LETTERS of IQBAL to JINNAH-4

Letter-4





Mayo Road

Lahore

23rd August, 1936

My dear Mr. Jinnah,

I hope my letter reached you all right. There is some talk of an understanding between the Punjab Parliamentary Board and the Unionist Party. I should like you to let me know what you think of such a compromise and to suggest conditions for the same. I read in the papers that you have brought about a compromise between the Bengal Proja Party and the Parliamentary Board. I should like to know the terms and the conditions. Since the Proja Party is non-communal like the Unionist, your compromise in Bengal may be helpful to you.

Hoping you are well,

Yours sincerely,

(Sd.) Mohammad Iqbal

مکمل تحریر پڑھیے

LETTERS of IQBAL to JINNAH-3

Letter-3

Private and Confidential,

Lahore

25th June, 1936

My dear Mr. Jinnah,

Sir Sikandar Hayat left Lahore a day or two ago. I think he will meet you at Bombay and have a talk with you about certain matters of importance. Daultana saw me yesterday evening. He tells me that the Muslim members of the Unionist Party are prepared to make the following declaration:

"That in all matters specific to the Muslim community as an all-India minority they will be bound by the decision of the League and will never make any pact with any non- Muslim group in the Provincial Assembly."

"Provided the League (Provincial) makes the following declaration: That those returned to the Provincial Assembly on the League ticket will co-operate with that party or group which has the largest number of Muslims."

Please let me know at your earliest convenience what you think of this proposal. Also let me know the result of your talk with Sir Sikandar Hayat. If you succeed in convincing him he may come to our side.

Hoping you are well,

Yours sincerely,
(Sd.) Mohammad Iqbal

مکمل تحریر پڑھیے

LETTERS of IQBAL to JINNAH-2

Letter-2


Lahore

9th June, 1936

My dear Mr. Jinnah,

I am sending you my draft. Also a cutting from the Eastern Times of yesterday. This is a letter from an Intelligent Pleader of Guradspur. I hope the statement issued by the Board will fully argue the whole scheme and will meet all the objection is so far advanced against it. It must frankly state the present position of the Indian Muslims as regards both the Government and the Hindus. It must warn the Muslims of India that unless the present scheme is adopted the Muslims will lose all that they have gained during the last 15 years and will seriously harm, and in fact, shatter their own solidarity with their own hands.

Yours sincerely,


(Sd.) Mohammad Iqbal


P.S. Will feel much obliged if you send the statement to me before it is sent to the
press.

Another point which should be brought out in the statement is as follows:


1. Indirect election to the Central Assembly has made it absolutely essential that Muslim representatives returned to the Provincial Assemblies should be bound by an All-India Muslim policy and programme so that they should return to the Central Assembly only those Muslims who would be pledged to support the specific Muslim questions connected with the Central subjects and arising out of their position as the Second great nation of India. Those who are now for Provincial policies and programme were themselves instrumental in getting in direct elections for the Central Assembly introduced into the constitution obviously because this suited a foreign Government. Now when the community wants to make the best use of this misfortune (i.e indirect elections) by proposing an all-India scheme of elections (e.g. League scheme) to be adhered to by the Provincial candidates the same men, again, at the instance of a foreign Government have come out to defeat the community in their effort to retain its solidarity as a nation.

2. Question of Wakf Law arising out of Shahidganj, culture, language, mosque and
personal law.

مکمل تحریر پڑھیے

LETTERS of IQBAL to JINNAH-1

Letters of dr Allama muhamamd Iqbal to Quaid e azam Muhamamd Ali jinnah

LETTERS of IQBAL to JINNAH

Letter-1

Lahore

23rd May, 1936

Dear Mr. Jinnah,

Thank you so much for your letter which I received a moment ago. I am glad to see
that your work is progressing. I do hope that the Punjab parties especially the Ahrar
and the Ittihad Millat will eventually, after some bickering, join you. A very enthusiastic
and active member of the Ittihad told me so a few days ago. About M. Zafar Ali Khan
the Ittihad people do not themselves feel sure. However there is plenty of time yet,
and we shall soon see how the electorate generally feels about the Ittihad sending
their men to the Assembly.

Hoping you are well and looking forward to meeting you.
 

Yours sincerely,

(Sd.) Mohammad Iqbal

مکمل تحریر پڑھیے

India-Iran Relations and Pakistan

 

India-Iran Relations and Pakistan

The South Asian region is witnessing a change in the traditional strategic blocks in contemporary times. New alliances are emerging while existing ones are going through a complete reshape. The changing dynamics of Indian relations with the US and Iran are the most lucid manifestation of this reshaping of regional politics.
A detailed analysis of India’s calculus of its relations with Iran and recently growing ties with the US clearly points towards the fact that thedynamics have tilted in India’sfavourat the cost of Iranian interests.
Over the years India-Iran relations were perceived as something inspired by mutual interests based on the following factors:

1.      Energy and economy
2.      Strategic interests vis-à-vis Afghanistan and Pakistan
3.      Historical ties

Despite all the bravado of bilateralism and convergence of strategic interests, India abandoned Iran as an ally soon after the US invaded Afghanistan and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan was toppled. Since then, India-Iran relations have become nothing more than a sordid boon for Iran, formulatedby the cunning Indian foreign policy makers, leaving Iran in the lurch regarding all the above-mentioned factors. It is interesting to observe how the Indian aspirations to become a global player, after becoming a strategic ally of the US, has affected India-Iran relations on every axis, offering new opportunities to Islamabad to expand its diplomatic clout in Tehran in order to wage a combined political, economic and strategic alliance for regional stability.


Let us see how the Indo-Iran relations have evolved to their current status.


1.     Energy and Economic Ties:

For years, India had been pursuing a policy of warming up to Iran in order to secure the energy needs of its growing population. The Indo-Iranian relations, based on the notion of bilateral interests in the field of energy and economy since the last few years, have disintegrated into distrust due to many reasons.
The focus on the economic aspects of the energy ties has suffered many jolts due to inconsistent Indian sincerity as well as India’s complete u-turn on many issues vis-à-vis Iran,especially its nuclear program.
The much hyped energy deals, including importing LNG and Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline, between India and Iran have hit major obstacles due to India cozying up with the US after the Indo-US nuclear deal. So detaching herself from Iran became an intrinsic imperative for India. Hence India opted to walk away from this trilateral deal and eventually the deal was signed by Pakistan and Iran only.

In June 2005, India concluded an agreement with Iran for the supply of five million tons of LNG annually for a 25-year period in order to secure its energy supplies and expressed its willingness to increase the import by another 2.5 million tons per year.
Initially, Iran had agreed to supply the LNG at $3.215 per million British thermal units (mBtu). However, due to the rising price of oil, Iran has been demanding a higher price while India is unwilling to do so.
While the snag-hit LNG deal is blamed on the Iranian demand for higher price, the Indian u-turn on the 2,700-kilometer-long Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline is due to the opposition from the US.Washington has succeeded in forcing India to dump the pipeline linking it to the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, which was formally concluded in March 2006.In May 2006, seven US Congressmen warned India against going ahead with the pipeline project at the cost of the nuclear deal and the overall Indo-US relations.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the US issued a blunt warning:

“India's pursuit of closer relations with Iran appears to be inconsistent with the letter and spirit of the July 18th, 2005 announcement by you and President Bush, of the establishment of a ‘global partnership’ between our two countries. It also is contrary to the pledge that India ‘would play a leading role in international efforts to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear, chemical, biological and radiological weapons’.”

