A LESSON FROM HISTORY

For some time I have been wondering if there was a historic event that steered the course of Indo-Pak subcontinent’s history in the direction that has resulted in the present pitiable situation. Arrival of the British East India Company stands out as one possible event having that impact. The following article contains mainly extracts from various Wikipedia articles put together in a logical order.

The East India Company (EIC), originally chartered as the Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies, and often called the Honourable East India Company, was an English and later (from 1707) British joint-stock company and megacorporation formed for pursuing trade with the East Indies but which ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent.

The East India Company traded mainly in cotton, silk, indigo dye, salt, saltpetre, tea and opium. The Company was granted a Royal Charter by Queen Elizabeth in 1600 making it the oldest among several similarly formed European East India Companies. Shares of the company were owned by wealthy merchants and aristocrats. It was an example of an English joint stock company. The government owned no shares and had only indirect control. The Company eventually came to rule large areas of India with its own private armies, exercising military power and assuming administrative functions. Company rule in India effectively began in 1757 after the Battle of Plassey and lasted until 1858 when, following the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the Government of India Act 1858 led to the British Crown assuming direct control of India in the era of the new British Raj.

The Company was dissolved in 1874 as a result of the East India Stock Dividend Redemption Act passed one year earlier, as the Government of India Act had by then rendered it vestigial, powerless and obsolete. Its functions had been fully absorbed into the official government machinery of British India and its private Presidency armies had been nationalised by the British Crown.

In 1612, James I instructed Sir Thomas Roe to visit the Mughal Emperor Nuruddin Salim Jahangir (r. 1605 – 1627) to arrange for a commercial treaty that would give the Company exclusive rights to reside and build factories in Surat and other areas. In return, the Company offered to provide the Emperor with goods and rarities from the European market. This mission was highly successful as Jahangir sent a letter to James through Sir Thomas Roe:

"Upon which assurance of your royal love I have given my general command to all the kingdoms and ports of my dominions to receive all the merchants of the English nation as the subjects of my friend; that in what place soever they choose to live, they may have free liberty without any restraint; and at what port soever they shall arrive, that neither Portugal nor any other shall dare to molest their quiet; and in what city soever they shall have residence, I have commanded all my governors and captains to give them freedom answerable to their own desires; to sell, buy, and to transport into their country at their pleasure.

For confirmation of our love and friendship, I desire your Majesty to command your merchants to bring in their ships of all sorts of rarities and rich goods fit for my palace; and that you be pleased to send me your royal letters by every opportunity, that I may rejoice in your health and prosperous affairs; that our friendship may be interchanged and eternal"

—Nuruddin Salim Jahangir, Letter to James I.

In 1614, Roe was elected Member of Parliament for Tamworth. From 1615 to 1618, he was ambassador to the court at Agra, India of the Great Mogul, Jahangir. The principal object of the mission was to obtain protection for an English factory at Surat. At the Mughal court, Roe became a favorite of Jahangir and was his drinking partner. This greatly enhanced Roe's status with the Mughals. His journal was a valuable source of information for the reign of Jehangir.

The Company, benefiting from the imperial patronage, soon expanded its commercial trading operations, eclipsing the Portuguese Estado da India, which had established bases in Goa, Chittagong and Bombay (which was later ceded to England as part of the dowry of Catherine de Braganza). The East India Company also launched a joint effort attack with the Dutch United East India Company on Portuguese and Spanish ships off the coast of China, which helped secure their ports in China. The Company created trading posts in Surat (where a factory was built in 1612), Madras (1639), Bombay (1668), and Calcutta (1690). By 1647, the Company had 23 factories, each under the command of a factor or master merchant and governor if so chosen, and had 90 employees in India. The major factories became the walled forts of Fort William in Bengal, Fort St George in Madras, and the Bombay Castle.

In an act aimed at strengthening the power of the EIC, King Charles II provisioned the EIC (in a series of five acts around 1670) with the rights to autonomous territorial acquisitions, to mint money, to command fortresses and troops and form alliances, to make war and peace, and to exercise both civil and criminal jurisdiction over the acquired areas.

William Hedges was sent in 1682 to Shaista Khan, the Mughal governor of Bengal in order to obtain a firman, an imperial directive that would grant England regular trading privileges throughout the Mughal empire. However, the company's governor in London, Sir Josiah Child, interfered with Hedges's mission, causing Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb to break off the negotiations.

In 1689 a Mughal fleet commanded by Sidi Yakub attacked Bombay. After a year of resistance the EIC surrendered in 1690, and the company sent envoys to Aurangzeb's camp to plead for a pardon. The company's envoys had to prostrate themselves before the emperor, pay a large indemnity, and promise better behaviour in the future. The emperor withdrew his troops and the company subsequently reestablished itself in Bombay and set up a new base in Calcutta.

