پروفائل

آخر استاد اتنے یقین کے ساتھ کیسے پیش گوئی کر دیتا ہے کہ اُس کا فلاں شاگرد بُری طرح فیل ہوگا اور فلاں طالب علم امتیازی پوزیشن کے ساتھ کامیاب ہوگا ! باپ ان پڑھ بھی ہو تو اُسے معلوم ہوتا ہے کہ اس کا کون سا بیٹا کس پیشے کیلئے موزوں ہے اور کس کو کون سا شعبہ اختیار نہیں کرنا چاہئے۔ آخر کیوں ؟
اس لئے کہ شاگرد یا بیٹے کا ماضی سامنے ہوتا ہے۔ اُس کی عادات‘ خصائل‘ ذہانت‘ مستقل مزاجی‘ … سب کچھ معلوم ہوتا ہے۔ ذہن میں اُس کی شخصیت کے سارے اجزا موجود ہوتے ہیں۔ ان اجزا کی مدد سے اُس کا آئندہ کا رویہ اور مستقبل کی کارکردگی کے بارے میں ٹھوس پیشگوئی کر دی جاتی ہے !
امریکیوں نے اس عمل کو باقاعدہ سائنس بنا دیا ہے اور اس کا نام پروفائلنگ (Profiling) رکھا ہے یعنی کسی شخص کے طرز عمل کا مطالعہ کرنا اس کے نفسیاتی رجحانات کا تجزیہ کرنا اور پھر اس کی بنیاد پر پیشگوئی کرنا کہ مستقبل میں اس کا رویہ کیا ہوگا یا کسی خاص حوالے سے یہ کیا کچھ کر سکے گا۔ یوں تو اس ضمن میں طویل عرصہ سے تحقیقی اور تجرباتی کام ہو رہا تھا لیکن جان ڈگلس (John Douglas) وہ شخص ہے جس نے اس میدان میں انقلاب برپا کیا۔ اُس نے 1970ء میں ایف بی آئی میں ملازمت شروع کی۔ اُس نے اپنے ساتھیوں کی مدد سے پورے امریکہ میں سیریل قاتلوں کے انٹرویو کئے اور جیلوں میں جا کر عادی مجرموں کے حالات زندگی مرتب کئے۔
ایک وقت ایسا آیا کہ قتل کی وارداتوں میں جب پولیس تھک ہار کر بیٹھ جاتی اور قاتل کا سراغ نہ ملتا تو جان ڈگلس کو بلایا جاتا‘ وہ موقعۂ واردات کا غور سے جائزہ لیتا اور مجرم کا پروفائل بنانا۔ یعنی اُس کی شخصیت کی تصویر کھینچتا۔ وہ یہاں تک بتاتا کہ مجرم حبشی ہے یا سفید فام‘ عمر کے کس حصے میں ہے‘ شادی شدہ ہے یا مجرد‘ فوج سے بھاگا ہوا ہے یا کچھ اور کرتا ہے‘ بسا اوقات وہ یہ بھی بتاتا کہ اس کے پاس کس قسم کی گاڑی ہوگی اور وہ اخبار کون سا پڑھتا ہوگا۔ وہ اس کا آئندہ کا لائحہ عمل بھی بتاتا۔ پولیس اس پروفائل کی مدد سے مجرم تلاش کرتی اور تلاش کرنے میں کامیاب ہو جاتی۔ اُس نے کئی مشہور مجرم پروفائلنگ کی مدد سے پکڑے اور پکڑوائے۔
پروفائل بنانے کیلئے مختلف مراحل طے کرنے ہوتے ہیں۔ پہلے مرحلے میں جائے واردات سے جو کچھ میسر آتا ہے اس کا مطالعہ کیا جاتا ہے۔ مقتول کی شخصیت اور مشاغل دیکھے جاتے ہیں اور گواہوں کو سنا جاتا ہے۔ دوسرے مرحلے میں یہ دیکھا جاتا ہے کہ مجرم ’’منظم‘‘ تھا یا ’’غیر منظم‘‘۔ منظم مجرم‘ جرم کی باقاعدہ منصوبہ بندی کرتا ہے۔ مقتول سے تعلقات یا واقفیت قائم کرتا ہے اور جائے وقوعہ پر کم ہی نشان چھوڑتا ہے۔ غیر منظم مجرم اچانک مشتعل ہو کر کارروائی کرتا ہے۔ اگلے مرحلے میں جرم واقع ہونے کی تفصیل طے کی جاتی ہے۔ یہ بھی دیکھا جاتا ہے کہ مجرم نے اپنی تسکین کس طرح کی اور ’’فتح‘‘ کی خوشی کیسے منائی۔ ان سارے مراحل کے بعد یہ سوچا جاتا ہے کہ مجرم … جو چھپا ہوا ہے لیکن حالات سے باخبر ہے … اب کیا کر رہا ہے۔ اخبار پڑھ کر اور ٹی وی دیکھ کر اُس کا ردعمل کیا ہو سکتا ہے۔ ہو سکتا ہے وہ پولیس کو دھوکہ دے رہا ہو اور رابطہ کر کے تفتیش کرنے والوں کو غلط سمت لے جانے کی کوشش کر رہا ہو۔ جان ڈگلس کی پروفائل تکنیک ساری دنیا میں مشہور ہوئی۔ ریٹائر ہونے کے بعد ترقی یافتہ ملکوں نے اسے بلا کر اپنی افرادی قوت کو تربیت دلوائی۔ اس نے بے شمار لیکچر دئیے اور کئی کتابیں لکھیں۔
مجرموں اور قاتلوں کو پکڑنے کے لئے جان ڈگلس کا وضع کردہ ’’نظریہ پروفائل‘‘ (یا پروفائلنگ) عام زندگی میں ایک تعلیم یافتہ فرد کے بہت سے مسائل حل کر سکتا ہے۔ ہم ایک ہی شخص سے بار بار دھوکے کھاتے ہیں یا زخم سہتے ہیں اور سہتے چلے جاتے ہیں لیکن ہم یہ نہیں سوچتے کہ اس شخص کے ماضی کو سامنے رکھ کر اس کا پروفائل بنایا جائے اس کی شخصیت کی تصویر کھینچی جائے اور پھر اندازہ لگایا جائے کہ اس کا آئندہ کا رویہ کیا ہوگا۔ پروفائل کی مدد سے ہم طے کر سکتے ہیں کہ ہمارا اپنا طرزِ عمل اس شخص کیساتھ کیسا ہو۔ ہم اس سے کس حد تک امیدیں باندھیں اور کس حد تک مایوس ہو جائیں۔ پروفائل کی مدد سے ہم ٹھیک ٹھیک تعین کر سکتے ہیں کہ فلاں کی شخصیت میں فیصلہ کن کردار حسد کا ہے یا نیکی کا ہے۔ بے غرضی کا ہے یا تجارتی رویے کا ہے۔ حسد نے یا نیکی نے یا بے غرضی نے یا تجارتی رویے نے ماضی میں اس سے کیا کچھ سرزد کرایا ہے؟ ظاہر ہے کہ کل طلوع ہونے والی صبح اس شخص کو یکسر تبدیل نہیں کر سکتی۔ شخصیت کے یہ اجزا‘ شخصیت سے باہر نہیں نکالے جا سکتے۔ ہم اپنے دوستوں عزیزوں ماتحتوں‘ ساتھ کام کرنیوالوں‘ دشمنوں حریفوں سب کیساتھ پروفائلنگ کی مدد سے ایسا برتائو اختیار کر سکتے ہیں کہ ہمیں صدمے نہ اٹھانا پڑیں۔ دھوکے نہ کھاتے رہیں‘ شرمندہ نہ ہوتے رہیں اور کف افسوس نہ ملتے رہیں۔ ہم فیصلہ کر سکتے ہیں کہ تعلقات کی نوعیت کیا ہو اور کس کے کتنا قریب اور کس سے کتنا دور رہیں۔
آخر ہم سیاست دانوں سے بار بار کیوں دھوکے کھاتے ہیں؟ کیا اُن کا ماضی ہمارے سامنے نہیں ہوتا؟ ہم انہیں بیس بیس سال سے جانتے ہیں پھر بھی ہم اُن کے بیانات پر یقین کر لیتے ہیں ! اُن کے پروفائل اخبارات سے لے کر ہماری یادداشت تک ‘ ہر جگہ بنے ہوئے ہیں اور ہمارے سامنے ہیں۔ مولانا فضل الرحمان نے اب تک کیا کیا‘ قاضی حسین احمد کا طرزِ عمل کیا تھا؟ چودھری پرویزالٰہی کا رویہ کیسا تھا؟
ہم ان سب کے پروفائل بنا سکتے ہیں۔ ہم تھوڑی سی محنت کریں تو جان سکتے ہیں کہ اعجازالحق اور گوہر ایوب کی مستقبل کی تصویر کیا ہے‘ ظفراللہ جمالی کیا کریں گے۔ جان ڈگلس‘ میر تقی میرؔ کے زمانے میں موجود ہوتا تو میرؔ یقینا اُس کی پروفائل تھیوری سے فائدہ اٹھاتے اور اُسی عطار کے ’’لونڈے‘‘ سے دوسری بار دوا نہ لیتے جس نے انہیں بیمار کیا تھا!