Divergence of Indo-Iran Energy Interests:

The Indo-US nuclear deal in 2005, opened many other avenues for importing nuclear and fuelenergy for India, therefore its dependence on Iran has decreased considerably now. Apart from this, many other factors played a decisive role in ceasing India from becoming a major Iranian energy market, like the UN sanctions on Iran and the recent pledge by President Obama to support India for a permanent seat in UNSC.

Many other countries are offering similar nuclear deals to India which will further decrease any future dependence on Iran. Already nearly 45 percent of India's oil imports come from the Gulf States including Saudi Arabia, whereas only almost 16 percent of Indian oil supply comes from Iran. This factor in itself indicates that India would be striving for closer ties with the Gulf countries rather than damaging its recently established strategic ties with the US, by siding with Iran even for energy.
India also endorsed the Arab call for a nuclear-weapons-free Middle East, a proposal that used to be directed at Israel but which is increasingly focused on Iran.

Indian oil imports from various countries. Saudi Arabia being the leading exporter

Keeping in mind the growing isolation of Iran by America, India has already started warming up to Saudi Arabia in order to protect its energy interests, besides guarding its economic interests as over 3.5 million Indian citizens work in that region.
This manifestation ofIndian energy policy is visible by its joining hands with Saudi Arabia in a call for averting the Iranian nuclear program.The Riyadh declaration signed in January 2010 during the Indian Prime Minister Singh's visit to Saudi Arabia, asked Iran to "remove regional and international doubts about its nuclear weapons programme." It also endorses the fact that now India is completely in the US camp along with Saudi Arabia against Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
As India had dragged its feet over the IPI pipeline but Iran and Pakistan had gone ahead with it, the US has succeeded in getting theTurkmen-Afghan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline signed.

IPI and TAPI Gas pipelines

The much-delayed TAPI pipeline project that envisages bringing Turkmen gas to India via Afghanistan and Pakistan, was recently signed by the respective countries and has seen much to the interests of the US. Eventually, it will further sideline Iran as the energy exporter.
This is one of the many alternative markets for India to seek energy from, Turkmenistan is especially important for India vis-à-vis its access to the massive Central Asian energy reserves and for countering the expanding presence of China in Central Asia (Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan).

The US is mainly supporting this not only for countering the Iranian energy market, but also for consolidating its presence in Afghanistan thus keeping Iran out of the region even on trade levels.
If this plan succeeds without facing any set backs, it will also decrease the economic dependence of Afghanistan, as the TAPI pipeline would make it a transport hub connecting three strategically important areas namely: Central Asia, South Asia and West Asia. The pipeline is also going to earn it revenues (approx. $300 million per year as transit fee).The only real threat this project is faced with emerges from the security of the pipeline and its related infrastructure, particularly in Afghanistan and the Baluchistan province of Pakistan. To diminish this threat, the US is desperately trying to woo the Afghan Taliban to join the Kabul government but they remain committed to their own goal of forcing the withdrawal of US/NATO forces from Afghanistan; even in case of the US withdrawal, one must remember that the Taliban were not against the pipeline itself, which is going to hurt the Iranian energy exports to a considerable extent.
This scenario is clearly a strategic set back for Iran, with India finding new partners to reach Central Asia with the Us backing and having a sound footing in Afghanistan where it will no longer need Iran. Some political pundits suggest that the Indian influence in Afghanistan is about to terminate as the US has announced its withdrawal from the country, but this announcement remains elusive as different elements from different power centers in the US are interpreting the announcement as ‘conflicting’, making the whole withdrawal issue more complex and vague.
Sanctions and Other Issues:
Apart from the gas pipelines, other energy projects by India in Iran are also turning unfeasible due to the imposition of US sanctions as well as certain geographical issues.

·         A $5.5 billion offshore block discovered by Indian oil companies.

·         A $10 billion agreement to develop parts of the South Pars gas field in Iran.

However, these are also not adding much to the Iranian economy since the Indian companies cannot invest beyond a certain amount per year in order to avoid the affect of the US imposed sanctions on companies regarding the investment limit in Iran. Consequently, the Indian companies could not invest more than $20 million per year in Iran. At this rate, these projects will never be completed, as the energy demand in India keeps growing.


Infrastructure at a massive Iranian South Pars Gas Field

To nullify the US pressure and to fulfill its own energy needs, India is opting for an extremely ambitious sub-sea gas pipeline from Iran or the Gulf States. These projects are also equally unfeasible due to their mammoth cost as well as their technological and geographical challenges.

·         The SAGE project:  Devised by South Asia Gas Enterprise (SAGE),is an extremely ambitious gas pipeline project using deep sea technologies. It was devised in the 1990’s. The idea revolves around establishing a gas-gathering network in Oman, by connecting the major gas fields in the region and then pumping this to India through the sub-sea, politically neutral energy corridor in international waters of the Arabian Sea.

Proposed SAGE pipeline

·         Another project entailstransporting the Turkmen gas in a gas swap deal. Under this project, Turkmenistan will pump in the amount of gas required by India into Iran’s northern Iran gas grid.  Iran will then feed in the same amount of Iranian gas into its southern pipelines to Chahbahar port, from where it will be pumped into a sub-sea pipeline leading to India.
However these sub-sea routes are faced with logistical difficulties, including the problem of carrying out maintenance on a sub-sea pipeline at a depth of 3.5 kilometers, costing an additional infrastructure investment of $3 billion, as well as additional transportation tariff. The project is expected to take five years to be completed and will have a capacity of 31.1 million standard cubic metres of gas a day (mscmd).


Geo-hazard challenges for Iran- India subsea gas pipelines:

Though these projects look ambitious and advantageous to Iran, both these projects, according to experts could be eligible for US sanctions. Though there are chances that these may escape sanctions if, like the Turkey-Iran pipeline project, they are conducted through swap deals, and by not buying gas directly from Iran, but again it won’t benefit Iran much.

These projects are unviable due to their high cost, a factor on the pretext of which India had stayed away from Iran-Pakistan pipeline, although according to media reports in 2008, Turkmen gas was charging three times of what India had committed to Iran.  Ashgabat reportedly had asked for $400-$450/1000 cubic meters, with additional transport and transit fee that would be payable to Afghanistan and Pakistan, making the final price at around $650-675/1000 cubic meters; India was bargaining for $200-$230/1000 cubic meters.

This fact once again proves that India’s backing off from the Iran-Pakistan pipeline is more due tothe pressure from the US than the cost factor. It is also worthy to note that more than the effect of the UNSC resolution on India’s oil trade with Iran, the US sanctions are impacting India the most. The US has been applying pressure against the Indian companies that have energy relations with Iran.The Indian company Reliance’s decision to terminate exports to Iran came after several US lawmakers urged the Export-Import Bank to suspend the extension of $900 million worth of financialguarantees to RIL to help it to expand its Jamnagar refinery, on the grounds that it was assisting Iran’s economy with the gas sales.

