On Tuesday, Pakistan celebrated its 60th birthday. In commemorating the day, President Pervez Musharraf encouraged all citizens “to serve as instruments of enlightened moderation”. Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz claimed that the day was not just for the people of Pakistan. The day marks the end of foreign rule over a sovereign nation, but also demonstrated to the world that a democracy could be built on Islamic principles.
It is a good time to remember the ideals of Quaid-e-Azam Jinna who wanted to build Pakistan as a nation where Muslims could live in safety. That nation was not to be an Islamic state governed by sharia, but a modern democracy where freedom of religion was guaranteed for all. In Jinna’s Pakistan, Islam was supposed to be a culturally binding force and a source of morality and compassion among the governing bodies.
The charisma of Jinna gave hope to many people including the religious minorities. When Jinna wrote to Gandhi that the “Quran is a complete code of life. It provides for all matters”, he assured Gandhi that Islam in Pakistan would guarantee the civil rights of each individual. Jinna felt firmly that religious intolerance had been “the biggest hindrance in the way of India to attain freedom and independence.” If there had been no intolerance, the people of the subcontinent would have been free “a long, long time ago”.
In his address at the inauguration of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, Jinna stated…
“If you change your past and work together ...in a spirit that everyone of you, ...no matter what his color, caste or creed, ...is first, second and last a citizen of this state ...with equal rights, privileges and obligations, ...there will be no end to the progress you will make.”
It is a good time to remember the ideals of Quaid-e-Azam Jinna who wanted to build Pakistan as a nation where Muslims could live in safety. That nation was not to be an Islamic state governed by sharia, but a modern democracy where freedom of religion was guaranteed for all. In Jinna’s Pakistan, Islam was supposed to be a culturally binding force and a source of morality and compassion among the governing bodies.
The charisma of Jinna gave hope to many people including the religious minorities. When Jinna wrote to Gandhi that the “Quran is a complete code of life. It provides for all matters”, he assured Gandhi that Islam in Pakistan would guarantee the civil rights of each individual. Jinna felt firmly that religious intolerance had been “the biggest hindrance in the way of India to attain freedom and independence.” If there had been no intolerance, the people of the subcontinent would have been free “a long, long time ago”.
In his address at the inauguration of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, Jinna stated…
“If you change your past and work together ...in a spirit that everyone of you, ...no matter what his color, caste or creed, ...is first, second and last a citizen of this state ...with equal rights, privileges and obligations, ...there will be no end to the progress you will make.”
He continued, “I cannot emphasize it too much. We should begin to work in that spirit and in the course of time all these angularities of the majority and minority communities will vanish.”
Three days after Independence Day, on August 17, 1947, Jinnah, lived up to his words. Risking much criticism, he attended a Christian thanksgiving service held at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Karachi. Emulating the spirit of Quaid-e-Azam, may the people of Pakistan see no end to their progress!
Published by East West Services, Inc.
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