واحد راستہ

ٹھیک ہے خلقِ خدا بے بس ہے۔ مان لیا اسلام کے نام پر بننے والے اس ملک میں انصاف نہیں ہے اور کبھی تھا بھی نہیں، لیکن طاقت ور، قانون کو پیروں تلے روندتے وقت یہ کیوں نہیں سوچتے کہ جب پنڈلی سے پنڈلی لپٹے گی اور مرے ہوئے عزیز سامنے نظر آ رہے ہوں گے، اس وقت دھاندلیوں کے بارے میں پوچھا جائے گا!۔
نوے کی دہائی تھی۔ قومی ائر لائن میں۔ جہاں سالہا سال تک چور دروازے کْھلے رہے۔ دو خواتین ڈاکٹر تعینات کی گئیں۔ ایک وقت کے طاقت ور وزیراعلیٰ کی صاحبزادی تھیں، اور دوسری بھی ایک مقتدر شخصیت کی بیٹی تھیں۔ نہ مدعی نہ شہادت۔ نہ اشتہار نہ مقابلہ، ملک کی سینکڑوں بیٹیاں بہتر ریکارڈ کے باوجود ایسی تعیناتی کا سوچ بھی نہیں سکتی تھیں۔
پھر طاقت ور وزیراعلیٰ ملک سے باہر چلا گیا۔ پھر چشمِ فلک نے ایک اور تماشہ دیکھا۔ وہ طاقت ور شخص ملک میں واپس آیا لیکن اس کرسی پر بیٹھا تھا جس کے نیچے پہیے لگے ہوئے ہیں۔ کینسر نے اسے ہڈیوں کے ڈھانچے میں بدل دیا تھا۔
ٹھیک ہے خلق خدا اس خداداد ملک میں بے بس ہے، مگر دھاندلی کرنیوالے وہ وقت یاد کریں جب پنڈلی سے پنڈلی لپٹے گی اور جھاڑ پھونک کرنے والے کچھ نہ کر سکیں گے۔ مرے ہوئے عزیزوں کیساتھ قوم کے وہ بیٹے اور بیٹیاں نظر آئیں گی جن کے حق میں ڈاکے ڈالے گئے۔ آج بھارت کے مسلمان پوچھتے ہیں کہ کیا تم نے اس لئے الگ ملک بنایا تھا کہ طاقت وروں کی بیٹیاں چْن لی جائیں اور میرٹ، قاعدہ، قانون، ضابطہ ایسی لاشوں کی شکل اختیار کرلیں جن کے سرہانے گدھوں کی فوج بیٹھی ہو۔
آج پھر ایک مقتدر شخصیت کی صاحبزادی کو قوانین پامال کرکے سول سروس کے تخت طاؤس پر متمکن کیا گیا ہے اور آج ہی کا کیا ذکر اس سے پہلے جرنیل بھی یہی کچھ کرتے رہے۔ اپنے بیٹوں کو فوج کے مقدس پیشے سے نکال کر سول سروس میں داخل کراتے رہے اور سینکڑوں کپتان اور میجر جو زیادہ لائق تھے، اس سہولت سے محروم رہے۔ ان جرنیلوں میں دستار پوش جرنیل بھی تھے۔ اسلام ظاہر سے عبارت نہیں! اسلام تو امتحان ہے۔ جب آپ طاقت ور ہیں اور اپنے بیٹے کو دوسروں پر فوقیت دلوا سکتے ہیں اس وقت آپ اعلان کریں کہ نہیں! میرا بیٹا اس بہتی گنگا میں ہاتھ نہیں دھوئے گا! لیکن یہ اصل اسلام۔ مشکل اسلام ہے۔ آسان اسلام یہ ہے کہ آپ ظاہری وضع قطع اور لباس پر زور دیجئے اور کیجئے وہی کچھ جو سب کر رہے ہیں! اسی لئے تو قرآن پڑھ کر رو پڑنے والے شاعر نے کہا تھا …؎
چو می گویم مسلمانم بلرزم
کہ دائم مشکلاتِ لاالٰہ را
وہ تو کہیے کہ اس ملک پر خدائے برتر کا احسان ہے کہ فیڈرل پبلک سروس کمیشن اور کاکول اور رسالپور کی ملٹری اکیڈمیوں جیسے ادارے موجود ہیں جن کے طفیل لائق اور غریب پاکستانی مقابلے کے امتحان میں کامیاب ہو کر سول سروس میں آتے ہیں اور جرنیلوں کے بیٹے ناکام ہو جاتے ہیں اور کسانوں اور حوالداروں کے بچے کمیشن حاصل کرلیتے ہیں۔ میں وہ منظر کبھی نہیں بھول سکتا جب کاکول میں پاسنگ آؤٹ پریڈ کے بعد، اکیڈمی کے بڑے دروازے کے پاس تہمد میں ملبوس ایک کسان اپنے کیڈٹ بیٹے سے باتیں کررہا تھا۔ اب اگر کوئی جرنیل حلف سے دغا کرتے ہوئے آئین کو پامال کرتا ہے تو اس میں کاکول کا کوئی قصور نہیں اور اگر کوئی ناخلف، سول سروس میں آنے کے بعد ناموس کا گلا گھونٹتا ہے اور بادہ و ساغر کو سیڑھی بنا کر اوپر جاتا ہے یا پرنسپل سیکرٹری کے طور پر اپنی پوزیشن سے ناروا فائدہ اٹھاتا ہے تو اس میں فیڈرل پبلک سروس کمیشن کا کوئی قصور نہیں۔
آج اگر بیرون ملک تعیناتیاں اور PEMRA، اور NEPRA اور دوسری اتھارٹیوں میں تقرریوں کا کام فیڈرل پبلک سروس کمیشن کے سپرد کر دیا جائے تو میرٹ کی حفاظت بہتر طور پر انجام دی جاسکے گی۔ تعیناتیوں کا کام مہذب ملکوں میں ادارے کرتے ہیں۔ بھلا وزیراعظم کا ان معمول کے کاموں سے کیا تعلق! اگر فرسٹ سیکرٹری کا تقرر ملک کے وزیراعظم نے کرنا ہے تو وزیراعظم پالیسی سازی کا کام کس وقت کریں گے؟
ہماری حالت یہ ہے کہ امن وامان تہس نہس ہو چکا ہے، گرانی عوام کے سینے پر بیٹھ کر گلا دبا رہی ہے۔ امریکہ اور بھارت ہمیں نرغے میں لینے کی کوشش کر رہے ہیں۔ روزنامہ نیشن (Nation) نے اپنی ایک حالیہ اشاعت میں ایشیاء ٹائمز کا ایک مضمون شائع کیا ہے جس کا عنوان ہے What is in store for Muslim States? پاکستان کے بارے میں یہ ایشیائی اخبار اس مضمون میں کیا لکھتا ہے، دیکھئے۔
’’آدھا ملک ناخواندہ ہے اور ورلڈ بینک کے اعداد و شمار کی رو سے تین چوتھائی کا گزارہ دو ڈالر روزانہ سے کم آمدنی پر ہے۔ اس کا مطلب یہ ہوا کہ پاکستان میں نوجوان، علاقے کے دوسرے ملکوں کی نسبت زیادہ تعداد میں میسر ہیں اور ارزاں بھی! بے حد غریب اور ان پڑھ نوجوان… جن کی تعلیم صرف مدرسوں میں ہوئی ہے۔ جنگجو کارروائیوں کیلئے بہت آسانی کے ساتھ ہاتھ آ جاتے ہیں‘‘۔
آگے چل کر اخبار پاکستان کو صومالیہ کی صف میں لا کھڑا کرتا ہے اور صومالیہ میں بیروزگار نوجوانوں کی تعداد پاکستان سے بہت کم ہے! ایک طرف ہماری یہ حالت ہے اور دوسری طرف ہمارے رہنماؤں اور زعما کی ترجیحات ملاحظہ ہوں۔
ایک ہفتہ قبل راولپنڈی کے ایک سیاست دان کا… جو گذشتہ انتخابات میں دو نشستوں سے ہارے ہیں… بیان شائع ہوا ہے، جس میں، اخبارات کے مطابق انہوں نے اس خواہش کا یا حسرت کا اظہار کیا ہے کہ اگر نوازشریف ق لیگ کے لیڈروں کو معاف کردیں اور دونوں لیگیں ضم ہو جائیں تو مسلم لیگ ایک بار پھر چھا جائے گی!
آپ اندازہ لگایئے، جاگیردارانہ نظام، سرداری سسٹم، بلوچستان کے مسائل، تعلیم کی ڈوبتی کشتی، لیکن اہل سیاست کو ان مسائل کا ادراک ہے نہ فکر۔ ان کی کوتاہ نظر مسلم لیگ کے چھا جانے سے پرے کچھ دیکھ ہی نہیں سکتی۔ کیا یہ رویہ تعلیم کی کمی کا نتیجہ ہے یا تربیت کے فقدان کا شاخسانہ ہے یا Vision نہ ہونے کا کرشمہ ہے؟ کیا گذشتہ آٹھ سال مسلم لیگ چھائی نہیں رہی؟
جب وزیر قانون کے صاحبزادے کراچی ائرپورٹ پر مسافروں کی بدستِ خود دھنائی کر رہے تھے تو کیا مسلم لیگ چھا نہیں گئی تھی؟ جب صوبے کے وزیراعلیٰ وردی کو دس بار ظفریاب کروانے کا اعلان کر رہے تھے اور لال مسجد کے قتل عام کے وقت وزیراعظم قلفیوں کی دکان بذریعہ حکم کھلوا رہے تھے کیا مسلم لیگ چھائی ہوئی نہیں تھی؟ اسی مسلم لیگ کے بطن ہی سے تو شوکت عزیز جیسا بطلِ جلیل پیدا ہوا‘ جس کے آستانے پر راولپنڈی کے اس سیاست دان سمیت سب سجدہ ریز تھے!۔
آج قانون وہ بچہ ہے جو پنگوڑھے میں پڑا بلک بلک کر رو رہا ہے اور دونوں بازو ہوا میں اٹھائے سیاست دانوں کی طرف دیکھ رہا ہے۔ آج اگر اہل سیاست… قومی اور صوبائی اسمبلیوں کے ارکان… قانون پر عمل پیرا ہونے کا فیصلہ کرلیں تو فوج اور بیورو کریسی کی مجال نہیں کہ قانون کی خلاف ورزی کریں۔
ملک کی قیادت عساکرکے پاس ہے نہ افسر شاہی کے پاس وہ تو ماتحت ہیں۔ قیادت تو سیاست دانوں کے پاس ہے اور انہی کو قیادت کا حق حاصل ہے۔ حکمرانی منتخب نمائندوں کے ہاتھ میں ہے اور یہی ہونا چاہئے لیکن منتخب نمائندے قانون پر تو چلیں۔
ہمارے رہنماؤں کے طور اطوار ایسے ہیں جیسے کسی زمانے میں وائسرائے کے تھے۔ وہ اپنی کاروں پر امتیازی نمبر پلیٹیں لگواتے ہیں اور سفارشوں اور مداخلتوں سے میرٹ کا راستہ روکتے ہیں۔
یہاں تو یہ بھی ہوا کہ جہاز پر سوار ہوتے وقت اسلحہ لے جانے پر اصرار کیا گیا اور ائرپورٹ کے جس فرض شناس اہلکار نے اعتراض کیا ، اسے فوراً تبدیل کر دیا گیا!۔
جو جانتا ہے۔ وہ تو جانتا ہی ہے۔ جو نہیں جانتا وہ جان لے کہ جس دن منتخب نمائندے فیصلہ کرلیں گے کہ وہ بال برابر بھی قانون شکنی نہیں کریں گے اور اپنے بیٹوں، صاحبزادیوں، کنبوں خاندانوں اور قبیلوں کے لئے دوسروں کا حق نہیں ماریں گے اور غلط کام کریں گے نہ کرنے دیں گے۔ اس دن اس ملک کی خاکی اور سول بیورو کریسی کا بگاڑ درست ہو جائے گا اور یہ ملک… مہذب ملکوں میں شمار ہونے لگے گا!۔

