Looking Back

He Pakistan its name in a booklet "Now or Never" which he wrote and published on January 28, 1933. 'P' of Punjab, "A" of Afghani border(i.e. N.W.F.P.), 'K' of Kashmir, 'S' of Sindh, and 'tan' of Baluchistan were put together to name the still-to-be-created homeland of the Indian Muslims. this name soon caught the imagination of the multitudes and even the foreign newspapers began to call the proposed country by this name.

In the years preceding the end of  direct  colonial  rule in South Asia, CHOUDHARY RAHMAT ALI was virtually  alone  in proposing a future for the region and its people, based on historical  facts and Islamic principles as opposed to imperial and nationalistic views.  

Ch. Rahamat Ali argued that since  South  Asia  came under colonial rule      many distortion, lies and  myths  have  been  perpetrated  about what is called `India'. The main falsehoods are:  

    1. India has existed from the beginning  of time as a UNITARY state. NOT TRUE - it only became a unitary state under the British Empire. Prior to British rule, no-one ever had full  control  of the Continent - not even  Alexander of Macedonia,  nor  the  Muslims  including  the  Afghans  and  Mughals, etc. This is confirmed by the  Eleventh Edition of Encyclopedia  Britannica (Volume 14) (HUS to ITA) (page 375) which states "the natives of (British) India can scarcely be  said  to have a word of their own by which to express  their  `common'  country."  Thus,  'India'  became the  arbitrary name of the British Empire  in South Asia. In any case readers should consult maps showing  Borders  of all empires between the Arabian Peninsula and `India'  from  1500BC  onwards.  Words  can  be written to mislead but rarely maps.  

    2. India is a country or a subcontinent.  NOT TRUE - both geographically and historically, India  (Dinia  to  be  more  accurate)  is a CONTINENT  having seas and mountains that are  more  stupendous than those of other continents and consisting of  nations,  tribes, civilisations, languages more diverse than even the continent of Europe.  

    3. Pakistan was a territory carved  OUT  of  India.  NOT TRUE - most of  present day Pakistan did not  even  form  part  of 'India' until Britain seized the territory and  made  it  an  administrative  region  of their British Indian  Empire.  In  doing  so,  they  'Indianised'  the  Muslim population, making them a MINORITY of  the British Indian Raj. Moreover, much of Northern and Central Dinia were  dependencies of the Islamic Pak Nation - that is  the  Muslim  territory  that  was  once  the UNDIVIDED EASTERN FLANK to the heartland of Islam which included Iran, Afghanistan   and Central Asia.  

    4. The events of  1947  are  described  as  'Partition'.  NOT TRUE - the original aim was  INDEPENDENCE  from   Imperialism,   Indianism,  Indian Federation  and  Hindoo  Nationalism   and  reversion  to  the  original Fatherland and Federation  with  ancestral  homelands  from  where Islam first came into India, that is, from  the Arabian peninsula, through to: Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia.  

    5. Muslims were a minority  in  India.  NOT  TRUE  - for over a thousand  years, Muslims from the Pak  Empire  [that  includes  Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia and present day Pakistan]  had ruled parts of the Continent of India. Those areas in  'India'  that  came  under Muslim control were  considered as Dependencies of the  Pak  Empire.  A comparable example is  the  Ottoman  Empire  -  where  the   Turk  Nation  is  Turkey  and  its  dependencies  were  Yugoslavia,  Romania,  Greece,  etc.  Similarly, the  British Empire no  longer  exists  but  the  British  Nation still does. EMPIRES are short-lived but not NATIONS!  

    It should now be apparent that the  history  of South Asia has been told from an INDIAN bias by the former  colonial  power, and not from the Pak or Islamic perspective  (see  how  Islam  progressed  from  the  Arabian Peninsula eastwards and  the  Islamic  homelands  that were built on the eastern flank of the heartland of Islam).  

    Ch. Rahmat Ali saw the dangers  of  these  falsehoods  to the Muslims of  South Asia and surrounding  territory  and  to address these dangers, he  developed the name and concept of  P.A.K.I.S.T.A.N.  (not to be confused  with the present day entity which he called Pastan).  

    In 1933, he published a  392-page  book  called  `P.A.K.I.S.T.A.N.,  THE  FATHERLAND OF PAK NATION', in which he proposed an Islamic federation of all contiguous Islamic territory  that  lay  on the eastern flank of the heartland of Islam.  

    On pages 223-224, he provided a detailed explanation for the name:  

    P - Punjab. C.R. Ali asked  for  territory  proportionate  to the Muslim  population.  

