Adil Najam
The two videos attached below – one of a student speaking at a student convention presided over by Gen. Pervez Musharraf and the second of an MNA speaking in the National Assembly during the no-trust motion against Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz – have recently been floating around over email on Pakistani lists.
[Thanks to Eidee Man for alerting us to this new version of the first video which includes Gen. Musharraf’s Response to the student’s speech. Even if you have seen the student’s speech already, the response is worth listening to.]
While the remarks from Muslim League (N) MNA Khawaja Asif is less surprising (especially since it came right after Nawab Akbar Bugti’s death and during a no-confidence motion) the speech from the student (Syed Adnan Kakakhel) is much more of a surprise. Gen. Musharraf listens intently, takes notes, and seems engaged. Indeed, as you can now see from his response (later in the video) the speech certainly got to Gen. Musharraf. He responds at length – including on the military rule and Balochistan issues.
I should also add that this event was organized by the government itself and also note that Adnan Kakakhel was awarded the second prize in the speech contest and also that this was telecast over Pakistan Television.
Whether you are a government opponent (i.e., this shows the depth of people’s frustration with the current order), a cynic (i.e., such talk is tolerated because everyone knows it will make no difference), or a government supporter (i.e., this proves that this government has given people real democracy and freedom of speech), you should celebrate these videos for what they are: a demonstration that political thought is alive and well in Pakistan (irrespective of whether you believe its content to be righteous or misguided).
Coming from the bol ke lab aazad hain tairay school of democracy, to me the space for dissent is itself important to the democratic polity; for that reason alone I beleive that these are important articulations.
Dear Adnan. One day I would love to meet one of these liberals you keep talking about. I have never met one who talked like what you assume liberals to talk like. Or is it just that you have an urge to abuse someone and vent needless anger that leads to these comments? Sometimes I wonder if maybe you are a hidden-liberal yourself and you write all these messages just to prove to the world just how very angry and spiteful these so-called ‘mullahs’ are.
But you know what, I know too many ‘mullahs’ who are entirely polite and reasonable, who are not always angry and dont always make hurtful comments. May you be like them too one day. Ameen.
A few points to add.
1. This first video is nearly a year old now.
2. The speaker (Mr. Kakakhel) was awarded the second prize in this context.
3. A number of other speakers also made pointed political references, including on the uniform issue.
4. This is the only video that has been roaming because some people are more organized in spreading these than others. But there were many other very good speakers both favoring and opposing the government position.
5. Overall this has to be a good sign if people are speaking so freely.
Ali Naqvi, as a rhetorical device by benuria student uses the slogan ‘Pakistan ka matlab kiya’ very nicely. He knows it cannot be challenged and it essentially tries to make redundant the discussion on either Pakistan or even ‘La illaha …’ As if both are known quantities. They are, of course, not. The fact is that the religious leaders opposed Pakistan on a premise that Islam doe snot condone the idea of the state and instead the whole ummah is one. So a state that was made for MUSLIMS (as opposed to for Islam) in a certain geographic region was not worth supporting. Once Pakistan became reality they have worked mostly to turn it from a state of mostly MUSLIMS in to a state about ISLAM. Hence the ‘discovery’ of this slogan during the Zia era. I would ask people here who are older than the Zia era to think of when they first started hearing this line. It was in the Zia days when to legitimize his vision this slogan suddenly was seen everywhere, including on TV immediately after and before the 9 O’clock news. Now you have a whole generation who either does not know or has been made to forget that this slogan was neither that important in the politics of 1947 (was used a few times, but not a central slogan) nor really until Zia came along.
Here is a question. Who put this video on the web, and why, and why not any of the others? Or is it all just a coincidence?
Would it be possible to have a poll on this ATP site and determine what the current mood is as to how many people today identify with the slogan that Mr. Kakakhel said was the foundation of Pakistan ie:
” Paksitan ka mutlab kya….La Ilaha Ilallah ! “