In Pakistan, (Tehmina Durrani’s land of “My Feudal Lord”), everything begins in the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All State functions start with a recitation from the Holy Quran. Pakistan also has some of the most beautiful mosques in the world including the famous Faisal Mosque of Islamabad. There are many prestigious institutions of Islamic learning. Islam is the State Religion. But what about the life in general? Do they truly follow the teachings of Islam? Islam is not only a religion but also a complete way of life. However, the first thing, which strikes a visitor, is the existence of a totally “Feudal Society”. There are a large number of extremely rich people. Landlords and Feudal Chiefs dominate the Society. They own hundreds of thousands of acres of land. So far there has been no land reform. Unlike Kashmir they have yet to see a revolutionary reform like the “land to the tiller”. There is a vast gap between the rich and the poor. Even though there is no starvation and almost everybody gets a good meal, yet the country cannot be termed to be a perfect welfare state. One can distinctly observe the absence of a sizeable middle class. People are either very rich or very poor. The middle class is quite small compared to many other developing countries such as India. All the top politicians own huge landed estates. Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif, Junejo, Jatoi, Leghari, Chowdarys, Wazirs and others own lands exceeding 30 to 40 thousand acres each. Most of the politicians are quite well off and have huge properties and set ups. One of the opposition political leaders is popularly called “Dieslu” because of his penchant for Diesel Permits. Almost entire top brass of the Army comes from these “Aristocratic Families”. The upper classes feel it prestigious to be part of the Army, which controls every aspect of life. Apart from this there are Waderas in Sindh and Tribal Chiefs in Balochistan and North West Frontier Province. These Tribal Lords have their own private armies and even prisons. They have large bonded labour under their control. They indulge in “Honour Killings” of women as well as in rapes sanctioned by village elders (Mukhtara Mai). The literacy is quite low. Apart from the landlords, they have a clergy, which too keeps the ordinary people at the low end by indirectly persuading them to accept their lot as a matter of destiny, the will of God. At the time of advent of Islam, the Arabs too were in a dark age. They had over three hundred Gods inside the Kaaba and they would bury their daughters alive. Some similar tribal customs mentioned above prevalent in many parts of Pakistan needed to be eliminated to usher in an Islamic State. It is for the first time that a strong man from the Army has taken both these Waderas and Tribal Chiefs as well as the top clergy head on. A number of these prominent “Dons” have been cut to size. The “Enlightened Moderation” is the name given by the present rulers to this reformation of the Society, which is seen to be the most compelling need of the hour for the Society to progress and survive. Instead of converting to very strict Islamic way of life, they have adopted Islam to their way of life.

At the present moment Pakistan seems to have a vibrant economy. There is an appreciable increase in Foreign Direct Investment. A large number of Pakistanis go abroad for skilled as well as unskilled jobs. They contribute a large portion to the foreign exchange reserves of the country. In fact, at one time Pakistan was surviving on the remittance economy alone. After 9/11, there has been a sizeable inflow of capital and Pakistanis from all over the world have made huge investments back home. Most of these investments are in real estate. A large number of sprawling housing colonies of the most modern type are coming up all over Pakistan. The best example of a Modern Township is Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. It is like an island. People say Pakistan is 15 kilometres from Islamabad, which is the distance to Rawalpindi from here! It is a Green City full of vegetation of all types with well-paved wide roads, excellent illumination, shopping malls and super markets. In every aspect a well designed and well maintained Modern Township. One can see dozens of cars of all types and makes zooming on all roads, almost half of these driven by mod ladies with bob-cut hair. Purdah is a rare commodity seen very scarcely in most of the places in Islamabad. Its absence can be seen in an explicit and stark way on PTV. Women here have “equal rights” in every field. They work shoulder to shoulder with men. There are Beauty Parlours and Fashion Houses. However, in most of the rural areas and in some provinces, there is very strict adherence to Purdah. Women are not as free as in Islamabad.
As mentioned earlier, Army has a dominant presence in every sphere of life. In fact, it is inconceivable to think of Pakistan without Army. Even after retirement, they have been given numerous civic jobs and other logistic assignments. Fauji Foundation run by ex-servicemen is undertaking varied jobs. At the time of retirement, Army Officers get massive perks sometimes running into crores depending upon the rank. Over and above, lucky ones get diplomatic and other civilian assignments. Some of the most posh houses in Islamabad belong to ex Generals. In fact, there is a sector totally populated by the top brass of the Army. The crème de la crème of the Army is the Inter Services Intelligence popularly known as ISI. It is a core group of the top Army brass sworn to protect the sovereignty and integrity of Pakistan by all possible means. Apart from keeping Pakistan’s enemies on the run in their own countries, they are everywhere monitoring and overseeing the day-to-day affairs of their own State. One is reminded of the Big Brother in George Orwell’s novel 1984! Pakistan’s democracy will have to be re-christened as Armocracy or ISIocracy because without these two organisations nothing can happen there. However, one has to admit that the things are working fine. People are happy and content. This is evident from the fact that the Media is absolutely free and they have not reported any large-scale disaffection or discontent. In the early stages, people used to be scared of ISI. Not now. The only major problem destabilising the set up is the sectarian violence. This is one of the most serious problems, which the Government has failed to eliminate or even fully control in spite of huge resources at their disposal. The problem is most pronounced in the Northern Areas where it keeps on erupting off and on. Thanks to Afghan War, Grenades and AK 47s have replaced the stones and sticks. Guns are the most freely floating commodities in entire Pakistan. Even beggars sometimes settle scores among themselves with knives and guns! The enigma of Pakistan is the existence of fanatic religious extremists and the most modern pop groups like “Junoon” and “Fusion” side by side. The people support and enjoy both.

In an earlier article it was mentioned that India pretends to be a Secular State. In similar fashion, Pakistan pretends to be an Islamic Republic. It is neither Islamic nor a Republic. Both in the absolute form will not suit Pakistan. In the same way absolute secularism cannot go with Indian ethos. It is time for the both to give up their pretensions and to fully open up to each other. The “New Generation” in both countries should forget the nationalism, religion, politics along with their prejudices and biases. They should adopt the concept of the Global Village and concentrate on the economic well being of the teeming millions living below the poverty line. Then alone will they become truly Secular or Islamic as well as genuine Republics in their own right!