2.     India-Iran Strategic Interests and Afghanistan:

India for years has wielded the geopolitics of the region vis-à-vis Afghanistan as a dictating factor in determining its ties with Iran. Since the Taliban rule in Afghanistan, Indo-Iran interests continued on the same track however, the bogy derailed completely with the US invasion of Afghanistan. India and the US became allies and strategic partners for the 21st century and India got the US patronage to establish her military footprint in Afghanistan along with the expansion of her economic clout next to Iran, with billions of dollars worth of investment.
This does not set well with Iran, though it had earlier strived for closer cooperation with India against the Taliban influence in Afghanistan. However, in order to avoid treading on the US-Israel sensitivities, India decidedto stay away.
After signing the nuclear deal with US in 2005, India had put all its eggs in the American basket in order to gain influence in Afghanistan, banking on the US policy of stick and carrot to Pakistan regarding the so-called war on terror. The Indian policy makers still support the US/NATO presence in the region so that India is able to launch and support sectarian insurgencies both in Pakistan and Afghanistan in order to create a rift between Pakistan and Iran on this sensitive issue. India strongly advocates the US/NATO presence in Afghanistan and this is where the Iranian interests clash with those of India and this is where the Iran-Pakistan interests converge, despite the past cold relations with each other during the Taliban regime in Kabul, after 1996.
With the US/NATO’s complete military failure during the last 10 years in a complex and asymmetric war in Afghanistan, and the subsequent talks of bringing the Taliban fighters onboard in Kabul, India is sensing its dreams of establishing a foothold in the region, dashing to the ground once again.

India and the Nuclear-Armed Shia Iran:

New Delhi has repeatedly voted in favour of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) resolutions against Iran on the grounds that a nuclear Iran is not in India’s interests.

After finding new sources of energy in the US and some western countries, India has manifested a strong shift in its policy over the Iranian nuclear program, which has been one of the major factors that have jolted the Indo-Iranian relations. Prior to that, India had been playing the role of a fence sitter over the issue, saving itself from any Iranian ire since the issue remained within the International Atomic Energy Commission (IAEA) givingIndia an excuse to urge Iran to resolve its differences within the IAEA. However, when the nuclear watchdog decided to refer the matter to the United Nations Security Council, India could not remain a fence sitter. Earlier too India had stabbed Iran in the back by siding with the US in September 2005, despite its friendly gestures towards Tehran.

The Indian policy makers have been quoted time and again by the media (read between the lines) that India sees a nuclear Iran destabilizing the entire Middle East. This Indian stance is nothing but reiteration of what the US and Israel have been propagating since years.In the current restive milieu of the region, this Indian stand is based on two factors:

a.      Indian Relations with Israel
b.      Growing economic relations with Saudi Arabia
c.        The Indo-Israeli ties are stronger than the Indo-Iran relations, mainly for its defense purposes and as a counter weight to the nuclear-armed Pakistan, as well as Israeli support for India overthe Kashmir issue. Due to these reasons India won’t anger Israel at any cost. A nuclear Iran would be a real threat to Israel. Both Israeli and Iranian leaderships have vowed, more than once, to destroy each other’s nuclear capabilities. This invariablymakes India and Israel inseparable allies, whereasIran is now being viewed as a hostile state.

Secondly, India has started strengthening its economic ties with Saudi Arabia- a country that is said to be against a nuclear Iran.
The Indian support to the Saudi call of averting the Iranian nuclear program in the Riyadh declaration clearly indicates that Saudi Arabia is emerging as a more important ally for India than Iran. This is where the traditional Saudi-Iran contention, deeply entrenched in sectarian differences, has led India into an anti-Iran part of the whole strategic equation encompassing the region. The declaration asked Iran to "remove regional and international doubts about its nuclear weapons programme."
Some Indian analysts are also of the view that India is seeing Shia Iran as a potential threat to Indian security, as India has the world’s second largest Shia population after Iran. For Shias around the world, Iran is a highly sacred place, hence any statement, policy or support on any issue dealing with the plight of Muslims in Kashmir or India will be taken seriously by theShia Muslims. By putting a bar on the annual Shia procession, during the month of Moharram (First Month of Islamic Calendar), in Srinagar (Indian occupied Kashmir), India has once again demonstrated its desire to suppress any future Shia uprising. Iranians must be monitoring all these developments in India, which are further weakening the bilateral relations of the two states.

Iranian Supreme leader, AyottullahKhamenai, declared India as a Zionist State

For Indians, this sensitivity is a nightmare in the making. Therecent statement of the Supreme Iranian leader on Kashmir,terming the Indian government as a “Zionist Regime,” must suffice to gauge the Iranian mood and reaction to the Indian foreign policy maneuvering regarding Iran’s core interests.

A protest staged by the Shia Indians in July 2010in Dehliagainst thesanctions on Iran, has also set off alarm bells among theIndian policy makers who are concerned that if the pattern continues over different issues,especially with regards to US-Iran, Iran-Israel standoff, and on the sectarian angle, the consequences will be devastating for India.
India also views any future social or moral support to the Indian Shia population from Iran as a catalyst for damaging the growing economic tieswith Saudi Arabia. Thiswill invite the Saudi ire and possibly lead to theArab-Iran race of funding theSunni-Shia groups in India by using sectarian outfits, following the same pattern as per which both countries had fought their surrogate wars in Pakistan.

Keeping in view these factors, India would rather go along with Saudi Arabia, which has the US backing as well as a strong US military influence. Surely, a weak Iran is in the interests of India rather than a nuclear Iran standing up to US-Israel allies of India.
Kashmir:

The recent comments by the Iranian Supreme Spiritual leader against the Indian brutalities have sent a wave of anger in Indian policy makers. Many had tried to portray it as aninsignificant, unofficial remark; Delhi also tried to play it down saying it was said due to the Indian vote against Iran.  On the other hand, the Iranian newspaper, reflecting Iranian thinking condemned the Indian invasion of Kashmir.
However, this is not the first time the Iranians have shown support for the rights of theKashmiris. In 2008 the Iranian media embarrassed India when PernabMukherjee visited Iran.Just four days before Mukherjee arrived in Tehran, the Tehran Times newspaperfeatured an article titled "The Black Day of Kashmir - 61 years of pain", on the occasion of the anniversary of the Indian military intervention in Kashmir on October 27, 1947, which it termed as "one of the darkest chapters in the history of South Asia", condemning the Indian stance on the Kashmir issue.
The article said, "India continues to defy the world by denying Kashmiris their inalienable right to determine their destiny ... The atmosphere of tension in India-Pakistan relations has engendered instability and insecurity in South Asia. The urgency of the situation and the need to resolve the dispute as soon as possible cannot be over-emphasized ... The world's Muslims will always stand by the Kashmiris until they succeed in their struggle to attain the right to self-determination." The article also mentioned Iran's "deep-rooted spiritual and cultural bonds with the people of Kashmir" stating that in Tehran, Kashmir is known as "Little Iran" - Kashmir-Iran-e-saghir.

3.     Shaky Indo-Iran historical ties:

Indians often end up harping about India’s ‘historical’ ties with Iran in a bid to rescue their drowning relations, however, now the phrase ‘historical relations’ holds little weight. The Indo-Iran relations have always been on a shaky ground and not constant. Indian has always played the role of an opportunist rather than a trusted ally.
India-Iran relations came to a halt after the Cold War extended to this part of the world, soon after being initiated in the form of Air Transportation Agreement in 1948. Iran fell into the US camp while India joined the Soviets, despite the announcement of the “non-alignment” policy by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Selecting the opposing political camps put both the countries on a track leading to cold, suspicious and mutually exclusive interests with traces of hostility. Apart from that, Iran historically remained within the circle of close and trusted friends of Pakistan, owing to the similarities in culture, religion and linguistics. Later both also become partners in the West-sponsored Central Treaty Organization (CENTO).
As Pakistan drew closer to Iran, India approached the Arab states like Egypt and Syria. At one point Nehru’s fraternity with the Egyptian President, Jamal Abdul Nasser, irked the Shah of Iran.  In a desperate attempt to break the diplomatic deadlock between Tehran and Delhi, the Shah visited India under his engagement policy in 1956, which was followed by a visit of the Indian premier to Tehran in 1959; but even these trips proved futile in bridging the gaps, rather cracks and frictions between the two countries became more visible.

