KARACHI:
Pakistan is a Muslim majority state, which was created through a political and constitutional struggle led by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He elaborated that Pakistan would be a modern democratic welfare state with a constitution as the supreme law. The Quaid made it clear that all citizens were equal before the law and would enjoy fundamental rights, irrespective of their differences. The state is not responsible for determining any citizen’s piousness or belief in Islam, nor who is Sadiq and Ameen because that is the sole jurisdiction of Almighty.
Unfortunately, after Quaid’s death, democracy was derailed, the constituent assembly was dismissed, and Jinnah’s modern democratic welfare state was replaced by a security state. The British Raj policy of divide and rule was adopted by dictators to prevent any united struggle to restore Jinnah’s vision. Religion was exploited and politicians of integrity banned under EBDO were replaced by opportunists and religio-political parties promoting sectarian divide. Extremism and political intolerance were patronised, and state sovereignty was compromised to fight proxy wars. Seminaries that were once devoted to religious studies became the tools to brainwash young males to fight proxy wars.
In November 2020, Tehrik-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) took to the streets, and strangely against all international norms, an unconstitutional agreement was signed by federal ministers on sensitive matters involving France. For the past two weeks, TLP activists and sympathisers have been protesting — in quite a violent way — for the acceptance of their demands. The government must handle the matter strictly in keeping with the law and the constitution and ensure the writ of the state. The government must follow in the footsteps of our founding fathers and devise a strategy through national consensus to rid the country of extremism and political intolerance.
Malik Tariq
Lahore
Published in The Express Tribune, October 29th, 2021.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