In September 1695, Captain Henry Every, an English pirate on board the Fancy, reached the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb, where he teamed up with five other pirate captains to make an attack on the Indian fleet making the annual voyage to Mecca. The Mughal convoy included the treasure-laden Ganj-i-Sawai, reported to be the greatest in the Mughal fleet and the largest ship operational in the Indian Ocean, and its escort, the Fateh Muhammed. They were spotted passing the straits en route to Surat. The pirates gave chase and caught up with the Fateh Muhammed some days later, and meeting little resistance, took some £50,000 to £60,000 worth of treasure.

Every continued in pursuit and managed to overhaul the Ganj-i-Sawai, who put up a fearsome fight but it too was eventually taken. The ship carried enormous wealth and, according to contemporary East India Company sources, was carrying a relative of the Grand Mughal, though there is no evidence to suggest that it was his daughter and her retinue. The loot from the Ganj-i-Sawai totalled between £325,000 and £600,000, including 500,000 gold and silver pieces, and has become known as the richest ship ever taken by pirates.

It is really surprising that Mughal emperor Jehangir did not send his own ambassador to the court of the king of England. Instead he depended on the English ambassador to convey messages both ways. If he had done so, we would have had an account of England as it was then as seen by an Indian. It is also noteworthy that neither Jehangir nor the subsequent emperors demanded reciprocal facilities for Indian traders in the British Empire. From the above it is obvious that the Indians in those days had a reasonable naval strength.

It is not surprising that our present day rulers also seem to forget the interest of their people when dealing with foreigners. Something needs to be done to change this attitude.

I am unable to find who was the first person from the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent to travel to England in any ship and in any position. Any information or suggestion to that effect will be appreciated.

Caretaker PM

Pakistan needs a caretaker government to hold free and impartial elections. The assemblies have been dissolved and both government and opposition have proposed three trustworthy names each for the post of caretaker prime minister and are quarrelling and rejecting each other's nominations. How silly!
Six upright men have agreed to give two or three months for the noble cause of running the country while elections are held. Why discriminate among them. Let them form the cabinet and elect the caretaker prime minister from among themselves.

Kargil Flashback

The other day I watched parts of Saleem Safi’s interview of general Pervez Musharraf on Geo TV’s program Jirga. I watch him because Saleem has a decency that seems to be lacking in most TV interviewers. In reply to a question about Kargil operation, the general replied that his troops were in complete control of 5 posts on Kargil mountains and he had all but won the war when Nawaz Sharif surrendered for no reason. He said it with such conviction that I almost believed him until I recalled my own experiences. In those days I was in Saudi Arabia and used to follow the Kargil story through broadcasts of the Saudi youth radio station. The last broadcast I heard was a live interview of one of the mujahideen commanders fighting on the Kargil front. He was saying that fingers, noses and ears of many of his companions were falling off due to frost bite and their food supplies were running low; but they had enough ammunition and would rather die fighting than surrender.

If he was believing in reports that his troops were winning, Musharraf was living in a fool’s paradise.  Obviously the general had chosen his allies carelessly and sent the soldiers to positions where they could not be resupplied with provisions. That was bad planning. In fact even if you look objectively at the conquests of Alexander the great, they turn out to be meaningless meanderings with purposeless bloodshed ending in pitiable misery.

Karachi Burns

At sunset on 3^rd March, 2013 a vehicle laden with about 150 kilograms of high explosive was detonated on a road between two apartment blocks in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Block 6. The ghastly blast reduced most of the facing apartments to rubble killing at least 45 people and wounding about 150 including women and children. The road leads to a Shia enclave called Abbas town. At that moment in time the entire police force of the city had been deployed to provide security at a betrothal ceremony of two Peoples’ Party VIPs attended by the prime minister, chief minister and a host of other dignitaries. Rescue operations were carried out entirely by voluntary organizations.

 The targeted apartment blocks had a mixed community and the casualties were both Shias and Sunnis. However, biased by the recent Shia massacres in Quetta the press projected the event as a sectarian attack and only the funerals of the Shias were shown on television, ignoring the Sunnis.

 

The TTP (Tehrik Taliban Pakistan) has not issued any statement claiming responsibility, but their involvement is obvious. TTP is using old and nearly forgotten past Shia-Sunni conflicts to motivate its mostly Deobandi Sunni followers to strike localities near Shia enclaves, but those attacks are far outnumbered by their attacks on Sunni places of worship belonging to other sects and national military installations. They are fighting an urban guerilla war to destroy Pakistan as we know it. Why?

