By Asif Mahmood
With the Iranian diatribe i.e. its Chief’s fulmination threatening Pakistan to hit inside its boundary, apart from many other grappling questions, there comes a crunch question to fore: Where lies the concept of Ummah that has been bandied about with abandon in our society since long?
Don’t take my words for it, peep into the history and you will find a simple answer: It lies only in the sermons of the clergy and in our text books. As far as the ground realities of International relations are concerned the political concept of Ummah exists nowhere.
This concept has been and is being denied for all practical purposes. Every nation around the globe, in essence, is a nation state. Some states are using this concept as tool of their foreign policy. As long as its serves their agenda they take it along but when it challenges the interest of these states as a Nation State or becomes detrimental for their national interests they always opt for their national interests and literally advise this political concept of Ummah to rest in peace.
There are, off course, many aspects to discuss and understand the childish diatribe of Iran’s chief, there is, for sure, no doubt that Pakistan is not a banana republic `and Iran’s Army Chief and its ruling coterie know very well what is the strength of this nuclear state and what can be the outcome of any ill calculated misadventure but the most challenging front is the intellectual absurdities our society is grappled with since long. We must realize and understand the dynamics of diplomacy. Every country is a nation state. Even Muslim world is no exception to this fundamental of diplomacy. So we as nation must learn to maintain a balance between the political concept of Ummah and the needs of a Nation state. As said earlier, Ummah lies only in the sermons of the clergy and in our text books. As far as the ground realities of International relations are concerned the political concept of Ummah exists nowhere.