there were still savages and barbarous peoples. There were Zulus and Afghans, also the Dervishes of the Soudan. Some of them might, if they were well-disposed, ‘put up a show’ someday.”

And a show the Pashtun tribesmen in the ten-mile long Mohmand Valley, located in the mountains to the northwest of Peshawar, did put up. In fact, they had beaten back the British-Indian force sent against them, under British Brigadier-General P.D. Jeffreys, which sustained 149 casualties. Churchill saw some of the British wounded himself with “their faces drawn by pain and anxiety, looked ghastly in the pale light of the early morning.” Even the general had received a head wound and wore a uniform covered in his own blood. “It was not apparently all a gay adventure,” Churchill would later write.

The battle was a setback, but the British—“the dominant race” in Churchill’s words—would wreak terrible retribution on the “the savages” and step up their even campaign of burning villages and killing everyone in their path who resisted. “After today we begin to burn villages. Every one. And all who resist will be killed without quarter,” Churchill wrote to a friend that September. “The Mohmands need a lesson, and there is no doubt we are a very cruel people.” In his autobiography he matter-of-factly noted how the British went about their business:

We proceeded systematically, village by village, and we destroyed the houses, filled up the wells, blew down the towers, cut down the great shady trees, burned the crops and broke the reservoirs in punitive devastation.

He goes on to note that whenever the Pashtun tribesmen would put up resistance the British would lose two to three officers and 15 to 20 Indian soldiers.  However, “no quarter was asked or given,” Churchill noted, “and every tribesman caught was speared or cut down at once.”

Time and again he praised the endurance of the British soldier in his dispatches and compared them—true to his imperialist credo-favorably to their Indian comrades-in-arms. “The soldiers of India naturally feel the effects of the climate less than those from cooler lands. This, of course, the British infantryman will not admit. The dominant race resent the slightest suggestion of inferiority. (…) This is the material for empire‑building.”

The young war correspondent was also apparently not a fan of what today would be called a “hearts and mind approach” in dealing with insurgents, at least so he claims in My Early Life.  He dismissively talks about political officers, who “parleyed all the time with the chiefs, the priests and other local notables,” which made them very unpopular among fellow army officers.

He singled out one particular efficient British envoy who always “just when we were looking forward to having a splendid fight and all the guns were loaded and everyone keyed up, this Major Deane and why was he a Major anyhow? so we said being in truth nothing better than an ordinary politician would come along and put a stop to it all,” by seeking some sort of diplomatic accommodation between a tribe and the British.

True to his bellicose nature, Churchill conversely rather believed in the power of the dumdum bullet, a soft-point bullet that expands upon impact, and the well-aimed volleys of British and Indian soldiers, who, when they caught them in in the open, killed thousands of Pashtuns, and proved the British poet Hilaire Beloc’s truism right that “whatever happens, we have got The Maxim gun [a type of machine gun], and they have not,” when reminiscing about the uneven clashes between imperialists and natives in the late 19th century.

Indeed, the campaign against the Mohmand tribe would come to a rather swift end in early October 1897, with the tribesmen agreeing to hand over their rifles and promising to live peacefully (at least for a while). Churchill rejoined his regiment, the 4th Hussars, stationed at that time in Bangalore. The punitive expedition had cost the British Raj 282 men killed or wounded out of a force of roughly 1,200. Pashtun casualties are unknown but some estimates are as as high as 10,000. In January 1898, the Malakand Field Force was officially disbanded and the soldiers returned to their garrisons.

While embedded with the troops Churchill saw “more fighting than I expected, and very hard fighting too,” the overall commander of the Malakand Field Force, Major-General Sir Bindon Blood later recalled. More than once, Churchill saw people around him killed (“The British officer was spinning just behind me, his face a mass of blood, his right eye cut out,” as he recounted in one instance.), endured the sight of massacres, the agonizing cries of the wounded, and the psychological toll of fighting, what in Victorian eyes, must have been a merciless enemy encapsulated in Kipling’s The Young British Soldier: “When you’re wounded and left on Afghanistan’s plains, And the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle and blow out your brains…”

Churchill does recount on a few occasions in letters what today (and back then) without a doubt would be considered war crimes on the British side. For example, he saw how Sikh soldiers of the British-Indian Army torture and slowly kill a wounded Pashtun tribesman by shoving him little by little into an incinerator that slowly melted the skin off the poor man’s bones amidst his agonizing cries. The other side was not much better. “The tribesman,” Churchill wrote in a letter, “torture the wounded & mutilate the dead. The troops never spare a man who falls into their hands – whether he be wounded or not . . . The picture is a terrible one.”