Nehru with Shah of Iran

Though there was a turnaround at the beginning of 1960’s and Iran supported India in the Sino-India conflict of 1962, but Pak-India war of 1965 proved as yet another game changer for the newly formed Indo-Iran relations, when Iran unequivocally vowed to support Pakistan against Indian aggression.
In the late 1960’s the second phase of Indo-Iran relations began owing to some changes in the Pak-Iran relations and the geopolitical environment of the time. The following factors brought both India and Iran closer once again:

·         Pakistan and communist China developed close relations. This was annoying for the Shah of Iran.

·         Pakistan improved its relations with the Arab states as well and this also irritated the Shah.

·         India was not very comfortable with the Arab states’ stance during the Sino-India and Pak-India wars.


Clearly, it was more out of thecompulsion of geopolitics at the time rather than diplomatic efforts from any side that brought India and Iran closer. In the early 70’s, when the world practically entered into the politics of oil, Iran emerged as the strategically pre-eminent power in the region due to its unique geography and vast oil resources. But this spell of warm relations between Tehran and Delhi was threatened by the Iranian support to Pakistan in the 1971 war. However, the Indian diplomacy and Pakistan’s wooing of Gulf States for energy resources enabled India to save its diplomatic ties with Iran.The environment provided an ideal opportunity for India to separate Pakistan and Iran.

But even these relations could not work very well as India was busy in creating her own footprint around Iran during the 1970’s, particularly in Afghanistan. TheSoviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979,proved to be a massive jolt, cracking the diplomatic landscape between Delhi and Tehran, pushing them in two diametrically opposing camps. Iran was not comfortable with Soviet Communism but India was a close ally of the Soviets at that time.Apart from that, the Iranian revolution and Iran-Iraq war also played critical roles in engulfing the bilateral relations.The new revolutionary regime in Iran had more religious agendas than having warm relations with a “secular” India. During the Iran-Iraq war, India supported Iraq thus further complicating its ties with Iran.
Despite these complications, Iran remained too critical a country for India due toits energy resources and another phase of good relations between the two developed when Germany stopped work on the IranianBushehr nuclear program and Iran had to ask India for help, which provided India with an opportunity to revive its relations with Tehran. India announced to send a team to inspect the problem. This set the tone for warm relations between the two during the 1990’s.

India was desperate to assist Iran in order to gain clout on Tehran’s foreign policy towards Pakistan, who at that time was supporting the non-Shia alliance of Afghan resistance against the Soviets. If India and Iran were in the opposing camps at the time, then so were Pakistan and Iran as each supported different sectarian Mujahideen outfits in the Afghan resistance. Such a complicated political environment was ideal for India in order to play some dirty tricks in a bid to create a rift between Islamabad and Tehran. These Indian efforts paid dividend in the Post-Soviet era in Afghanistan during the 1990’s, particularly during the Taliban era after 1996. Taking advantage of this rift, India created its assets in Northern Alliance of Afghanistan. Soon, there were too many rifts between Pakistan and Iran ranging from conflicting approaches to Taliban to the sectarian terrorism in Pakistan in which India’s role cannot be ruled out completely.

By 2001, India was successful in establishing strategic relations with Iran. During his visit to Tehran during the same year, the Indian Prime Minister, AtalBehari Vajpayee affirmed that the depth of Indo-Iran relations gives India “a very special position” in Tehran. The Tehran declaration was signed by both countries, emphasizing close cooperation on international terrorism and “stabilizing” Afghanistan. In 2003, the Road Map to Strategic Cooperation was signed by the two countries. This turn around proved deadly for Pak-Iran relations, utterly incapacitating all bilateral and multilateral organizations like RCO, between Islamabad and Tehran, consequently undermining Pakistan’s geo-economic interests.

2003 – Iranian President Placing Wreath at Ghandi’s Monument

But, the later developments proved that all the bravado by the Indian political leadership vis-à-vis their warm and special relations with Iran, was just sordid lip service. In 2005, India backstabbed Iran on the critical nuclear issue. This act unmasked the real face of Indian friendship with Iran, leaving the latter enraged and stunned. However, this move by India has provided Pakistan with the opportunity to redeem its lost trust in Tehran and bring Beijing in to form a regional security and economic zone, which can be further stretched to Turkey without an iota of doubt.

Indians were clearly eying Iran as a conduit to reach Central Asia and Europe, bypassing Pakistan. Iranians have seen through the game plan and opportunist nature of Indian diplomacy. India has decisively chosen the US and Israel as partners in the 21st century. Now the ball is in Islamabad’s court to take the diplomatic initiative and engage Tehran in a long- term strategic partnership on the same lines as it has established with China since decades. In context of Indo-Iran relations and Pakistan’s prospects in Tehran, the current picture of regional politics can be defined as following:
So far Iran has gained no real benefit from its cooperation with India, rather it is always India whose interests have been served.

·         With changing strategic blocks/interests, India will like to turn its back on Iran as she is not in a position to jeopardize its newly developed relations with the US.

·         The desire to become a global power by getting a UNSC seat, India would also be very cautious about its relations with Iran.

·         Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries are rapidly replacing Iran as a trade partner for India.

·         Since India is a not the primary player in Afghanistan today and is trying to make its space under the US shadow, the notion of Indo-Iran mutual interests in Afghanistan has also been proven wrong.

In the backdrop of these developments and facts, Pakistan and Iran have no option but to opt for a long-term strategic partnership in order to protect their mutual interests and then to expand this partnership to other nations. But Pakistan can only achieve this after convincing Iran of itsowncritical and strategic importance for the latter.

Suggestions:

·         Pakistan and Iran must exploit the shared geography along with strategic interests through an institutionalized approach, revising developments on bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries in every field after a stipulated time period.  This approach will also be helpful in eliminating mistrust and suspicion created by hostile nations through their dirty wars in the region. Though there are challenges but with the right method and positive approach they can easily be turned into benefits on every axis of bilateral relations. Bringing stability in Afghanistan after the US/NATO withdrawal can only be achieved in a combined effort by Islamabad and Tehran.

·         On the political front, Pakistan with its warm relations with both the Arab world and Iran holds the key to minimize the friction between the two. This initiative can trigger bilateralism between Iran and the Arab states.

·        Iran andPakistan should join hands with China for energy projects like Iran-Pakistan-China gas pipeline, which will also help the Iranian economy. But apart from the economics, this alliance is required to bring about a strategic balance in the region and subsequently in the world, which currently favors the US and India to unacceptable proportions.

·        Russia and China can be taken onboard for a new pressure block against the US policies supported by India.

·        Iran should helpraise the voice of Muslims in India, especially in Kashmir. Shia Muslims in India also need special protection from Iran against Indian brutalities.