 

The TTP leadership has taken oath of allegiance to Mulla Omar of Afghanistan fame and has vowed to the mission of destroying all institutions in Pakistan to install him as the head of state of Pakistan and the Caliph of all Muslims of the world, eventually creating a world Islamic order that would exactly follow the norms and customs of the 7^th century Islamic state based in Madinah. This explains their continuous ravaging of non-religious schools, both boys’ and girls’. It also seems likely that they have assurance from Pakistan's arch enemy India that it will not take advantage of the civil war.

 

Mulla Omar has no qualification at all for his intended assignment or ambition, but he is a symbol of audacity in the face of allegedly Jewish instigated Christian military atrocities in Afghanistan. The apparition of TTP has arisen out of the dust of those blown up or roasted in US and NATO bombings in Afghanistan.

 

Unfortunately there are many sympathizers of the cause of TTP in Pakistan. They openly call Mulla Omar the Caliph of all Muslims, denounce democracy as Dajjal and preach boycott of the next general elections. They include intellectuals, wealthy businessmen and retired military officers who are totally disappointed by the massive corruption and misgovernment of the much trumpeted democratic government in Pakistan. The time has come for these gentlemen to review their priorities and show some concern for the humanitarian cause.

 

The reason why the incumbent government has not retaliated to the TTP invasions and acted to restore peace and order in the country is equally disappointing. New political forces of change particularly the Tehrik-e-Insaf of Imran Khan is threatening to wipe out the old political parties in the upcoming general elections. But if the elections are held in tense conditions, they may not be able to mobilize the voters who have never voted before and the much hated old guard can return to power and avoid accountability for another five years. What they do not know is that they may be creating a situation where a bloody revolution may be the only recourse and they may not even get a chance to defend themselves before being sent to the gallows or shot.

 

The above narrative may seem disgusting to those enlightened men and women who do not have any religious or sectarian prejudices. I don’t like it either. But you have to call a spade a spade and identify the problem before proceeding to solve it.

Massacre in Quetta - 2

Perhaps in response to my last blog (http://naseemmahnavi.blogspot.com/2013/02/carnage-in-quetta.html) in which I had questioned the motive of the massacre, I received the following message which is in Urdu but written in English. The year 1983 seems to be a typing error as General Musa was martial law administrator/governor of West Pakistan during the rule of General Ayub Khan in early 60's and governor of Baluchistan during General Zia-ul-Haq from 1985 to 1988
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musa_Khan). I have heared the story for the first time and have doubts about its veracity. But if such allegations are circulating, any kind of madness can be expectd.

Message: "Fwrd as rcvd.......
Kya Aap ko malum Hy?
1983 Me Quetta fasadaat mea 700 Sunni Shaheed aor 70 sy zaid Sunni orton ko iman bary ly ja ya giya aor jb police imam bare mea dakhil hueie to 17 police walon k sr kat kr football banaya giya. 1983 k es fasaad mea mulaw-wis 300 irani or Hazara k shiya pakrea gay jin ko us waqt k governer Mosa khan, jis ki qabar iran mea hy, iran k hawaly kr diya tha, Is qatle aam me yehi Hazarea k shiya or shiya governer
genral Mosa mulavis tha, yh hazare wale shiya itne shareef, masom nahe, jitna unhe pesh kiya ja raha he, yh apna kiya bhugt rahea hean."

Who will talk sense into them?
 

Carnage in Quetta

A couple of days ago, in a despicable show of cruelty,  a water tanker full of ammonium nitrate apparently manufactured from fertilizers was driven to the heart of Hazara town, a district of Quetta city and exploded by remote control killing 89 people and injuring hundreds. This is the second bomb attack on that community within a month. The earlier attack had also killed over a hundred people and had resulted in the sacking of chief minister and suspension of the of Baluchistan parliament on public demand. The Hazaras are an ethnic minority of Baluchistan with their own language and are Shiite Muslims by faith. There is a history of their persecution by the predominant Baluchis, but the recent wave is outrageous by all proportions.

It has been reported that the outlawed Islamic legionnaires called Lashkar-e-Jangvi have taken responsibility for the attacks. The LJ is a group of the followers of Indian religious institution at Deoband.  There is talk of the Americans trying to sabotage the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline by annoying the Iranis as a result of Shia killings. There is also talk of a proxy war between Saudi (Sunni) and Iranian (Shiite) intelligence agencies in Baluchistan. However, calling the Hazara massacres mere sectarian violence raises a few questions. The leadership of the ruling People’s Party in Pakistan is predominantly Shiite, but it has shown deplorable apathy on the issue presumably because there is no money to be made in this business. Similarly the Aghakhanis are also Shiite and present in significant numbers in Pakistan but have not been attacked. And last but not the least, the LJ has never stated its objective or motivation for a genocide of the Shiite Hazaras.

