Pakistan's Impressive Rebuilding Program In Afghanistan

Forget Indian aid to Afghanistan for a minute. Have you heard about Allama Iqbal Faculty at Kabul University? Sir Syed Science Faculty Block at Nangarhar University? Liaqat Ali Khan Engineering Faculty at Balkh University in Mazar-e-Sharif? Rehman Baba High School in Kabul? And the sprawling ten-tower Jinnah Hospital Complex in Kabul and the Nishtar Kidney Hospital in Jalalabad?

Welcome to Pakistan's impressive -- and little known -- contribution to rebuilding Afghanistan in the past eight years. Add to this 500,000 Afghans who study in Pakistani schools, 28000 Afghan graduates from Pakistani colleges in 30 years, and three million Afghans who continue to live with us as our brothers and guests, add all of this and Pakistan easily beats India's one billion dollars in aid.  The Indians and their backers in the Am-Brit media have frequently referred to the Indian aid to underline why India should continue meddling in Afghanistan at Pakistan's expense.  It is interesting how very few American writers have acknowledged the Pakistani contribution.

One reason for this is Pakistan's weak public diplomacy skills. Most Pakistanis don't know about this, let alone Afghans and the international media.  Pakistanis wouldn't have discovered what different departments of the Pakistani government have been doing in Afghanistan if not for Pakistan's dynamic young Ambassador in Kabul Mr. Mohammad Sadiq.

On March 23, 2010, Pakistan Day celebrations in Kabul, Ambassador Sadiq wrote an op-ed that was published in English- and Dari-language newspapers where he listed the Pakistani contribution to rebuilding Afghanistan. 

I am thankful to Mr. Mohammad Sadiq for sending me a revised version of the piece, and for opening our eyes for the first time to Pakistan's rebuilding effort in Afghanistan. I wonder what our sprawling Federal Information Ministry, the state-run APP news agency, the state-run PTV and the military's ISPR have been doing all these years hiding this information from Pakistanis and the rest of the world and leaving the field open to the Indians and their Am-Brit backers to spread disinformation.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL OP-ED

Pledge Of PakNationalism By Young Pakistanis

Secular Or Islamist Jinnah?

In countries like the United States, Israel, and Britain, modern states were established by fallible men who created nations that fulfilled religious and historical destinies.

The same thing happened in Pakistan when its independence movement was spearheaded by a westernized man who spoke English but nonetheless believed in his nation's manifest destiny.  All his sayings, writings and actions indicate he was not confused about who he was and where he came from.

Unfortunately, a minority of inferiority-complexed Pakistanis refuse to let die a silly debate over whether Pakistan's founding father, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, was a secular or an Islamist, and whether he wanted a Muslim Pakistan or a secular Pakistan.

Who cares. He was a Muslim. He said it. His nation is predominantly Muslim and it exists because of this fact.  Otherwise there would not be a Pakistan today, the manifest expression of a history, culture, language and arts that took shape over at least ten centuries, in terms of immediate influence, and more if one is to go deeper in history.

And as in everywhere else, Pakistan too had and continues to have its share of enemies and detractors.  But they wouldn't have found a fertile ground if the Pakistani intelligentsia had put its act together and got down to the business of building a nation.

This is why it is heartening to see the fourth and the fifth generation of Pakistanis take charge and settle these nonissues once and for all.  This book is one example of this.

Click here to read more.

The Amazon.com has described this book like this:

One of the most famous books in Pakistan, the late Chief Justice Muhammad Munir's From Jinnah to Zia (1979) has finally received the ultimate rebuttal from a British-born Asian - using only one piece of evidence. Saleena Karim tells the story of how a point of curiosity - based on little more than an issue of grammar - led her to the startling discovery that a quote used by Munir and attributed to Jinnah is in fact a fake. Furthermore this quote has also been used by a number of Pakistani professional writers and scholars, none of whom have thought to check the original transcript of the interview Munir supposedly quoted from.

Over twenty-five years after the release of From Jinnah to Zia, the author shows us how much damage the 'Munir quote' has done - not only in terms of twisting the facts of history, but now in exposing the intellectual dishonesty of Pakistani scholarship. Saleena Karim names those who have quoted Munir, as well as discussing the other myths about the founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and sets the record straight.

