Curriculum experts in Pakistan have played havoc with our history. Those born after 1971 hardly know that Bangladesh was once East Pakistan!
“BY the way Dada, where is Bangladesh?”
“It is on the eastern side of India.”
“Did Bangladesh attain independence in 1947?”
“No, Pota. Bangladesh attained independence in 1971.”
“From the British?”
“No. From us.”
“When was the last international film festival held in Pakistan?
“We have yet to hold the first international film festival in Pakistan.”
“They have arranged for an international film festival in Dhaka.”
“Who told you, Pota?”
“It was in the newspapers, Dada.”
The news about the forthcoming week-long international film festival in Dhaka was published in some of the newspapers in Pakistan last week. It did not find favour with our newspapers. It was published on the inside pages of the newspapers as an insignificant news. Apparently, the news appears trivial. Film festivals are held all over the world. What is so important about a film festival being held in Dhaka that I think the news ought to have been published prominently?
The curriculum experts in Pakistan have played havoc with our history. The generation born after the disintegration of Quaid-i-Azam’s Pakistan in 1971 hardly know that the original name of Bangladesh was East Pakistan! They do not know that East Pakistan once was an integral part of Pakistan! Our children are not familiar with the fact that the original name of our country, now called Pakistan, was West Pakistan! Our children are left aghast when told East Pakistan and West Pakistan had lived together for 24 years, till parting of ways in 1971.
If at all East Pakistan is mistakenly referred to in some of the textbooks, our children are told that the break-up of Pakistan, and subsequent birth of Bangladesh was a ploy of India. History is not a book of fables that reveal the lives of the monarchs. History maintains an account of the rise and fall of nations, and points out mistakes and blunders responsible for their misery and humiliation. Lessons from the past pave the way for remedial measures and sensible planning for the future. In recognizing Bangladesh, Pakistan has recognized the sustained struggle of East Pakistanis for the establishment of their homeland.
I will not go into the detailed description of the havoc the West Pakistani filthy rich and expansionists unleashed on the intellectually rich but economically poor people of East Pakistan. To add insult to injury, countless adventurers, opportunists, thugs and exploiters from West Pakistan landed in East Pakistan. It did not take long for the tall, tough, robust, and fair-skinned West Pakistanis to convert East Pakistan into their colony. For a good 24 years, the arrogant West Pakistani colonialists did not realize that they were vexing a sleeping volcano. What happened next is history. Let us not give credit to India for the birth of Bangladesh, and undermine the struggle of East Pakistanis for independence. Bangladesh was the cherished dream of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, as much as Pakistan was the cherished dream of Allama Iqbal and Quaid-i-Azam.
Highly contrasting social and political consciousness between East Pakistan and West Pakistan contributed a lot to the parting of the ways in 1971. Arts, fine arts, music, choreography, drama, cinema arts and literature kept flourishing unhindered in East Pakistan. There were numerous institutions in East Pakistan that taught painting, sculpturing, music, drama and dancing to countless male and female aspirants.
In West Pakistan, now called Pakistan, arts, fine arts and performing arts were (and still are) taboos. Paradoxically, anything un-Islamic flourishes in Pakistan, except arts, fine arts and performing arts. Corruption, womanizing, alcoholism, drugs trafficking, swindling, land grabbing, kidnapping for ransom, murders, housebreaking and usurpation of funds collected in the name of Allah are order of the day. Instead of courts and judges, the fate of rural people is decided by illiterate tribal Sardars in jirgas. I wonder who misinformed the world that Pakistan is a theocratic country, and is controlled by fundamentalists! No wonder the international film festival is being held in Bangladesh! They qualify for it.
Another small news that adversely reflects on our country is about the last minute withdrawal of the South African cricket team, and then subsequently agreeing to play Test and one-day series in Pakistan according to their own schedule and itinerary. By no means is it ordinary news! We are rapidly losing our face internationally. In the recent bomb blasts, more people have died in India than in Pakistan. Even then, the New Zealand cricket team has landed in India to play Test and one-day matches against the host country. Isn’t it humiliating for each one of us that we are despised and segregated? The entire world can’t be wrong. Something somewhere has grossly gone wrong with us.
Have we ever seriously thought why we are universally disliked? Have you been to Saudi Arabia of late? For that matter, have you been to European or to South East Asian and Scandinavian countries? Isolated courtesies apart, what was the overall reaction of the immigration officers at the international airports on seeing your green passport? If you carry a tarnished image, no one on earth would respect you. Don’t you think we are empty vessels, and we make too much noise! Don’t you think it is overdue that we took stock of our deeds and misdeeds?
