The sinister, Cheshire-cat-like smile of the late Gen Ziaul Haq, his kohl-lined eyes and glistening slicked-back hair have been forgotten by many. An entire generation has had the good fortune to grow up in a Zia-less Pakistan, one after that C-130 aircraft mysteriously exploded over Bahawalpur on August 17, 1988 – dramatically ending the dictator’s 11-year rule (the longest tenure in the country’s history) as head of state.

But 25 years on, there is good reason to remember Zia and his legacy. What happened between 1978 and 1988 changed Pakistan forever. The ‘new’ nation Zia forged is the one we live in. Yes, some things have been turned back. To some degree music has returned to our lives; songs such as Alamgir’s innocuous 1979 number, ‘Dekha na tha’ are no longer ranked as obscene and banned. Far more daring popular music plays out on television screens, there have been attempts to revive classical dance and, of course, democracy has been revived.

But the legacy of Zia is one that refuses to just fade away. There can be no doubt that through his harsh ‘Islamisation’ measures, his clever manipulation of curricula and his promotion of sectarianism, Zia created a new country. It was one in which images that appear periodically in magazines and social media sites, of women in saris or the flared ‘bell-bottoms’ of the 1970s or of relaxed family outings, seem strangely out of place.

Yes, it is true that the first steps towards the building of a more intolerant country had been taken before Zia, under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, as Ahmadis were declared ‘non-Muslims’ and prohibition introduced. These were terrible mistakes. But it was Zia, the army chief appointed by Bhutto who would later act as his executioner, who consolidated them, built the climate of discrimination and distrust we now live with and put in place laws that have been impossible to wipe away. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, the full-fledged move-in of the US to a region they have yet to move out of and the consequent arrival of arms, drugs and ‘jihad’ added to the problems.

And these problems live on. Indeed they have multiplied, sub-divided and created a situation that allowed extremism to breed and the white space on the national flag that symbolises minorities to shrink away into non-existence. There is no space in the Pakistan of today for non-Muslims. Those who could leave did so in droves soon after Zia took over; those who couldn’t or chose not to go lead haunted lives.

Even smaller Muslim sects have been targeted and the process continues, with both the Bohri and the Ismaili communities, which had previously remained away from battle, coming under attack in recent months in Karachi. We do not know how the process will end or what group will be targeted next.

But these manifestations of the Zia legacy are backed by mindset. The change achieved in this, within years, by Zia was extraordinary and undoubtedly terrifying. As hypocrisy took hold, we suddenly saw religion being made a matter for open display, and indeed a kind of ‘one-upmanship’. Much of that has continued till today. It is fanned on by a media that puts on a ‘liberal’ face but for the most part propounds orthodox, reactionary views. This is especially hazardous in a country where public opinion is increasingly formed by television channels – which determine what makes news, and what does not.

Few of us wonder why the actions of a deranged man in Islamabad should have had us glued to the screens. And TV show hosts also fuel our love for conspiracy while adding to a damaging belief in superstition, as ‘haunted’ houses or ‘supernatural’ beings are used as the primary subject matter for prime-time shows.

Educational curricula remain a part of the problem, with the religious forces that have controlled this sector since the 1950s fighting attempts to open it up. We saw this most recently in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf government is under pressure from the Jamaat-e-Islami, its allying partner, to roll-back changes made under the previous ANP government under which pro-jihad messages were removed from textbooks and replaced with stories about Khushal Khan Khattak, Rahman Baba and other persons of significance from the region.

Can the damage done under Zia ever be undone? Of course, it is not possible to eradicate entire chapters from our history. We need to accept they occurred and left their mark. But we can learn from the past – even from Zia – and use this knowledge to take us forward. This is one reason we should not forget the man. Zia worked with determination, commitment and a ruthless efficiency to create the Pakistan he sought – for reasons rooted both in ideology and expediency.

We need to see if it is possible to re-do what Zia did, this time seeking a reversal of what was done within around five years after Ziaul Haq seized power. Keeping the agenda before us as clear as possible, we must attempt to take back what he did – by re-introducing tolerance, acceptance for difference and respect for all beliefs. This will be no easy task. It may take a decade or even longer, but it is one we need to start out on without any further delay.

To achieve it, there must be no ambiguity in thinking; no doubt in what we believe. We need to accept that Pakistan is a nation shared between people of many different ethnic backgrounds, many different beliefs and many different schools of thought. They must all be given space; and the violence and hatred that currently prevents this needs to be driven away so that the more sane nation that stood on the map through the early years of its existence can once more be fit back into place.

The process may prove as difficult as building a jigsaw puzzle made up of thousands of pieces. But it is one we simply cannot afford to neglect. If we do this, the pieces may go permanently missing – making it impossible to ever create a complete picture.

The writer is a freelance columnist and former newspaper editor.
Email: kamilahyat@hotmail.com

http://e.thenews.com.pk/8-29-2013/page6.asp