Democratic Pakistan is in favour of India: Indian human rights activist
“Whatever happens in India, affects Pakistan and whatever happens here definitely influences India,” he remarked while speaking at the Karachi Press Club on Thursday. And, then, as a corollary, he added: A democratic Pakistan is in favour of India.
Extremism on both sides
He was equally candid about his own country. Prof. Puniyani said that democracy in his country was being threatened by Hindu extremism. “It has [developed] a cancer internally. Politics for us that is in the name of religion is very dangerous,” he admitted. That is why he has travelled across India to promote secular thought and communal harmony.
He took on this work after deciding to retire from teaching at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, in 2004. Today he is associated with many initiatives and has been part of investigations on violations of the human rights of minorities. For example, he was part of people’s tribunals that examined abuses in Orissa and Madhya Pradesh.
He spends some of his time conducting workshops and delivering lectures in different parts of the country on themes related to the threats to democracy, the agenda of communal politics, myths about minorities and the politics of terror.
“No religion allows the killing of innocent people,” he stressed before giving an example from his own backyard: “To suppress the Dalits is a part of politics in India.” We must not forget that all citizens are equal, irrespective of their religious affiliation. “But those who are against such rights do politics in the name of religion,” he maintained. Indeed, his words find resonance in Pakistan.
He commented on how there were also some groups in Pakistan that did not consider some sects Muslim. “This trend was not common before the partition of the subcontinent,” he reminded his audience. “Muslims and Hindus alike believed in Sufism. There were no differences between them. Almost all minorities were with Mahatma Gandhi during the freedom movement.”
There has been change in Indian society as well. He felt it was stronger before 1980 when democratic values flourished. “But the political situation altogether changed when issues such as Ram Mandir blocked the way and spread hatred. Politics was derailed.” He was referring to the holy site in Ayodhya where a mosque was built in 1528 - some Hindus say at the spot where one of the most revered deities in Hinduism, Lord Ram, was born. The Babri mosque was destroyed in 1992, becoming a flashpoint between Hindus and Muslims for years.
“If Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was secular then I am a secular person. If Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is considered secular then Prof. Ram Puniyani is also a secular man,” he said. Gandhi was secular and did not mix politics with religion nor did he include religion in politics. “He was also assassinated by those who pushed him for Hindu Raj in India.”
Prof. Puniyani dwelt on Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s speech on August 11, 1947. “It was a masterpiece. It was a matchless speech,” he said. “Jinnah was a secular person by heart but he was living in a communal body – the Muslim League. His thoughts were sidelined after his death. It is the need of hour to follow his principles for today’s Pakistan to materialise Jinnah’s dream.”
India and the US
“The progressive people in India consider America’s friendship with India very dangerous,” remarked the professor. “This superpower is not in favour of India. Pakistan has been used by America and now its India’s turn. But we won’t allow America to destroy us.” The only solution for us to strengthen regional politics, he felt.
This is also needed because generally speaking Pakistan has been always blamed whenever unusual tragedies strike India.“Both countries spend on defence and not on education, health or youth,” stressed the academic.
“We can’t change the history but at least we can make a good future.”
Published in The Express Tribune, July 6th, 2012.
COMMENTS (13)
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I do not agree with him completely but I swear, if both sides have people like him, Anna Hazara, Abdul Sattar Edhi, the subcontinent would prosper. We desperately need these kinds of people.
Just like democratic India doesn't like Pakistan judged by the agressive negative comments by most Indians here, I doubt democratic Pakistan and its citizen will ever be in favor of India. This is a false illusion created by liberals who are just whipping up this fallacy to disappoint themselves.
iam surfing dawn and express tribune for past 2-3 yrs,my observation is that most of pakistanis themselves prefer Army rule over democracy..
A very positive and poignant address by Mr. Puniyani.
I would modify the title and say that a democratic Pakistan is in India's interest. The rest of what Prof Puniyani says is hogwash, and is creating the bogey of Hindu terror which gives fundamentalists yet another excuse to exact vengeance on the Indian state. The fact is that there is no one out there preaching that Hindus are superior to Muslims or trying to convert them because no Hindu will buy this logic or support them; that is not the case with organizations like LeT or IM that are recruiting Indians and filling them with hate against their own fellow citizens. For example, the Babri Masjid verdict was welcomed across the country and the proposed solution should be used to actively promote harmony. More effort is required to reduce the fears of the minority community instead of playing up differences by quoting fringe elements that are anyway actively being brought to heel.
I think the professor has echoed the feelings of majority of Indians in very good way. Religion and politics must no be mixed and we must not let any superpower to use us and to treat us like a doormat.
It's true then___ hatred & rumors take root when you don't talk it out. For Pakistan's own democratic future it's very very important that India is a thriving democracy. After all, no-mater how much hatred has developed between two brothers, it's the big brother who is sober & so the one who will show tolerance & acceptance.If some day in future both of our countries become deep friends in every way, the bulk of the credit will definitely go to India for its undeniable & time-tested political brain power.
If democracy means that Pakistan slowly gets bankrupt from corruption and lack of governance. These sure. A destroyed Pakistan is certainly better for India. Though, we Pakistanis would prefer a strong, stable and progressive Pakistan.
rightly said Sir
Last but one paragraph:
“Both countries spend on defence and not on education, health or youth,”
Is this what Punyani preached?
He is a defender of the pseudo-seculars in India.
What a nice speech by a great scholar. I love every word from him. Let us build a Quaid's Pakistan not Gen. Zia's Pakistan. Let us open our hearts and mind and let the light of peaceful coexistence shine us all.