[sacw] Article from Dawn

aiindex@mnet.fr aiindex@mnet.fr
Sun, 6 Sep 1998 19:25:48 +0100


The paper pasted below appeared as an op-ed piece in DAWN, 6sept, 1998
FYI
Harsh
------------------------
Not the business of the state
By Ardeshir Cowasjee

ISLAM is a great and good religion, as are the other major faiths of the
world, when interpreted and put into practice by true men of God -
learned, balanced, fair-minded, sensible, compassionate and benevolent.

I am a Zarathushti, a follower of the prophet Zarathushtra. I am not a
Parsi by religion, but by race. The origin of the word 'Parsi' goes back
1,368 years when a group of Zarathushtis from the province of Pars in
Iran arrived to settle on the west coast of Hindustan, then ruled by the
benign king, Jadav Rana. It was the Hindustanis who bestowed upon the
community the name 'Parsis' - the men from Pars.

Zarathushtra taught his followers that life was a gift of God to be
lived to the full, and that they should do unto others as others and
they would be done by. He taught them that religion is a matter that
rests entirely between man and his God, that intolerance, bigotry and
dogmatism are the bitterest enemies of religion as they render it a
tyranny and a form of persecution. Bigotry stifles reason, is blind and
savage, sectarian bigotry and inter-religious bigotry being equally
evil.

Man has no right to demand that his neighbour shall address his God as
does he, nor that he shall pray, worship, and sacrifice to God in the
manner that he does. No thinking man's idea of God and religion can ever
be the same at all times and in all places on earth. True men of
religion know that they have no right to impose their way of thinking
upon others, that they must remain free from the spirit of sectarianism
and fanatic zeal. Zarathushtra's teachings, as do the teachings of all
the great prophets, define cleanly and clearly the difference between
religion and religiosity.

The Parsis living in the four provinces of Pakistan inherited this
country. They chose to remain in Jinnah's Pakistan, and with relief and
happiness accepted his creed as proclaimed on August 11, 1947, in the
Constituent Assembly. He was clear and concise when he told the members
that all men are equal, that religion is not the business of the state.
Jinnah's Pakistan died with him. Zarathushti blood was not shed in the
making of Pakistan, though Zarathushti support was given unstintingly.

Now to Nawaz Sharif. To gain the two-thirds majority necessary for the
smooth passage of the Fifteenth Amendment through the National Assembly
and (particularly) the Senate, he will have to buy men. He has done it
before, and will do it again. The process has already started. This
week, Chaudhry Shujaat was sent off to Balochistan. Closely followed by
trusted briefcase carrier, Saifur Rahman, to meet my friend Nawab
Mohammad Akbar Shahbaz Khan, Tumandar of all the Bugtis, who owns and
controls five vital Senate votes.

The Nawab has his own perception of Islam, as is his right, which may
not necessarily tally with the concept as followed in Raiwind. Towards
the end of last year, inspired by the incompetence of Nawaz Sharif's
government, I had a bet with him that Nawaz Sharif would not survive as
PM beyond July 31. I lost. When I asked Akbar where I should send my
cheque, he told me he did not want it. Being a good Muslim, he cannot
accept a Kafir's money. One must wonder if, had he lost the bet, would
he have held, as a good Muslim, that he cannot pay a Kafir?

The day before yesterday, I read in Dawn that the Nawab had acknowledged
that he has received a cheque from a Kafir, but since Islam prohibits a
Muslim to use money won on a bet he must pass it on. He has done so, to
the Quetta Press Club. This is typical, and enjoyable, Akbar Bugti
logic. His Islam did not prohibit him from making a bet with a Kafir,
only from accepting a Kafir's money. He has his own views on Zardosht as
he calls him, and why not? He must have had fun with Saifur Rahman (I
would have loved to have been with them at their meeting).

