In his 11 August 1947 address to First Constituent Assembly, Quaid stated ‘You may belong to any religion or caste or creed-that has nothing to do with the business of the State’. To elaborate this point he stated ‘that in England conditions some time ago were much worse— The Roman Catholics and the Protestants persecuted each other’. His vision for Pakistan was a democratic welfare state where ‘there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another’. He gave the country motto of Unity, Faith and Discipline.

The word ‘Faith’ he referred to was in context of faith and undivided loyalty to Pakistan . It is this concept of Unity, Faith and Discipline which motivated Shaheed Wing Commander Mervyn Leslie Middlecoat, a PAF pilot, to fight for Pakistan in 1965 War and be awarded Sitara-e-Jurat and win recognition as ‘Defender of Karachi’, by shooting down two enemy aircrafts. When it was suggested to him to move abroad, he replied ‘Listen, this is my country, I was born here; my ancestors are buried here. ‘I will sacrifice my life for this country one day as well’ and on 12 December while returning from successful mission his aircraft was shot down by two enemy MIG21 in Gulf of Kutch and he was posthumously awarded another SJ. His daughter Mervyn Leslie continues to live in Pakistan and has refused to seek any other foreign nationality. When interviewed recently she stated that ‘her identity is Pakistani and she will never ever emigrate to another country, nor take passport of another country’.

This is commitment that Quaid wanted to imbibe in every citizen of Pakistan. Compare this with split loyalties of numerous elected political executives and paid civil or uniformed public office holders and members of their family who hold dual nationalities, green cards or other immigration status such as Iqama which reflects upon their lack of FAITH in Pakistan and their commitment to it. Why should political parties prefer to award tickets for Senate or NA to individuals who possess foreign passports and are willing to give up dual nationality only if they are given these prestigious posts where they decide fate of millions.

MALIK TARIQ ALI,

Lahore, March 9.