Source/Credit: Daily Times | Pakistan
By Shabbir Sarwar | August 11, 2011
Former minorities minister and MNA late Minocher Bhandara, popularly known as MP Bhandara, once very rightly said, “On the one hand tremendous respect is shown for the memory of the Quaid-e-Azam, but on the other hand his political thoughts are desecrated to appease religious groups.”
It will not be wrong to say that today’s Pakistan is exactly the opposite of the vision of our founding father, who dreamed of a liberal, progressive Islamic state based on the principles of justice.
Exactly 64 year ago on August 11, 1947, talking to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan following his election as the first president, Muhammad Ali Jinnah said: “The first observation that I would like to make is this: You will no doubt agree with me that the first duty of a government is to maintain law and order, so that the life, property and religious beliefs of its subjects are fully protected by the State.”
Unfortunately today’s Pakistan faces one of the most crucial problems in the form of law and order situation. International investors and businessmen have fled the country owing to frequent terrorist activities, bomb blasts and state’s inability to control law and order situation.
Quaid had said, “The second thing that occurs to me is this: One of the biggest curses from which India is suffering - I do not say that other countries are free from it, but, I think our condition is much worse - is bribery and corruption. That really is a poison. We must put that 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.”
Today bribery and corruption have become the parts and parcel of the state functionaries. From top to bottom all public sector departments and institutions are practicing bribery and corruption openly.
Thirdly, Jinnah said, “Black-marketing is another curse. Well, I know that black marketeers are frequently caught and punished. Judicial sentences are passed or sometimes fines only are imposed. Now you have to tackle this monster, which today is a colossal crime against society, in our distressed conditions, when we constantly face shortage of food and other essential commodities of life. A citizen who does black-marketing commits, I think, a greater crime than the biggest and most grievous of crimes. These black marketeers are really knowing, intelligent and ordinarily responsible people, and when they indulge in black-marketing, I think they ought to be very severely punished, because the entire system of control and regulation of foodstuffs and essential commodities, and cause wholesale starvation and want and even death.”
Today even during the holy month of Ramazan profiteers and black marketeers are earning big profits. The Quaid had termed this menace as a “monster” and given the task to the legislators to control this problem. Instead of taking this task, the reports of involvement of our landlord MPs in food hoarding and black-marketing are a routine.
Fourthly, our founding father said, “The next thing that strikes me is this: Here again it is a legacy which has been passed on to us. Along with many other things, good and bad, has arrived this great evil, the evil of nepotism and jobbery. I want to make it quite clear that I shall never tolerate any kind of jobbery, nepotism...”
In today’s Pakistan every other public servant has been engulfed by the corruption and giving undue favours to relatives and dear ones by the government officials has become a widely accepted phenomena.
Finally, Quaid said, “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. Now I think we should keep that in front of us as our ideal and you will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State.”
Today we have made the Islam as state religion. Killing of the people belonging to minorities including Christians, Hindus, Ahmadis and Shias as well as Sunnis is like honour for the people belonging to other religions and sects. Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer was assassinated just for supporting a Christian woman who was falsely being given death sentence in the pretax of blasphemy law and his killer Qadri is being treated as a hero instead of a killer. Federal Minister for Minorities and Human Rights Shahbaz Bhatti was also brutally killed.
Read original post here: Jinnah’s August 11, 1947 address and today’s Pakistan
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