End Notes:

Despite being a US ally, Pakistan has rightly been seen as a country that wants the US/NATO forces to leave the region. Since prospects of withdrawal are in sight, any solo attempt for influence in Afghanistan by Iran or Pakistan can result in an un-ending and bitter mess like in the past. Therefore, Pak-Iran-Afghanistan alliance is the only way to stabilize the region and stand up to the US bullying.

Iran is too important a country for Pakistan and Pakistan cannot afford to lose it as a strategic ally, particularly in the current geopolitical landscape. The Pakistani foreign office will have to convey to Iran why Pakistan is its natural ally rather than India, and why a mutual understanding between both is necessary in order to protect their combined security, economic and political interests which have now converged like never before.

The future in this region belongs to Pakistan and Iran. It needs courage and a daring initiative to make it happen. It is within reach and must be done at all costs.

مکمل تحریر پڑھیے

The Politicisation Of Development By Marvi Memon

 

The Politicisation Of Development 

By 

Marvi Memon

There is tremendous pressure on nuclear Pakistan to deliver as a developing state and to not become, as many think, a failed state. If it doesn’t deliver, then what has happened in Egypt could well happen here. The government needs to truly govern for its people and be able to provide the services that citizens would expect any government to.

When I meet people in villages, I find that many are under the wrong impression that if some member of parliament has initiated a development scheme in their area, they are indebted to that MP for life and must also vote for him. The fact of the matter is that it is the right of every citizen to be provided such amenities and services. And for this, taxes are collected by the state.

Unfortunately in Pakistan, many constituencies are developed only on the basis of whether or not they voted for a particular party — usually the one that is in government. And if they did not, then, more often than not, they get left out of development schemes. This politicisation of development has to end. Every Pakistani needs a school, a basic health unit, access to clean drinking water, gas, electricity, roads and so on.

The whole concept of MNAs and MPAs being given funds for carrying out development work in their constituencies needs to end. For instance, I recently investigated the state of my own development schemes and, much to my dismay, found that, in most instances, they are incomplete (sometimes less than half the work has been completed) and shoddy building material has been used.

When I meet these people, I try to explain to them that they wouldn’t need to scream for basics and be living a life of squalor if their leaders were sincere. And the sense I get of how the people feel as a result of these exchanges is that they know that their national wealth is being squandered and looted and they are fed up. But they don’t know how to revolt against this corruption, and they also don’t know who will lead them.

For this, they need to be able to distinguish between sincere leadership and those who simply use the votes of the electorate for their own material interests and gain. To prevent this from happening, development funds should not be given to MPs directly. A separate mechanism should be devised, which ensures that they are used in a transparent manner. And if there is any embezzlement, then those who squander them should be held accountable and made to reimburse the national exchequer.

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Pause In Drone Attacks In Northern Areas Linked To Raymond Davis? Special Report

 Pause In Drone Attacks In Northern Areas Linked To Raymond Davis? 

Special Report

ISLAMABAD: The United States has halted drone attacks on militants along Pakistan’s western border in a development analysts believe is linked to US attempts to secure the release of a jailed US consular employee.

After months of frequent strikes from unmanned US aircraft on militant hideouts in tribal areas on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, where bloodshed has hit record levels, reports of covert strikes have gone quiet for over three weeks.


Many analysts believe Washington has stopped the attacks to avoid further inflaming anti-American fury in Pakistan just as it pressures a vulnerable Islamabad government to release Raymond Davis, a US consulate employee imprisoned after shooting two Pakistanis last month during what he said was an attempted robbery.

“This in itself raises a number of questions regarding the US Pakistan strategy as it struggles to balance counter terrorism … with its public diplomacy,” said Simbal Khan, an analyst with the Institute of Strategic Studies in Islamabad.

The decision to halt a campaign that is the centerpiece of US efforts to root out militants launching attacks on its soldiers in Afghanistan also raises questions, Khan said, “about how chasing after terrorist and al Qaeda targets can be suspended to save the fate of a single US national.”

As tempers fray over Davis, who the United States insist is shielded by diplomatic immunity, the government of President Asif Ali Zardari is loathe to risk losing billions of dollars in US aid or doing permanent damage to ties with a key Western ally.

Yet neither can Pakistan afford to unleash popular fury in a case that has galvanised anti-American sentiment.

The strikes have already fuelled anger against the government among those who see the attacks as a violation of Pakistani sovereignty and blame them for the death of innocent civilians. Local leaders are often the ones seen at fault.

“It’s possible that Washington thinks it shouldn’t give the Pakistani public yet another reason to whip up anti-American sentiment even as the Davis case is being dealt with,” said Samina Ahmed, South Asia project director for the International Crisis Group.

According to the Long War Journal, a leading military blog, the current pause in drone strikes is one of the longest since the United States intensified its drone campaign in 2008.

The United States and Pakistan do not publicly acknowledge the drone campaign in Pakistan’s tribal areas, remote and mostly off-limits to journalists, but reports of the strikes filter out through local media and anonymous intelligence reports.

SHOOTING IN ‘THE HEART OF PAKISTAN’

The New America Foundation, which tracks the strikes, estimated they have killed some 2,189 people from 2004 through January of this year. Of those, 1,754 were reportedly militants.

The last reported strike was Jan. 23, when intelligence officials said a US drone aircraft fired two missiles targeting a vehicle and a house in the North Waziristan tribal region on the Afghan border, killing at least four militants.

Another missile shortly afterward was reported to kill two militants on a motorbike.

While the drone strikes have killed al Qaeda and Taliban figures, some question their success when many senior militants are living in cities like Quetta or Karachi that Pakistan has made off-limits to strikes.

Yet they are now a key part of the US-Pakistan security alliance, forged in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks but long frayed by US complaints that Pakistan has not done enough against militants that don’t directly threaten the government.

Muhammad Amir Rana, director of the Pak Institute for Peace Studies, said the drone strikes were becoming counterproductive because they were breeding more opponents of the state.

The shooting in a city known as the heart of Pakistan appears to have galvanized Pakistanis in a way that the drone attacks, in remote areas invisible to most Pakistanis, have not.

On Friday, protestors in Lahore and other cities demanded Davis be tried in Pakistan, some of them burning tyres and US flags a day after the Lahore High Court pushed off a hearing on Davis’ fate until March 14.

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Special Report, Divided We Stand

The immigration phenomenon is deeply rooted in the history of the United States, often knows as the Country of Immigrants.

Chaudhry Shahzad talks the way he drives: fast and with little regard for stop signs. And while he drives, his favourite topic of conversation is  Pakistani politics. A Washington DC taxi driver by profession, he proudly tells his customers that he is the secretary general of Pakistan Muslim League-Q, Virginia Chapter. If such a thing exists at all, that is.


He is not unique, but rather one of those many Pakistanis who, while they may be physically living in the US, are mentally still in Pakistan. He works more than 10 hours a day and often finds time to chat with a friend after he finally parks his cab for the night. The near-daily shenanigans in Pakistan’s political arena provide the material and set the duration and volume level of these otherwise short and hasty meetings.

“Last time Chaudhry Wajahat came here he appointed me the PML-Q secretary general of the Virginia Chapter. We arranged a get together in his honour. After all, I am from Gujrat,” he says proudly while taking a sharp turn on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Chaudhry Shahzad is also proud of having organised a rally in favour of General Pervez Musharraf, when the latter arrived at the White House a few years ago. The number of participants in that pro-Musharraf rally was around 20, but they still outnumbered the rival group present outside the White House that same day, who were holding placards cursing Musharraf.