PakNationalist Jinnah

A book in India that praises Pakistan's founder is being celebrated in Pakistan. Pakistani commentators appear apologetic in trying to seek approval. The book argues that Mohammad Ali Jinnah did not want Pakistan as a first choice. This is a common mistake made both by Indian and western writers, and even some Pakistani intellectuals. Pakistan was destined to happen, a result of ten centuries of Pakistani cultural, political and military presence in the region located between India, Iran and Afghanistan. The Quaid-e-Azam, as Pakistanis reverently call their Great Leader, understood this and became the instrument for a cause larger than him. The Indians need to correct one more fallacy: there was no 'partition' in 1947.

While we should thank India's former foreign minister for his courage in praising the charismatic leader of Pakistan's independence movement, we should stop behaving as if we are seeking validation and vindication. Mr. Jaswant Singh's book is not a Pakistani victory. It is a sincere attempt by an Indian citizen to probe what is commonly known as partition, which itself is based on the false notion that a sovereign India was wrongly divided. For us in Pakistan, we should realize that our independence – and not 'partition' – is steeped in both modern and old histories and requires no explanation.

Pakistani intellectuals continue to be afflicted with low self-esteem that prevents them from fashioning an interpretation of history supportive of the idea of Pakistani nationalism. In this, our intellectuals are far behind the thinkers in Israel, for example, who achieved the impossible by reviving a 2,000-year-old dead language to gel a nation of diverse peoples.

Our politicians and thinkers failed to make something out of Pakistan in the past six decades mainly because of the lack of pride that comes from a sense of being, a sense of destiny, a sense of history. This discussion is also important because we have seen brazen attempts during the last two years, especially in the US media, to promote the idea of Pakistan's balkanization.

Finding a nationalistic motivation, a sort of PakNationalism, is essential.

The first thing Pakistanis need to know is that Pakistan was destined to happen. Our leader, Mr. Jinnah, made it happen through his sheer brilliance because he was there. But Pakistan was going to happen anyway, in some shape or form and at an opportune time, because of the force of history. Pakistan was not a historical coincidence that the common historical version suggests and which Mr. Singh reinforced. There is no coincidence in the fact that a quarter of a century before Quaid-e-Azam's rise, a poet who wore a Turkish tarboosh (hat) and wrote Persian poetry predicted such a country. Pakistan's rise came exactly 90 years after the formal fall of the Mughal empire, Pakistan's predecessor, which was the only India the world had known for centuries. Except for that 90-year-long gap, Pakistan had existed in several shapes and forms and for at least ten centuries or more.


Pakistan's Quaid-e-Azam was a Pakistani nationalist. He was the istrument that helped Pakistan fulfil its destiny, a destiny preordained by the force of history.

Our Indian friends have the right to debate the question of India's supposed division. But today’s India, born in 1947, was never divided or partitioned. It a historical fallacy to think that Pakistan was ever part of any united and sovereign Indian state. The only thing that was divided in 1947 was a British colony that in turn was based on a defunct Muslim empire. The Indian grievance about the 'partition' that is at the core of Indian animosity toward Pakistan is without base.

What is more surprising is how Pakistan's intellectuals were drawn by Mr. Singh's book to conclude that Pakistan's founding father was an 'Indian nationalist' who did not want Pakistan as a first choice. This is incorrect because it negates the force of history that favored Pakistan. Tens of millions of people wanted to be future Pakistani citizens before the country even existed. The timely and superb leadership of Mr. Jinnah was an instrument, not the cause.

Sixty-two years later, Pakistanis shouldn't be discussing details. We know there was a Pakistan independence movement. We know it was anchored in history. We know that the fourth and fifth generations of today's Pakistanis are more integrated than ever, sharing similar ethnic and cultural roots spread over three dynamic regions that surround Pakistan.

This is the reality of Mr. Jinnah's PakNationalism. And this is the only thing that matters.

Pakistan's Founder Jinnah Has No Place In His Homeland

This picture was an official handout from the Presidency on June 26, 2009, showing President Zardari and Prime Minister Gilani receiving Pakistan's cricket team, winners of the T20 World series. The portraits of the PPP leaders can be seen in the background. No trace of the official portrait of the Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan's Founding Father.

