Pakistan, a country which is mired in constant political and social turmoil. Chaos reigns supreme and the hapless proxy government can only watch religious fundamentalism spreading its evil tentacles to every nook and corner of the society. Despite what many may believe, Pakistan’s greatest enemy and threat is not actually India, but the greatest threat to its social fabric is posed by the doctrine of hatred propagated with impunity by religious extremists.

A couple of days ago there were chilling scenes in the Kohistan district of Pakistan. A convoy of buses was stopped by a group of gunmen and 16 selected passengers were massacred by them. Investigations revealed that all the victims belonged to the minority Shia community. This gruesome sectarian murders was not a standalone incident. A couple of weeks ago a similar kind of heinous attack were carried against the Shia community, which resulted in 26 casualties. In fact such attacks on minorities have escalated over the past few months so much so that hardly a week passes in Pakistan without any sectarian violence.

Such attacks are a culmination of decades of preaching of ideology of hate and intolerance by fundamentalists. A spineless government which does not have any political gumption to crackdown on such groups, has led to a major surge in religious extremism which has become all pervasive. The children from a very tender age are baptized in such philosophies in the local madrasas, which have mushroomed all over the country and act as breeding grounds for extremist groups. After persecuting minority communities like the Hindus and the Christians for decades and banishing them from mainstream society, it is now the turn of the Shias to feel the brunt of their hatred.

Sectarian clashes have consumed thousands of innocent lives in Pakistan since 1979. The theological differences between the Shias and the Sunnis have escalated into a full blown war by 1980. Initially the strife was pretty even but from 1990 onwards the tide turned against the Shias as the Sunni thugs received tacit support from the political brass.

Pakistan, currently is ridden with a wide array of problems ranging from wide spread poverty, illiteracy and shambolic economic development. What people of Pakistan actually need is a panacea to all their above mentioned miseries, which will not be found in religious extremism and intolerance. The time is nigh for the democratically elected government of Pakistan to make a stand for the sake of the people and for the sake of the nation’s future. This evil must be completely rooted out or else this Frankenstein will destroy its creator in due course of time

Introduction

There were innumerable sons of India who struggle for the freedom of India from British and uplift of people. Their paths differ but goal was same. We had non violent movement led by Mahatma Gandhi, armed acts by revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh who fought on soil of India and also the armed struggle from abroad. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose is well known as one who fought for independence from abroad. There is another lesser known great freedom fighter and revolutionary who formed a government in exile abroad at Kabul and planned armed struggle. He is none other than Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh.

Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh as born born at Hathras ( Mahamayanagar) Uttar Pradesh on first December 1886. He is also known as Aryan Peshwa. He was educated in Government High School, Aligarh and Muhammedan Anglo-Oriental Collegiate School. The attributes of secularism were deep rooted in him..

Swadeshi movement and opposition to untouchabilitry

He attended Congress session in Kolkata in 1906. There, he came in contact with prominent leaders associated with Swadeshi movement. He was greatly influenced by freedom fighters like Dadabhai Naroji and Bal Gangadhar Tilak. He became a strong supporter of Swadeshi movement. . He actively participated in the movement to burn foreign made clothes. .He decided to promote small industries with indigenous goods and local artisans. He also established a polytechnic called Premi Mahavidyalaya at Vrindavan for this purpose. This clearly shows that he practiced what he believed. He was a man of action and not words. . He opposed untouchability. He dined with low caste families including scavenger. This clearly shows that he believed in oneness of humanity and was a bitter opponent of considering anyone untouchable for mere accident of birth in a particular caste

