The great founder of the country of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Quaid -e- Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s vision was to have a separate country: Pakistan (a land of pure) for the Muslims as a final solution to socio-political and religious differences between the Hindus and the Muslims of the sub-continent where the leaders of minorities like Christians, Parsees and scheduled castes played a decisive role at the time of partition of the subcontinent in 1947.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah envisioned a democratic, liberal, and modern Pakistan; free of religious bigotry, keeping theocracy away from functioning in the state of Pakistan. So, Pakistan came into being because of the ballot under a democratic system for South Asian Muslims as the majority to live in coexistence with minorities that inhabited the land of Pakistan for centuries. Muhammad Ali Jinnah struggled for a Pakistan where all its citizens could be equal before the law, enabling them to reach the heights of economic empowerment. This is unfortunate that after 75 years (a quarter to a century) even upholding core Islamic values embedded in Pakistan’s Ideology, we have not become a strong nation based on our ideology, instead we are under international debt and standing at the brink of collapse of the economy. The democracy and Islamic fundamental rules can help to make Pakistan an advanced and modern Pakistani Society based on social injustice and will go always as parallel systems if blended as a system of government prevalent today.
On 11 August 1947, while addressing the First Constituent Assembly, he said: You are free to go to your temples; you are free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship in the State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed --- that has nothing to do with the business of the State… we are starting with this fundamental principle: that we are all citizens and equal citizens of one State. Now, I think we should keep that in front of us as our Ideal and you find that in the course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not so, in the religious sense because that is the personal faith of everyone, but in the political sense as citizens of the state. The speech on 11th August in the 1st Constituent Assembly was not for minorities, that was his vision for the entire nation free of racialism and provincialism. He gave his vision as the model form of liberal government for running Pakistan because of democracy and not a theocracy, a born Pakistan to be governed because of the One Nation Theory (a united Pakistani nation). For running the country of Pakistan, we have experimented with this combined system since 1949 following the Objectives Resolution which has led Pakistan towards an intolerant society, sectarianism, a false and dictatorial form of democracy, extremism and religious bigotry, endless corruption, and confrontational politics. The corrupt political representatives and leadership, unelected military regimes, and unbridled civil bureaucracy have perished the soft and peaceful image and bright face of Pakistan in the world community. Quaid e Azam’s death robbed Pakistan of a towering personality.
It fell prey to the intrigues of insincere rulers and power brokers who were greedy with lust for power and wealth through money laundering and grabbing lands of Pakistan. They continued Islamization manipulating the real ideology of Pakistan under the guise of two nation theory for their self-aggrandizement exploiting the religious passion of simpleton people of Muslim majority even knowing that our great leader Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah who gave constitutional advice for building up a government leading Pakistan as modern, moderate and prosperous Pakistani society because of unity and One Nation theory (A United Pakistan) where tolerance, love, brotherhood, social justice, rule of law, delivery of fair justice as per international standards, non-amassment of wealth, terrorism, discrimination and violence-free society could exist.
Ever-changing incompetent governments in Pakistan because of unstable and directionless ideas and confused state of ideology instead of heaving very basic factors in common, resulted in a break-down of our beloved country, and after the 9/11 event, the phenomenon of terrorist attacks, incidents of violence, and religious intolerance have caused unprecedented loss to our country and which has disfigured the beautiful, peaceful and tolerant face of Pakistan and caused blockage of economic growth with no international investment that has created manifold issues like poverty, polluted environment, water scarcity, a dearth of forests, a ruined state of agriculture and industry, ever-increasing imports with ever decreasing and low-quality exports. The people of Pakistan are now suffering from poverty, lacking consciousness, endless corruption, violence, and class-difference-based vendettas. Now, there is a need of the time to pick up the torch of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s Pakistan to make our beloved country “a paradise on earth” for all Pakistanis with the motto “United in Diversity and Together the Impossible is now Possible.”
A federal-parliamentary system of government is required, with free, fair, and transparent elections regularly, to strengthen democracy in Pakistan. Therefore, the system of government must be followed because of equal citizenship irrespective of religion, color, caste, race, and gender based on the testimony of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah: “…. Character, Courage, Industry and perseverance are the four pillars, on which, the whole human superstructure can be built, and the failure is a word unknown to me.”
Mr. Saleem Masih Asim
The writer is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of History & Pakistan Studies at Forman Christian College University.
