Hizb-ut-Tahrir Britain’s Pakistan Committee organized a special round table discussion of over 40 Pakistani media and community leaders from around London to consider the current situation in Pakistan coinciding with the occasion of 14th August - Pakistan Independence Day.
Dr Abdul Wahid, Chairman of the Executive committee for Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain, was the chair of the evening whilst there were special presentations given to the gathering by Qasim Khawaja and Atif Salahuddin of the Pakistan Committee.
After discussing the litany of problems, it was clear that the system of secular democracy in Pakistan, under democrats and dictators alike, has completely failed to meet the needs of the people. The only way forward for Pakistan was to stop trying to imitate the West and remnants of the colonial legacy, and instead adopt an Islamic vision for Pakistan.
The USA, they agreed, was playing a double game in Pakistan. In the short term, the USA wanted to use the Pakistani Army to continue its occupation but in the long term it seeks to weaken Pakistan, due to its potential to be a strong Islamic power.
It was observed that the only solution to the problem of militancy in Pakistan was the ejection of the USA from the region. There were no suicide bombings in Pakistan before the American presence and the same had been true in Iraq.
The decision of President Zardari and Nawaz Sharif – just as General Musharraf had done before them - to support the US occupation of Afghanistan was destructive to Pakistan, since Afghanistan was now being used as the base for operations against Pakistan, allowing India to establish a foothold. It was also fulfilling the American intention to weaken Pakistan by creating a civil war.
Pakistan they said was faced with tremendous external and internal security threats but was also faced with a great economic crisis and a terrible energy shortage. These were a product of the chronic failure of the secular democratic system and successive corrupt leaderships. The only solution to the crisis was the adoption of the Islamic Political System and a sincere leadership that would stop putting US interests first before that of its own people.
It was agreed that Pakistan has the potential, for those with vision, to be an example to the rest of the Muslim world and the source of Muslim unification. The gathering agreed that all that was now required was a sincere leadership to implement the Khilafah System once again.
The discussion closed with a dua for the people of Pakistan at this critical juncture and a strong consensus to carry this call to the rest of the Pakistani diaspora in the UK.
