It is an important book for a Pakistani to read and to take seriously. Therefore, I begin with critiquing the problems in Tilak Devasher’s Pakistan: Courting the Abyss.

Firstly, Devasher — an Indian civil service officer who also served as a cabinet secretary — acknowledges at the outset that Pakistan came into being as a consequence of three factors: the insecurity of the Muslim elite, particularly in provinces where they were in a minority; the policies of the Indian National Congress; and the machinations of the British colonial power. Even if one factor were absent or had played out differently, according to him, India would not have been partitioned. However, on further reading, what one gathers from this analysis is that the author reposes fundamental responsibility for Partition in the Muslim separatist sentiment — beginning with Sir Syed Ahmad Khan in the 19th century and later championed by Mohammad Ali Jinnah and the All India Muslim League in the 20th century — coupled with the scheming of the British rulers to keep the freedom movement divided. But you find that Devasher offers a somewhat limited commentary on the role of Congress’s exclusionary political policies, even after having recognised that this was one of the three essential factors leading to Partition.

Secondly, Devasher describes with fairly reliable historic evidence the socio-psychological reasons pursuant with the material conditions for the internal intellectual and social strife within the Muslim community and its elites. However, he seems to overlook the role of Hindu revivalist movements in both social and political domains — from Shuddhi and Sanghathan purists and reformists to Bharatiya Jana Sangh and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and their communal politics — which helped entrench fear and insecurity among some conscious segments of the Muslim population in India. Arya Samaj and Shuddhi, in fact, began from Punjab and western Uttar Pradesh, if I recall correctly.

Thirdly, the complete agency and, therefore, the charge for instability in the entire South Asian region get accorded to Pakistan. One can certainly understand, whether agreeing with it entirely or not, the mainstream Indian point of view when they hold Pakistan responsible for perpetuating this conflict between the two countries. There are so many on our side of the border who would agree in general terms with this assertion. But it makes little sense when what is happening in Afghanistan, and issues with other countries in the region, are seen from the same prism. Even as a critic of Pakistan’s foreign policy when it comes to both India and Afghanistan, I would find it sophomoric not to see the vested interests of global powers at play in Afghanistan which lie at the root of keeping this region unstable. The current war theatre in Afghanistan has to be understood in a wider context, irrespective of the history of Muslim separatism in the South Asian subcontinent in the last century.

Fourthly, Devasher grieves over the fact that there is very little introspection going on anywhere in Pakistan about the trajectory it has chosen for itself. But, on the contrary, his own book is virtually peppered with references to what is being said and written in Pakistan that criticises the country’s policies and practice in terms of its security, foreign affairs, social development and democracy. Even in the face of curbs and the muffling of voices imposed upon them by the powers-that-be, a significant number of Pakistanis — young and old — remain critical, argumentative, challenging and courageous. However, Devasher is right when he says that the thinking outside Pakistan on issues that the country faces are dismissed as being motivated, especially when it comes from India. That restricts us from understanding how the world views us.

Apart from the issues in dealing with history that I have listed above — where I found him to be lopsided — I believe Devasher offers a valid overall analysis of Pakistan’s internal politics and external policy and what constrains it from becoming a normal, functional state and an inclusive and tolerant society. What can save us are a true democratic framework and a commitment to being in peace with ourselves as well as our neighbours.

The writer is a poet and essayist based in Islamabad

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, May 27th, 2018