 

The Shia-Sunni divide is really a historic misunderstanding created by historians describing Imam Abu Bakr, Imam Omar and Imam Uthman as Khalifas meaning heirs to the Prophet and Emirs meaning princes.

 

In the present circumstances, the possibility of political motivation cannot be ruled out. There seem to be a number of political and religious groups who would like to abort the coming general elections. During the past few months I have heard at least two sermons condemning democracy and elections as ‘dajjal’ or the enemy of faith. The suddenly descended Canadian based Islamic evangelist Tahirul Qadri has done his utmost to throw a spanner in the election works. The Indians would love to see the elections aborted or military intervention as it will give them material to malign Pakistan. Many believe that the People’s Party would like to have the elections delayed as long as possible as they are certain to lose it and there could be serious consequences for its corrupt leaders in the aftermath. It is interesting that in all its three stints in power the PP has never handed over power to an elected government. Mr. Bhutto after a term and half tried to rig the elections and created a situation that brought the army in power. Benazir Bhutto in both her subsequent terms managed to get her government sacked on corruption charges by presidents appointed by herself.

 

All said and done, the fact remains that sanctity of human life is being grossly violated and people are being unscrupulously and brutally slaughtered in premeditated attacks. This is a crime against humanity and must be stopped at any cost. If the Hazaras are not strong enough to protect themselves, it is the duty of all of us to protect them.

The Right Candidate

Nothing ends well that is not started properly. That is my experience in life. So when I discovered that Allama Tahirul Qadri’s long-march is meant to ensure that electoral reforms are done to ensure that candidates for the next general elections in Pakistan will comply with the requirements of the constitution I got interested. I should thank the gentleman that if it was not for his hue and cry I would never had read article 62 of the constitution which goes as follows:

[62.

Qualifications for membership of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament): (1) A person shall not be qualified to be elected or chosen as a member of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) unless- (a) he is a citizen of Pakistan; (b) he is, in the case of the National Assembly, not less than twenty -five years of age and is enrolled as a voter in any electoral roll in- (i) any part of Pakistan, for election to a general seat or a seat reserved for non-Muslims; and (ii) any area in a Province from which she seeks membership for election to a seat reserved for women. (c) he is, in the case of Senate, not less than thirty years of age and is enrolled as a voter in any area in a Province or, as the case may be, the Federal Capital or the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, from where he seeks membership; (d) he is of good character and is not commonly known as one who violates Islamic Injunctions; (e) he has adequate knowledge of Islamic teachings and practises obligatory duties prescribed by Islam as well as abstains from major sins ; (f) he is sagacious, righteous and non-profligate, honest and ameen, there being no declaration to the contrary by a court of law; (g) he has not, after the establishment of Pakistan, worked against the integrity of the country or opposed the ideology of Pakistan. (2) The disqualifications specified in paragraphs (d) and (e) shall not apply to a person who is a non-Muslim, but such a person shall have good moral reputation.]

The intention of those who wrote these words was indeed noble and quite commensurate with an Islamic Republic. It really defines the agenda of the Election Commission for verification of minimum qualifications of the candidates. If I am not wrong a number of other requirements such as the submission of asset lists and income tax returns have been added by the EC to reinforce the spirit of the above clause.

However, it seems that the means to translate the spirit of clause (e) in to measurable action has evaded the EC so far. The only way of determining a man’s knowledge of any subject is by testing it and it seems that an essential part of the qualification process for election aspirants should be a written test of their knowledge of Islamic teachings. It is never too late to start a good tradition.

It should not be too difficult for the ECP to organize a nation-wide election prequalification examination for all aspirants of national and provincial elections, positions as president and governor or even advisors with a common question paper containing a sizeable number of MCQs about Islamic teachings prepared by reputable Islamic scholars. The passing score should be kept high, say about 80% and I would suggest that non-Muslim candidates also take this test. After all they have a right of vote on all legislation and as far as I know there is no religion that prevents its followers from studying the principles of other religions.

I hope that I shall not need to organize a long-march to get myself heard by the honorable Chief Election Commissioner of Pakistan. Frankly speaking, I don’t have the resources for it and I would not mind if someone else takes up the mantle.