ڈھاکہ! ہم شرمندہ ہیں

اے مسجدوں اور باغوں کے شہر ڈھاکہ!
آج مجھے ہم سے روٹھے پورے 37 سال ہوگئے۔ چار دہائیوں سے صرف تین سال کم! جب تونے تھک ہار کر ہم سے منہ موڑا تھا، ہم اس وقت مدہوش تھے، ہلاکت کے گڑھے میں تھے ہم پر عقل ماتم کر رہی تھی۔
آج چار دہائیوں کے بعد بھی افسوس! صد افسوس! ہم مدہوش ہیں، ہلاکت کے گڑھے میں ہیں اور آج نہ صرف یہ کہ عقل۔ بلکہ دنیا بھی ہمارے حال پر ماتم کناں ہے۔
37 سال پہلے جب تجھے ہمارے وجود سے کاٹ کر الگ کیا جا رہا تھا، اس وقت ایک ڈکٹیٹر ہماری تقدیر کا مالک تھا اور اس کے منافقت کا یہ عالم تھا کہ جب بھارتی فوجیں اپنے ناپاک قدم تیری پوتر مٹی پر رکھ رہی تھیں۔ ڈکٹیٹر کے سرکاری ریڈیو سے مسجدوں کا شہر ڈھاکہ زندہ باد کے نغمے گائے جا رہے تھے۔ تیرے سقوط کا علم تو اس بدبخت قوم کو غیر ملکی ذرائع ابلاغ سے ہوا تھا۔
یہ تیرے سقوط ہی کے بعد کا واقعہ ہے کہ کسی جرنیل کی تنی ہوئی چھاتی پر دمکتے ہوئے تمغوں (MEDALS) کی بھرمار دیکھ کر نواب زادہ نصر اللہ خان نے پوچھا تھا کہ ’’حضور! ان میں سقوط ڈھاکہ کا تمغہ کون سا ہے‘‘
ہم نے اس کے بعد کوئی سبق نہیں سیکھا۔ تجھے ایک آمر کی نذر کرنے کے بعد ہم نے ایک اور آمر کو اپنے آپ پر مسلط کیا۔ وہ گیارہ سال تک ہمارے اداروں کے بخیے ادھڑتا رہا اور وہ سارے کام کرتا رہا جو تیری جدائی پر منتج ہوئے تھے۔ ہم نے اسی پر بس نہیں کیا، اس کے بعد ہم نے ایک اور ڈکٹیٹر کے آنے پر مٹھائیاں بانٹیں۔ یہ ڈکٹیٹر ہماری کھوکھلی مدقوق ہڈیوں کو نوسال چباتا رہا۔
مجھے یاد ہے ڈھاکہ یونیورسٹی کی لائبریری میں (جو پاکستان کی واحد لائبریری تھی جو چوبیس گھنٹے کھلی رہتی تھی) جب میرے بنگالی کلاس فیلو پوچھتے تھے کہ اگر پاکستان پر جرنیلوں کی حکومت ہی رہنی ہے تو مشرقی پاکستان کی باری کب آئے گی؟ تو میرے پاس کوئی جواب نہیں ہوتا تھا۔
میں خاموشی سے کھڑکی سے باہر دیکھنے لگ جاتا تھا جہاں املی اور لہچی کے پیڑ ہوا میں کانپ رہے ہوتے تھے۔ کاش ہم انسان نہ ہوتے درخت ہوتے کہ مستقبل کا سوچ کر کانپ تو اٹھتے!
ہم نے تجھے… کئی اور وجوہ کے علاوہ… اس وجہ سے بھی ناراض کیا تھا کہ اردو کو پاکستان کی واحد قومی زبان قرار دیا تھا حالانکہ کینیڈا میں دو اور سوئٹزر لینڈ میں تین قومی زبانیں ہیں۔ لیکن مکافات عمل دیکھ کہ آج ملک کو بنے ساٹھ سال ہوگئے ہیں اور اردو اتنی ہی غریب الوطن اور اچھوت ہے جتنی پہلے دن تھی۔ آج بھی اسی کی عزت ہے جو جبڑوں کو مکروہ شکل میں ڈال کر انگریزی بولے، آج بھی مسائل کی موجودگی میں ناعاقبت اندیش افسر شاہی آپس میں انگریزی میں بات کرتی ہے تاکہ جس کے ٹیکس سے اس کی برہنہ سرین ڈھکی ہوئی ہے، وہی بات سمجھ نہ پائے!
فاعتبرو یا ادبی الابصار!
تو ہم سے اس لئے روٹھا تھا کہ مشرقی پاکستانی عوامی نمائندے اعلیٰ تعلیم یافتہ اور متوسط طبقے کے تھے اور ہمارے نمائندے ان پڑھ، نیم خواندہ، جاگیردار، سردار، خان، وڈیرے اور چودھری تھے اور تعلیم یافتہ لوگوں کی منشی کہہ کر تحقیر کرتے تھے۔ افسوس! ہم آج چار دہائیوں بعد بھی ویسے کے ویسے ہی ہیں۔ ہماری سیاست زراعت اور سماج پر وڈیرہ شاہی آج بھی اپنے مکروہ پنجے گاڑے ہوئے ہے۔
آج بھی لغاری مزاری جتوئی، چودھری میر، سردار اور خواتین پیران تسمہ پا کی طرح ہماری گردنوں پر سوار ہیں۔ آج بھی عوام کی ’’نمائندگی‘‘ وہی خاندان کرتے ہیں جوطاقت ور تھے اور طاقت ور ہیں۔
اے مسجدوں اور باغوں کے خوبصورت شہر! شاید ہمارے اعمال تیری لازوال خوبصورتی کے مستحق نہ تھے۔ تیرے میگنا اور بوڑھی گنگا کے پانی تیرے سندر بن کے بہشتی پرندے، تیرے سلہٹ میں بابا جلال کا مزار جس کے اوپر کی فضا آسمان تک روشن ہے۔ تیرا کاکس بازار جس کے قبائل کی عورتیں شہزادیوں سے زیادہ باوقار ہیں اور تیرے رانگامتی اور کپتائی کی جھیلیں جن کے پانیوں پر تیرتے کنول کے پھول ستاروں سے زیادہ روشن ہیں۔ یہ سب کچھ ہماری قسمت میں نہ تھا۔
لیکن ماتم تو یہ ہے کہ تیرے جانے کے بعد جو کچھ ہمارے پاس رہ گیا ہے، اس کے بھی لالے پڑے ہیں۔ ہم نے اکبر بگتی کو ناحق قتل کرکے بلوچستان کے سرداری نظام کو نیا خون دے دیا ہے۔
ہمارے سیاست دانوں کی محلاتی سرگرمیاں خفیہ ہیں لیکن ان کی اہلیت ڈھکی چھپی ہوئی نہیں ہے۔ ہمارے مذہبی رہنما اپنے مفاد کیلئے سب کچھ فروخت کر سکتے ہیں یہاں تک کہ اپنے آپ کو بھی اور ان میں سے کچھ تو ایسے ہیں جو سنجیدہ بات کریں تب بھی خلق خدا ہنسنے لگتی۔
ہمارے سرکاری اہلکار بنکوں کے ملازمین کی طرحTARGETS پورے کر رہے ہیں۔ ہمارے شاعر اور ادیب افسر شاہی کا ممبر بننے کے لئے ایک دوسرے کے گلے کاٹ رہے ہیں اور ان کی حالت یہ ہے کہ ان کی طلسمی تحریروں سے متاثر ہونے والے اگر ان کی معیت میں چند گھنٹے گزار لیں تو اپنی آئندہ نسلوں کو بھی ان کے ذوق کی پستی سے متنبہ کر جاتے ہیں، ہمارے جہادی طالع آزما دوسروں کے بچوں کو میدان جہاد میں بھیج کر شہید کروانا چاہتے ہیں لیکن ان کی اپنی اولادیں منافع بخش کاروبار کے آسمان پر کہکشائیں بن کر چمک رہی ہیں۔
ہم من حیث القوم اتنے عزت دار ہو چکے ہیں کہ امریکیوں نے برملا کہا ہے کہ پاکستانی ڈالروں کی خاطر ماں تک بیچ دیتے ہیں۔
ڈھاکہ! ہم شرمندہ ہیں۔ ہم نے تجھ کھو کر کوئی سبق نہیں سیکھا! ہم پہلے سے بدتر ہیں۔ ہم اسفل السافلین ہیں۔ ہم کھائی میں ہیں۔ ہم اوپر سے نیچے تک اور نیچے سے اوپر تک ایک جیسی پستی میں ہیں۔
ہمارے غریب اگر بدقماش ہیں تو ہمارے امرا اوباش ہیں۔ ڈھاکہ! ہمارے لئے دعا کر۔ ہمارے ساتھ پھر کوئی حادثہ نہ رونما ہو جائے۔ سچی بات یہ ہے کہ ہم کسی اور حادثے کے کسی اور المیے کے۔ متحمل نہیں ہو سکتے!

Champions of status quo

The Nation
The whips lashed down amid screams of pain as one after another pair of men went thumping down into the aisle ways. Kunta and his shaklemate hugged each other on the shelf as the searing blows jerked them convulsively back and forth. Then hands clamped roughly around their ankles and hauled them across the shelf's mushy filth and into the tangle of other men in the aisle way, all of them howling under the toubob whips.