Visit abroad

With a view to liberate motherland, he left India on 20 December 1914 while in his late twenties. He sought outside support for the cause of Independence. He was invited to Berlin by Chatto Chatto alias Virendra Nath chattopadhaya who had founded founded Berlin committee. Chatto had sent first mission to Afghanistan under leadership of Dada Chanji Kersasp, Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh was desirous of personal meeting with Kaiser Wilhelm II. Chatto rushed to Geneva to intimate Pratap of the Kaiser's eagerness to see him, and they went to Berlin together. Another revolutionary Har Dayal, followed them. By conferring on Pratap the title Order of the Red Eagle, the Kaiser demonstrated his understanding of the strategic position of the Phulkian States (Jind, Patiala and Nabha), At Pratap's request, he was given an opportunity to go to a military camp near the Polish border for getting direct knowledge of the army policy and functioning. On 10 April 1915, along with Maulavi Barkatullah, a German diplomat and some others, Pratap left Berlin, with due credentials from the Kaiser. In Vienna, they had a meeting with Khedive of Egypt who showed his deep desire to see the collapse of the British empire. They had contact with Pasha, who appointed a trustworthy military officer to guide the Mission. Rauf Bey welcomed them with a detachment of 2000 soldiers at Ispahan. They reached Kabul on 2 October and were greeted by Habibullah with whom they had serious and long discussions.

Formation of government in exile

1 December 1915 was Pratap's 28th birthday. On this day, he established the first Provisional Government of India in exile at Kabul in Afghanistan. Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh was President and Maulavi Barkatullah the Prime Minister of this government. It appears that Amir had some loyalty to British and hence kept on delaying the expedition. Raja Mahendra Pratap had a good relationship with Lenin. Lenin invited him to Russia on its liberation and welcomed him. The British government in Idia considered him a real threat and declared a reward on his head.

Visit to Japan

Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh visited Japan in 1925. He published 'World Federation Monthly Magazine' in 1929. Raja Mahendra Pratap tried to take advantage of world war situations for liberation of India from British rule. He formed Executive Board of India in Japan in 1940. Ultimately, British government relented and allowed Raja Mahendra Pratap to honorably return to India. He was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1932.]

Return to India

He returned to India on 9 August 1946 and rushed to Wardha to meet Mahatma Gandhi.

He continued his struggle for real empowerment of common man even after independence. His strongly believed that Panchayat Raj could really empower people, check corruption and bureaucracy. He was a member of the second Lok Sabha from 1957-1962. He was elected as an independent candidate from Mathura constituency. He was president of Indian Freedom Fighters' Association. He was president of All India Jat Mahasabha also. He died on 29 April 1979.

Conclusion

Raja Mahendra Pratap was a great visionary. He was a life long revolutionary. He wanted radical changes in society and world order. He also toyed with the idea of 'World Federation'. For him, entire world was a family. He viewed cut in expenditures on police and armed forces would release resources for development of all nations..

The world is heading towards the greatest crisis since monkey became man ten thousand years ago.

 It is the financial crisis. Currency of the world has failed as a fair means of exchange. It robs the fair worker. It has become an easy tool in the hands of the unfair people, ministers and millionaires, who rob the honest people of their toil, sweat, blood and tears, with bits of printed paper.

 The promissory notes no longer promise bread, clothes and houses. Promissory notes only promise more toil, blood, sweat and tears to the honest worker. To the dishonest moneymaker, promissory notes only promise more promissory notes!

 Little wonder, price of gold is rising. Rich people have lost faith in paper money and are converting their bagfuls of currency notes into gold at any price. What can the poor honest folk do? They do not have money even to buy their daily need.

 The poor teeming millions are in majority and them truly from the democracy in India and elsewhere in the world. In the coming elections we need only one-point manifesto; `convert all currency into pass books’.

 The government should stop printing all currency and instead issue pass book to everybody on which his income and expanses should be given. Whatever you earn should be given in your pass book. Whatever you spend should also be written in your pass book.

 Whenever you buy something from anybody, he enters the amount in your pass book as `withdrawal,’ and you enter the same amount in his pass book as `receipt’. All pass books are periodically returned to the state banks for checking and auditing. As soon as you deliver the old pass book, a new pass book is issued to you so that there is no interruption in your business transaction.

 Nobody can steal your pass book, which should be like passport with your photo, signature, and details. In fact, a pass book should serve as a passport also, and it should be sufficient for casting your vote in election. The elaborate system of ballot papers and electoral rolls can be completely done away with.