Religion and faith, especially Islam, whose Prophet PBUH stressed upon importance of its practices according to Holy Quran for betterment of human beings, with objective of spreading peace and tolerance for members of other faiths. There is no space for extremism or cults in Islam, which unfortunately we have inherited from centuries of living in India, where Hindu fundamentalist practices of creating Brahmins and Dalits, where nobility is inherited by birth, instead of the practices of an individual.
Unfortunately, instead of practicing teachings of Islam, it has been exploited by dictators, usurpers and colonial powers to sow seeds of discord and division with objective to divide and rule. The democratic welfare State MAJ envisioned was to be based on democracy, with self-rule and all state institutions subservient to the Constitution, with no role in politics for the paid public office holders.
The Muslim majority was expected to incorporate Islamic concept of justice, tolerance and equality in the Constitution. MAJ wanted the First Constituent Assembly to draft and adopt a constitution as supreme law, so that Pakistan no longer remains a dominion of HM government and becomes a sovereign independent state. The First Constituent Assembly was dismissed by the nexus of Ghulam Mohammad, Iskandar Mirza, Ayub Khan and the judiciary which sanctified the illegal dissolution based on Doctrine of Necessity. A new Constituent Assembly was selected which approved 1956 Constitution.
MAJ’s 14 June 1948 address to Staff College Quetta is on record. It is the practice of democracy which makes a state democratic and not mere rhetoric claims of being democratic. None of the three monotheistic religions Islam, Judaism and Christianity spread of hatred, discord, division, bias or promote resort to violence and murder of members of other faiths, or with individuals or groups having differing political ideologies, ethnicity etc.
The Father of the Nation visualized the possible dissensions within society when he stated on 11 August that Pakistan will be a modern democratic welfare state so that“ we should wholly and solely concentrate on the well-being of the people, and especially of the masses and the poor—no matter what community he belongs, no matter what relations he/she had with you in the past, no matter what is his colour or creed, is first, second and last a citizen of this State with equal rights, privileges and obligations”.
Repetitive political engineering projects have only resulted in creating Frankenstein who come back to haunt the state, with devastating impact on the economy. On 9 May 2023, this country witnessed the unthinkable, with political activists attacking defence installations that are essential for our survival.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Lahore.
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