These lines are from Alex Haley's epoch-making novel, Roots which is not based just on fiction. Haley researched for twelve long years, and travelled, from continent to continent, to write this book. There were long queues of people, both white and black, in front of bookshops when the novel was released in mid seventies. The book containing sage of a black American family, was translated into 37 languages. The author traced his origin back to Gambia's Kunta Kinte who was captured by slave traders in 1767 and was brought, across Atlantic, in one of the ships especially designed for transporting slaves.
The USA has come a long way from counting teeth, and jotting down weight, of black slaves to electing Obama as its first black president. In between these two extremes lies a journey marked by turning points some of which are remembered as watersheds in United States history. The country, where African slaves had price tags attached with their bodies, outlawed importation of slaves in 1808. Another half century was to go down in history till the last ship, bringing the fettered blacks, touched the shores of United States. Six years later the historic Thirteenth Amendment in the constitution abolished slavery.

This brief chronology makes one thing clear: the process of change continued tardily but steadily. It is the change, the continuous change, in American society which has elevated the vomiting shackled black, out of ship dungeon, to the white House.
Some of the prominent figures in different walks of life in Pakistan, including politicians, religious leaders and columnists, have been, since Obama's victory, expressing hope that brighter days are ahead for Pakistan. One can only take pity on this generosity of thought. It can be termed as naivety or complacency as well. The irony is that it is the "change" which has been the most extraterrestrial to Pakistani society since birth of the country.
Take for example, the evil of hereditary politics. Essentially, a legacy of Unionists, hereditary politics has been, all along, plaguing our political milieu. Whether it is People's Party , ANP , JUP or JUI, it is all within the family. Jamaat-i-Islami too, which so far has been clean at least in this context, it appears, is preparing to jump on the bandwagon by nominating ladies from the families of the leaders for Parliament . As far as Muslim League is concerned, it is nothing but a mosaic made by inlaying pieces of hereditary politics. A substantial number of Muslim League members have been, since long, inheriting the elected positions. The situation in Azad Kashmir is not enviable either.
However it will not be judicious to blame only politicians. Even the mosques, shrines and seminaries, where profound scholarly knowledge and piety should have been the only touchstone, have since long, become nucleus of hereditary endowment. Even mosques and seminaries are being inherited generation after generation.
Change is alien for us in every walk of life. We are maintaining the land ownership pattern meticulously intact the way we found it in the morning of August 14, 1947. In the next door Indian Punjab, the ownership ceiling of agricultural land is thirty acres and this Punjab (smaller in area than ours) is turning out to be food basket for the whole of India. The notorious sardari system is holding out in Balochistan and there is no likelihood of its liquidation in the foreseeable future.
The most decayed is the education sector. Successive education policies, heralded with lot of cheap and pretentious display, causing heavy jolts to exchequer, never brought any meaningful change in the system. Various parallel education systems are functioning simultaneously in complete isolation to each other.
Government-run institutions are enduring in roofless buildings with the facilities as modern as of Gothic days. Students are bringing jute-sacks from their homes to squat on and this can be seen in the in the villages located around the capital, not to speak of far-flung areas.
The tragic paradox is that secretaries and ministers of education, in federation as well as provinces, who are having nice time on pretext of "governing" these institutions, never send their children to them!
Didn't you hear about the restaurant where a customer called for the manager to protest for poor quality of meal and he was told that the manager was out to another restaurant to have a safer lunch! As for as seminaries are concerned, the centuries old syllabi are being taught with complete oblivion to what has been, and is, happening around.
Obama will do nothing for Pakistan. If some good comes about, it will be by default and not by design. The only blessing Obama's victory can bring us is the lesson of change provided we are inclined to learn this lesson.