While admitting to acts of barbarism on both sides during the campaign, he never condemned it, although he felt the need to assure his mother in a letter that he himself, during his six week stint as a war-correspondent, did not commit any heinous acts. “I have not soiled my hands with any dirty work,” he wrote to her.

Dismissing the entire region and its inhabitants as uncivilized —“savages impelled by fanaticism”—he did not expect his side or the enemy to follow the rules of gentlemanly (European) warfare he had been taught at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. As a result, it must have been easier for him to shed the horror of war, dismissing it as an abnormality in the conduct of warfare and something that would not occur during the clash of “civilized nations.” For him, a child of the Victorian period, war remained a game, best exemplified by Sir Henry Newbolt’s poem Vitai Lampada, coincidentally first published in 1897, the same year that Churchill was fighting on the Northwest Frontier:

The sand of the desert is sodden red, -
Red with the wreck of a square that broke; -
The Gatling’s jammed and the colonel dead,
And the regiment blind with dust and smoke.
The river of death has brimmed his banks,
And England’s far, and Honour a name,
But the voice of schoolboy rallies the ranks,
“Play up! play up! and play the game!”

That war will be like a game of cricket, of course, turned out to be a fatal miscalculation; one that Churchill was not alone in making around the turn of the last century.

How Churchill Fought The Pashtuns in Pakistan
by Franz-Stefan Gady, thediplomat.com
http://flip.it/lpj2Q