    A - Afghania. The real name of the  North  West Frontier Province (NWFP) is Afghania. NWFP is  a  gross  distortion  because  it  is  the British designation for the North western region  of their Indian empire that no  longer exists. Also, NWFP is not  a  Frontier  as  far as the indigenous      population, the Pashtoons  are  concerned.  How  an earth can one have a  frontier between the same people with one-half living in Afghanistan and the other half in Afghania ?  

    K - Kashmir  

    I - Iran. When Alexander of  Macdeonia  attacked  the Persian Empire, he  invaded up to the area of what  is  today  Pakistan,  because in ancient  times, Pakistan was part  of  Ancient  Persia.  He  did not attack India proper because he was not at  war  with  India  - only Persia! Until 100     years ago, Farsi  was  the  language  of  the  educated.  Many  poems by poet-philosopher, Mohammad Iqbal are in Farsi.  

    S - Sindh  

    T - Tukharistan. This name is not  used  anymore  but the area exists as  Turkmenistan and parts of the other contiguous Central Asian states.  

    A - Afghanistan  

    N - BalochistaN - the other half  of  Balochistan is in south-east Iran!  Balochistan makes up 44% of the landmass of today's Pakistan (Pastan)     

    More than half of present day Pakistan (Pastan), in particular Afghania, Balochistan, Rojhan in Sindh  and  Dera  Ismail  and  Dera Ghazi Khan in  Punjab were hardly ever  part  of  India  until  the  British seized the  territory and incorporated it as  part  of the British Indian Raj. Those      Paks living in Afghania and  Balochistan  e.g. Pashtoons, Balochs, Farsi speakers, etc have never regarded  themselves  as  'Indian', though they may have been unwilling subjects of the Crown Colony of British India.  

    C.R.Ali also formulated demands  for  Muslim  states in the Continent of  Dinia (India's true name),  namely  Usmanistan  in  Hyderabad Deccan and      Maplistan in South India to  avoid  massive  population  transfers (read      'ethnic  cleansing'  and  brutal  rapes  and  killings  in  the  name of      religion). He advocated  that  Bangladesh  should  be  a separate Muslim      state called  Bangistan.  These  Muslim  states  would  then  form a Pak      Commonwealth of Nations. He even called  for the Sikhs to have their own      separate country called  Sikhia  in  1942  i.e.  the  Continent of Dinia      should be a continent of  different  nations  and  faiths,  NOT a single      country dominated by Hinduism and Indianism  which had already dominated      all the countries of  South  Asia  and  defeated  the  efforts  of their      peoples to improve their lot  (see  oppressive  caste  system  - ancient      aparthied, sheer scale of poverty of the masses, etc).  

    C.R.Ali wanted freedom for the  five  Muslim `Indian' homelands in North      West India, namely Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir, Sindh and BalochistaN from      British colonial rule, followed by  their  re-integration with the three      Muslim `Asian' homelands of Afghanistan, Iran and Tukharistan.  

    P.A.K.I.S.T.A.N. was to  form  the  eastern  flank  to  the heartland of      Islam, as it had been before it was  broken up through infighting by the      Mughals, Safavids and Afghans; and  then  by  the colonial legacy of the      McMahon, Durand and Goldsmid  Borders.  C.R.Ali  maintained that without      this Family Re-union,  our  `Asian'  and  `Indian'  homelands  would not      survive and thrive.  

    C.R. Ali  was  controversial  because  of  his  Islamic  beliefs,  being      described as a dreamer, a  Pan-Islamist  visionary and an idealist. Such      propaganda is nothing new and is today widely used by the forces of Kufr      and Jahiliyya against Muslims.  For  instance,  when  C.R.Ali joined the      editorial staff of the `Kashmiri Gazette', he wrote an article entitled:      `The Blind Imitation of the West'.  The  newspaper soon got into trouble      and C.R.Ali was forced to quit his job.  

    C.R. Ali opposed those Muslim  leaders  who  advocated a Federation with      India, claiming that they were looking at events like a cow looking at a      passing train. He argued that  Muslims  should  federate with Muslims of      neighbouring  Muslim  States.  A  Federation   with  the  Hindoos  would      subjugate the Muslims and reduce them to the position of `hewers of wood      and drawers of water' for the British  and their allies, notwithstanding      that the Muslim  population  in  the  region  accounted  for  more  than      one-tenth of the entire Muslim  world,  and  the homelands constituted a      vast area.  