How not to stop militancy

The Nation

The Pakistan Army is struggling in Swat and Bajaur, the restive North Western areas of the country, to destroy the hideouts of militants. The Air Force has also joined them.

However, the big question is: if the armed forces succeed in ending the present turmoil, will the problem be sorted out forever? Dealing with militants militarily is, of course, indispensable in the present circumstances, but it amounts to suppressing the fever and not treating the infection, or the cancer, causing the fever.

There are three main factors behind the unending replenishment of manpower to militants. Firstly, myopia of successive Pakistani governments vis-à-vis mushroom growth of madrassas which are in thousands now across the country. The main bastions of the seminaries are the tribal areas, situated at the Afghan border and governed directly by the federal government, settled districts of North Western province and fertile vast plains of South Punjab. If lack of modern education is the reason in the tribal and north-western areas, perpetuation of feudalism and the resultant poverty are the source of problem in South Punjab.

Secondly, unlike India, where land-ownership pattern was drastically changed by the policy makers soon after the partition of the sub-continent, the anachronistic feudal system in Pakistan continues to plague the economy as well as the social set-up. In Indian Punjab, the ceiling of ownership of agricultural land is 24 acres per family whereas in Pakistan sky is the limit. Presence of dynasties in elected bodies, starting with local institutions right up to the top forums, is one of the many fallouts of the ever green Pakistani feudalism. South Punjab is the worst hit area in this context. The primitive land ownership- pattern, illiteracy and poverty are coercing masses to send children to seminaries where lodging and three meals a day are free.

Sending four to ten years old children to the Gulf States to 'work' as camel jockeys can also be attributed to the same set of factors. Countless seminaries of South Punjab are playing the role of nurseries for un-ending number of militants.

Thirdly, the education system in the country is class-oriented. Unfortunately, policy makers in Islamabad are oblivious of the fact that most of the militants are either the product of the Islamic seminaries or of an inefficient system of government-run schools. A million-dollar question is: why expensive educational institutions of high quality are not supplying any manpower to the militants? Some years' back Sufi Muhammad, a self-proclaimed religious leader of Swat, led an army of thousands of fighters across the Afghan border to "fight" against the Americans. Most of them were armed with sticks and rusted old-fashioned guns. After all, their majority consisted of stark illiterates or 'graduates' of seminaries!

Why successive governments did not attempt to bring madrassas into the mainstream? Why no heartfelt efforts were made to change the land ownership pattern? And why quality education was, and is, practically, reserved for privileged few? It is not easy to answer these questions.

Politicians commonly attribute the failure to the despotic military regimes who, according to them, neither had intellectual capacity to comprehend these issues nor they allowed the masses to apply trial and error method in choosing elected representatives over a period of time. Military dictators, on the other hand, maintain that politicians and bureaucrats did remain at the helm of affairs during the intermittent garrison reigns.

Considering the unenviable educational level of the majority of politicians, one is constrained to question the role of bureaucracy during all these years. The powerful and influential courtiers like Qudartullah Shahab and others never persuaded Ayub Khan to bring radical reforms in the fields of agriculture and education. It is surprising that Shahabnama - the famous autobiography of Shahab - does not contain even a passing reference to these issues. This is typical of a bureaucrat who is concerned with posting, promotion, perks, travelling, getting hold of post-retirement contracts and having no time, and in some cases no brain, for reforming the society in real sense.

The role of bureaucrats during later military regimes has not been different either. On the contrary, one finds an unholy alliance between feudalism and civil service. The "friendship" which sets out in a subdivision by sending a "complimentary" buffalo to the bungalow of an assistant commissioner reaches its culmination in the federal capital after two decades when the feudal arrives in the city as the law-maker, and the assistant commissioner as policy maker. The alliance thus continues and thrives. It is no secret that ministers get bureaucrats of their choice appointed to run their ministries whereas "non-sponsored" officers keep waiting for months to get posted!Thirdly, the education system in the country is class-oriented. Unfortunately, policy makers in Islamabad are oblivious of the fact that most of the militants are either the product of the Islamic seminaries or of an inefficient system of government-run schools. A million-dollar question is: why expensive educational institutions of high quality are not supplying any manpower to the militants? Some years' back Sufi Muhammad, a self-proclaimed religious leader of Swat, led an army of thousands of fighters across the Afghan border to "fight" against the Americans. Most of them were armed with sticks and rusted old-fashioned guns. After all, their majority consisted of stark illiterates or 'graduates' of seminaries!

Why successive governments did not attempt to bring madrassas into the mainstream? Why no heartfelt efforts were made to change the land ownership pattern? And why quality education was, and is, practically, reserved for privileged few? It is not easy to answer these questions.
Politicians commonly attribute the failure to the despotic military regimes who, according to them, neither had intellectual capacity to comprehend these issues nor they allowed the masses to apply trial and error method in choosing elected representatives over a period of time. Military dictators, on the other hand, maintain that politicians and bureaucrats did remain at the helm of affairs during the intermittent garrison reigns.

Considering the unenviable educational level of the majority of politicians, one is constrained to question the role of bureaucracy during all these years. The powerful and influential courtiers like Qudartullah Shahab and others never persuaded Ayub Khan to bring radical reforms in the fields of agriculture and education. It is surprising that Shahabnama - the famous autobiography of Shahab - does not contain even a passing reference to these issues. This is typical of a bureaucrat who is concerned with posting, promotion, perks, travelling, getting hold of post-retirement contracts and having no time, and in some cases no brain, for reforming the society in real sense.

The role of bureaucrats during later military regimes has not been different either. On the contrary, one finds an unholy alliance between feudalism and civil service. The "friendship" which sets out in a subdivision by sending a "complimentary" buffalo to the bungalow of an assistant commissioner reaches its culmination in the federal capital after two decades when the feudal arrives in the city as the law-maker, and the assistant commissioner as policy maker. The alliance thus continues and thrives. It is no secret that ministers get bureaucrats of their choice appointed to run their ministries whereas "non-sponsored" officers keep waiting for months to get posted!

It is on record that influential landlords have been blocking the establishment of schools in their areas and bureaucracy has been fatally overwhelmed. School buildings owned by the government have been used as cattle yards. The vacuum has been promptly filled by the increasing number of seminaries.

Government-run educational institutions have not been different from seminaries in the sense that in quality and character both have been akin to each other. When seminaries are accused of producing only imams, comes retort from clerics that government education system is delivering only clerks The upper strata, consisting of the civil and khaki bureaucracy as well as politicians enjoy chains of prestigious and costly institutions which prove gateway to overseas universities and careers.

It is absurd, and pathetic at the same time, to assume that the rising militancy will be wiped out by mere strong-arm tactics. But then there is no limit to flippancy.

The unending militancy in Pakistan

Dealing militants militarily is, of course, indispensable in the present circumstances, but it amounts to suppressing the fever and not treating the infection, or the cancer, causing the fever.

