Aman ka Ghazwa

“And when Luqman said to his son, giving him words of wisdom, ‘O my son, never ascribe partners with Allah, indeed, ascribing partners with Allah is the worst form of tyranny…’ ”

[The Holy Quran, (31) Surah-e-Luqman, Verse 13]

He then went on to give him some more words of wisdom, which included rights of our fellow beings, especially the mother, rights of the society, civilized behavior, humbleness and so on.

I do not hate Indians at all. Only I feel a trifle annoyance when I see them worshipping God through idols, animals and plants. I feel the same kind of annoyance as a person feels when he sees his siblings annoying his mother and continuing with it. That is all, no personal grudge. Who am I to judge God’s annoyance? Well, yes, okay. It is just all about faith and the correctness of anyone’s faith cannot be judged by any scientific formula. I wish it could.

Neither do I belong to the land mafia, which dreams of hoarding land upon land. If Kashmir annexes with Pakistan, my one kanal home will not turn into a two kanal home. Neither will my city expand in its space, luxury and beauty. My daily route will remain what it is. And nor is the purpose to tour Kashmir. If I want to make a trip to the occupied-Kashmir, I can do so even today with a visit-visa to India. India welcomes friendly tourists.

Then what is the issue about Kashmir? Why is Pakistan hooked on to the Kashmir issue?

Is it the water-issue? If it was merely the water-issue, then Pakistan would be speaking about the Indian Punjab too. For Pakistan, being an agricultural country, is heavily dependent upon natural water irrigation. Pakistan has six main rivers coming into it, three coming from Jammu and Kashmir and three coming from Indian Punjab. And it is not as if India has never done any oppression regarding water. Water dispute between Pakistan and India first erupted on April 1, 1948, when India cut-off the water flow of the rivers coming from Indian Punjab into Pakistani Punjab. This cut-off was in violation of an understanding made in good faith prior to partition to not meddle with natural water flows into Pakistan. This dispute was finally resolved by the ‘Indus Basin Water Treaty’ concluded in 1960 between President Ayub Khan and Prime Minister Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru. However, there are serious critics of this treaty here in Pakistan, saying President Ayub Khan sold-off three of its rivers to India. So if it was really about the water-dispute only, Pakistan would be creating some kind of fuss about the Indian Punjab as well. Have you ever heard about it? 

Independence from the British Rule and partition of India between the Muslims and Hindus was completed by the accession of independent princely states to either Pakistan or India or remaining independent. There were about 562 such states, all of whom had announced their accession choice by August 15^th, 1947, except Junagarh, Kashmir and Hyderabad. The subcontinent was reverted to independence by the British under the indigenous rule that Muslim-majority population states would form Pakistan and Hindu-majority population states would form India. And this was the accession guideline given by the British to the rulers of the independent princely states, that if they chose to accede, the accession to either Pakistan or India should be based on the wishes and desires of their people and their religious trends. However, the ultimate decision remained with the ruler of the state.

Junagarh and Hyderabad were Hindu-majority states with a Muslim ruler each, while Kashmir was a Muslim-majority state with a Hindu ruler. Three guesses to what became the fate of these three states…You got it! How did you guess the first time? You must be very, very intelligent or it is simply that you watch the news regularly and have a clear understanding of the gimmicks of India and its allies.

All three were forced to accede to India; Junagarh and Hyderabad on the pretext of being Hindu-majority states and Kashmir on the pretext of the choice of its ruler. Pakistan filed a case in the UN regarding all three states but of course the cases remain sitting to date. After seeing the political attitude of India regarding Pakistan, amidst Aman ki Asha, at the UN General Assembly 2013, and now at Modi’s election victory, I think they shall remain sitting on the UN table, until Ghazwa-e-Hind resolves the matter once and for all, all and out.

When this Aman ki Asha started singing, I was quite skeptical, because I really do not expect any political fairness from India. Its people are alright. Just like us, they also want to have peace, security and a prosperous life. In fact, we are quite the same kind of people, warm-hearted, fun-loving and a helping-hand in the hour of need. Why shouldn’t we be? For we belong to the same land. Geographical boundaries are man-made and cannot change biology. An inch on either side of the Wahgah Border does not create ‘different’ human beings.

Then what is all the fuss about? In fact, as they say, for what reason was Mother India ever divided? The fuss is that as human beings we do not hate each other at all, but we differ due to an ideology and this difference can sometimes really bring us to the cross of a mathematical right angle of 90°. It is like a mother who bears two sons, one grows up to be a Mother Teresa and the other chooses to become Robinhood. Both are doing charity, but one has chosen the right path to welfare and the other has chosen the wrong path to welfare. We all worship, but could any of us possibly be fuming God instead of pleasing Him? I am extremely sorry if I am sound self-righteous but I am just trying to explain a point. You are most welcome to put me in the stream of Robinhood and take the stream of Mother Teresa for yourself. But when I present our case, I shall do it in our light.

As Muslims, we abhor the concept of idolatry and do not wish our children, our plantings, to grow amidst it. Whether we accept it or not, but religion brings with itself an entire culture. Not just culture, but education, politics, economics and everything else. Religion reflects itself in every sphere of life. No, secularism is not an option, for secularism is itself a ‘religion’ and reflects its unwanted colors in every sphere of life too. Thereby, it is the right of the Kashmiri people to live as a Muslim state. As I said before, I am not an encroacher. If it pricks India that Kashmir should annex to Pakistan, fine, let Kashmir be an independent state then, but Kashmir must be given its more than half-a-century-old right of self-determination.

No? Oh well, let it be then. I guess we will just have to wait for Ghazwa-e-Hind. For it is the prophecy of our Prophet Muhammed Pbuh that Ghazwa-e-Hind (Battle of Hindustan) shall take place near the end of times and the Muslims shall sweep the land with victory.

Given the weak situation of the Muslims today, you must be finding my statement extremely funny. So did some people when Prophet Muhammed Pbuh was calling for finances and resources for the Expedition of Tabuk. Many Muslims came up with huge donations, but the overall situation of the Muslims was still very weak because the target was enormous, so much so, that when the expedition finally set out, the ratio of camels to soldiers was one to eighteen! In such a situation, one very poor but very hardworking Muslim worked all night for a Jew and donated his entire nights’ earnings which amounted to only half a kilogram of dates. So the critics of Muslims of those times laughed and mocked and bickered to the joy of their heart, saying, ‘You are planning to confront the mighty Byzantines with half a kilo of dates?’ It so happened that the sincerity and all-that-they-could effort of the Muslims reaped its result. Allah Almighty sufficed them and news about the thirty-thousand march instilled awe and fear in the hearts of the enemies of Islam, and instead of confronting them, they dispersed throughout the land. The Muslim army, thus returned victorious without a fight or bloodshed. This was the second victory of its kind after the Conquest of Makkah.

And Prophet Muhammed’s prophecies do come true. During the invasion of Al-Ahzab upon the Muslims themselves, he predicted the conquests of Syria, Persia and Yemen, all of whom were great powers at that time while the Muslims had only Madinah, a city. Islam ultimately did spread to all these regions and much beyond.

Prophet Muhammed Pbuh even gave the prophecy of Muslims being ceremoniously attacked by all others near the end of times, that is, what is happening today by the name of war-on-Islam, oops, I mean war-on-terror.    

So you be unfair and hold Kashmir tightly to your bosoms. Eventually, we shall get back the entire land.

However, there is no need for the Indians and their allies to feel any apprehension or fear by the above statements. For you do not believe in Prophet Muhammed Pbuh and his statements. While for the Muslims, let it be a solace to their grieving hearts.