Changing Pakistanis

Our father, an official of EPWAPDA, an autonomous body constituted in late fifties for development of water and power had many non-Bengali friends and colleagues of Mohajir, Punjabi, Pathan origin. Most of them were retired army officials employed in the autonomous body. All of them were normal human beings with average normal religious activities. Interestingly, I was again lodged in the same hostel room with a Punjabi inter-wing student in Dhaka Medical College in the late sixties. We hardly talked politics although the situation in the national arena was warming up. Our Pakistani classmates were normally active, 'not more than usual' religious fellows. There was not a single bearded student among them. I provided protection to our roommate friend in the tumultuous months of February/ March '71 as he was afraid to venture out alone.

During the liberation war three of our close relatives were killed by the 'Army/Al-Badr/Al-Shams combine'. Two were in the missing list, and third one, a promising surgeon's body was recovered from a culvert in Motijheel area with a mutilated face and battered body. He was picked up in mid-November and brutally killed by the beastly Al-Badr. I was among the few relatives who buried him.

We graduated and plunged into the 'real working world'. In 1977 I was maltreated and harassed by a Pakistani immigration official in Karachi airport while flying back from Amsterdam. A kind lady official of KLM came to my rescue and bailed me out of the situation. I travelled to the Middle-East on employment in early eighties and found me in company with Pakistanis, Indians. I noticed certain qualitative changes in their attitude especially about religion, its practices etc. Most of the Pakistanis would be overtly extra-religious, serious, intolerant, aggressive type. Influence of 'Wahabism' was slowly percolating into the body and the society of Pakistan. The influence was changing their views, attitudes, mindset, interactions with others with different views and religion. Beards were being sported in increasing numbers, more "Dawat' for going to the mosque, participation in religious activities etc was offered. The number of such people kept on increasing. Pakistan underwent rapid qualitative changes in mindset and attitude during the regime of Gen. Ziaul Huq, son of a small town Moulvi from Jullundhar district. Now, we find more soldiers and law enforcing agency people with beards in present day Pakistan than united Pakistan days. The same is true for the common mass population, and the smiles have been replaced by 'Jangi-josh". In the present Pakistan cricket team five or six players are sporting beard, which was unthinkable only a few years back. Pseudo-religiosity is a harmful addiction. It takes out the humanity from one's soul and body and the empty shell or robot obeys command of the criminal terrorist minded mentors. Alas! Islam, our "Paigambar', Imams, Sufi saints, all the God's men, propagated, preached humanity, love, tolerance and performance of good deeds.