The Bangladesh Today, Dhaka

Pakistan Army and Air Force are struggling in Swat and Bajour, the restive North Western areas of the country, to destroy the hideouts of militants. In Sawat, a suicidal vehicle has been targeted successfully. In Bajour the daylong air strikes killed many terrorists. The big question, however, is: if Army succeeds in ending the present turmoil, will the problem be sorted out forever? Dealing militants militarily is, of course, indispensable in the present circumstances, but it amounts to suppressing the fever and not treating the infection, or the cancer, causing the fever.

There are three main factors behind unending replenishment of manpower to militants. Firstly, policies of successive Pakistani governments vis-à-vis mushroom growth of madrasas (Islamic seminaries) which are in thousands now across the country. The main bastions of the seminaries are tribal areas, situated at Afghan border and governed directly by Federal Government, settled districts of North Western province and fertile vast plains of south Punjab. If lack of modern education is the reason in Tribal and North Western areas, perpetuation of feudalism and the resultant poverty are the source of problem in south Punjab.

This brings us to the second factor. Unlike India, where land- ownership pattern was drastically changed by the policy makers soon after the partition of the sub-continent, the anachronistic feudal system in Pakistan continues to plague the economy as well as the social set up. In Indian Punjab, the ceiling of ownership of agricultural land is 24 acres per family whereas in Pakistan one can own land without any limit. Presence of dynasties in elected bodies, starting with local institutions right upto the top law makers’ house, is one of the many fallouts of the ever green Pakistani feudalism. South Punjab is the worst hit area in this context. The present Prime Minister Mr. Yousuf Raza Gilani and Foreign Minister Mr. Shah Mahmood Qureshi, both belong to South Punjab and both have inherited their respective positions in the elected assembly from their ancestors. The primitive land ownership- pattern , illiteracy and poverty are coercing masses to send children to seminaries where boarding and three meals a day are free. Sending four to ten years old children to Gulf -Emirates to “work” as camel jockeys can also be attributed to the same factors. Countless seminaries of South Punjab are playing the role of nurseries for un-ending number of militants.

Thirdly, the education system is class-oriented.. Unfortunately, policy-makers in Islamabad are oblivious of the fact that all the militants are either product of Islamic seminaries or inefficient system of government-run schools. A million dollar question is : why high quality expensive educational institutions are not supplying any manpower to militants? Some years back when Sufi Muhammad, a self proclaimed religious leader of Swat, led a lashkar (army) of thousands of fighters, most of them armed with sticks and rusted old-fashioned guns, across the Afghan borders to fight against the Americans and defend Talibans, after all their majority consisted of stark illiterates or ‘graduates’ of seminaries !

United States and her allies must pay attention to these deep rooted factors as well. After all cutting a supply line is the basic tactic in a war.

Madrasa Mindset: Source of Talibanisation

Those of us who are attributing the rise of talibanisation in Pakistan to the American presence in the backyard are oversimplifying the matter. The oversimplification becomes cause of concern when even the anti -Talibanisation elements yield to this view.

Talibanization can be defined as the brand of Islam propounded by certain people ,or groups of people ,completely intolerant to those who do not agree with their views..

There is no harm in propounding, even preaching, a version of one's choice. The problem arises when the stick hits the nose. When dissidents are coerced to subscribe and practice to that affect, and are eliminated in the case of refusal, the intolerance takes the form of shenanigan. It is ,therefore, Intolerance, which is the crux of the matter..

One has to understand the mindset of madrasa students and teachers to comprehend the properties, dimensions and implications of this intolerance in context of the underlying structure of the society in Pakistan.. There is no iron curtain hiding these madrasas but the paradox is, thanks to complete compartmentalization between many educational systems prevailing in Pakistan, they are still invisible. If a survey is conducted, hardly one percent of non madarasa class (bureaucrats, armed forces officers, technocrats and other highly educated segments of society) have seen the working of madrasas closely with their own eyes or have got first hand knowledge. It is an altogether different world. Starting with admissions, the substantial majority of students have illiterate or semi- literate parentage, mostly belonging to lower income groups.(exceptions, of course, are there). In most of the madarasas clean shaved head is an essential pre requisite for enrollment. The student is, practically a social prisoner for eight or ten long years. Since it is a residential system, he stays within the premises twenty four hours. The living style here is poles apart vis-à-vis the world outside.. Food has to be eaten while squatting on the ground. Any dress other than local dress, like pantaloon, is strictly forbidden. Even very young children, say below ten, cannot wear shorts. Head dress is mandatory.. The newspapers are specific, not marketed for general public. Electronic media is undisputedly disallowed. (Maybe some students manage to have radio-sets). Students have been seen playing volley ball in evenings in some madrasas but the number is too insignificant to be generalized. Life, on the whole, is tediously repetitious, lacking in variety. There are no picnics, no social gatherings, no feasts, no parents' days, no tournaments, no debates, not to speak of things like dramatic societies. The only outing is visiting some affluent houses for reciting the holy book on occasions like death or housewarming. Most of the readers will be shocked to learn that calendar of holidays , here , is not the same which is announced by the state authorities applicable on entire public and private sector. Sunday is working day and as for as other holidays are concerned,-----except the two Eids( two main Muslim festivals)----it depend as to which sect or school of thought a madrasa belongs to.

The most appalling and dismaying aspect of this alienation is the fact that students ,during this entire period ,come across no such person who belongs to a sect other than that of the madrasa The mosque attached to the madrasa, or vice versa, naturally subscribes to the same sect or school of thought. The teachers, fellow students, majority of worshippers visiting the mosque, donors coming to distribute alms, obviously, support the same religious faction. Social interaction with "others" is almost impossible. What happens when the student graduates and enters the outside world? First time in his life he encounters members of other sects and Muslims having different opinions and beliefs. He is shocked because he is not used to this. He reacts in whatever way he can. This is how the intolerance is born.

Two main factors have transformed this inherent intolerance into talibanization. The number of madrasas has tremendously increased. According to the report released by Pakistan National Education in October 2006, the number of madrasas has reached 13000.(12979 to be exact). This obviously does not include non-registered madrasas. In Islamabad, for example, the number has increased manifold during last eight years and it is rather intriguing that the posh sectors have proved the most favored places for this growth. Multitude of these students were converted into fighting force by exposing them to use of ultra modern arms for Afghan "jihad" during the despotic regime of Gen. Zia-ul- Haq. After the "jihad" was over, going back from battlefield to regimented life of madrasa was as difficult as returning to barracks for soldiers engaged, for extended period, in martial law duty. The intolerance which was imbibed by the student during his eight or ten years stay in madrasa was transformed into talibanization on getting arms. It is not logical to link this phenomenon exclusively with Afghanistan or what is happening with Afghanistan. American or NATO forces were nowhere in Swat or red mosque !

Talibanization is nothing but extending the living style of madrasa to the world outside madrasa.. Size of beard, covering of head, visibility of ankles, breakage of television sets, inability to see females, all of these and other aspects emphasized and implemented by Taliban are exactly what the madarasa-life indoctrinates and practices. It injects all this in blood and keeps on injecting for almost a decade.

The extent of intolerance can be imagined by an example. A cleric, in one of the most widely circulated urdu dailies, in its Friday edition, some months back, issued fatwa(religious decree) that eating food on dining table was "bid-at"(an undesirable practice unfounded in Islam). Imagine the simpleton Pakistani Muslims forbidding their families to use dining table after reading this!

There is no light at the end of the tunnel. Ours is perhaps the only country in the modern world where a number of educational systems, completely alien to each other, are running parallel and compartmentalization is getting more and more crystallized with each new day.