The current democracy in Pakistan was installed by the United States. All the parties in power now in the country are pro-American and pro-Indian: the PPP, MQM, JUI-F and ANP. The last one, ANP, spent most of its career supporting separatist ideas. MQM's chief has just given a statement that opposes the very independence of Pakistan. But these ruling parties are not alone in completely ditching the Pakistani flag and the official portraits of the Founding Father of the nation. There is PMLN, JI, and other smaller parties that never raise the Pakistani flag in their rallies or public events.

This is how The News International, the largest Pakistani English-language daily newspaper, reported the story on Saturday, June 27:

The portraits of Founder of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam Muhammed Ali Jinnah have been removed from the Prime Minister House and Presidential House, Geo News revealed Saturday.Two days ago, President Asif Ali Zardari hosted a reception in the honour of national cricket team on winning the ICC Twenty20 World Cup title. On this occasion, the team players and officials had a group photo with President Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani.There are pictures of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto, Bilawal Zardari Bhutto and President Zardari without any picture of founder of Pakistan are seen hung in the backdrop of photo.Similarly, an Internship Award ceremony was held with PM Gilani in chair on Friday. On this occasion, the stage was decorated with the pictures of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto, President Zardari and PM Gilani; however, there was no picture of Quaid-e-Azam.In a similar photograph, President Zardari was administering oath of Federal Mohtasib to Dr Shoaib Suddle; however, the backdrop flashed with a picture of Quaid-e-Awam sans any photo of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammed Ali Jinnah.Similarly, in a meeting with US delegation, no photograph of Muhammed Ali Jinnah was visible.Under law, to hang the portrait of Quaid-e-Azam at offices of government officials, President and Prime Minister is compulsory.

I still stand by my belief that the existing political elite in Pakistan is inept, uncreative and now compromised thanks to the 'outreach' done by the US and the UK embassies in Islamabad.

The best way is still this:

1. Ban any political party that is based on ethnicity/language. This will eliminate 98% of these parties.
2. Enforce fair and free internal elections, monitored by the Election Commission of Pakistan. No party allowed to run for office without this condition.
3. An interim, technocratic government in Islamabad for a minimum of five years, assigned to execute a visionary plan of reform that would include more administrative provinces and new laws organizing political activity and absolute focus on economic and education rebuilding.
4. Harsh measures against politicians who try to defy this plan. Harshest measures if necessary.
5. Stern warning to countries such as the US and UK to desist from interfering in Pakistan's internal matters. If they are allies, then they should support the stabilization of Pakistan.

See this PPPistan or Nawazistan or Altafistan or Pakistan?

PPPistan or Nawazistan or Altafistan or Pakistan?

For four days now, the flags of PPP, the ruling party, adorn the highway from the airport to the heart of the capital. No one dares remove them. The occasion for turning the capital of Pakistan into a capital of ‘PPPistan’ is the late party chairman Benazir Bhutto's birthday. But that was four days ago. The flags are still there.

Before these PPP flags, on this very same poles a few days ago were the flags of Mr. Nawaz Sharif's party. The occasion was the 11the anniversary of Pakistan's nuclear tests that officially turned our country into a declared nuclear power. Even national occasions have now been turned into narrow party occasions. We have few national occasions that bind all Pakistanis and even those are being eroded.

Political differences aside, late Mrs. Bhutto is a former Prime Minister of Pakistan. She has done a lot of good for the nation during her career and deserves full respect.

But this is not about her. This is about the gradual disappearance of everything Pakistani from our sights.

When the PPP came to power, somehow even the portrait of the Founding Father, the Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, was reduced into a dull, discolored and neglected little frame next to the fresh and newly framed picture of PPP leaders on the walls of the Presidency and the Prime Minister House.

Today, walk into any office of any federal minister and you will find party flags and pictures adorning walls and tables. PTV, the national TV network, has never celebrated the rich legacy of the Quaid-e-Azam the way it celebrated the founding fathers of a ruling political party. This happened a little over a year ago, when, for an entire week, the lobby of the PTV building in Islamabad was filled with the pictures of PPP leaders. And - believe it or not - audio recordings of the speeches of PPP politicians blasted from large speakers placed in the hallways of the building every day from morning till night for the whole week. Jokes have it that Aspirin consumption jumped in PTV during that week because of the headache from the noise but no one dared end the charade. [To be fair to PPP, the party didn't order this event. The Managing Director of PTV at the time had put together this show in order to save his job!! But he was still kicked out and now he's running another Pakistani news channel. So much for the 'visionaries' we have.]