    Thus, in 1915, when only  18  years  old,  he  formed  Bazm-e-Shibli  in      Islamia College, Lahore where  at  his  inaugural  address  he declared:      `North of India is Muslim, we will  keep  it Muslim and make it a Muslim      State. But this we can do only if and  when we and our North cease to be      Indian.  So  sooner  we  shed  Indianism  the  better  for  us  and  for      Islam...We, Muslims would  very  much  rather  see the separation of the      Hindoos and Muslims...Friends! If  my  views are unacceptable to you, we      had better part...You work for  your  Indian  Revolution but I will work      for my ISLAMIC Revolution. At the end, we shall see who creates the most      dynamic and creative revolution.'  

    In 1931, C.R.Ali went to Cambridge University to study Law where he came      up with the detailed concept and ideology  for P.A.K.I.S.T.A.N. However,      the 'disease' that led to so  many  Muslim  lands  to  fall easy prey to      colonial  rule  also   saw   C.R.Ali's  ideas,   writings,   the   name      P.A.K.I.S.T.A.N., etc being  plagiarised  and without acknowledgment, by      careerist leaders. C.R.Ali  described  careerism  as: "subordinating and      sacrificing the good  of  Islam  and  the  Nation,  for  personal  gain.      Careerism has been a calamity that has ruined us as a people, wrecked us      as a power, and frustrated us.  It  was  the  root cause of our military      defeat in 1757 [defeat of  Mughal  Viceroy  by  Britain in the Battle of      Plassey]; of  our  Milli  (national)  downfall  in  1857  [Great  War of      Independence / Indian Mutinty], of our  Milli demoralisation after 1857;      and finally, of our Milli disintegration in 1947 [moth-eaten creation of      Pakistan / Pastan]".  

    C.R.Ali returned to Pakistan after its formation on April 6 1948 but was      treated like a common criminal. He was persecuted, tortured and expelled      back to England on October 1, 1948  on  Government orders. His money was      frozen and he was not allowed to  transfer  it  to England. His writings      were proscribed.  

    None spoke on his behalf. None came  to sympathise with him. In 1951, he      died a very broken and sad man having witnessed the disastrous path that      Muslim leaders of South Asia were  taking.  He died in exile, in poverty      and alone. When news of his death reached Pakistan in 1951 there were no      obituary notices, no messages  of  condolence,  no  public statements of      mourning, no homage to the deceased,  not even a meeting to pray for his      soul. Alien hands tended  him  during  his  last  breathing hours. Alien      hands paid his last fees and arranged his last rites. Alien hands buried      him in an alien land amid men and women  of alien faith and nationality.      The Pakistan High  Commissioner  in  London  in  1951  refused to send a      representative to his funeral or pay its costs  

    C.R.Ali fought and died for an Islamic State in exile. To this very day,      elected governments and military rulers have prevented the return of the      remains of C.R.Ali to Pakistan where he deserves to be given due Islamic      burial and recognition by  his  country.  The  injustice  done to him is      appalling.  

    Even though nearly 50 years have  passed  since  his death, his writings      about the dangers facing Muslims are as relevant today as they were then      (truth always stand clear from error even over the passage of time). For      instance, Ch.Rahmat Ali called  for  an  Islamic  Renaissance and in one      pamphlet, he wrote:  

    "Our greatest asset and opportunity is our Faith, which has created what      we possess; it has made us what  we  are.  That  is, the emancipators of      hundreds of millions of human  beings.  Islam has worked miracles for us      in the past, and it can and will  do  the same for us now and always, if      only we let it do so.  

    Such is the promise of Islam.  Yet  such  is  our perversion that we are      simply not following Islam. We are ignoring it in every sphere of life -      individual, national, moral and material.  Not only that, we are turning      to alien, `Western' cults instead.  That  is, to cults that have already      poisoned the source of our life,  undermined  the  basis of our beliefs,      and weakened the bonds uniting our Fraternity;  and that means to detach      us from Islam and attach us  to  `Westernism'  and  thereby finish Islam      which, owing to its values and verities, is their most serious rival for      the allegiance of mankind.  

    It is clear that our  neglect  of  Islam  for  other  cults is a form of      apostasy. Indeed it is an act  of  enmity  against  Islam. For remember,      nothing so degrades and destroys a  religion  as  its neglect by its own      followers. It is just that  neglect  which  has  killed  most of the old      creeds and faiths of mankind. That is how by our failure to follow Islam      we are acting as its enemies and  frustrating  its  whole mission in the      world.  

    It is imperative therefore, that,  if  we  want to live as Muslims, save      our heritage, reunite with our Pak brethren in Afghanistan, Central Asia      and Iran, and see Islam flourish  in  the world, we must change. We must      shun alien cults; we  must  revert  to  Islam.  In  other words, we must      follow its code in thought, in word, and in action."