The ideology of communism conjures up thoughts of an atheistic society whose government rules with an iron fist and does not hesitate to use all out force at the slightest hint of dissension from the established norm. This big brother type of government would not only expect its citizens to obey its laws but also to eradicate any kind of expression of individuality especially when it comes to choice of religion. Victims of this ideology seem to have no alternative but to conform to the masses or else face the harsh realities of forced conversions, torture, or even death. Such are the thoughts that come to the mind of most Western-educated individuals who have been trained to think of Communism as the ultimate enemy of freedom, human rights, and democracy. But when taken out of the Western perspective, the story of religious, and more specifically Muslim, toleration in China reveals a nation that offers more to believers of Islam than many democracies of the world today.
The salient features of this democracy until April 1, 1997 were the Presidential powers i.e. the famous Article 58-2(b) of the Constitution of Pakistan to pack a government back home if in his judgment the President thought that the government has done a gross misconduct in running the affairs of the state. While the scope of 58-2(b) was quite extensive, it provided balance in the mechanism of power. The superior judiciary was the final arbiter of any such dissolution and the writ of the apex court was thus final and had to be followed and obeyed. While there is a wide chasm between theory and practice as far as the history of this mechanism goes to, the reality is that such an arrangement provided the best balance of power for the state apparatus.
As many believe that history is written by the victor, few are those who deny the impact left by the truth in the minds and memories of the victims, even if such truth is unacknowledged by the victor himself. While Israel, since its establishment in 1948, undermined the version of stories told by Palestinians of their homeland and how they were uprooted and displaced at gunpoint after the brutal murder of thousands, facts manage to find their way out. It may appear peculiar that much of these facts are told by Israeli Jews themselves. Although the reason behind such confessions is still unclear, it is vital not to let such disclosures go unconsidered, because they could clarify many more other stories, which have been long denied.
