Is this Jinnah’s Pakistan?

The mullahs, military, feudal elite thrive on fear because it encourages them to rule the country — with impunity.


Rasul Bakhsh Rais September 10, 2012

Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the father of our nation, must be turning in his grave if angels were to carry the news and pictures of today’s Pakistan to him — targeted killings of Shias, persecution of Christians and public conversion of Hindus on live media. This is not the Pakistan he or other founders powered by a dream of an independent country envisioned. Were they around today, they would have launched another independent movement — this time, to liberate the country from three powerful influences that have taken the form of institutions and have, in many ways, established their control over the soul of the country. They are the mullahs, the military and the feudal elites.

The capacity they have acquired and the impact of their power over the state and society, run counter to the founding vision of Pakistan. This vision was about a real democracy, placing faith and power in people and working towards the common good of all citizens, regardless of one’s religion, sect or place of residence. The early founders believed in rule of law, supremacy of the constitution, pluralism and equality. Two themes that define the founders’ ideology or the ideology of Pakistan are constitutionalism and pluralism — nothing else. All other definitions of Pakistan or its ideology are only self-serving political tools that have subverted Pakistan’s true identity beyond recognition.

With the subversion of democracy four times, the mullah, military and feudal elites have emerged as dominant players. They have created a structural problem in the way of realising the vision of Jinnah. By character and self-interest, they cannot be democratic, respect rule of law, or allow the society to express itself. With their dominance, they have created a climate for anti-democratic forces.

Perhaps, we cannot imagine how much damage just one cleric in the capital has done to the entire nation by falsely accusing a child, Rimsha Masih, of blasphemy, an act he himself is accused of committing by adding false evidence to the accusation. The news struck the chord of world media, which is already so sceptical about our present and future. They are not wrong on this.

Can a society and state fall so low that a girl from a persecuted religious minority is hauled and locked up in prison for weeks without bail? It is not the first case of false implication of a minority person; it has happened hundreds of times before, for motives other than religion. The question is: Where is the state and where is the society? What has our sovereign parliament done in rectifying the wrongs against innocent persons?

Their inaction makes me angry and utterly disappointed in everyone associated with the system of power in this country. I have watched the electronic media and read a good amount of print media but to my dismay, I haven’t seen any youth organisation protesting, any political party marching out, or any political leader coming out strong in support of Rimsha Masih. Our silence against injustice, expediency and narrow self-interest promotes and strengthens the climate of fear in Pakistan. The mullahs, military and feudal elite thrive on our fear because it encourages them to rule the country the way they want — with impunity.

To prevent further decline in the ditch of darkness and to create some hope of coming out, we need to recapture the vision of our founder — of a democratic, tolerant and pluralistic Pakistan. For that to happen, we need the courage to speak up, protest and march. And, when we have the opportunity, we must vote them out.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 11th, 2012.

COMMENTS (59)

Mban | 11 years ago | Reply

There is no such thing as Jinnah's Pakistan. It is an artificially created national identity and no doubt millions more are going to die for it.

ahmed | 11 years ago | Reply

What's Jinnah's Pakistan? For God's sake let's not live in history and learn to move forward. The world dynamics have changed so much in 65 years and we are still trying to cling on 1947. India does not call itself nehroo's vision (socialism) china does not cling on to mao's vision. Mao's vision was communism. China is moving rapidly towards capitalism and on its way to become the number 1 economy in the next 50 years. Britain does not keep on talking about Churchill's vision. All these leaders achieved a major goal at that particular time and lot of credit goes to them.

After so many years, we still appear to be a confused nation. We've tried capitalism, Bhutto's sociailism, Zia's Islamic fantasy, musharaff's modern islam and we still not sure of which way we want to go. Even Imran;s flawed model is mish mash. One moment it's islamic welfare state, other times, it's european model and then it's neither. In Pakistan there is only 1 vision and that's the powerful army comes in every few years. This is beyond doubt certain to happen. Since 1958, there is a set cycle 1958-1971 , 1977-1988, 1998-2007. Very preditable pattern. This has not happened in any developed country. A great visionay nation indeed !!!!

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