Internal Colonization

by Jaffer Raza

Almost 57 years have passed since the inception of Pakistan and its “independence” is still a topic of discussion between scholars, political scientists and the common man. Different people have expressed their respected views on this topic. Some argue that it was a blessing for the Muslims of the Sub Continent and others have reservations on how this country came into being. The two nation theory while being hailed by some schools is thrashed by others. Therefore the inception of Pakistan to date is sadly very debatable.

There are a number of questions that come to ones mind as far as the creation of Pakistan is concerned. For whom was the country made for? Did it actually serve the purpose? Was it worth the millions of lives lost during that period? Was the Muslim League really a party for the people? Was Jinnah really a leader the whole nation looks up to? And the most important question. Are we an independent nation capable of taking our own decisions?

The initial questions can arise a long and a never ending debate. Each of them have enough substance to write a complete article on. I will therefore attempt to tackle the last and the most important question keeping in mind the initial ones.

The inception of Pakistan to me sadly remains under a shadow of doubt. I ask my self if this is how nation states come into being. I look at history and see the development of Europe and again ask my self whether we are capable of calling ourselves a nation state. Did the homeland for Muslims actually serve the purpose when the majority of the Muslim population lives across the other side of the border (especially after the fall of Dhaka).

The main question which bothers me is whether we are capable of being called an independent nation or are we just slaves, being ruled the same way, by different people. Or maybe the same people in a different form, representing the interests of those who ruled over us for centuries. I ask the question whether the ideology behind independence was just to get the British out of the country and claim that we are an independent nation.

Well sadly I think we are still colonized. Independence to me is not getting rid of the foreign colonizers but to free the country from the shackels of what I would call “internal colonizers.”

It is my contention that we are still being ruled and the life of an ordinary citizen in Pakistan has not improved since independence but it has sadly worsened. It is indeed worse that the citizens of this country are treated the same way as they were before 14th August 1947, but this time around only by their own people. The army, the politicians, the landlords to me is just a different form of our country being colonized. In fact it is sadder that we in our own country are being colonized by our own people, people who dance to the tunes played from Washington, and people who only understand the language of power and money. From the British Viceroy to the army generals it’s all the same. One can give an analogy of a math problem where you reach the same result but only from different methods. This seems to be the case here. It is literally the change in skin color that seems to be the difference in this case and of course the result is the same, the common man of Pakistan is where he was, only hoping for a better future.

For me, independence from the British was not the solution for a prosperous nation; it was only the initial step. The important part was to control the internal elements in our society which can exploit, control and arbitrarily rule over the country. The need was to control elements such as the army, bureaucracy, politicians and the landlords. Such elements are simply playing the same role as the British colonizers, only with a stamp of approval on them. The stamp of approval, being the silence exercised by the people. Sir Martin Luther King once said “The day you know the truth and you do not say it; it is the day you begin to die.” The real purpose of independence to me seems to be missing as we are still being ruled, only by different people in a different way. The only difference that can come to my mind is that the British administration was immaculate while the administration of the “local colonizers” leaves a lot to be desired.

On paper we may have gained independence but we still have a long way to reach what is really called independence. Nelson Mandela in his very fine book “Long Walk to Freedom” wrote “When one climbs a hill he finds that there are many other hills to climb. My long walk to freedom is not over.” Certainly ours towards independence is neither and there are unquestionably many other hills to climb.