Existence of the state at stake
On the day marking Quaid-e-Azam Mohmmad Ali Jinnah’s 143rd birth anniversary, it would be appropriate to underline some of his basic ideas and point out the forces opposed to his vision. Jinnah was a democrat and a protagonist of a pluralist society. While underlining the basic Islamic values like tolerance, inclusiveness and care for the downtrodden, he was not fussy about formalities as his lifestyle amply proves. He envisioned Pakistan as a modern, parliamentary and federal democracy practicing an economic system with a human face that provided for the welfare of the common man. Jinnah made it amply clear that the military would remain subservient to the civilian authority.
Jinnah’s ideological opponents in the first category include military adventurers, some posing as liberals, others as Islamic fundamentalists. Failing to find anything in the Founding Father’s speeches or statements that could be used to justify military rule, Ayub Khan finally declared that democracy was alien to the genius of the Muslim community. Zia-ul-Haq, the other type, was so much offended by Jinnah’s portrait in Western dress in the Punjab University Hall that he ordered it to be replaced with a newly painted Jinnah in sherwani and cap. Despite his claims of being a liberal, Pervez Musharraf retained all the laws enacted by Zia to persecute the minorities. Zia actively encouraged the extremists and used the agencies at his disposal to train terrorist groups including sectarian terrorists. The country continues to suffer and bleed for his policies which were retained under Musharraf. The three generals jointly turned the country into the opposite of Jinnah’s Pakistan.
The present day extremists and sectarian killers comprise the other category of Jinnah’s antagonists. They oppose the concept of a nation state and brand democracy as a system alien to Islam. They work for the creation of an international Islamic caliphate practicing Sharia as interpreted by a particular sect. Irrespective of their hues and colours, all extremists support theocracy which Jinnah had categorically turned down.
The men on horseback and the extremists have both turned Pakistan into a failing state. The only way the country can be saved is through a responsive democracy as envisioned by its founding father. The present government has succeeded in nearly completing its tenure. What is required is a timely holding of elections leading to a peaceful transfer of power. There has to be an uninterrupted continuation of the system and its simultaneous improvement. Anyone trying to disrupt the system under any pretext would be helping both the adventurists and the terrorists, and putting the very existence of the state at stake.