by Basil Andrews
Karachi, Pakistan
It would seem too late to write anything on Mr. Jinnah’s 134th birth anniversary but nevertheless today in Pakistan there are a whole lot of reasons on why people must write anything about him and his legacy which is fading day by day.
Oft lately there has been talk about Mr. Jinnah and his vision for this country (to be secular or a religious state). Firstly the concept of a secular state has been hacked and tainted in this country to the extent that it has come to be associated Godlessness. First and foremost let it be known that in the modern age, the state needs to concentrate more on the economic upbringing of the people. With increasing populations and scarcer resources it has become the state’s primary responsibility to manage these two aspects while at the same time improve the living conditions of the masses. A state that is neutral with no religious or ethnic affiliations has greater flexibility to make decisions. Its prime responsibility is to create economic opportunities by legislating laws and formulating policies that aren’t biased towards any community or minority group. Secondly, minority communities can grow both culturally and contribute in nation building. Keeping this point in mind, Mr. Jinnah’s real aim was to create a state to protect the social and economic interests of the minority in undivided India which was realized through the birth of Pakistan.
Come to his speech to the First Constituent Assembly, Mr. Jinnah laid down what today can be called the blueprint for the nation state, the social contract to exist between the rulers and the ruled and in it is very clear that the Quaid wanted the state to first ensure the rule of law, eliminate the curse of corruption, bribery and nepotism and keep RELIGION AS AN AFFAIR BETWEEN MAN AND GOD AND NOT THE BUSINESS OF THE STATE. The Objectives Resolution is a complete contradiction of what Jinnah envisioned and it is because of this duality in ideology that today this unfortunate country is unable to progress. In simple words because the idea of the state has been polluted, we cannot forge a plan, a collective aim to accomplish and achieve goals based on Mr. Jinnah’s vision for this country as described and instructed in the First Constituent Assembly on 11th August 1947.
Our politicians need to stop blurring the line between matters of faith and politics and instead focus more on finding solutions to remove the economic difficulties faced by the public at the moment and secondly they must ensure that at the end of the day the law of the land remains supreme. Lastly, STOP FEARING DIVERSITY AND PLURALISM, it’s a win-win situation for both the rulers and the ruled.
Whether Jinnah wanted an Islamic state or secular is a matter of perception. He certainly did not intend it to be a theological state, nor he wanted it to be a westernised state where religion had no place. But now the question is that what do we want? Do we want development, education, technology, progress, enough to eat, law and order, jusice, a respectable position amongst the states, a moder powerful economically vibrant state or a corrupt, fundamentalist, self destructing state. It is very clear that our Maulanas are not fit to run the country in a democratic method. They want to suffocate the society and introduce a very strict sharia based on their perception of Islam. Our politicians are also very illiterate and manipulators, They have no education, no perception and not not properly equipped to run the country. The quality of civil servants has also gone down as greed and favouritism have enabled incompetent people to reach top positions. Unless and until merit is made the criterea for induction and promotions we will keep on deteriorating.
Jinnah, being a great man on a personal level whatsoever, created Pakistan with the help of power hungry feudals and mullahs who are ruling the 180 millions other idiots since then.
Jinnah is the reason we are ****** today! He might have gone to heaven for his struggle but he has left us in a hell we can’t seem to get out of.
Gulzar, you are right when you say what do we want now and that the current trend of politicians aren’t fit to govern and rule the people. However, I still believe that there are people who believe in progression and modernism, those who want to contribute to national development through their skills and talent, especially among us the youth. My purpose of writing the article is how we can reflect on Jinnah’s principles by applying them to our lives (e.g. we can stop giving bribes just to take a shortcut). Give way to DIALOGUE and TOLERATION, REJECT VIOLENCE, respect each others rights, these are what we must implement on. As a nation we can never change the present circumstances if we cannot start changing our own outlook even if we have excellent leaders at the helm of affairs.
Kashif, isn’t it too harsh to say that we are lost completely. Wasn’t Mr. Jinnah’s speech to the First Constituent Assembly a reason to show his comrades the way forward. Coupled with our ill fortune I’ll say it was his successors who were and are at fault for letting things slip away and ignoring the voice of reason. Even today we people tend to ignore the very issues within our society, human rights abuses, violence against minority communities and sects of different religions. We are repeating the same mistakes that our forefathers have been making all along i.e. we aren’t standing up for the issues that plague our own societies and we are ready to blame external forces for all our miseries. THINK about it. We need to clean our own houses first before we can raise issues other bigger issues.
Kashif, you are correct in saying most of the allies of Jinnah were feudal, and they were against the crackdown on feudalism at that time and this has lead us to the very situation we are in right now.
We just can’t have democracy here in Pakistan until we overcome these feudal and raise the literacy level. One needs to know why is he/she voting for someone when they cast their vote and we really seem to miss that sense in our society. And when i say this word feudal i don’t only refer to these sardars, chaudaries and all, i refer to a phenomena that takes control of us when we have power and money to make the important decisions.
Refer to the link below to read about what i mean by feudalism:
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=190346814337911