ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistani ambassador to India Abdul Basit observed on Thursday that the Two-Nation Theory remains “valid” as East Pakistan after separation chose to become Bangladesh rather than merging into India.
“The Two-Nations Theory is still valid as Bangladesh did not merge into India rather it kept its Muslim identity and became part of Organisation of Islamic Countries and remains an active member of the Muslim community in the world,” said Basit during his keynote address.
The former envoy was giving the address at a seminar organised by Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) at Quaid-i-Azam University in collaboration with National Institute for Pakistan Studies (NIPS).
Basit remarked it was the “fascist mindset” of Hindu leaders that pushed Muslims of the Indian subcontinent to think about a separate homeland.
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“The Two-Nation theory has become a fact now and the living condition of Indian Muslims under BJP-RSS fascist rule further validates it,” he added.
Renowned author Professor Dr Ayub Sabir said that till 1906 Allama Iqbal believed in Indian nationalism. However, Iqbal adopted the concept of Muslim Ummah in 1906 and then gradually promoted it, he added.
According to Dr Sabir Quaid-i-Azam also transformed his ideology under the influence of Allama Iqbal and converted him into an Islamic leader.
“Bangladesh was created through a language movement and not through an ideological movement but a time will come when Bangladesh will come back to Islam and become closer to Pakistan as the bonding of religion is stronger than any other bond,” said Dr Ayub.
PICSS Chairman Major General (retd) Saad Khattak said that former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi had claimed that India had drowned the two-nation theory in the Bay of Bengal”.
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But he clarified that the fall of Dhaka was not a negation of the “Two-Nation Theory,” as it was not based on the ideology that Bengali were a separate nation.
Khattak said that Indian philosophers kept claiming that the two-nation theory was wrong despite East Pakistan’s decision to not merge back into India and remain a sovereign Muslim State.
Pakistan Air Force veteran Sultan Mehmood Hali urged that it was high time that the correct narrative is imparted to the youth of Pakistan so that the distorted truth being propagated via educational curriculums is nipped in the bud once and for all.
He pointed towards psychological warfare and urged the youth to not fall into the trap of social media, stating that if Pakistan “loses independence this time then there will be no Quaid-e-Azam” to save the country.
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Colonel (retd) Kamal-ud-Din discussed his Bengali roots and elaborated on how he chose to live in Pakistan after the fall of Dhaka.
“Creation of Bangladesh is not a failure of the Two-Nations Theory, rather it was an administrative and political failure,” said the former army officer.