Power Politics & Religious Shism - Urdu

یومِ عاشور اور وقتِ دعا
آج یومِ عاشور ہے۔خوف میں لپٹاہوا ایک دن‘ جوامن کی دعا کے ساتھ طلوع ہوا اور اسی دعا کے ساتھ ڈھل جائے گا۔
اسلا م کے ساتھ تین حادثے گزر گئے۔ایک یہ کہ اسے تزکیہ نفس کے بجائے،سیاسی عصبیت کی علامت بنا دیا گیا۔دوسرا یہ کہ اس کی باگ ان ہاتھوں میں چلی گئی جو نا اہل تھے،نیم خواندہ۔تیسرا حادثہ یہ ہوا کہ سرمایہ دارانہ نظامِ معیشت کے زیرِ اثر،مذہب جنس ِ بازار بن گیا۔اس کا ایک مظہر یہ ہے کہ میڈیا نے اسے شو بز کا ایک حصہ سمجھ لیا۔ اس کے دو نتائج واضح ہیں:اسلام ، مسلم دنیا میںکسی سنجیدہ تحقیق کا موضوع نہ بن سکا۔دوسرا یہ کہ مذہب اپنے اصل مقصد ،تزکیہ نفس سے لاتعلق ہو گیا۔اب یہ میرے لیے سب کچھ ہے مگر تذکیر اور تزکیہ کا عنوان نہیں ہے۔
شیعہ اور سنی مسلمانوں کے دو گروہ ہیں۔ایک ماخذپر ایمان مگر اِس کی دو مختلف تعبیرات پر یقین ۔یہ ایک سیاسی مسئلے سے پیدا ہو نے والا اختلاف تھا جس نے تاریخی عمل سے گزرتے ہوئے،ایک مذہبی اختلاف کی صورت اختیار کر لی۔رسالت مآبﷺ کے بعد یہ سوال اٹھا کہ آپ کا سیاسی جانشین کون ہوگا؟یہ مذہبی جانشینی کا سوال نہیں تھا۔سب جانتے تھے کہ آپﷺ کی دنیا سے رخصتی کا مطلب یہ ہے کہ نبوت کا باب بند ہو گیا۔سورہ مائدہ کی آیت سب نے سن رکھی تھی کہ دین کی تکمیل ہوچکی۔اب دین میں کچھ داخل کیا جا سکتا ہے نہ خارج۔اس باب میں اختلاف کا تو کوئی سوال نہ تھا کہ اب اس امت کی اجتماعی ذمہ داری صرف حفاظتِ دین ہے۔دین مکمل ہوا ،تاہم اس پرغور وفکر کا دروازہ ہمیشہ کھلا رہے گا کہ یہی فطرت کا تقاضا تھا۔
سقیفہ بنو ساعدہ میں مسلمانوں کے دو بڑے گروہوں کے نمائندے بیٹھے اور اس سوال پر غور کیا کہ آپﷺ کا سیاسی جانشین کون ہوگا۔ استحقاق کی بات ہوئی اور سب نے اپنا مو قف پیش کیا۔سب کے دلائل سیاسی و عقلی تھے۔کسی نے اپنے موقف کی تائید میں کوئی دینی دلیل پیش نہیں کی۔اپنے حق میںکوئی آیت پڑھی نہ حدیث سنائی۔ آپ ﷺ کا ایک ارشادِ گرامی پیش کیا گیا کہ ''آئمہ قریش میں سے ہوں گے۔‘‘یہ ایک سیاسی حقیقت کا بیان تھا۔یہ اس بات کی طرف اشارہ تھا کہ اقتدار سیاسی عصبیت سے باقی رہتا ہے اور اِس وقت عرب میں یہ عصبیت قریش کو حاصل ہے۔آپ کے اس ارشادِ مبارک کا یہی مفہوم اس اُمت نے سمجھا۔اس لیے جب سیاسی عصبیت کا ما خذ تبدیل ہوا توعلما نے بتایا کہ یہ اسلام کا کوئی دائمی حکم نہیں تھا۔جب بر صغیرمیں تحریکِ خلافت برپا ہوئی تو عثمانیوں کے خلاف کچھ لوگوں نے اس حدیث سے استدلال کیا۔مو لا نا ابو الکلام آزاد نے اس کے سیاق و سباق کو واضح کیا اور بعد میں مو لا نا مودودی جیسے اہلِ علم نے بھی اسی تعبیر کواختیار کیا۔
فیصلہ سید نا ابو بکر صدیق ؓ کے حق میں ہوا۔اگر کسی نے ا ختلاف کیا بھی تو مذہبی بنیاد پر نہیں،سیاسی یا سماجی دلیل کی بنیاد پر کیا۔تاہم امت کے اس اجتماعی فیصلے کو سب نے قبول کیا۔سید نا عثمانؓ کے عہد تک اس باب میں کوئی اختلاف نہیں ہوا۔سید نا علی ؓ جن کو بعض لوگوں نے منصبِ خلافت کے لیے فائق سمجھا، وہ خود حضراتِ شیخین کے سب سے معتمد مشیر اور ساتھی رہے۔سید نا عثمان ؓ کے عہد میں دوسرا سیاسی خلفشار پیدا ہوا۔یہ بھی ایک سیاسی مسئلہ تھا، دینی نہیں۔میرے علم میں نہیں کہ جنہوں نے حضرت عثمانؓ کے خلاف شورش برپا کی،انہوں نے کوئی دینی استدلال پیش کیاہو۔ سب الزامات سیاسی تھے۔سید علیؓ نے مخالفینِ عثمان کا ساتھ نہیں دیا۔وہ اس معرکے میں سید نا عثمانؓ کے ساتھ کھڑے تھے۔جب بلوائی خلیفہ راشد کی جان کے درپے ہوئے تو انہوں نے سیدناحسن ؓاور سیدنا حسینؓ کو ان کی حفاظت پر ما مور کیا۔یہ آسان کام نہیں تھا۔یہ دو بیٹوں کی جان کو خطرے میں ڈالنا تھا۔یہ خطرہ سید ناعلیؓ نے اسی لیے مول لیا کہ وہ حضرت عثمانؓ کو ایک جائز حکمران سمجھتے تھے۔اسی طرح جمل اور صفین کے معرکوں کی بنیاد بھی سیاسی اختلاف تھا۔