Madrasa Mindset - The Source of Talibanisation

Those who are attributing rise of talibanisation in Pakistan to American presence in Pakistan’s backyard are oversimplifying the matter. The over simplification becomes cause of concern when even the anti –Talibanisation elements yield to this view.
Talibanization can be defined as the brand of Islam propounded by certain people ,or groups of people ,completely intolerant to those who do not agree with their views.
There is no harm in propounding, even preaching, a version of one's choice. The problem arises when the stick hits the nose. When dissidents are coerced to subscribe and practice to that affect, and are eliminated in the case of refusal, the intolerance takes the form of shenanigan. It is ,therefore, Intolerance, which is the crux of the matter.
One has to understand the mindset of madrasa students and teachers to comprehend the properties, dimensions and implications of this intolerance in context of the underlying structure of the society in Pakistan. There is no iron curtain hiding these madrasas but the paradox is , thanks to complete compartmentalization between many educational systems prevailing in Pakistan, they are still invisible. If a survey is conducted, hardly one percent of non madarasa class (bureaucrats, armed forces officers, technocrats and other highly educated segments of society) have seen the working of madrasas closely with their own eyes or have got first hand knowledge. It is an altogether different world.
Starting with admissions, the substantial majority of students have illiterate or semi- literate parentage, mostly belonging to lower income groups.(exceptions, of course, are there). In most of the madarasas clean shaved head is an essential pre requisite for enrollment. The student is, practically a social prisoner for eight or ten long years. Since it is a residential system, he stays within the premises twenty four hours. The living style here is poles apart vis-à-vis the world outside. Food has to be eaten while squatting on the ground. Any dress other than local dress, like pantaloon, is strictly forbidden. Even very young children, say below ten, cannot wear shorts. Head dress is mandatory. The newspapers are specific, not marketed for general public. Electronic media is undisputedly disallowed. (Maybe some students manage to have radio-sets). Students have been seen playing volley ball in evenings in some madrasas but the number is too insignificant to be generalized. Life, on the whole, is tediously repetitious, lacking in variety. There are no picnics, no social gatherings, no feasts, no parents' days, no tournaments, no debates, not to speak of things like dramatic societies. The only outing is visiting some affluent houses for reciting the holy book on occasions like death or housewarming. Most of the readers will be shocked to learn that calendar of holidays, here, is not the same which is announced by the state authorities applicable on entire public and private sector. Sunday is working day and as for as other holidays are concerned,-- except the two Eids( two main Muslim festivals)-- it depend as to which sect or school of thought a madrasa belongs to.
The most appalling and dismaying aspect of this alienation is the fact that students ,during this entire period ,come across no such person who belongs to a sect other than that of the madrasa The mosque attached to the madrasa, or vice versa, naturally subscribes to the same sect or school of thought. The teachers, fellow students, majority of worshippers visiting the mosque, donors coming to distribute alms, obviously, support the same religious faction. Social interaction with "others" is almost impossible.
What happens when the student graduates and enters the outside world? First time in his life he encounters members of other sects and Muslims having different opinions and beliefs. He is shocked because he is not used to this. He reacts in whatever way he can. This is how the intolerance is born.
Two main factors have transformed this inherent intolerance into talibanization. The number of madrasas has tremendously increased. According to the report released by Pakistan National Education in October 2006, the number of madrasas has reached 13000.(12979 to be exact). This obviously does not include non-registered madrasas. In Islamabad, for example, the number has increased manifold during last eight years and it is rather intriguing that the posh sectors have proved the most favored places for this growth. Multitude of these students were converted into fighting force by exposing them to use of ultra modern arms for Afghan "jihad" during the despotic regime of Gen. Zia-ul- Haq. After the "jihad" was over, going back from battlefield to regimented life of madrasa was as difficult as returning to barracks for soldiers engaged, for extended period, in martial law duty. The intolerance which was imbibed by the student during his eight or ten years stay in madrasa was transformed into talibanization on getting arms. It is not logical to link this phenomenon exclusively with Afghanistan or what is happening with Afghanistan. American or NATO forces were nowhere in Swat or red mosque!
Talibanization is nothing but extending the living style of madrasa to the world outside madrasa. Size of beard, covering of head, visibility of ankles, breakage of television sets, inability to see females, all of these and other aspects emphasized and implemented by Taliban are exactly what the madarasa-life indoctrinates and practices. It injects all this in blood and keeps on injecting for almost a decade.
The extent of intolerance can be imagined by an example. A cleric, in one of the most widely circulated urdu dailies, in its Friday edition, some months back, issued fatwa(religious decree) that eating food on dining table was "bid-at"(an undesirable practice unfounded in Islam). Imagine the simpleton Pakistani Muslims forbidding their families to use dining table after reading this!
There is no light at the end of the tunnel. Ours is perhaps the only country in the modern world where a number of educational systems, completely alien to each other, are running parallel and compartmentalization is getting more and more crystallized with each new day.

In memory of Rafiqullah

This great son of Bangladesh, my best friend, was a remarkable man with the qualities which are rare in present day world. May beautiful birds sing on his grave and fresh, clean grass guard it.

The Bangladesh Today

I was 19 when I landed at Dhaka University. It was fall of 1967.East Bengal had always been land of my dreams. Topped in Government College Rawalpindi in graduation with roll of honor, I brushed aside Punjab University's scholarship and jumped over an advertisement floated by the Federal Government announcing Inter-wing exchange Program. I competed and was selected.
Lodged in room 367 of Mohsin Hall (Neel Khet), I overcame initial fits of homesickness, and started enjoying life at Dhaka University. I was one of very few West Pakistani students who felt at home with Bengali dress and food. I used to wear Lungi just like other fellow students. (Even now, after 38 years, I wear it. What is more, my 25 years son who is teaching at one of Islamabad universities also uses it- though both of us cannot get hold of that quality here). My Bengali friends would take me to their homes on Eid and other holidays. The hospitality and cordial regard with which my friends' families treated me is deeply imprinted on my heart. I visited Comilla where my friend Sohail's father was Registrar of Comilla Education Board and Mahmood's father was Circle officer. Kazi Khalil ur Rahman took me to Ghorasal where I had famous Bengali Rasgullas. With Baqir I traveled to hinterland of Mymensingh and went as far as village Jogni Mora. I can never forget those fabulous lakes covered with lilies and ponds with bricked stairs going down into water on all four sides, surrounded by thickly grown mango trees birds chirping on them. The mysterious mystic aura at Baba Jalal's mausoleum ,the glorious landscape of Rangamati ,the magical cruise in Kaptai, the stunningly beautiful tribal women at Cox's Bazaar and the lonely tree in front of Chakma chief's palace under which I stood and got snapped------every thing is unforgettable !.
Two and half years stay at Dhaka University is one of the best periods of my life. Dhaka University's was the only Library in the then Pakistan which would remain open twenty-four hours. I still remember that sweet silence dominating the inside of library, discussions in whispers, lengthening shadows of evening getting darker outside and reflections of leaves of Tamarind and lychee trees floating on window panes!
In the evenings we would wait eagerly, in the hostel, for the cham cham seller .The super quality mangoes were six in one rupee and the modus operandi was that we would throw the rope down from the third floor and the vendor would tie the shopping bag with it and we would pull it up. Enjoying a drink of "daab" at the back of New Market, costing four anas, was a daily ritual. It was commonly believed that one had to consume a certain number of samosas and cups of tea from Madhu's canteen to pass the examination.
It was this angelical atmosphere in which I came across Rafiqullah, my best friend, whom we have lost recently. Hailing from a respectable religious family of Chaumuhani (Noakhali), he was doing his Masters in English Literature. We were residing in the same hostel, Mohsin Hall. He was always dressed in impeccable white shirt and pantaloon of the same color. I do not recall now as to how and by whom we were introduced to each other, but very soon we became inseparable. Somehow a schedule got crystallized. He would come straight to my room after dinner. We would study, have tea, and sing songs till small hours of night. He was rather a heavy smoker. Unfortunately, in spite of his efforts, I could not give him company in consuming tobacco. Many a time it happened that on our way to my room after dinner, we came across some friends and stopped for exchanging niceties.

