A rare Pakistani
Dr Javed Iqbal was not just one of Pakistan’s last direct physical links with the ideological fathers, he was also a (now) rare personification of the true Pakistani. He could have played his lineage to great advantage, especially political, as many with far lesser ancestry made the norm in this Islamic Republic. But, for obvious reasons, he did not enjoy the little taste he had of Pakistani’s political theatre – a reality far removed from his father’s famous ‘dream – and devoted himself to the legal profession, where his name continued to shine till bad health forced him to bow out of the Supreme Court some years back.
Importantly, Dr Javed remained a courageous liberal even as he saw a vast majority of his friends and colleagues drift into conservativism over the decades. As such, he understood the negative spillover of the dangerous rise, expansion and dominance of far-right politics since the Zia days. He was also aware of feverish efforts to spin his father’s, and the Quaid’s, legacy to advance politics of religious patronage, and facilitate the rise of non-state actors. And when he chose to pen his own thoughts on the ideology of Pakistan, he was brave enough to disagree not just with the detractors, but also at times with the founding fathers.
Ironically, even though everybody from the head of state to the common man mourned his loss – and Pakistan’s is the poorer today because of it – there are few in today’s Pakistan who can claim to be as honest and forthright as him. Perhaps the sadness of his passing also provides the country with a moment of reflection and soul searching. We must realise how far we have diverted form the real dream of Pakistan; one that cost millions of lives to materialise. Surely those sacrifices were not made so Pakistanis of the new millennium could be subjected to a repressive and unfair social order. The only way we can have more Pakistanis like Dr Javed Iqbal is to follow his example and strive for the Pakistan he believed in.