There is no doubt that Pakistan’ movement in 40s carried a religious color to have a separate homeland for British India’ Muslims; the demand for Pakistan came true in 1947, courtesy short-sighted polices of Hindus-dominated Congress. However, Pakistan’s founding father, M A Jinnah realised even before the partition of subcontinent what dangers lie ahead in creating a religion-based exclusive theocratic state. That’s why he set the direction for the new state in his August 11, 1947, speech when he addressed the opening session of Pakistan’s Constituent Assembly. He declared in clear terms, with no ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ that the new state would have nothing to do with its subjects’ religious affiliations — ‘You may belong to any religion or caste or creed; that has nothing to do with the business of the state’.
Pakistan is now 67 years old; has the Jinnah’s dream of a tolerant, progressive and secular country came true? Sad, we have gone all the way to demolish what Jinnah once dreamt of. Whether it’s killing of 150 children and their teachers in an Army Public School Peshawar, Dec. 16 or killing of 60 worshipers in a mosque attending Friday prayer in Shikarpur on Jan. 30, or death of 50,000 Pakistanis earlier died at the hands of Taliban and their sectarian outfits — we are facing a common enemy; religious/sectarian intolerance. Why we have reached this stage; only because the rulers who followed Jinnah went on a path to make Pakistan a more purer theocratic state — a state which will have the right to decide who and who isn’t a Muslim, or who and who isn’t a good Muslim. State forgets that by doing so they were sowing the seeds of sectarianism. Now these snakes of 1980s onwards have become deadly serpents and demand human flesh all the time, no more milk.
Uncontrolled growth of sect based seminaries, unchecked influx of foreign and local funding of these seminaries in the name of social welfare and charity, state-sponsored jihads in neighboring countries — all these actions are now haunting us. Pakistan has no refuge from the ongoing mayhem in the name of religion and sect except to go back to what Jinnah set Aug. 11 — state to have no religion, everyone to be an equal citizen regardless of his/ her religion, sect, caste or creed, laws to be formulated for the welfare of its people per progress humanity made in last few centuries.
Apparently we are being consumed by the hatred we ourselves created in the name of religion. No attack on schools, mosques, shrines, market places can stop us from the self-destructive mode we are in.
RIP a tolerant Pakistan its founding fathers once dreamt of.
MASOOD KHAN
Jubail, Saudi Arabia
The present condition of Pakistan is due to consistent growth of AMMI's influence in it's politics. AMMI stands for Allah, Mullah, Military and ISI in Pakistan. There was no National leader in Pakistan after Jinnah. This is in stark contrast with India where Nehru was the respected and visionary leader who put the India firmly on the way to progress. Had India become a 'Hindu' nation it would have suffered a fate similar to that of Pakistan.
The present condition of Pakistan is due to consistent growth of AMMI's influence in it's politics. AMMI stands for Allah, Mullah, Military and ISI in Pakistan. There was no National leader in Pakistan after Jinnah. This is in stark contrast with India where Nehru was the respected and visionary leader who put India firmly on the way to progress. Had India become a 'Hindu' nation it would have suffered a fate similar to that of Pakistan.
Short sighted hindu dominated congress. Still in denial? Jinnah in his aim to win Pakistan, used the islam in danger card.
He argued Hindu & muslims are 2 different nations, calling for direct action, this lead to violence and killings from both sides.
As a shrewd lawer he won his case……..but at a price. He left a confused nation, where initially all the mullahs were encouraged to create this divide, and later on he realised that for a nation to succeed, it had to the rule of law.
Too late…the mullahs and religion took centre stage, first the Hindus from 15% are now reduced to 1%. next came the christans, then the Ahmedies, now the Shias.
I am saddened, but what you sow ( hatred) that is what you reap.
Our homeland fell into the hell-hole of bloodshed because the train of historical events were working against us from the beginning. The strategic chain went something like this: Muslims of India feel insecure in the face of Hindu majority fanaticism, demand a separate homeland, the super powers perceive a golden opportunity to manufacture religious fanatics to use as human robots against Communism and later the Muslim faith itself, an economically deficit state comes into being, forced to borrow from shylock-like lenders, the secular-oriented founding fathers get eliminated at start, we forced to adopt a religious ideology, fanatic robots nurtured in semi-autonomic frontier regions, the country still insolvent and continues to beg from shylocks, they continue to use this country for their strategic ends, we continue to reap massive massacres.
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