SECULAR PAKISTAN: Building Jinnah’s Pakistan

THE movement for independence from the British was fought by Jinnah and leaders of the Indian National congress and the Muslim League. Jinnah echoed the secular sentiments of Dr Ambedkar when on Aug 11, 1947, he spoke of equality among citizens and the right of freedom of expression and worship to all citizens of Pakistan. He believed that religion was not the business of the state and said this authoritatively. He did not want the state to legislate on religion which he believed was personal to each individual. Did the path we were supposed to take come to an end on Sept 11, 1948? Have we drifted since then experimenting with different ideologies and forms of government? Countries around us have progressed much beyond us. Do our problems lie in our geostrategic location with big powers breathing down on us. Have aspirations and ambitious plans beyond our frontiers been the cause of our problems or have we embroiled ourselves by looking beyond our borders. We need an inward looking-government considering only our internal development and national interest. Did authoritarian regimes for 30 years block our progress towards political consciousness, pragmatic policies and democratic maturity on account of shortsighted leadership. The answer is yes — yes but we only have ourselves to blame because the people of Pakistan as the ‘ultimate sovereign’ and the media did not assert enough. We are a nation with an abundance of resources, a vibrant population of over 180 million with 50 per cent being under the age of 30. The otherwise hardworking and intelligent Pakistani population needs to be channeled in the right direction to achieve maximum benefit from the available talent. Civil society needs to be vibrant and in conjunction with the media, efforts need to be made to mould public opinion in the right direction. Pakistan needs to send right messages to the US, EU and all our neighbours. Let us stop being dependent on any nation, regain our pride, adopt pragmatic and sensible national policies, control our population, enhance education and literacy, promote honesty and hard work and we are bound to succeed. Our goal should be Jinnah’s Pakistan which will have no place for corruption, parochialism, sectarianism, extremism, etc. We need to emphasise the benefits of education, literacy, tolerance, equality, justice and fair play to everyone but while doing so, we must endeavour to promote honesty and adherence to the rule of law at all levels. Even President Obama has decided to bring the war in Afghanistan to an end, stop the large amounts of money being spent on this war and use these funds for internal development, growth and larger benefit of the American people. What is the problem which prevents us from utilising our resources for education, health and internal development? LIAQUAT H. MERCHANT Karachi