Pak sar zameen?
by arsalan on Sep.23, 2009, under Politics
Jagannath Azad was an Urdu poet, born in a small village in West Punjab in what is now Pakistan. His father, Tilok Chand Mehroom, was also an Urdu poet with nearly 200 poems to his name. Both father and son were critically acclaimed poets. Jagannath had an illustrious career: He was a teacher, professor of English and Urdu, Journalist, Head of the Urdu Department at Jammu University, held important positions at various journalist’s associations and was recognized as a Doctor of Letters by the Universities of Kashmir and Jammu. Jagannath was also recognized as an authority on the works of Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal.
But perhaps his greatest achievement is that he was requested by Muhammad Ali Jinnah to pen Pakistan’s first national anthem. This is a documented fact, recent history and not open to debate, unlike other such or similar ideas like “Jinnah was a drinker” or “Jinnah was secular” or even “Jinnah and Nehru betrayed Gandhi”. Jinnah wanted a Hindu to come up with Pakistan’s anthem. That is really strange, considering how Pakistan has always been touted as a safe haven for Muslims escaping persecution from Hindu (or Hindutva) extremists. But that is not the premise of this article.
What I intend to highlight is how Pakistan’s youth (including myself) is largely unaware of this and other facts. Facts that paint a completely different picture from the Pakistan of today. Then there are the zealots who deny Jinnah’s apparent secularism and argue in favor of an Islamic state based on their biased interpretation of a history that has been drenched in green paint. I had never heard of the name of Jagannath Azad until I was linked by a friend to this Hindu Times article by Beena Sarwar. I remember having heated discussions on forums about Jinnah’s desire for a secular and modern state. My opponents vehemently denied this speech and called it a ‘Hindu fabrication designed to weaken the hearts of Muslims and make Pakistan an easy target for India’. It was clear that my opponents hadn’t bothered to even read the speech. Had they, they would have come across the following lines that stand as a solid and indisputable testament to Jinnah’s secularism:
[...]you will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State.
Jinnah wanted post-colonial India to be a functional democratic state in every regard, as opposed to what I believe were Gandhi’s dreams of a self governing anarchist psuedo-state. Gandhi wanted an India without an underlying government. Gandhi’s idealism had no place in the world of 1947, much less today. Why, when there is so much documentary evidence to the contrary, do we have schoolchildren identifying Pakistan as an Islamic state founded for the sole purpose of providing for Muslims and championing Islam in the face of the rest of the world? Where are Jinnah’s promised equal rights for all minorities? Why are we sitting and watching like deaf, dumb and blind idiots as Islamists are gaining ground within our government? Why are we, as a nation, generally apathetic to Taliban militants using our soil for their dirty bloodwork? Why are we letting feudalism live? Why are uncouth and uneducated ‘leaders’ driving our nation deeper and deeper into social, cultural and economic turmoil with our vote?
I, for one, am tired of playing the devil’s advocate. Bring out the zealots and feudal lords and extremists and burn them at the stake. Purge this disease from our land. Document it extensively so that generations will know. Set an example for other cultures. The great culling. The curing of Pakistan.
As for anthems, why was Hafeez Jalandri’s Pak Sar Zameen even needed, when Jinnah had already got us one, with the aid of Jagannath. Why was there a need to replace Jagannath’s anthem with Hafeez Jalandri’s? I can not come to a conclusion without first reading Jagannath’s anthem. I have only been able to find a short excerpt:
Aey sarzameen-i-pak
Zarrey terey hein aaj sitaron sey tabnak
Roshan heh kehkashan sey kahin aaj teri khak.
(“Oh land of Pakistan, each particle of yours is being illuminated by stars.
Even your dust has been brightened like a rainbow”)
Hafiz Jalandri’s Pak Sar Zamin is a really well written piece with subtle references to a deity and faith in general (“Marqaz e Yaqin” and “Saya e Khuda e Zuljalal”). The references are too vague to be deemed pro-Islam in any way, but are definitely not secular.
As I stated earlier, it is not possible to draw a conclusion without thorough research into the matter and a reading of Jagannath’s original. But something just doesn’t seem right. Perhaps Jagannath’s anthem embodied Jinnah’s August 11 speech, and it was later felt that a slightly less secular one was needed? One with subtle references to ‘faith’ and ‘the almighty’? So maybe, in these times of MMAs and Sharia`ah movements and unconstitutionally persecuted minorities, we should adopt a more overt religious chant as our anthem. Maybe one with great praise for the almighty and hatred towards minorities, replete with subtle undertones of extremism and Islamofascism.
