In the Quaid’s Pakistan, neither the state nor political parties were allowed to exploit religion
LAHORE: This is with reference to Asif Zardari’s statement urging people to reject attempts by some elements to turn Pakistan into a theocratic state. This, indeed, is in line with the Quaid-e-Azam’s vision of a modern democratic welfare state. However, the Quaid also wanted Pakistan to curb with an iron hand the curses of bribery, corruption, the black market and hoarding, which, according to him, were as worse as heinous crimes of murder. The ruling elite was answerable to people and courts and were not supposed to live in luxury. The Quaid’s vision was that it is a paramount responsibility and obligation of the state to invest in human resource development by making accessible to every citizen education, health, clean drinking water and security of life and property.
There is no doubt that the Quaid’s Pakistan had no space for dictators, either civil or uniformed, nor were its paid bureaucracy to live in isolated gated communities as masters enjoying more privileges than common citizens, but as servants of the state serving people. In the Quaid’s Pakistan, every citizen earning above a certain threshold was to be taxed uniformly to raise enough revenues so that there was no need to resort to foreign debts, nor any space for money laundering, tax amnesties or flight of capital.
Land mafia dons were not to be allowed to forcibly occupy state and private land, depriving the exchequer of taxes and revenues, nor citizens of their hard-earned lifetime savings, while the affluent elite benefits from multiple allotments of prime real estate for commercial profiteering while the vast majority is deprived of basic necessities of life, education, health and security of life. Pakistan was created to be governed by its citizens through their elected representatives, answerable and accountable before the law and who live in this country where all their assets are located. In the Quaid’s vision, there was no space to replace white British citizens’ rule by brown natives who live with their families in Dubai or their former colonial master’s country, susceptible to foreign pressures. In the Quaid’s Pakistan, neither the state nor political parties were allowed to exploit religion, sect or ethnicity, and every citizen enjoyed equal rights and opportunities.
Malik Tariq Ali
Published in The Express Tribune, August 16th, 2016.
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