Kanwar Muhammad Dilshad
HUMAN nature is prone to take for granted everything that it comes to inherit, and to hold it as has been a thing easy of accomplishment. It is for this reason that many of our people don’t realize the saga of service and suffering that lies behind the achievement of our national freedom. It is for this reason, precisely, that it is important, occasionally, to recall our long tortuous march from the treacherous marshes of slavery to the smiling rose-garden of freedom; from the darkness of political subjugation to the sunshine of national sovereignty. The establishment of Pakistan as an independent and sovereign state was indeed a unique phenomenon. It was the culmination of a historical movement that won for us our freedom, enabling us to hold our head high as an independent nation. The history of our struggle for freedom has been a dialectic process. Throughout this difficult period, the Muslims of this subcontinent became conscious of their destiny and learnt to voice fearlessly their political demands, their national aspiration, their urges, to live as a separate nation and find its finest and final articulation. A perusal of our history reveals the reason which were actually operating in the course of events. It also makes clear what was being achieved. It also throws light on how it was brought about. During the course of this investigation, one cannot fail to observe that we succeeded because of the life of the Spirit, the main characteristics, of which, according to Hegel , is “Self-movement” or “ freedom” that runs like a silk and thread, holding the head of the rosary together. The development of our Spirit has always been a Measure of progressive achievement of our freedom.
It is an historical fact that the full realization of our unfettered national freedom has been the aim and goal of our long and sustained struggle for freedom. A critical analysis as to how our goal was achieved would lead us to the conclusion that we succeeded because of our indomitable and unconquerable Will, which, in the ultimate analysis, is the only weapon for achieving anything worthwhile; anything that is Spiritual. It is collective will of people, for which in fact, the pen writes glorious pages of history. A Nation’s rise or fall in the direct proportion to the ab and floor of the ocean of the Will of the that Nation. It is said that eternal vigilance is the price that one has to pay for the preservation of Liberty. It is equally true to that eternal awareness and awakening of the Will is necessary for the achievement and preservation of national glory. A nation that has lost its national pride has lost its will to survive coma and it’s will to a glorious future. Our destiny has been worked out not by the passions and needs generated by private aims and selfish desires, but by the enlightened and heroic actions of our men of destiny. They had an insight into the needs of their times, although to some of them the long-term significance of their own actions may not have been quite clear. And, let it be said to their credit that they made their private goals to coincide with the development and enlargement of freedom. The great men of our history have contributed to the development of the human Spirit by the conscious striving to established our freedom. Freedom is not the mere expression of individual caprice, but it is possible through discipline. The ethical importance of a freedom movement depends upon the form and level of spirituality, which has been possible for it to achieve. In the case of a social group based on religion, its culture and religion play an important role in crystalizing its concept of freedom and spirit.
The Muslims of this subcontinent has their own distinctive culture, for the understanding of which no element is more significant than the understanding of their religion. According to Hegel, “religion is the sphere in which a nation gives itself the definition of the thing which it regards as Truth”. The work of heroes in our history represents stages in the historical development of our struggle, which gave rise to the human Spirit, leading us to the progressive course of freedom. The Muslims of India had in the recent past begun to gradually realize the ultimate destiny in this subcontinent. But they were still groping in the dark for the final way out of the blind-Alley of darkness. Here was the voice of a great political visionary who had sounded the Clarion call. The Muslim then could never accept any Constitution that imposed a United India, and they became aware that the way out was to demand a separate Homeland for the Muslim nation in India. Great historical events, when viewed after this accomplishment, may seem common; but when seen in the proper perspective of history, importance and greatness become apparent. This was true of the opening speech of the Quaid-i-Azam at the historical session in Lahore.
—The writer is formal Federal Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan and currently Chairman National Democratic Foundation.
