- Or am I?
Celebrating birth anniversaries of the national heroes and in case of nations winning independence from foreign subjugation, the founding fathers are invariably celebrated by respective nations not only to pay homage to them but also to use the occasion as an opportunity to renew pledges to follow the course scripted by them. The birth anniversary of Qauid-i-Azam has also been celebrated by the Pakistani nation and the successive governments every year. However this year after the completion of 70 years of independence preparations are being made at the official level to celebrate his birthday in a befitting manner with an elaborate arrangement of festivities and programmes on the media to highlight his vision for Pakistan and the values that the Quaid stood for with the theme ‘Our Quaid and I am Quaid’s Pakistan’.
One can hardly take an issue with the proposed theme and the need to re—disseminate his vision to the younger generation as well as reminding all the stakeholders in the future of Pakistan what recipe the father of the nation had prescribed for realising the objectives of independence, in the backdrop of where we stand at the moment. It is really thoughtful on the part of the government to have taken this initiative.
One thing on which the followers of that great leader, his detractors and enemies agreed on was that he was in and out a great constitutionalist and a democrat. He wanted Pakistan to be a democratic and progressive entity taking inspiration from the lofty principles of Islam. And within the framework of the newly independent state in line with his foregoing vision he also enumerated the tasks that were at hand to translate the objectives of independence into a reality which he pointed out in his address to the constituent assembly on 11 August in 1947.
One can hardly take an issue with the proposed theme and the need to re—disseminate his vision to the younger generation as well as reminding all the stakeholders in the future of Pakistan what recipe the father of the nation had prescribed for realising the objectives of independence
He reminded the legislature and the future government that the first duty of a government was to maintain law and order, so that the life, property and religious beliefs of its subjects were fully protected by the state. That is the universally accepted objective of governance and the most important ingredient of the responsibility of the state and the government without which it is impossible to implement and pursue the objectives of independence and strengthening the national moorings.
The Qauid also wanted the elimination of bribery and corruption on priority basis as he viewed it as a poison. He said, “We must put it down with an iron hand and I hope that you will take adequate measures as soon as it is possible for this Assembly to do so”. The next thing in the order of priority mentioned by him was the evil of nepotism and jobbery. He was very clear and intensely aware of the debilitating impact of this menace on the society which stemmed from the archaic colonial system of governance and had inbuilt avenues of promoting a culture of graft and entitlement and nepotism; a tool that fomented social injustice.
The Quid also wanted the government to focus on promoting the well being of the people particularly the poor. He said, “Now what shall we do? Now, if we want to make this great state of Pakistan happy and prosperous, we should wholly and solely concentrate on the well-being of the people, and especially of the masses and the poor”. He wanted economic justice and utilisation of state resources for the well being of the less privileged classes; a basic catalyst of peace and tranquility in a society.
In regards to communal harmony and rights of the minorities he said, “If you change your past and work together in a spirit that everyone of you, no matter to what community he belongs, no matter what relations he had with you in the past, no matter what is his colour, caste or creed, is first, second and last a citizen of this State with equal rights, privileges, and obligations, there will be on end to the progress you will make. You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the State.”
The Quaid was a firm believer in justice and fairly which he enunciated in these words, “I shall always be guided by the principles of justice and fair play without any, as is put in the political language, prejudice or ill-will, in other words, partiality or favouritism. My guiding principle will be justice and complete impartiality, and I am sure that with your support and co-operation, I can look forward to Pakistan becoming one of the greatest nations of the world.
On the basis of what the Quaid envisioned and prescribed for Pakistan and the look at the course that it has traversed during the last seventy years, still struggling to rediscover its cherished course it is hard to say that it was Quaid’s Pakistan. It would indeed become Quaid’s Pakistan prompting every citizen to claim with a sense of pride ‘I am Quaid’s Pakistan’ when the country goes the way it was supposed to go and was governed the way he wanted it to be governed.
The country is at a crossroads at the moment because it failed to traverse the course chartered by the founding father. The reality is that the realisation of his vision and Iqbal’s dream about Pakistan as also enshrined in the Pakistan Resolution was only possible through consolidation of democracy, its uninterrupted continuation and reforms in the system of governance through collective wisdom of all the political forces. For that, all the political parties and political leaders would have to abandon the politics of self-aggrandisement and think in terms of promoting the well being of the masses by providing a system of governance that had all the attributes pointed out by the architect of the country.
The prevailing political atmosphere in the country unfortunately was not very encouraging as far as strengthening of democracy was concerned. The politicians were still refusing to learn from the past mistakes and the self-inflicted catastrophes. They need to change their attitudes. Pakistan would go forward when they start thinking in terms of national interests and the state institutions also stop acting as self-styled saviours of the nation and show the wisdom of operating within their own spheres of constitutional powers.