Alhamdulilah, secular-fundamentalist elites in academia and corridors of power are doing well to separate Iqbal from Quaid, Quaid's Pakistan and rest of the world, as if he didn't exist, as if he didn't and doesn't matter. A full-fledge study is needed to expose this myth. Saleena Karim struck well at the root of Jst Munir's hoaxes about "dream" of a "modern, secular democractic state" of Pakistan in her book: Secular Jinnah & Pakistan: What the Nation doesn't Know.
Nonetheless, they keep on progressing in "revolutionizing" young minds, who're going to take the baton of leadership tomorrow. They're doing good at professing the following dictums blantly in the garb of reasonableness & scholarship: "Pakistan wasn't created as an Islamic state. But at least as a Muslim state. At best a modern, secular state. And you can't pass the exam without praying janaza over Objectives Resolution, at least theoratically before its actually dismantled." Not to speak of historical fallacies in their claims, the later have been well exposed as pure myths in Saleena Karim's book. Review of the book is highly due. PS: I do admit that term Islamic State is vague, and needs 'razor sharp' exposition from traditional Islamic quarters.
This caricature of Pakistan history is being created in more "open" and "modern" centers of learning such as LUMS, FC College Lahore [being run by Americans], and other places. Their victims are students who must take Pakistan Studies 100 course. Students, who don't have enough time to take their heads out of their specializations, are asked to relax, listen and argue using the information provided in the lengthy course readings. The course readings are the key. Readings are haphazard compilations. It's very selective and cleverly organized. It does much less to provide braod historical data from all point of views, so that students can swim through the history themselves; and do much more to provide interpretations of modernist, secular nationalists. Exam questions i experience were loaded, and do not allow any room for critique on the slanted questions. The claims of openness are back-fired. However, students are allowed to argue any point of view. One wonders, what instructors are there for?
Students are not the only victims. Some teachers are just forced to "inform" students the pre-ordained "agenda," whether they wish it or not. Certainly in FCC, where those minds having different perspective on Pak history were ex-coummincated [maybe not literally] from a new band of cohesive ideological rockstar historians. One is appalled from same line of action, same arguments toed and uttered by half a dozen "scholars"! So much for their scholarship which argues about projecting marginal perspecives! Such is their obsesseion with newness and marginal viewpoints that mainstream views are thrown in the garbage, just because they're no more fresh and new. How true was Martin Lings when he said that there isn't much new to say in his profound work Ancient Beliefs & Modern Superstitions. I don't know whether LUMS tolerates dissent; certainly they're leaders in a more blatant anti-independence movement. This is a serious problem. And it needs to be addressed and i hope is being in scholarly journals, newspapers, certainly at PhD level.
Coming back to the relationship between iqbal and Pakistan, i'd like to mention that Muhammad Asad, the famous Jewish convert to Islam, in his autobiography's introduction mentions how Iqbal forced him to stay in India and work for a "future Islamic state" [Asad's verbatim words] ! How visionary. One wonders how the link between one of the greatest son of Brahamins, Muslims and Indians can be cut off from the dream which was actualized in the state of Pakistan; how can his voice be marginalized from the affairs of the nation begotten in his very 'poetic heart'. In reality, Iqbal's pertinence only increases by the day, much to the annoyance of worshippers of a mythical Secular Jinnah. Hence, divorcing him from something (aka Pakistan) that was born in his very heart - such is an example of just another modern, secular-nationalist fundamentalism of the worst sort... And i believe Allah shows the enemies of a nation with clear signs...
And as for those ulema who opposed Pakistan, whom secularists never get tired of quoting - certainly their arguments were reasonable too in certain ways, but those arguments are history and were time-specific. But certainly it's high time to end this invokation of dead matters whose janaza was prayed even by many of those opponents of Pakistan in 1947.
Time to say 4 takbeerat for the the janaza of this recurrent, resurgent secular-nationalist fundamentalism by the 'sword of Furqan'. Before Iqbal is deleted from our collective memory. That will be the last attack to divorce Pakistan, Pakistanis and Muslims from creation of an Islamic polity.
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