سانحہ کربلا کے بعدسیاسی اختلافات نے ایک نیا موڑ اختیار کیا۔اس کے بعد جو سیاسی عصبیتیں وجود میں آئیں ،انہوں نے اپنے موقف کے حق میں دینی استدلال پیش کر نا شروع کیا۔مسلمانوں میں اپنی رائے کو قابلِ قبول بنانے کے لیے سب سے آسان طریقہ یہ ہے کہ اسے مذہبی جواز فراہم کر دیا جائے۔یوں دینی نصوص اور اسلام کے صدرِ اوّل کی تاریخ کی ایک نئی تاویل سامنے آئی جو دینی استدلال لیے ہوئے تھی۔یہ میں عرض کر چکا کہ جب ان تاریخی واقعات نے جنم لیا، اس وقت یہ محض سیاسی موقف تھے،ان کی بنیاد کسی دینی استدلال پر نہیں تھی۔اب نصوص کی مختلف تعبیرات رائج ہوگئیں اور سیاسی اختلاف کی بنیاد پر وجود میں آنے والے گروہ ، مذہبی گروہوں میں تبدیل ہوگئے۔آج یہ مسلمہ مذہبی گروہ ہیں، جن کا دینی استدلال ہے۔یہ واقعہ ہو چکا۔اب اسے بطور واقعہ ہی قبول کر نا ہو گا۔
اس قبولیت کا مطلب کیا ہے؟ایک تو اس امرِ واقعہ کااعتراف کہ یہ نصوص اورتاریخ کے باب میں تعبیر اور تاویل کا اختلاف ہے۔یہ تاویلات اورتعبیرات علم کی دنیا میں زیرِ بحث آتی رہی ہیں اورآنی بھی چاہئیں۔شعوری ارتقا کا سفر اسی طرح آگے بڑھتا ہے۔تاہم یہ کام عالمانہ سنجیدگی اور شائستگی کے ساتھ ہو نا چاہیے۔دوسرا یہ کہ اِن کامحل علمی فورمز ہیں ،گلی بازارنہیں۔جب اِن اختلافات کی بنیاد پر گروہ وجود میں آ چکے تواس کا مطلب یہ ہے کہ گروہی تعصبات بھی پیدا ہو چکے۔اگر ہم ان اختلافات کو فتویٰ کی زبان میں بیان کریں گے تو لازماًفرقہ واریت پیدا ہوگی۔اسی طرح جب ہم مسلکی موقف کو دینی موقف کے طور پر پیش کرتے ہوئے،مذہب کی بنیاد مانیں گے اور اسی بنیاد پر دوسروں کی تکفیر کریں گے تو اس کے بعد کسی کو مسلمان ثابت کر نا ممکن نہیں رہے گا۔سب سے اہم یہ کہ سب مسالک کے زعما اپنے پیروکاروں کو سمجھائیں کہ مذہب کا اصل وظیفہ تزکیہ نفس ہے۔وہ عوامی مذہبی مجالس میں اسی پہلو کو نمایاں کریں۔
یہ سب اسی وقت ہوگا جب ہم علمی متانت کے ساتھ مذہبی اختلافات کو زیر بحث لانے کی عادت ڈالیں گے‘جب مسلک ہمارے لیے مذہبی عصبیت کی اساس نہیں ہوگا‘جب اس کے ساتھ ہمارے معاشی اور سیاسی مفادات وابستہ نہیں ہوں گے۔ہمیں تسلیم کر نا چاہیے کہ اب ایسا نہیں ہو رہا۔اب یہ ممکن نہیں رہا کہ ہم دوسرے کے ساتھ کسی آیت یا روایت کی تاویل کے باب میں گفتگو کرسکیں۔ ہر کوئی اپنی تاویل کو واحد مستند تاویل سمجھتے ہوئے،اس کی مخالفت یا تائید کی بنیاد پر دوسرے کے کفر اور ایمان کا فیصلہ کرتاہے۔مذہب ہمارے لیے ایک سیاسی عصبیت ہے،تزکیہ نفس کا موضوع نہیں۔اسی حوالے سے ہم دوسرے مذاہب کے ساتھ معاملات کو زیرِ بحث لاتے ہیں اور اسی بنیاد پر مسالک کے باہمی تعلقات کا فیصلہ کرتے ہیں۔ایک طرف ہم اس بنیاد پر دوسرے مذاہب کے ساتھ جنگ اور معرکہ آرائی کی خبر دیتے ہیں اور دوسری طرف خلیج ممالک کے مابین اختیار اور اقتدار کے جھگڑوں میں کسی فریق کا ساتھ دیتے یا اس کی مخالفت کرتے ہیں۔جب اس سے معاشی مفادات وابستہ ہوجاتے ہیں تو گروہی مفادات جنم لیتے ہیں۔ میڈیا بھی مذہب کو اسی زاویے سے دیکھتاہے۔یوں وہ محرم میں خود کو کسی ایک مسلک کے حوالے کر دیتا ہے اور ربیع الاوّ ل میں کسی دوسرے مسلک کے۔ اسے اس بات سے زیادہ سروکار نہیں کہ وہ اسلام کی بات کر رہے ہیں یا کسی خاص مسلک کی ۔
اس پس منظر میں اگر یومِ عاشور خوف کی فضا میں طلوع ہوتا ہے تو کسی کو حیرت نہیں ہونی چاہیے۔آئیے خیریت کی دعا کریں کہ اس خوف کے ا سباب کا تدارک ہمارے بس میں نہیں۔
By Khursheed Nadeem : Dunya.com.pk
Shia Beliefs & Islam: شیعہ عقائد اور اسلام
http://rejectionists.blogspot.com