There is a poem, which I haved adapted, written by Martin Niemöller which perfectly sums up the situation in Pakistan.
BANGALORE: This is regarding the article by Sayeed Hasan Khan called "Secular vision” (October 10). There is a poem, which I have adapted, written by Martin Niemöller which perfectly sums up the situation in Pakistan: “They came first for the Hindus, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Hindu/Then they came for the trade Sikhs, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade Sikh/Then they came for the Christians, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Christian/Then they came for the Ahmadis, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t an Ahmadi /Then they came for the Shias, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Shia /Then they came for me and by that time no one was left to speak up.”
Pakistan was formed on the basis of the two-nation theory which was later proved wrong by the secession of East Pakistan. I may also add that despite being overtly secular, there seemed to be a contradiction in what Jinnah said, especially closer to 1947. During this time, he began to argue that the Muslims and Hindus were two different communities and so different that both needed a country of their own. He also argued that Muslims would always be treated as second-class citizens in undivided India.
The reality of present-day India indicates otherwise. A Muslim has been president and a Sikh is now prime minister. Besides, India's current defence minister is a Catholic. There are many in India who believe that the partition of the subcontinent proved to be problematic for the Muslims who chose not to leave for Pakistan — so in a sense the division was actually a disservice to the Muslims. This also explains why, since 1947, relations between Muslims and Hindus in India have not been so good.
Anoop H Prasanna
Published in The Express Tribune, October 14th, 2010.
