Peshawar: Pakistanis should not celebrate August 14 as the country’s Independence Day but observe it as a “Black Day”, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) said today as it contended that the nation’s “internal and external politics” remain ensnared in “Western subjugation” despite 77 years of “purported sovereignty”.
“The country’s rulers still perceive allegiance to Western powers as a mark of progress and pride,” said the Islamist organisation which is keen on implementing Sharia system of governance in Pakistan and is using military force to achieve the goal.
“As the 14th of August draws close, our nation finds itself awash in a festive atmosphere with flags being adorned, patriotic songs being sung, and celebratory events being carried out,” said TTP spokesman Muhammad Khurasani in a statement.
“Some vehement people have even gone so far as to declare the 14th of August as the “Youm-ul-Fatah” and “Youm-ul-Furqan,” whereas others (blinded by their pride and patriotism) have likened the country to a bastion of Islam, drawing fanciful comparisons to the State of Medina,” he said.
The statement said the people who are celebrating the 14th of August and “consider this nation to be an independant one must ponder the essence of the independence that was purportedly achieved under the Two-Nation Theory or in the name of “La ilaha illallah” from colonial and British dominion.”
The TTP spokesman asked whether the true meaning of independence was not that “the rulers and people of this land will be liberated from the clutches of colonial powers, that they would cast off the shackles of servitude and raise the banner of self-dignity, guided by Islamic principles in both collective and personal matters.”
He went on to ask, “Do you genuinely think we have attained such freedom?”
Khurasani said, “the ostensible custodians of this nation, who claim to defend its independence, find themselves increasingly entangled in the oppressive constraints imposed by the IMF, rather than achieving true liberation in social, economic, and educational spheres.
“The judiciary, even after a period of seventy-seven years, remains in a chained state as a result of the principles and regulations instituted by Lord Macaulay.
“The judicial system which was supposedly designed to administer justice, appears to have become a mere puppet of the establishment, occupied with serving their interests.”
The TTP spokesman added that “the remnants of tribal autonomy, the scant remaining dignity, and the religious and national values cherished by the tribal communities were intolerable to the state institutions celebrating this so-called ‘Freedom’.”
He said that, “In their quest to appease colonial powers, these tribes were forcibly amalgamated into the decayed and obsolete framework of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, effectively engulfing all tribal communities in the currents of subjugation.”
Referring to Balochistan, Khurasani said, “Even the peaceful pleas of the Baloch people, demanding their legitimate rights and the recovery of their missing persons, have been met with hostility by the so-called liberators of this nation.”
He said, “In an obvious attempt to suppress their rightful demands, numerous unarmed youth, mothers, and sisters were ruthlessly gunned down and injured (in Balochistan), revealing the cruel reality that those very people who boast with talks of freedom are, in fact, the very same people entrenching the people of Pakistan in deeper chains of servitude under the guise of Independence Day celebrations.”
The TTP spokesman asserted that “This is a colonial strategem that no truly free Muslim or patriotic Pakistani can accept.”
He added, “We would like to beseech the people of Pakistan to reject the celebration of August 14th as Independence Day and instead observe it as a ‘Black Day’, just as the people of the Tribal Areas are doing.”
He asked the people of Pakistan to “disavow this emblem of subjugation and take resolute steps toward achieving authentic freedom!”