Pakistan Elections

 

The five-year term of the incumbent parliament in Pakistan completes in March, 2013 and the president’s tenure in September.  Preparations are a foot for the next general elections in May, with a highly regarded ex-chief justice as chief election commissioner who is committed to holding free and fair elections and a yet to be announced caretaker government which is anybody’s guess. However, most serious observers of Pakistani politics are skeptical about the fairness of the coming election while Mr. Zardari who is also the co-chairman of the ruling People’s Party and effectively the man who pulls all the strings remains in office. Unfortunately Mr. Zardari is involved in a money-laundering case in Switzerland and is cited in a number murder and other criminal cases in Pakistan which cannot be tried due to presidential immunity.  If his party which is extremely unpopular due to gross miss-governance, rampant corruption, power and fuel shortages and spiraling inflation over the last five years loses the next election, life may become very unkind for Mr. Zardari. Anyone in his shoes would try to rig the elections in favor of his party and there are indications to that effect. The office of the Federal Ombudsman was kept vacant for the past two and a half years and thousands of complaints against civil servants were allowed to pile up. Recently a friend of Mr. Zardari who is being tipped as the second or third most corrupt man in the country has been appointed as Federal Ombudsman. There is common speculation that he would be used to persuade the erring civil servants to influence the election results in favor of PP and its allies.

In this backdrop the sudden appearance of the Canadian resident Pakistani Muslim scholar Dr. Tahirul Qadri and his campaign of a long march to Islamabad to press for electoral reforms seems to be really an effort to create circumstances in which Mr. Zardari may be forced to quit the presidency and allow free and fair elections to be held. One expects considerable turmoil in the coming weeks but it would be a small price to pay if the desired result is achieved. If PP wins the next general elections by foul means it may plunge the country into a bloody and bitter civil war and revolution that may see many landlord families under the guillotine.

Perhaps the best course would be for Mr. Zardari to resign voluntarily. If he does that paving the way for free and fair elections, continuation of democracy and new opportunities for progress and prosperity, the nation may feel grateful to him and forgive and forget his past actions.

The Ten Commandments

 

The Ten Commandments of God as stated in most of the latest versions of the Old Testament of the holy Bible are really the bedrock of the morality associated with the three major religions that spread out of the Middle East to all corners of the world. They are stated with great emphasis and in various contexts in the holy Qur’an also. The New Living Version is quoted below with my notes in italics.

 Exodus 20

New Living Translation

Then God gave the people all these instructions: I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.

1.    You must not have any other god but me. (Basic concept of monotheism, common with Islam)

2.    You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. (Prohibition of idolatry, common with Islam. However in the period between Moses and Muhammad, God seems to have decided that nobody should bear the burden of another’s guilt and the curse was removed. )

3.    You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name. (A false oath in the name of God is also sinful in Islam)

4.    Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the Lord your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work. This includes you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, your livestock, and any foreigners living among you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy. (Sabbath literally means seventh. In Islam Friday is the day of congregation (juma) and according to the Qur’an each of the days in which God created the world was as long as our thousand years.)

5.    Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you. (This is a basic value of civilization and can be found in all religions practiced in any part of the world)

6.    You must not murder. (This is a universal prohibition of killing human beings under any circumstances. In the holy Qur’an the statement has been qualified in various contexts. An extremist Jew, Christian, Muslim or Hindu thinks that the prohibition of murder applies only to other adherents of his own faith and it is virtuous to kill the adherents of other faiths. They need to be told otherwise, especially Israelis that they should not kill Palestinians.)

7.    You must not commit adultery. (This is the basic difference between Middle Eastern Divine religions and the Greek and Hindu mythologies in which the gods themselves were promiscuous.)

8.    You must not steal. (Here is another blanket injunction: stealing is prohibited from anyone and under all circumstances including infidels and enemies.)

9.    You must not testify falsely against your neighbor. (It seems that God in His infinite wisdom had anticipated the present day conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians and warned against calumnies and false propaganda.)

10.  You must not covet your neighbor’s house. You must not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor. (This seems to be another forewarning for the Israelis not to takeaway Palestinian lands or build housing schemes on their usurped lands.   For more comparisons with Islamic injunctions go to one of the links below: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/53723169/islam-today.pdf https://dl.dropbox.com/u/53723169/THE%20BASIC%20PRINCIPLES%20OF%20ISLAM%20SHOW.ppsx

 

Resolutions - 2013

I have stopped believing in prayers and wishes. Let us work together and ensure that in the coming years:

Nobody sleeps hungry.
No bullets are fired or rockets aimed at or bombs dropped on human beings
No one suffers a loss due to the dishonesty of another person.
No truth worth knowing by people remains concealed.
No call for help goes unnoticed.