I am no fan of the politics of Maulana Fazlur Rehman even though I had the pleasure of knowing his late father, Mufti Mahmood, who was a frequent visitor to our Lahore home. Mufti sahib was a principal player in getting the 1973 Constitution approved for Bhutto. That Constitution has been badly mutilated starting with Bhutto himself and later by all the successor rulers. This last amendment numbering 21 is totally against the letter and spirit of that Constitution and must be condemned by all. The man who drafted that Constitution and worked endlessly to perfect it was my teacher and mentor, late Mian Mahmud Ali Qasuri, shown in the first photo with ZABs early PPP team, Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, late Kausar Niazi, and late Khalid Hassan. Bhutto had shown the draft to Maulana Maudoodi for his endorsement. He added the word Islamic to the Title which infuriated Qasuri and he quit the team. Bhutto had no business with Islam but won the support of Jamat Islami and other religious parties to save his rule. My friends love too blame Zia for everything but they need to know that Pakistan became Islamistan during Bhuttos tenure and he took decisions such as declaring Ahmadis as non Muslims just to save his own throne. Nawaz Sahrifs decision to accede to military take over is no different. Running a country of about two hundred million people is a complex undertaking. It is akin to flying a plane at thirty thousand feet and running into engine trouble in bad weather. Only a skillful pilot can land it properly and the chances for a crash are very high. Why am I telling this to a man who actually tried to hijack a plane in midair when the Army Chief was a passenger. This time a serving Army Chief has hijacked the national plane while leaving Sharif in the pilot seat. Only God can save this plane from a crash. Pakistani Nation had come together after the Peshawar tragedy and all the political parties had joined hands with the military. But the fraudulent way in which the Government has selectively proceeded with executions of Musharraf era convicts has alienated many. Its focus on madrassahs might please Americans and other cash providers to the Sharifs and their allies but it would make no difference to the level of terrorism in the country as we have seen an increase not a decrease in the last twenty days. There are over twenty thousand madrassahs operating in the country with an enrollment of over three million children. With the exception of a few dozen known seminaries in the North West who have prior links with the militant organizations, most madrassahs have nothing to do with terror activities. Military or police control of these madrassahs is not the solution. These schools are the last refuge of the poor families who have nowhere else to go. The solution lies in integrating them with conventional schools and providing them with better educated teachers. The long term solution for FATA and the North West Frontier lies with the Pashtuns. I was happy to see Pakistani Pashtun leaders meet with Afghan Pashtuns yesterday in Kabul (see the attached photo of Afghan President Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah with Pakistani leaders). They are not corruption free and they do not have clean hands but it is a start. Ultimately, the present illegitimate and corrupt government in Islamabad has to make way for a properly elected government in a non rigged and fair general election like the one held in Sri Lanka earlier this week. Only then ordinary people will be motivated and mobilized to defeat internal and external enemies. In the meantime, I do not blame JUI and Jamat Islami for not marching with the military band. DrMuhammad M Awan 1/11/15
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 06:14:05 +0000
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