Pakistan: Pakistani’s hunger strike gets lukewarm response

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Last month Indian activist Anna Hazare’s hunger strike sparked protests across India and garnered attention from international media before forcing the Indian parliament to take up an anti-corruption bill.

Last week, when Pakistani activist Raja Jahangir Akhtar completed his nine-day hunger strike against corruption here, only a few hundred people showed up and Akhtar lamented the lack of media coverage. All he got for his effort were some vague promises from local parliamentarians.

Resting on his hospital bed two days after breaking his fast with a glass of mango juice, Akhtar expressed disappointment over the lukewarm response, and he put the blame squarely on his compatriots.

“In India people are politically more conscious, and they have a history of making their demands accepted through agitation,” he said. “People here feel that whatever they do the ruling elite won’t [accede to their demands].”

Akhtar insists he is no Hazare copycat. He says he announced his intention to fast in July — before Hazare went on his latest hunger strike — but postponed his own hunger strike until after the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Ramadan requires Muslims to abstain not only from food but also from water, which Akhtar consumed during his fast.

The 68-year-old businessman also said he is a veteran hunger-striker, having gone on six previous hunger strikes. His last effort in 2007 helped secure the release of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry’s family.

When he embarked on his latest “hunger strike till death” on Sept. 12, Akhtar had two main demands: that Pakistan’s parliament pass an anti-corruption bill and that Pakistan reduce its military expenses and create a welfare state for its citizens. A third, less publicized demand was that Pakistan’s military move its facilities out of residential areas to avoid civilian casualties in case of attacks.

O ye who believe! obey ...those who are in authority among you. [Holy Quran, 4:60]

Is Akhtar being a role model for young Indians who also want social change and democracy? He is not creating peace through his actions but is creating more disorder and unrest in his country.

The Holy Quran addresses such people and their mindset saying:

And when it is said to them: ‘Create not disorder on the earth,’ they say: ‘We are only promoters of peace.’ [Holy Quran, 2:12]


The Ahmadiyya Post, Pakistan. By Zubair Ahmed. Sept 27, 2011