“Zarrey terey hain aaj sitaaron sey tabnak” he wrote. I wonder what his sentiments were in his later years.
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September 23rd, 2009 on 20:04
It wasnt until this excuse for human habitation became an Islamic Republic that things started really going bad.
The simplest reason was that the purpose to divide india was fulfilled, the idealism that drove that movement had become obsolete, and the time had come to finally control people rather than let them run free and unrestrained, high as they were (and continue to be to this day albeit more covertly and increasingly without any reason) on their jazba and junoon and pride and honor.
Yar yeh baatein na kiya karo. Bertrand Russell said it all when he said:
“Patriotism is the chief curse of our age, and will lead to the death of civilisation if it cannot be mitigated.”
And patriotism doesnt just mean pakistan zindabad, it means nokia/ericson, honda/toyota, doctor/engineer, PML/PPP etc etc etc.
This is the bullshit that is destroying our culture, the so called fuel of the modern system i.e. competition.
Kill em all i say.
October 18th, 2009 on 02:32
I enjoyed reading your article. I am slightly bothered by your assumption that Pakistan today needs to be how Jinnah intended it to. Jinnah was a product of his time and culture. He did good and bad things and is gone. You could argue he was farsighted and a visionary. But that needs to be rigorously analyzed
October 18th, 2009 on 12:49
Thanks for reading!
I believe I might not have been clear enough about the basic premise of my article. I do not think that we need a Pakistan that is an exact image of Jinnah’s Pakistan. Yes, he is gone now, and ‘Jinnah-ism’ for the sake of Jinnah is unhealthy.
We are not living in the 50s. I don’t see any sensibility in pretending that we are. I do, however, believe that we do need to bring back some of Jinnah’s ideals. In spirit, and not in word:
If you go back and follow the link to read Jinnah’s speech (excuse me if you have already), you will find that there is a basic message of tolerance, unity, fairness and justice. I hope you don’t mean to say that these are no longer relevant and can be done without.
Also, these are principles that we need to adopt as a society. They would do nothing to help with the current political mess, and the ’security situation’. But let’s look beyond Pakistan or Jinnah here. Humanity needs to relearn kindness.
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” – Plato
January 27th, 2010 on 18:30
Dear Sir,
I am a researcher at the Faculty of Architecture of the Politecnico di Milano, and authors with my colleague of two books by Whitestar Publishing concerning contemporary architecture in the Arabian Peninsula (‘New frontiers in architecture. Dubai from vision to reality’ and ‘Building Arabia. Expanding the limits of architecture’). I also collaborate with the international architecture and design magazine Compasses (www.compasses.ae) and I are therefore interested in publishing a review of your very nice photos about Yas Marina Hotel in Abu Dhabi. Could you please send me, as soon as possible, some photos of the Hotel in order to include it in the march issue, especially dedicated to Abu Dhabi, because I have not photos about this architecture. I Notifies you that for this article, I will not be paid and so, I can not pay to you any copyright. In the articles, I’ll can, however, mention your copyright photos.
Thank you very much for your kindness
Best Regards
Oscar Eugenio Bellini
June 6th, 2010 on 08:23
In reference to your opinion about Jinnah’s desire for secular constitution:
“The constitution of Pakistan has yet to be framed by the Pakistan Constituent Assembly. I do not know what the ultimate shape of this constitution is going to be, but I am sure that it will be of a democratic type, embodying the essential principle of Islam. Today, they are as applicable in actual life as they were 1,300 years ago. Islam and its idealism have taught us democracy. It has taught equality of man, justice and fairplay to everybody. We are the inheritors of these glorious traditions and are fully alive to our responsibilities and obligations as framers of the future constitution of Pakistan. In any case Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic State to be ruled by priests with a divine mission. We have many non-Muslims –Hindus, Christians, and Parsis –but they are all Pakistanis. They will enjoy the same rights and privileges as any other citizens and will play their rightful part in the affairs of Pakistan.”
Broadcast talk to the people of the United States of America on Pakistan recorded February, 1948.
I hope it can answer to ur remark about treatment of minority in a muslim/Islamic state. What Pakistan was not supposed to be, was a theocracy. & what we have, is a caught-in-conflict state b/w two extremes… sectarianism / theocracy vs. secularism. However, even a theocracy or a secular state could have survived but evils of nepotism, ethnic hatred and corruption are potent enough to eat away this land in search of nation, if we dont unite and shun our habits.