When Mrs Indira Gandhi, imposed Internal Emergency in India (1975), Dr Dharamveer Bharti, the editor of well-known Hindi weekly Dharam Yug, published his famous poem,” Khalq Khuda Ka” 'खल्क खुदा का, मुल्क बादशाह का' in protest. The poem and its spirit came as a breath of fresh air:

“खल्क खुदा का, मुल्क बादशाह का, हुकु म शहर कोतवाल का, हर
खास और आम को आगाह ककया जाता है, कक खबरदार रहेंऔर, अपने-
अपने घर के ककवाडो़ों को कु़ों डी लगाकर ब़ोंद कर लें,
कगरा देंखखडककयो़ों के परदेऔर, अपनेबच्ो़ों को सडक पर न भेजें,
क्ो़ोंकक, एक 72 साल का बूढा आदमी, अपनी का़ोंपती कमजोर आवाज
में, सडको़ों पर “सच” बोलता हुआ कनकल पडा है.... “

The reference, of course, was to the late Jayaprakash Narayan, who raised his voice against the oppression of emergency! I was reminded of these immortal lines, when I heard on You Tube, several interviews of Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad, the well known Swedish Political Scientist and author, of Pakistani descent. Dr Ishtiaq was visiting Pakistan a few months back and, has been in India for last two months with the twin objectives of promoting Indo-Pak friendship and, his books related to Partition of India and the sociopolitical conditions in Pakistan, including the role of Pakistan Army.

Dr Ishtiaq, born on Feb 24, 1947(age 76) at Lahore, holds a PhD in Political Science and is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Stockholm University. Before migrating to Sweden, he taught for some time in Pakistan as well! Dr Ishtiaq has done pioneering work in exploring the horrors of 1947 Indo-Pak partition; his book ‘The Punjab – Bloodied, Partitioned and Cleansed” contains 11 years of his hard work in sifting through British/Indian/Pakistani archival material and collecting first hand narrative of partition victims on both sides of border. Simultaneously, he has explored the role of Jinnah in causing partition of India in his magnum opus,” Jinnah-His Successes, Failures and Role in History’. Such a critique on the founder of Pakistan has never been written in Pakistan or by a Pakistani before. Likewise, his book Pakistan-The Garrison State exposes the dark nexus between Pakistani Army and its stooges, masquerading as politicians.

Hallmark of Dr Ishtiaq’s writings and discussions is his ability to sift fact from fiction with the true finesse of an independent researcher, base his arguments on hard evidence, and, his ability to call a spade a spade! What makes Dr Ishtiaq special is that he had the courage to criticize Pakistani elite, its ‘ashrafia’, its military establishment and politicians WHILE HE WAS IN PAKISTAN and on Pakistani channels. To my mind, it is for the first time that we are hearing a person of Pakistani origin praise Hindus for being large hearted in allowing all minorities complete freedom

( You Tube:

interview with Aarzoo Kazmi dt 29.06.23 ).

When asked point blank about his opinion on Dr Jaishankar policy of ‘no contact’ with Pakistan, Dr Ishtiaq was brutally honest,” If you pelt stones on your neighbour daily, do you think he shall offer friendship to you?”

(You Tube interview with Ribaha Imran:

).

He admitted that the preposition that Muslims are being maltreated in India is a big lie, being propagated by ‘vested political interests’ in Pakistan as well as in India. He could not find any tell tale symptoms of Muslim harassment during his 2 months of stay and travel to Nashik, Mumbai, Pune, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Bangalore, Hyderabad etc. He interacted with people of all walks in life, including RSS members, Civil Society, Muslim organizations, historians, academia and ‘intellectuals’. He addressed several public meetings including an hour long talk cum question answer session at Bangalore International Centre on ‘Partition and Improving India-Pakistan Relations’ (June 24, 2023).

Dr Ishtiaq arrived in Hyderabad on June 28, 2023 and I went to meet him on June 29 morning. Interestingly, Dr Ishtiaq was staying with a Sikh business family with roots in Gujranwala, Pakistani Punjab. Am sure, S Avninder Singh’s hospitality and lifestyle would have removed many misgivings from his mind about treatment of minorities in India. His visits to Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, and Amritsar in Punjab and several days of stay in Delhi had obviously come as an eye opener for Dr Ishtiaq. His travels and interactions in Nashik, Pune and Mumbai too had negated the lies that Muslims are being treated as second rate citizens in India, as propounded by media in Pakistan. During our 40-minute interaction, I started with the oft repeated argument, started by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1968 that Muslims in India are being ‘exterminated’. He was emphatic in his negation of such lies and all praise for the fairness of Indian institutions in dealing with its people, irrespective of religion, caste, and regional considerations. His oft repeated request was that India should not discard its secular ways nor should it allow misuse of religion for political purposes – for that is what has destroyed Pakistan. Dr Ishtiaq regretted that Indian historians have not ‘seriously studied and documented’ the ‘socio-political roots’ and impact of 1947 partition of India and have, unfortunately allowed much of the human sources of partition stories to die unheard – the generations that witnessed the horrors of partition have mostly passed away. What we have today are ‘impressions’ of their second-third generation descendants.