Nawaz Sharif sits within three cabinets. Firstly, in the Raiwind
cabinet, headed by Abbaji who is advised by his cardiologist Dr
Shahryar, Judge Afzal Lone, Son Shahbaz, and Child Prodigy Hussain.
Second is the kitchen cabinet he himself heads, made up of his Mians and
Chaudhrys ('Lahore Lahore hai'). The third, in order of importance, is
the official cabinet at Islamabad.

Crisis or no crisis, the third cabinet probably meets formally twice or
so in a hundred days. It can broadly be divided into three groups.

One comprises the gung-ho table-thumpers, who hang on Nawaz Sharif's
every utterance, echoing each one with a 'Wah-wah, Mian Sahib' before he
has even completed his sentence, pride of performance going to
'Mushahidsaab'.

Then there is the group made up of the sour-faced, grim and silent lot,
whose lips remain sealed unless they are specifically urged to speak up
on their own specific subjects. To this second group belongs Khalid
Anwer, an intelligent man who has proved to be a bitter disappointment.
He cannot match his predecessor in office, law champion of all
governments, Jadoogar Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada, who at least is honest
enough to laugh and say. 'Accept me as I am, with warts, blemishes,
briefcases and all. If it were not for all the weak and corrupt
governments of Pakistan, I would not be where I am today.' Sharifuddin
never places himself on a pedestal, seldom looks down on a lesser
mortal, Khalid Anwar would do well to re-read paragraph 301 of his
written statement, filed in the Supreme Court in response to Benazir
Bhutto's petition against her 1996 dismissal:

"The doctrine of collective responsibility has different facets and
aspects. At its most basic, the doctrine means that the ministers are
collectively, and as a body, known as the cabinet, responsible to the
National Assembly. Individual ministers do not have the choice or luxury
of agreeing only with some government decisions and not others. However
much a minister may disagree with a policy or decision taken by the
cabinet, he must in public and in particular before the National
Assembly give it his full and unstinting support. If he finds it
impossible to accept or abide by the decision or to support it, he must
then resign from office. A minister's choice to remain in the cabinet is
tantamount to his accepting responsibility for all cabinet decisions and
government policy."

The third cabinet group is headed by those of practical pragmatic minds,
such as Ghous Ali Shah, whose decisions are based on the fear of where
they would be should Nawaz Sharif fall.

Dogged by the misfortunes that have beset them since the death of
Jinnah, the people of Pakistan now face the daunting prospect of Nawaz
Sharif manipulating his Fifteenth Amendment through Parliament and then
declaring himself, Amirul Momineen and Commander of the Faithful for
life. His duties, as he presumably sees them, would enable him, inter
alia, to:

- Pass an Act whereby a constitutional amendment can go through
Parliament by a simple majority (at present the Constitution provides
for a two-thirds majority).

- Declare the Quran and Sunnah to be the constitution and nominate a
body of 'pious' Muslims to interpret it.
- Declare that all state functionaries, including judges, must strictly
follow government directives whether they consider them to be right or
wrong.
- Dissolve the provinces as being contrary to the concept of Millat.
- Abolish Parliament, or just the senate, and nominate a Shoora of
'pious' Muslims.
- Declare opposition to be un-Islamic, hence banned.
- Declare that public offices be restricted to 'pious' Muslims.
- Declare restrictions on the rights of women, thus banning them from
holding public office (bye-bye BB).
- Declare any sect of Muslims to be non-Muslim and thus minorities.
- Declare that minorities have no rights other than the practice of
their religion, of their personal laws, traditions and customs, thus
depriving them of their right to vote and other fundamental rights.
Subject them to payment of Jazya.
- Introduce flogging, amputation, lapidation, the death penalty, and
public executions for various major and minor offences.
- prohibit western education and declare Islamic education to be
compulsory.
- Restrict communications with the outside world, such as the Taliban
-style banning of television.
- Declare interest to be haram and thus not payable on international
debts.
All this will be done in the name of a good religion as interpreted at
Raiwind.

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