Ripples in local, state or federal tiers of American politics do not excite Shahzad. The Tea Party isn’t a political movement for him but rather an occasion to serve samosas. On the other hand a scandal involving some local politicians of his hometown is certain to put a spark in his eye. He seldom reads The Washington Post or The New York Times, but never forgets to get a copy of his favourite community newspaper, which is published in Urdu.

All in all, he’s a fairly typical specimen of the roughly 253,000 Pakistanis (2004 US Census figures) currently residing in the US. In total, legal Pakistanis make up about 0.1 per cent of the total US population.

The immigration phenomenon is deeply rooted in the history of this country, often knows as the Country of Immigrants. Modern novels like American Chica by Marie Arana and The Godfather by Mario Puzo have focused on the intricacies of this subject. The first generation of immigrants always finds it difficult to develop a sense of association with or devotion to the countries they immigrate to. But in case of many first generation Pakistani-Americans, they simply don’t want to even give it a try.

Many Pakistanis living in the US are the sole breadwinners of their families. Some own multi-million dollars mansions near the Potomac River, while some share a dingy room with two of their compatriots in the suburbs of Washington DC. Some are rich, while most face a daily struggle to survive, make ends meet and hopefully send some money back to their families. They hail from all parts of Pakistan and speak many different languages, and they all owe a debt to their adopted country. But there’s one more thing they have in common: they are not an organised community.

New York City hosts the largest concentration of Pakistani-Americans, with a population of approximately 35,000, residing primarily in the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. These numbers make Pakistani-Americans the fifth largest Asian-American group in New York City. The states of California and Texas have the largest number of Pakistanis compared to other US states.

The Pakistani community in America is generally regarded as economically successful. Many Pakistani-Americans have managed to increase their wealth and now own their own businesses, including restaurants, grocery, clothing and appliance stores, newspaper booths, and travel agencies. Every year Pakistani-American doctors (more than 15,000 doctors of Pakistani descent are practicing medicine in America) exhibit their wealth by organising mega-events and fundraisers. They give till it hurts: according to Adil Najam, author of the book Portrait of a Giving Community: Philanthropy by the Pakistani-American Diaspora, in the year 2002 the Pakistani community gave nearly $1 billion in charity.

But by and large, the Pakistani community in the US remains disorganised, and the economic clout and credentials of many Pakistani-Americans have contributed little towards converting them into a united body willing to safeguard the interests of their motherland. They are deeply concerned about Pakistan and very vocal in their views. But for one reason or another, their well-intentioned efforts don’t translate into a good deal of influence over American policy makers, nor do they manage to give common Americans a new and positive perspective on Pakistan. Wealthy Pakistanis do randomly organise fundraisers for their American politician friends, but cannot match the networking of Indian entrepreneurs and well-off Indian-Americans.

Living far from the motherland, some Pakistani-Americans have fallen victim to disillusionment. At a recent reception, hosted by a Pakistani-American doctor, a heated debate erupted. A small group was bitterly criticising politicians and proposing “a permanent military rule in Pakistan until things get better.” The other group, looking rather apologetic, was putting up a feeble defense in favour of the much-maligned politicians.

During the last round of Strategic Dialogue between Pakistan and the United States, held in Washington DC, a visiting Pakistani minister had to confront several tough questions from the community. At a dinner reception, the host had to rescue the minister when he was facing the ire of some angry Pakistani-American doctors.

Pakistani journalists and scholars have their own interpretation of the situation. According to their more or less similar analyses, the Pakistani community remains mired in trivial internal disputes instead of thinking or behaving like representatives of a country. They often cite the example of the lobbying success of the Jewish community and its unparalleled power in America.

According to one estimate, the population of Muslims will match the population of Jews in the Unites States by 2030. Would they have as strong an influence on American policy as the Jewish-Americans do? It’s doubtful. Power and influence isn’t a numbers game and in contrast to the relative unity of the Jewish and Indian communities, the Muslim and Pakistani communities remain divided and parochial in their outlooks.

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Davis to be Tried on Espionage, Terror Charges

Davis to be Tried on Espionage, Terror Charges

Pakistan’s military is considering trying CIA operative Raymond Davis, arrested in Lahore last month after killing two Pakistani citizens, under the Army Act of 1952 for charges ranging from espionage to masterminding assassinations and terror attacks on Pakistani soil.

A senior intelligence official, speaking to PKKH on condition of anonymity, confirmed that there was ‘mountains of evidence’ of CIA support to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan as well as plans to strike at Qudsia Mosque in Lahore in a bid to assasinate Jama’at-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed.

‘Murder charges should be the least of his worries now. We have mountains of evidence of covert support to banned outfits including the TTP. Davis has been a vital link between the CIA and the TTP, but by no means the only link.

We believe there are many other CIA under-cover operatives in Pakistan at this point in time, including the three that escaped in the other vehicle after the shooting incident in Lahore’, the official added.

PKKH was the first news organisation to report that Raymond Davis’ hit-list included Jama’at-ud-Dawa – in a report published on February 11th. The New York Times confirmed on Monday that Davis ‘was part of a covert, CIA-led team of operatives’ conducting surveillance on militant groups including Lashkar-e-Taiba, the alleged militant wing of Jama’at-ud-Dawa, according to American government officials. PKKH also revealed on February 11th that among the pre-marked targets saved on Davis’ GPS device were the Qadsia Masjid in Lahore, JuD’s headquarters in Muridke, Sialkot Cantonment, as well as a number of other civilian and military locations in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

This contradicts the US claim that Davis was a member of the ‘technical and administrative staff’ of its diplomatic mission in Pakistan.

CIA and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)

Davis, a retired Special Forces soldier who had worked previously for Blackwater Worldwide (now known as Xe) was working out of a safehouse in Lahore rented by the US Consulate.

The New York Times had agreed to temporarily withhold information about Mr. Davis’s ties to the agency at the request of the Obama administration, which argued that disclosure of his specific job would put his life at risk. Several foreign news organizations have disclosed some aspects of Mr. Davis’s work with the CIA.

“The Lahore killings were a blessing in disguise for our security agencies who suspected that Davis was masterminding terrorist activities in Lahore and other parts of Punjab,” a senior official in the Punjab police claimed, as reported by the Pakistani daily ‘Express Tribune’.

“His close ties with the TTP were revealed during the investigations,” he added. “Davis was instrumental in recruiting young people from Punjab for the Taliban to fuel the bloody insurgency.” Call records of the cellphones recovered from Davis have established his links with 33 Pakistanis, including 27 militants from the TTP and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi sectarian outfit, sources said.

Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons

Davis was also said to be working on a plan to give credence to the American notion that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are not safe. For this purpose, he was setting up a group of the Taliban which would do his bidding.

The Punjab law minister has said that Davis could be tried for anti-state activities. “The spying gadgets and sophisticated weapons recovered are never used by diplomats,” Rana Sanaullah told The Express Tribune.

He said some of the items recovered from Davis have been sent for a detailed forensic analysis. “A fresh case might be registered against Davis under the [Official] Secrets Act once the forensics report was received,” he said.

