India and Pakistan gained independence in 1947. India chose to be a pluralistic and secular society with Hindi and English as the official national languages. Each Indian state had the liberty to pursue and maintain its unique cultural heritage and language.
The Pakistanis on the other hand chose to become an Islamic country. But all Islam is not the same. The Islam of the Indian Sub-Continent is quite different from that of the Afghans, Turks, Iranians and Arabs.
Pakistan wanted to distance itself as far away as possible from 5,000 years of its Indian history, heritage, language and culture to forge a new one overnight. They wanted to be anything but Indian.
The Pakistani leadership thought that since their name was 'land of the pure' they should be equated to the Arabs and preferred to become an Arab State, but they were dismissed by the Arabs and warned not to even think of themselves as Arabs.
The Pakistanis then tried their luck with classifying themselves as Turks, then Iranian and finally Afghans, but were soundly spurned by them all. All these Muslim countries considered the Muslims of the Indian Sub-Continent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Srilanka, Maldives, etc.) as inferior Muslims and generally unworthy to associate with except as servants and employees.
Pakistan then decided to position itself as superior to all Muslims. It adopted Urdu as the official language of Pakistan. Urdu is a hybrid language, a mixture of Hindi and Farsi spoken by less than 8% of the Pakistani public.
Except for the elite, in one stroke Pakistan became rootless and the people disconnected from their past, present and the possibility of a good future. A teeming mass of clueless frenzied people with little or no hope.
But Pakistan has always had one major advantage, its geographical location. The West used it to ferment trouble in the region, the Arabs used the Pakistanis as dispensable foot soldiers to propagate violent Jihad. The Americans and the Arabs discovered they were driving the same vehicle of radical Islam but with differing objectives.
With the support of the UK and an American-led West, Pakistan became a formidable military and economic powerhouse. It even performed significantly better than India. Then China joined the party, providing Pakistan with many destructive elements including the nuclear bomb.
The confluence of money, power, weapons, etc. with wide-ranging international support in all global institutions, and media, created a self-destructing monster.
Countless organisations and millions of JIhadis were birthed to spread mayhem, terror and destruction across the world, all In the name of Islam. America and the West granted them legitimacy.
Pakistan is like a child that never grew up intellectually, civilisationally, culturally, economically and still dependent on the father. Its fathers are many, the UK, the American-led West, the Arabs, Turkey and China. Since the child refused to grow up and perform or behave as expected, one by one the fathers left Pakistan.
Pakistan turning its back on its rich heritage is like an orphaned child, who does not know who 'Daddy' is. They know that India is their 'Mummy'. Tragically due to their actions, Mummy does not want Pakistan anymore.
If we think that the current situation in Gaza with 2 million Muslims affected is bad, then imagine the plight of 230 million Pakistani Muslims who are struggling to survive. They are finding it unbearable to stay within Pakistan, yet cannot leave, because no one else wants them. Now expatriate Pakistanis are being sent back home by their host countries.
What is the solution?
Islam is a totalitarian system that renders Islam incompatible with democracy. The two will need to separate.
Either Pakistan becomes a strict Islamic state. However, this is impractical for a country that has descended into a condition that it will never be able to sustain nor even feed itself. Or Pakistan leaves its weird and impractical brand of Islam. If they do not do so soon, they might have to leave Islam altogether.
Interesting reading /viewing:
Travelling through Pakistan; from Karachi to K2 - Salman Rashid on Pakistan's Identity ~ The Pakistani Experience (YouTube)
Why Pakistan will fail ~ Guru Wonder
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