The Pakistani Spectator

The news that certain top western universities, including from US, intend to open their campuses and centres in Pakistani capital city of Islamabad,  must have   stirred the hopes of so called top gentry in Pakistan to send their children in foreign universities in Islamabad . Obviously, they would be able to bag the top jobs as well as save millions of rupees that were wasted in sending their children abroad. Chairman Capital Development Authority Imtiaz Inayat Elahi has confirmed that his Authority intends to float international tenders for “Education City” in Islamabad. He disclosed that it has been proposed to allow foreign universities at either of the locations at Shakarparian and Kuri in Islamabad.

Mr Elahi said “We want to make Islamabad as educational hub. For the purpose Educational City has been planned on public-private partnership.” It is important to note that Mr Elahi disclosed that that beside educational campuses, land would be also be used  for the construction of hostels for the students and teachers as well as other professionals who were facing accommodation problems. This means that there would be some construction for some non-educational professional. Mr Elahi also pointed out that his Authority is also planning to establish its own educational institutes in the city where students would be provided education of international standard. In other words, own educational institutes would be outside this Educational City. There is no harm in having foreign schools and universities in Pakistan but how long we would be running from our ideology and identity. Foreign or western institutions, no matter how high stature these might have, would educate only western values and would not be able to allow Islamic aspects for which Pakistan came into being ie allow Muslims to order their lives in individual and collective spheres as set out in he Holy Qura’an and Sunnat Rasool Allah. In Pakistan, we have protection for the minorities freely to profess and practice their religions and develop their cultures. Obviously, this is subject to law and public morality.

If we role back the pages of the history and for a while peep into the period of World War-I and Khilafat Movement, we would find that Mohammadan-Anglo-Oriental College, which later turned into Aligarh University, was boycotted by all the communities of India including Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Parsees etc. There can be no doubt in the fact that Aligarh University remained as a tool in the hands of British Imperialists and handful of their sympathizers to destroy the religion, culture, traditions and values of people of this region.  Aligarh University, although, is a well reputed university but has very little to do with the struggle in Pakistan movement today’s Pakistan. It would be a matter of interest for many Pakistan and Indians that Aligarh University was initially a conspiracy against Muslims so that a pro-western educated lot is produced. Certain leaders from Aligarh University like Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan were active members of Pakistan movement but such leaders had nothing to do with the Pakistan made by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Muhammad Iqbal.

If we recall, Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan while winding up the debate on the motion by leader of Congress party, Mr Sris Chandra Chattopadhaya on 12 March 1949 said, “There are some people here who are out to disprut and destroy Pakistan and these so called Ulemas who have come to you they have come with that particular mission of creating doubts in your mind regarding the bona fides of the Mussalmans of Pakistan.  Do not for God sake lend your ear to such mischievous propaganda. I want to say and give a warning to this element which is out to disrupt Pakistan that we shall not brook it any longer. They have misapprehended the whole ideology of Islam to you. They are in fact enemies of Islam while posing as friends and supporters of Islam. Sir, my honorable friend said that according to these people, the Muslims will not offer their Jumma Prayers if there was a non-Muslim head of the State. Well Sir, till yesterday – when I say yesterday I am only talking about figuratively – we had no-Muslim rulers here. Were Muslims not offering prayers? Were they not offering Jumma Prayers? Can you say they never offered Jumma Prayers in this country? How can, then, anybody come to you and how easily you get take in by a statement of this kind?”

After the death of Quaid-e-Azam, fifth columnists who never accepted Pakistan wanted its independence of Pakistan to confine within the Indian union as independent state use to enjoy during British rule and even before that. They were of the view that at a later stage Muslim majority states in Indian may join as a confederation. Such people were doing this because half of their families were living in India while for own vested interests other half had migrated to Pakistan. However, this is not applicable to everyone who relatives live in India as there also highly patriotic persons among them. No one should have any misunderstanding that Pakistan was created for the enforcement of Islam so that Muslims who opted for Pakistan should order their lives in individual and collective spheres in accordance with the teaching of Islam. Pakistani minorities including those who migrated from this country due to propaganda from western countries and certain Indian leaders should give a deaf ear to the psychological operations intended to not to allow Pakistan to come out as model Islamic state.

One wonders, knowing well that Pakistan came into being as Islamic ideological state are bent upon eliminating all those who believe in Islam as complete code of life and enforce secularism and anti-Islamic values. Such people should compare Pakistan with Israel. It is pertinent to mention here that although Pakistan was established on the territories where Muslims were already residing since centuries while Jews were illegally imposed on Arabs in Palestine.  What ever the case may be, can any one ask Jews of Israel to declare Israel as secular state and allow Muslims and Christians to take top positions in Israeli parliament and other bodies? Can anyone ever think of a notion to allow Muslims educational institutions to be allowed to be constructed in Israel to educate Jews? If it is not possible or justified, why in the case of Pakistan, almost all the countries are trying to destroy the religion, culture, traditions and values in Pakistan and replace them with notorious concepts of secularism, capitalism, communism etc. Democratic countries like US acted as a beacon light for many nations including Pakistanis who were striving for independence from the shackles of foreign rule but now same countries are trying to impose proxy rule by hijacking our institutions.

The idea of foreign universities in Islamabad reminds of the message Quaid-e-Azam to All- Pakistan Educational Conference held in Karachi on 27 November 1947, when he said, “Under the foreign rule for over a century, in the very nature of things, I regret sufficient attention has not been paid to the education of our people and if we are to make any real speedy and substantial progress, we must earnestly tackle this question and bring our educational policy and programmes on the lines suited to our genius of our people consonant with our history and culture, and having regard to modern conditions and vast developments that have taken place all over the world.” He said, “There is no doubt that the future of our State will and must greatly depend upon the type of education and the way in which we bring up our children as future servants of Pakistan. Education does not merely means academic education, and even that appears to be of very poor type. What we have to do is to mobilize our people and build the character of our future generations.” It is high time that we must build the character of our future generations and merely concentrate on academic education. It is high time that we rebuilt our future educational system on the foundations of chains of Islamia and Jamia Millia schools, colleges and universities. We should also give a chance to our minorities to develop their educational systems, in case they want to have other than Muslim institutions. The future “Educational City” that is coming up should comprise of institutions like Islamia University which have even today branches in all the provinces, University of Karachi, Punjab University, Khyber University, Balochistan University, Kashmir University etc so that whole Pakistan is represented in Islamabad.