Unfortunately, it is not just the PPP and Mr. Sharif's PMLN who think their party flags take precedence over the National Flag. There is MQM and ANP and JSQM and BNP and BRP and God knows what else. All of them are allowed to flaunt their flags in public places. So much so that it is rare to see any of these parties owning the national flag.

Pakistan's national flag, the Green and the Crescent, is slowly receding into the background. It is one sign of how the Pakistani identity has been weakened by these failed parties. I call them family-run businesses. When these parties have nothing else to sell to the people, they use ‘language and ethnicity’ and try to divide Pakistanis along language and ethnic lines, create new issues where none exist.

The average good-hearted Pakistani citizens await a group of strong leaders in Islamabad who will outlaw the public display of party flags and revive national confidence and morale. Until then, it should be the responsibility of every individual Pakistani to remind these 'leaders' why there is no place for the Flag of Pakistan in their offices, rallies, meetings, and press conferences.

A Word On Bhutto Celebrations

As a Pakistani citizen, I find the exaggerated government attention to former Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's death anniversary tasteless and disturbing. And I have a strong reason for this. Before explaining it, let me just say something about Mr. Bhutto. I respect Mr. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto because he was the prime minister of my country. I disagree with most of his policies and political style. He supported Pakistan's strategic programs and he brought the Arab and Muslim countries together. For this I am grategul to his memory. At the same time, I cannot but regret that ZAB played a major role, along with Mujib Rehman and Gen. Yahya Khan, in paving the way for India to violate international norms and intervene in East Pakistan. His economic policies destroyed a rising Pakistan and we haven't been able to recover ever since. The manner of Mr. Bhutto's execution after a court found him guilty of ordering the murder of one of his political opponents was not right. I emphasize the manner and not the execution itself because, althoug I wish he was pardoned, I have not seen any evidence that suggests that the court did not conduct a fair trial. President Zia ul Haq should have been fairer than he was in treating a former prime minister. Not exercising his power to pardon Mr. Bhutto is debatable. But not letting his family meet him before the execution was unnecessary harshness and reprehensible. The murder case itself, however, has been politicized in the debate that resulted from the harsh manner of the execution. There is evidence that Mr. Bhutto did resort to unusual tactics to deal with his opponents toward the end of his rule when he had also become authoritarian. I have not read for any lawyer who presented any evidence that the trial itself wasn't fair. But overall, I am proud of Mr. Bhutto as I am of most of the men, and one woman, who came to lead Pakistan after Independence. They were all unique and strong personalities with a mixed record. While there is nothing wrong if the PPP government wants to mark the execution of its founder, the exaggerated manner in which this is being done in tasteless to say the least. I object to placing the pictures of Mr. Bhutto, or his daughter Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, or the party flag, at equal level with the portraits of the Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Only the Quaid's portrait and the flag of Pakistan should adorn the walls of the federal and provincial government offices. No political party should be permitted this violation that the PPP is committing. State-run PTV and almost all the private television channels have never celebrated the Quaid-e-Azam and his life the way they're doing now with Mr. Bhutto. Again, nothing's wrong if the PPP wants to mark this anniversary. But there should be a law that defines where a sitting government should put the memory of the Quaid-e-Azam and the other Founding Fathers and where it should place the memories of their party founders and heros. Party founders cannot be national heros. The Founding Fathers are, undisputably. I understand the tragic way in which Benazir Bhutto died. And I have no doubt that her brutal murder was part of a larger scheme to destabilize Pakistan, a scheme whose marks lead to 'non-state actors' in Washington and London. That's why I understand if the Information Ministry under Sherry Rehman arranged in 2008 for the PTV to produce an extravagant week-long event marking the life of the late Mrs. Bhutto-Zardari. This event was lavish and unprecedented. The PTV in its entire half a century never celebrated the life of the Quaid-e-Azam and the other Founding Fathers of Pakistan in the same way. Some PTV officials privately complained at the time that the extravagant celebration of a party leader was not the work of Ms. Rehman or the PPP itself but a desperate attempt by the director of PTV [Mr. Yousaf Baig Mirza, now the director of Dunya TV] to save his job. Needless to say, it didn't work and he was booted out. The point is this: All parties are free to eulogize their party heros the way they see fit. But a party in government cannot glorify a party leader in a way that overshadows the Quaid-e-Azam.