The focus of his presentations with Indians of all walks of life was that 76 years of animosity have only harmed the subcontinent; effect on Pakistan has been more harmful than the effect on India. Due to its policies and political trajectory, India, today, is at a ‘take off’ stage economically while Pakistan is walloping in poverty and political chaos. He pleads that peace be given a chance so that two countries should live like decent neighbours. He acknowledges that Pakistan needs to do much more before confidence can be rebuilt; Pakistan needs to stop exporting terrorism as a state policy. During his interaction with members of the RSS, he did not find them the fiends they are often portrayed as, in Pakistan.

My basic objective of meeting Dr Ishtiaq was to know his take about role of Jihadi Islam in ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits in 1990 and request him to speak/ write on the subject. Being the scholar he is, he was updated about Kashmir’s recent political history, about the shenanigans of the Abdullas and Mehboobas and post August 19 development in Kashmir. He deeply regretted the KP Genocide of 1990. I showed him pictures of my extended family’s recent trip to Kashmir. While briefing him about the seven exoduses of KPs, I told him that after the Sikh army defeated the Pathan Army in the Battle of Shopian (1819), Hari Singh Nalwa, as per folklore, is said to have decided to blast at least two of the major mosques in Srinagar (Pathar Masjid and Shah-e-Hamdan?) but was prevented by Raja Birbal Dhar with the words,” How can we be vandals like them?”. Dr Ishtiaq had never heard of this story and asked me to share proof so that he can discuss this in his future episodes. Dr Ishtiaq has requested me to mail all information to him after 3 weeks as he might be returning to Sweden only towards end of July 23.

Me with Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed at Hyderabad

I am aware that Dr Ishtiaq is a ‘lone warrior,’ an academic without any power clique to back him up. However, I believe, he has the backing of TRUTH; we need to cheer this brave academic for calling a spade a spade. Pakistan is a country where its schoolbooks define India its ‘Azli dushman’ (enemy from its inception). Hindu hatred and India bashing is endemic in Pakistan, thanks to the indoctrination last 3 generations have had. Pakistan has effectively used the strategy of ‘Give the Dog a Bad Name to Kill It’ – by blaming India of Muslim bashing and human rights violations in Kashmir by creating an international atmosphere against India. Recently, during Mr Modi’s well publicised US Trip, a ‘journalist’ of Pakistani origin tried to corner PM Modi by bluntly asking this question based on ’reports’, mostly fake. In such conditions, if an unbiased scholar of international fame speaks the truth after staying in India for 8-10 weeks, we must not only welcome it but also widely publicise it to rebut the media propaganda by anti-India voices and agenda driven politicians. Afterall, how often do we get to hear sane voices from Pakistan? Suggested You Tube Video Links for reference;

1.
Shakil Chaudhary, Tahir Gora and Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed – Is Hindu Hatred reason for Indo-Pak Rift?

2.
Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed with Aarzoo Kazmi: Why India’s success matters to the world!

3. https://youtu.be/cYaGPUA3ta4
Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad with Asad Eijaj Bhat: What made Jinnah different from Nehru and Gandhi

4.
Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad: My Talk at Bangalore International Centre.

5. https://youtu.be/S-HI_FEbMLo ;
Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad with Shaila Khan
Pakistani Educational System Indoctrinates Hatred of Hindus & India

6.
Aalia Shah and Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad: Why did not all Indian Muslims migrate to Pakistan during Partition in 1947

7.
Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad with Dr Parvez Hoodbuoy : Jinnah: His successes, failures and Role in History

8.
Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad in the Black Hole: The Punjab Bloodied, Partitioned and Cleansed

9.
Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad, Sajid Tarar and Qamar Cheema – multiple issues

10. https://youtu.be/BUjrWbbPHw8
Qamar Cheema, Sajid Tarar & Dr Ishtiaq on contemporary Pakistan. Important sentences, can be future topics.

11.
Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad & Tahir Gora: How has Pakistan become an Army State?

12. https://youtu.be/cdL8DN9ESYo
Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed with Amber Zaidi: Indian Army saved Pakistan Army from revenge attacks in 1971

13.
Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad - Gazwa-e Hind and other eschatologies

14.
Dr Ishtiaq Ahmad & Shakil Chowdhary – Mopla rebellion and Shuddhi Movement

15. https://youtu.be/76_Ac62lIHI
Sajid Tarar, Ishtiaq Ahmed and Qamar Cheema – Was there a Pakistani Dream? If Yes, then what happened to it?

16. https://youtu.be/9OdwNHIXVeI
Shaila Khan with Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed – Answering questions

Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed is prolific on the You Tube. His interviews/ talks with Mr Tahir Gora (Toranto, Canada) and Pakistani You Tubers like Ms Aarzoo Kazmi, Ms Aalia Shah, Mr Shakil Chowdhary, Ribaha Imran, Shaila Khan etc, Indian You Tubers like Amber Zaidi are available on You Tube.