Regret: Two Novellas by Ikramullah

Author:Ikramullah [Ikramullah]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9789351189183
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2015-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chauhan interrupted, ‘It’s futile now to argue who is a Muslim and who is not. The Quaid-e-Azam had already settled the issue in his address of 11 August 1947, when he claimed that all citizens of Pakistan would be equal regardless of their differences. Now it’s another matter that some people suppressed this address because it didn’t fit in with their own interest. This statement can only mean one thing: all citizens will have the same rights and responsibilities, and religious affiliation would be a personal matter, which the state would not interfere in. It will not be possible much longer to hide the Quaid’s address and the guiding principles enshrined in it for framing government policy. I think it is necessary for me now to write an exhaustive article on this issue and publish it in my newspaper.’

That made everyone laugh in their hearts for they knew all too well that Chauhan would never attempt to write and publish an article on such a controversial issue. Bashir Ahmad said, ‘And yet, quite against Jinnah’s dictates we were declared non-Muslims and the declaration was made part of the Constitution. All right, fine, but if you can’t treat us as Muslims at least treat us as humans. Why, we’re not even given the status of animals, let alone humans. Even animals are accorded feelings and emotions to some extent, but we . . . no more than rocks. The townsfolk are forced to swear at our venerable moral preceptors and teachers by name. The speech-mongers get on the stage and incite ordinary people against us so they storm our houses, plunder them, and then set them on fire and kill everyone inside. No one is ever caught. We can’t say our prayers, give the azan, or refer to our mosque as a mosque. What’s all this? The townsfolk see this cruelty taking place, yet say nothing.’

Chauhan said, ‘Chaudhry sahib, there’s no reason to become emotional. When cruelty goes beyond a certain limit, it generates its own reaction from within itself.’

‘You don’t mean to say—do you—that, God forbid, Islam would disappear from this country?’ Haji Manzoor said in a huff. ‘Pakistan has no meaning besides “There is no God but One.” This was the slogan that was heard echoing from every street in the heyday of the Pakistan Movement. I saw all this with my own eyes, and that was what helped us succeed. If you go back on your word to God, His punishment will surely descend on you.’

Chauhan answered, ‘To begin with, this slogan didn’t exist in those days, at least it had nothing to do with the Muslim League. And even if we suppose that it did exist, no one can explain what it really meant or what its purpose was. The most that can be said is that Pakistan was created for those who recited the kalima. If that is so, on what grounds were Ahmadis excluded from the faith? They too recite the kalima, don’t they? How

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