Sanaullah confirmed that Davis could also be tried under the Army Act. To substantiate his viewpoint, he said recently 11 persons who had gone missing from Rawalpindi’s Adiyala jail were booked under the Army Act. However, a senior lawyer said that only the Army has the authority to register a case under the Army Act of 1952 against any person who is involved in activities detrimental to the army or its installations.

“Such an accused will also be tried by the military court,” Qazi Anwer, former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association said. He added that the civil authorities could register a case of espionage against any person.

Jama’at-ud-Dawa

PKKH was the first news organisation to report that Raymond Davis’ hit-list included Jama’at-ud-Dawa – in a report published on February 11th. The New York Times confirmed on Monday that Davis ‘was part of a covert, CIA-led team of operatives’ conducting surveillance on militant groups including Lashkar-e-Taiba, the alleged militant wing of Jama’at-ud-Dawa, according to American government officials. PKKH also revealed on February 11th that among the pre-marked targets saved on Davis’ GPS device were the Qadsia Masjid in Lahore, JuD’s headquarters in Muridke, Sialkot Cantonment, as well as a number of other civilian and military locations in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The Jama’at-ud-Dawa, blamed by India for carrying out the Mumbai attacks in 2008, is accused by US officials to have close links with Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). It was registered as a charity in 1986 and has been at the forefront of relief activities following the Kashmir earthquake in 2005 as well as Pakistan’s massive floods last year. Additionally, JuD also runs hundreds of schools and higher education institutes in Pakistan providing modern scientific and religious education to children from poor families.

Despite western pressure, Pakistan’s intelligence agencies have failed to give much credence to Indian allegations linking Hafiz Saeed and Jama’at-ud-Dawa to the Mumbai attacks and have refused to take action against the outfit.

“Jama’at-ud-Dawa have worked very closely with the army in various relief operations in recent years and have never been found inolved in a single anti-state incident or terrorist activity on Pakistan soil, therefore there is absolutely no reason to go after them. The ISI holds them in high regard and has used their help in FATA and Swat to try and control the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the past. The TTP declared war against the JuD in 2008 when they called for assasinating Hafiz Saeed and other senior figures. They massaccred and kidnapped scores of Jama’at-ud-Dawa workers after a Jirga in Mohmand agency in July 2008. Its an interesting situation where the US and India have been pressurising Pakistan on Hafiz Saeed, and in the past the TTP has openly talked of assasinating Saeed. And now we have a US operative with links to the TTP, tasked by the CIA to assasinate Saeed. The cat is finally out of the bag”, added the intelligence official.


 

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Teray Naam Ka Guldan By Khalil Naz

Teray Naam Ka Guldan

By

Khalil Naz

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Urdu Poetry Books Download

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Raymond devis, Truth and lies

Raymond devis, Truth and lies
Jhoot ore Haqiqat
Saif ullah khalid
Roznama Ummat Karachi

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aik tha badshah

aik tha badshah
story of a king like pakistan

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The emerging union of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan

The Emerging Union of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan
by
General Mirza Aslam baig

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کشمیر میں برطانوی وائسرائے لارڈ ماؤنٹ بیٹن کی بدعہدی

کشمیر میں برطانوی وائسرائے لارڈ ماؤنٹ بیٹن کی بدعہدی
Kashmir main baritish viceroy lord Mountbatten ke bad-ehdi
written by
Rana Abdul Baqi
Published in monthly Mirrat ul Arifeen international

and naya kashmir (new kashmir)
by Ahmed Faraz

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جمالِ محمد صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم

 

جمالِ محمد صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم

Jamal e Muhammad (SAW)
By
Khalid awan

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میلاد مصطفی اور امنِ عالمِ اسلام

میلاد مصطفی اور امنِ عالمِ اسلام

Milaad e mustafa ore Aman e Alim e Islam
by
Mufti Muhammad Hashim

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موسمِ سرما کی شدت اور بھارتی فوج کا ظلم

Mosam e sarma ke shidat ore bharti fouj ka zulm
موسمِ سرما کی شدت اور بھارتی فوج کا ظلم
کشمیریوں کی زندگی اجیرن ہو گئ
Kashmirion ke zindagi ajeeran ho gae

By
Irshad ahmed arshad

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Pakistan Arab mumalik se aik qadam agay

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امریکی تاریخ کا مشہور ترین انکار

امریکی تاریخ کا مشہور ترین (انکار).

دسمبر ۱۹۵۵ کی ایک سرد شام کو دِن بھر کی پُر مشقت اور  تھکا دینے والے سلائی کڑھائی کے کام سے فراغت پا کر روزا پارکس نامی ایک سیاہ فام عورت، اپنےدستی تھیلے کو مضبوطی سے سینے سے چمٹائے اور اُس سے گرمی کا احساس پاتے ہوئے سڑک پر جا رہی تھی۔

دائیں بائیں دیکھ کر احتیاط سے سڑک عبور کر تے ہوئے وہ اُس بس سٹاپ پر جا کر کھڑی ہوگئی جہاں سے اُس کے گھر کی طرف جانے والی بس کو گزرنا تھا۔

تقریبا دس منٹ تک بس کا انتظار کرتے ہوئے روزا پارکس کے ذہن میں وہ افسوس ناک غیر انسانی مناظر گھوم گئے جو اُن دنوں امریکہ میں عام دیکھنے کو ملتے تھے، اور وہ تھے کسی بھی سیاہ فام کو اُسکی نشست سے اُٹھا دینا تاکہ وہاں پر ایک سفید فام بیٹھ سکے۔

یہ رویہ بھائی چارے کے جذبات یا مہذب معاشرے کی نفی تو کہاں محسوس ہوتا، اُلٹا امریکی قانون سیاہ فاموں کو اِس بات سے سختی سے منع کرتا تھا کہ وہ کسی سفید فام کے کھڑے ہونے کی صورت میں قطعی نہیں بیٹھ سکتے۔

معاملہ صرف یہاں تک ہی محدود نہیں تھا، اگر کوئی سیاہ فام بزرگ عورت کسی نوجوان سفید فام کے کھڑے ہونے کی صورت میں بیٹھی پائی جاتی تو اُس بزرگ اور بوڑھی عورت پر جُرمانہ کیا جاتا تھا۔

جی ہاں، یہ اُسی زمانے کی بات ہے جب دُکانوں یا کھانے کے ریستورانوں کے دروازوں پر فخر سے ایسی تختی لٹکائی جاتی تھی جِس پر لکھا ہوتا کہ یہاں بِلیوں، کتوں اور سیاہ فاموں کا داخلہ منع ہے۔

نسل پرستی پر مبنی یہ رویئے روزا پارکس کو غمگین اور افسُردہ کیئے رکھتے تھے۔ وہ ہمیشہ یہی سوچتی رہتی کہ کب تک ہم سیاہ فاموں کے ساتھ یہ امتیازی اور کمتر سلوک جاری رہے گا؟ کب تک سیاہ فاموں کو تو قطاروں کے آخر میں رکھا جائے گا مگر سفید فاموں کے جانوروں کو بھی برابری کے حقوق دیئے جائیں گے؟ اِنہی سوچوں میں گُم روزا پارکس اپنے سینے میں درد چُھپائے بس کے آنے پر اُس میں سوار ہو گئی۔

 