Soon the conversation would switch over to serious topics like disparity between East and West Pakistanis, Agartala conspiracy and other burning political issues of the time. We would be immersed in arguments to the extent that only azaan at dawn would make us realize that we had been standing in the corridor for the whole night.
Rafiqullah was not studying English Literature just in order to pass the examination. He had deep penchant and commitment for literature and it was a way of life for him. He remembered many lengthy paragraphs of Shakespeare and Sophocles by heart. It was under his influence that I decided to do masters in English Literature as well after attaining the degree in Economics. Unfortunately on returning to Islamabad, Civil Service examination took precedence and my plan to appear in Masters in English Literature fizzled out which I regretted throughout .
Then occurred the inevitable. The final examinations were over. We had to part. I can still see him standing at the barrier, wearing green pullover with stark white pantaloon waving his hand.
He started teaching Literature at Chaumuhani College and I Economics at one of Islamabad Colleges. Correspondence was regular. His letters were marvelous pieces of literature and always source of learning for me. I am still preserving some of them. The titanic 1971 war came with all its miseries and execrations. The arena underwent a metamorphosis. We did inform each other about joining respective civil services but somehow soon we lost contact.
After almost a decade, one day a letter landed on my table. It was from Rafiqullah. He had scolded me for being out of touch and had explained at length as to how he had taken pains in locating me. He was now in United States and was doing some type of business in Omaha (Nebraska). After another few months, a gentleman brought a packet full of shirts, neckties and other gifts for my wife and kids. He had come from Omaha and Rafiqullah had sent all this. It is strange that whenever we lost contact, it was he who undertook the hunt and traced me wherever I was.
In 2004 my daughter got married and joined her husband at Rochester (Minnesota) .The following year I and my wife had to be there to welcome advent of our first grandchild. I rang up Rafiqullah from Rochester and he commanded me to visit him. I tried to convince him that we could not travel with a seven days old baby but he would not listen to any reason. On his unrelenting insistence we finally ventured to undertake the journey. It was seven hours drive. We crossed Iowa and reached Omaha where Rafiqullah; holding hand of his lovely grandson was standing outside his house to greet us. We were seeing each other after thirty five years. We laughed and we cried. He was clad in typical Bengali Kurta and Pajama and was looking divine. He had taken two days off his job especially for us. Owning an impressive house, he and Bhabi were living happily with their sons, daughters in law and grandchildren. After two days when we parted, his grandson Zubair, who called my wife dado, was crying.
Whenever I was in Washington for my official business, he would urge me to visit Omaha but somehow this could never happen. Once when he was on his way to Dhaka, I pleaded to make a stopover at Karachi but he was in hurry to reach his ailing father. In November, 2006, he announced his program for Hajj. I wrote to him that according to an Urdu phrase a cat would go to Hajj only after gobbling nine hundred mice. On his return from hajj, I demanded my share of holy dates and Zamzam.
One more year passed and then came that frightening ,ugly email .It was like a nightmare to me, "I have been diagnosed with cancer cells in the liver". This was his last mail in my inbox. His son Ishrat kept on informing about his condition from stage to stage. Then came Najmu's mail. Rafiqullah had breathed his last on 11th January 2008 in Omaha hospital.
This great son of Bangladesh, my best friend, was a remarkable man with the qualities which are rare in present day world. May beautiful birds sing on his grave and fresh, clean grass guard it.

Are Bengalis missing Pakistan?

Have Bengalis missed anything by breaking away? The answer is: No, they haven't because they made a Nation-state out of themselves.

The Bangladesh Today
Some of the Pakistani newspapers have quoted a particular news agency stating that according to a recent release by World Health Organization two hundred sixty two thousands people had got killed in 1971 Bangladesh War of independence. Although I could not get hold of any such report on internet, yet the news item provides an opportunity to do some stocktaking.
Emergence of Bangladesh draws an analogy at least in one aspect with 1857 upheaval. What for Sub Continent was a war of independence was mutiny to British chronologists. Pakistanis term 1971 event as "Separation of East Pakistan" whereas all and sundry, especially Bangladeshis, term it as war of independence.
Today when we look back, tragic paradoxes dominate the scene. Take for example Muhammad Ali Jinnah's Speech at Dhaka in which he declared Urdu as the one and only national language of Pakistan. Whosoever drafted that Speech was either unaware of cultural and linguistic history of East Bengal or was not sincere with his leader.
What West Pakistanis could not appreciate, or perhaps could not comprehend, was the fact that Bengali was a language richer and older than Urdu and was, since centuries, being used, unlike Punjabi, as medium of instruction and communication. This speech sowed seeds of permanent distrust between two wings. Adoption of both Urdu and Bengalis as national languages was the only logical solution of the issue. In Canada, for example, only one province is French speaking but French is accepted as national language, besides English, by the entire country. Switzerland has three national languages. The irony is that in the leftover Pakistan, even today, after sixty years, Urdu is yet to occupy its promised seat at Centre as well as Provinces. Bengali, on the other hand has been treated with far greater reverence in Bangladesh.
Ayub Khan's ten years despotic rule, played to the gallery, unfortunately, as Decade of Development, had eroded much of the already decomposed national integration. He was followed yet by another general. I remember during my student days at Dhaka University, Bengali class fellows used to ask sarcastically as to when the turn of a Bengali General would come to rule the country from the throne of Islamabad?" not even in remote future". The never ending military rule diffused a deep, irreparable despondency all over in the eastern part of the country.
There was no light at the end of tunnel. This turned the intelligentsia hostile and cynical. I can not forget the taunt with which my hostel-warden at Mohsin Hall Dhaka University regretted to accept the cheque for university fee telling me "we are small people - we don't deal with cheques."
Variance in land ownership patterns was another decisive factor. There were, practically no feudal in East Pakistan whereas West Pakistan was a vast green pasture for land Czars including privileged members of the notorious Unionist party who, one fine morning at the eve of partition, had found themselves safe in the Sanctuary of Muslim League.
The majority province, ultimately, seceded. This was unprecedented in history. Small chunks always had been bidding farewell to the mainlands but here it was a unique case. The biggest province which had struggle and achievement of Pakistan to its credit was breaking away after waging a war of independence.
It is a pity that no soul searching is being carried out in the leftover Pakistan. The million-dollar question which deserves reply is whether the objective for which Pakistan was fought and won has been achieved? There is a complete lack of consensus as far as objective is concerned. The upper crust maintains that Pakistan was created to provide opportunity to Muslims to live without economic domination of Hindus. The masses, however, claim that the chunk of land was broken away from the mainland to implement Principles of Islam.
Not withstanding the fact that the Poet, Asghar Sodai, (he breathed his last recently), who had coined the popular slogan, "Pakistan ka matlab kia - La-ilaha illalah," was neither a member of the then Muslim League nor the League officially owned this catchword. We assume, for the sake of argument, that founding fathers, indeed, had intention to make it a state wherein Islam, in letter and spirit would be practiced as a way of life at national as well as individual level. Unfortunately the present day Pakistan has no compatibility with cannons of Islamic State. The "Sirdari" system of Baluchistan, the fiefdom prevailing in Sindh and South Punjab, the heterogeneous and chaotic education system, based mainly on class-distinction, and the dynasties monopolizing the elected bodies are some of the features of present day Pakistan which can hardly be accepted by any version of Islam. But the most unfortunate is the sectarian strife which has completely destroyed the fabric of state as well the society.
If, at all, Islam is being implemented, it is confined to a particular brand interested only in size of beard, colour of turban, length of shirt, visibility of ankles, burning female education institutes, blasting barbers' shops, destroying video centers and slitting throats of fellow-Muslims. Those who attribute creation of Pakistan to the cause of establishing an Islamic State must do some soul searching whether the alleged objective has been achieved.
That the country was created for economic emancipation of the Muslims is a more shattered dream. Pakistan's economy is in shambles. The well-fed baboos, fortified in permanently under-renovation glass-houses of Planning Commission and Finance Ministry, have been aping Harvard and John Hopkins models and parroting phantasmagoria of per capita income and growth rate. "Brains" behind cotton policies had never seen cotton crops in their entire careers and architects of wheat policy believed that wheat plant was as high as a tree. What fruit the common man is reaping?
A massive dreadful load-shedding program throwing the country in utter darkness six times every twenty four hours, a virtually non-existent purchasing power, thousands of roofless Public Sector schools where students bring their own empty sacks of jute or plastic to bottom themselves on hard ground, the lowest literacy rate in South Asia, women forced to march naked in streets every now and then, an anachronistic but free jirga system running parallel to the shackled judiciary, an ever rising poverty line and teeming millions of youth running from pillar to post to get hold of jobs even if they are below their qualifications. Above all, the country has turned into a huge slaughter house.
Anybody can be slain any time anywhere on parochial, linguistic or sectarian basis. Car jacking, cell phones snatching and kidnapping for ransom have been accepted by all concerned as order of day. A small but all powerful minority is enjoying a life style known only for despots of Middle East and criminals of Latin American banana republics. This is one country where your jet-set living will never be probed into whether it is off shoot of Commission in Arms purchase or some other crime hidden behind the fortune. So much for emancipation from economic hegemony of Hindus!
Reverting back to emergence of Bangladesh, whether it was outcome of a war of independence or a separation movement , the basic question which every Pakistani must ask himself is:Have Bengalis missed anything by breaking away? The answer is: No, they haven't because they made a Nation-state out of themselves.