We as a nation, collectively and individually, need self-retrospection and realisation, that Pakistan is a blessing and a legacy of our Founding Fathers. His motto of Unity, Faith and Discipline should be adopted, as per his vision. The men and women who were pioneers in this political and constitutional struggle, which started from Dacca in 1906 ultimately succeeded under leadership of MAJ to create an independent state in 1947. We have been saved humiliation and torment suffered by many Muslims and Christians in Modi’s Hindutva dominated India. December 25, is also a day when our Christian brothers and sisters celebrate birth of Prophet Jesus Christ (PBUH), who was born in Bethlehem Palestine. The Christian community and priests in Bethlehem have decided not to celebrate Christmas in the usual manner, as a show of solidarity with their Palestinian brethren, who are facing genocide in Gaza.
Jesus Christ (PBUH), born through a miracle, ordained by Almighty to deliver his message was a Palestinian by birth. For the citizens of Pakistan, December 25 should be day of significance. It is time for us to take cognizance of our follies and embark on remedial measures, so that Jinnah’s legacy of Pakistan, becomes the modern democratic welfare state with rule of law, instead of the mess we are in. We are collectively responsible for the damage, inflicted by men without vision or intellect. Individuals with split loyalties, who have pledged an oath of allegiance to any country, should have no role in deciding fate of millions who have chosen to live and die here. Enough damage has been done by few, whose greed has blinded them.
Quaid and pioneers of our freedom struggle should be credited, for their foresight to foresee the extremist elements within India, who unlike more moderate seculars like Gandhi Jee or Jhawar Lal Nehru were obsessed by Hindutva Ideology. On 22 March 1940, while addressing a meeting of AIML at Lahore, prior to presentation of the historic resolution at Lahore’s Minto Park, MAJ reminded them of a letter written in 1924 by Hindu Nationalist of Punjab, Lala Lajpat Rai to a Bengali C R Das, in which he wrote that Hindus and Muslims were two separate nations and cannot live together. This visceral bias and hatred, a product of extremist Hindu Supremacist, was there. It was suppressed by Gandhi Jee, but was likely to surface and it has now emerged under Modi with all its viscousness and barbarity. Events in Gaza should also serve as a reminder that Pakistan is a blessing for its citizens, who can live here as first-class citizens, free to practice their faith and enjoy equal rights. Despite all the odds against him, MAJ stood steadfast and achieved for the Muslim majority a state which they could call their own. There were few contiguous areas in East Punjab with a Muslim majority, which as a matter of principle should have been part of Pakistan, but biased elements within the British Raj conspired to subvert this. The intensity of the carnage that followed, when these Muslim refugees were forced to migrate, could have been contained, had the British Colonialists been fair, and free from ulterior motives. MAJ believed that Muslim majority would incorporate Islamic values of tolerance and right of all citizens to practice their faith, in accordance with their beliefs and customs.
He believed that “Islam came in the world to establish democracy, peace and justice, to safeguard the rights of the oppressed. It brought to humanity the message of equality of the rich and the poor, of the high and the low”. It was his belief that “Holy Prophet fought for these ideals, for the major part of his life”. He stated that “Is it not, therefore, the duty of every Muslim, wherever he maybe, to do his level best to preserve the great ideals and the glorious traditions of Islam, to fight for the equality of mankind, the achievement of man’s legitimate rights, and the establishment of democracy?” There is no place in Islam for extremists. If only those at helm after Quaid’s death had adopted his vision and facilitated continuation of the political process, instead of creating hurdles in the adoption of the constitution, both the territorial integrity and history of Pakistan would have been different. Pakistan has suffered because of power politics, greed and myopic mindset of few. Those who violated their Oath, which they took on assumption of important sensitive assignments, have betrayed this country. There is no concept of monarchy or dictatorship in Islam, nor any ancestral birth right to rule a country. Jinnah Saheb believed and practiced this during his lifetime. The austerity measures he adopted as GG Pakistan should have served as role-model for others to follow. Unfortunately, hardly anybody has followed Jinnah and Pakistan has suffered because of this. His choice of cabinet members, is proof if any is needed, that Pakistan should be a modern democratic welfare state. The choice of a Jogendra Nath Mandal as First Law Minister of Pakistan, entrusted with task to draft the Constitution, should make it clear that Pakistan was never meant to be a country where religious extremism had any place. MAJ had stressed upon importance of adopting the Constitution at the earliest, so that Pakistan is no longer a British Dominion, but an independent sovereign state.
Events that followed were a betrayal of Jinnah’s vision. There are definitely lots of issues this country faces, primary being economic, frequent disruptions of political and constitutional process, without which we cannot surmount the challenges. Citizens of Pakistan and various state institutions need to realize that our salvation lies in adoption of Jinnah’s vision. He had elaborated upon this in his address to First Constituent Assembly on 11 August 1947 and later on 14 June 1948 while speaking at Staff College Quetta.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Lahore.
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