بس میں دائیں بائیں دیکھتے ہوئے روزا کو ایک خالی نشست نظر آگئ، بس کے انتظار میں کھڑے شل ہوئی ٹانگوں کے ساتھ وہ نشست پر بیٹھ گئی، دستی تھیلے کو اُس نے مزید بھیچتے ہوئے سینے سے لگا لیا۔ اپنی سوچوں میں گُم وہ سڑک کو دیکھنے لگ گئی جسے بس گویا کھاتے ہوئے اپنی منزل کی طرف دوڑ رہی تھی۔

کُچھ ہی دیر بعد اگلا سٹاپ آ گیا جہاں سے بس میں مزید لوگ سوار ہو ئے اور بس بھر گئی۔

بس میں سوار ہونے والا ایک نوجوان سفید فام آہستگی سے اُس کرسی کی طرف بڑھا جہاں روزا پارکس بیٹھی ہوئی تھی۔ سفید فام اِس انتظار میں تھا کہ روزا اُس کیلئے نشست چھوڑے گی مگر آج معاملہ اُلٹا ہو گیا تھا، روزا نے سفید فام کو اُچٹی سی نگاہ سے دیکھا تو سہی مگر اُس کیلئے نشست خالی نہ کی اور ایک بار پھر اپنی نظریں باہر کی طرف سڑک پر ٹِکا دیں۔ سفید فام کے چہرے پر توہین کا احساس نمایاں تھا۔

یکا یک ہی بس میں سوار ہر مسافر کا رویہ معاندانہ ہو گیا، لوگ طنز سے بھی بڑھ کر  روزا کو گالی گلوچ  تک کرنے پر اُتر آئے تھے اور اُسے فورا اُس سفید فام کیلئے نشست خالی کرنے کیلئے کہہ رہے تھے۔

لیکن روزا اپنے موقف پر قائم خاموشی سے اپنی نشست پر براجمان تھی۔ بس کا ڈرائیور ایک سیاہ فام عورت کی اِس قانون شکنی کی جراءت اور سفید فام کی توہین پر یوں خاموش نہیں رہ سکتا تھا، اُس نے بس کا رُخ پولیس سٹیشن کی طرف موڑ دیا تاکہ پولیس اِس سیاہ فام عورت کو ایک معزز سفیدفام کی توہین کرنے کی جراءت کا مزا چکھا سکے۔

اور حقیقت میں ایسا ہی ہوا، پولیس نے روزا پارکس گرفتار کر کے تحقیق کی اور بعد میں  اُسکا جرم ثابت ہونے پر اُسے ۱۵ ڈالر جرمانے کی سزا سُنائی گئی، تاکہ اُسکی سزا دوسروں کیلئے ایک مثال بن جائے اور آئندہ کوئی ایسی جراءت نہ کرے۔

بات تو چھوٹی سی تھی مگر امریکا کی سر زمین پر ایک چنگاری بن کر گری۔ مُلک بھر میں بسنے والے تمام سیاہ فام  روزا پارکس کے ساتھ پیش آنے والے اِس ناروا سلوک پر آگ بگولہ ہو گئے اور ایک تحریک چل پڑی کہ وہ نقل و حمل کے تمام وسائل کے خلاف اُس وقت تک احتجاج کے طور پر بائیکاٹ کریں گے جب تک امریکی حکومت اُن کو تمام تر انسانی حقوق دینے پر آمادہ نہیں ہوتی اور اُنکے ساتھ مہذب معاملے کا وعدہ نہیں کر لیا جاتا۔

یہ بائیکاٹ اپنی تمام تر ثابت قدمی کے ساتھ ایک طویل عرصے تک چلا، سیاہ فاموں نے ۳۸۱ دنوں تک احتجاج کیا اور امریکی حکومت کو اپنے سامنے گھٹنے ٹیکنے پر مجبور کردیا۔

روزا پارکس کی فتح ہوئی اور عدالت نے مُلک میں نہ صرف نسلی امتیاز کے اِس  قانون کو بلکہ اِس جیسے کئی امتیازی  رواجوں کو فوری طور پر ختم کردیا۔  

اور اِس واقعہ کے ۴۶ برس بعد مؤرخہ ۲۷  اکتوبر  ۲۰۰۱ کو، امریکی تاریخ میں پیش آنے والے اِس تاریخی واقعے کی یاد ایک بار پھر اُس وقت تازہ ہو گئی جب مِیشی گن کے شہر ڈیئر بورن میں واقع ھنری فورڈ عجائب گھر کے منیجر سٹیو ھامپ نے اُس پرانی بس کو خریدنے کا فیصلہ کیا۔

جی ہاں 1940 ماڈل کی یہ بس جس میں روزا پارکس کے ساتھ وہ سانحہ پیش آیا تھا، ایسا سانحہ جس نے امریکا میں انسانی حقوق کی تحریک کو جنم دیا اور پھر سیاہ فاموں کو بھی برابر کے حقوق حاصل ہو گئے۔

اور یہ پرانی بس چار لاکھ بیانوے ہزار ڈالر میں خرید کی گئی۔

سن ۱۹۹۴ میں جب روزا پارکس کی عمر ۸۰ سال تھی, اُس پر لکھی گئی ایک کتاب بعنوان خاموش طاقت میں وہ اپنی یادیں تازہ کرتے ہوئے کہتی ہے کہ اُس دن مجھے اپنے ماں باپ اور اجداد بہت یاد آئے تھے، اُس دن میں نے اللہ کے حضور گڑگڑا کر التجاء کی تھی کہ یا رب تو ہی ہے جو کمزوروں کو طاقت سے نواز سکتا ہے۔

اور پھر ۲۴ اکتوبر ۲۰۰۵ کو ۹۲ سال کی عمر میں وفات پانے والی اِس بہادر خاتون کو خراجِ تحسین پیش کرنے کیلئے ہزاروں سوگوار جمع ہوئے۔

وہ با ہمت اور بہادر خاتون، جِس نے انسانی حقوق کی برابری کیلئے علم بُلند کیا تھا۔

روزا پارکس کے جنازے میں کئی ممالک کے سربراہان نے شرکت کی اور ہزاروں لوگ ڈھاریں مار مار کر رو رہے تھے، امریکا کا جھنڈا سر نگوں ہو کر اِس عظیم خاتون کو سلامِ عقیدت پیش کر رہا تھا۔

روزا پارکس کی میت کو وفات سے دفنانے تک امریکی کانگریس کی ایک عمارت میں رکھا گیا، تعظیم کا یہ اعزاز سربراہانِ مملکت یا اہم ترین شخصیات کو دیا جاتا ہے۔

۱۸۵۲ سے لیکر آج تک صرف ۳۰ ایسے لوگ گُزرے ہیں جنکو یہ اعزاز حاصل ہوا جبکہ اِن تمام ۳۰ اشخاص میں سے روزا پارکس واحد خاتون ہیں۔

روزا پارکس اِس دنیا سے رُخصت ہوئیں تو اپنے سینے پر کئی تمغے سجائے ہوئے تھیں، 1996 میں اُنہیں آزادی کے صدارتی تمغہ سے نوازا گیا جبکہ 1999 میں اُنہیں کانگریس سے گولڈ میڈل عطا کیا گیا۔

روزا  کیلئے اِن سب اعزازات سے بڑھ کر  اُنکا اپنا ایک لفظ تھا اور وہ تھا (نہیں)، یہ نہیں امریکا کی تاریخ کا سب سے طاقتور انکار تھا جِس کی ہاں میں ہاں مِلانے میں اُس کی تمام سیاہ فام نسل نے ساتھ دیا تھا۔

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