NEW DELHI: This is with reference to Tariq Fatemi’s article of Jan 2 titled “Egyptian model does not apply to Pakistan”.
As an Indian who has Pakistani friends and is interested in Pakistan, I used to get a bit annoyed and disturbed at how Pakistanis always looked to Turkey, Egypt, Malaysia, etc. (“Turki hamare liye misaal hai”) out of purely Islamic loyalties — i.e., the idea being that Pakistan, the “Muslim homeland”, can only be modelled after other Muslim states or Muslim-majority countries. But then I realised that it’s not unusual to expect at all — why not?
The reasons for Partition, the popular support for it, the two-nation theory and so on — it’s only logical that Pakistan would turn its back on India and look for Islamic models. Actually, I sincerely think that Bangladesh is probably a better model for Pakistan than any other. It’s now almost completely a secular state, has little sectarian or religious violence, and has a genuinely liberal middle class, that is Muslim but that has not gone on a mission to destroy and erase all evidence of its Hindu heritage. That’s the way to go for Pakistan.
Satish A
Published in The Express Tribune, January 3rd, 2013.
