54. March The 23rd, History

Emporium Current Essays 227 In his letter of June 21,1937, Allama Iqbal wrote to Quaidi-Azam: To my mind the new Constitution with its idea of a single Indian federation is completely hopeless. A separate federation of Muslim provinces is the only course by which we can secure a peaceful India .and get for the Muslims of North West India, the right of self-determination just as other nations in India and outside India have. After having experienced the dangers of a constitution in which the Hindus Mere likely to dominate the Muslims permanently, the League was driven to seek a radical solution. Muhammad All Jinnah had become the living symbol of Muslim unity. Muslim politics had so completely centred round him that he had become almost an institution in himself. People had learnt to repose confidence in the League,. The fear of exploitation by others of the Muslim platform and sentiment had vanished. Those who were expecting to use the League for their personal ends were disillusioned and Muslim intelligentsia had regained the hope of forming the League into a really national organisation. On March 22, 1940, the Annual Session of the League opened in Lahore amidst scenes of great enthusiasm. Muhammad AH Jinnah in his presidential address explained the position in which the Muslims found themselves and said that they were caught between the devil and the deep sea. The Congress on the one hand and the British government on the other were trying to put Muslims in an awkward position. The Congress rule of the past two and a half years had been most deplorable and highly damaging to .the Muslim interests. Thinking about the shadowing political events, Quaid-iAzam spelled out: As soon as the circumstances permit or immediately after the War (WWII) at the least, the whole problem of India's future constitution must be examined an. the Act of 1935 must go once and for all. We don't believe in asking the British government to make declarations. These declarations are really of no use. You cannot possibly succeed in getting the British government out of this country by asking them to make declaration. He, then, criticised the Congress attitude towards the constitutional problem and-its suggestions for the establishment of a ConstituentEmporium Current Essays 229 228 Emporium Current Essays British subjugation for a separate homeland where they could live peacefully according to the teachings of Holy Quran an the Si nnah. , People of the Subcontinent struggled hard against all odds for more tan seven long years after the passage of the Resolution :i under a scrupulously honest, incorruptible leader, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad AH Jinnah who finally achieved the cherished dream- ^

Pakistan. It was mainly due to the "integrity of character" of the !* Quaid-i-Azam that the Muslim masses had blind faith and trust in -t him and he too never failed them and eventually achieved what was no less than a miracle-a homeland of our dreams. Thus he achieved Pakistan through the force of faith and through a constitutional and non-violent method and means. Fifty-six years after the adoption of Lahore Resolution in 1940, later known as the Pakistan Resolution, we, in Pakistan, find ourselves at a cross and are finding it difficult which way to go To be precise, we are a bewildered nation. The decades that followed after independence saw the failure of the successors to frame a Constitution early. And even when one was framed and enforced on March 23, 1956, it failed to take off by holding a country-wide general election to usher in a democratic stable government. Not that alone. It continued to be punctuated by periodic Martial Law and semi-Martial Law regimes. The end result was a wide spread frustration and disintegration of the county in December 1971. The pursuit for the realisation of the fundamental objective for the establishment of Pakistan further weakened and the grip of the inimical forces strengthened beyond reception. Today, we find ourselves in the midst of a dispensation which goes to furthering the cause of concentration of wealth in a few hands. The policy of equitable distribution of wealth and resources for generation of wealth has been relegated to the cold storage. Just as Iqbal though of the Islamic Shariat to provide an equitable system of economy for amelioration of the conditions of the Muslim masses bogged into grim poverty as a result of centuries-old imperialistic exploitation, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah also spelled out the intent to implant the objective set forth during the Pakistan Movement. March 23, even after 56- years of its passage, continues to indicate that the objective is still to be achieved. Creation of Pakistan marked an unprecedented historic event with far-reaching consequences. For one thins, never before had a habitat been torn apart from a hostile which constituted the core of the concept of Muslim nationhood. Assembly. Finally, he outlined the Muslim demand in most emphatic terms: "The problem of India is not of an inter-communal but manifestly of an international character and must be treated as such. So long as this basic and fundamental truth is not realised, any constitution that may be built will result in disaster and will prove destructive not only to Muslims but to the British and Hindus also. If the British government is really earnest and sincere to secure peace and happiness of the people of this subcontinent, the only course open to us all is to allow the major nations separate homeland by dividing into autonomous National States. There is no reason why these states should be antagonistic to each other. On the other hand, the revelry and the natural desire and efforts on the part of the one to dominate the social order and establish political supremacy over the other in the government of the country will disappear. This

will lead more towards natural goodwill by international pacts between them and they can live in complete harmony. It is extremely difficult to appreciate why our Hindu friends fail to understand the real nature of Islam and Hinduism. They are not religions in the strict sense of the world, but are in fact quite different and distinct social orders and it is a dream that Hindus and Muslims can ever evolve a common nationality. The Hindus and Muslims belong to two different religious philosophies, social customs, art and literature. They neither intermarry nor inter-dine and, indeed they belong to two different civilisations which are based mainly on conflicting ideas and conceptions. Their outlook on life and of life is different. It is quite clear that Hindus and Muslims derive their inspiration from different sources of history. To yoke to together two such nations under a single state, one as a numerical minority and the other as a majority, must lead to growing discontent and final destruction of any fabric that may be so built up for the government of such a state." On the next day, i.e., March 23, 1940, the Open Session of the Ali India Muslim League passed its historical resolution which ultimately changed the dVeam of Muslims into reality, March 23 is almost a red letter day of great historical importance and reverence for Pakistan which the day assumed 56 years ago in the city of Lahore. It was on this day that in 1940 the Muslims of the then undivided India under the dynamic leadership of Quaidi-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah unanimously decided to launch an independent struggle as a nation for freedom from the230 Emporium Current Essays The bitter truth, however, is that far from being perched on the pedestal of leadership, we are enmeshed in an abysmal state of disarray. We have lost half of our country and the other half is at war with itself. What brutalities are being committed in Karachi is a sure indication that we are drifting to a suicidal end. Why has this disaster happened? Why this steep fall? When you survey the hazardous course of the freedom struggle, you see no extraordinary people around who waged it. They were ordinary run of people, the Same who inhabit the land today. However, what made them different was the fact that there stood in their midst the towering personality of the Quaid-i-Azam who irretrievably bound them to an unshakeable allegiance to the cause. But dint of faith and high moral conduct, he provided an inspiration which raised them to a place of endeavour and sacrifice which couldn't be frustrated. The stature of the nation was enlarged by virtue of the sheer conviction and character of the leader. They were roused to a overwhelmed the might of their antagonists. The motto of "unity, faith, discipline" had made them invincible. The question is: have we forfeited the heritage of the Mujahideen who wrought the miracle of Pakistan? The answer is simple-while the people have not changed, the charisma of leadership has evaporated. No one jfollowed in the footsteps of the Quaid,

not even Liaqat AH Khan. Noteader arose to rally the nation against the dishonest and insincere leadership disintegration of Pakistan. No movement is underway to nullify the designs of those who want Karachi to be wrenched apart so that Pakistan cannot survive. The nation which has benefited with an ideology to guide the destiny of man has been deprived of its will-power and sense of direction. The abject lesson of our degradation is that the fate of a people is hinged on the quality of leadership. Since we are leaderless, we have become underlings. Even our nationhood and sovereignty looks dubious. To Quaid, Pakistan was to be an Islamic democracy, a democracy which would strive towards the establishment of what he called the Islamic principles of social justice and of equality of man, democracy which would contribute toward' the onward march of the Renaissance of Islamic culture and ideals." In his address to the Assembly of Pakistan on August 11, 1947 as the first governorgeneral of the state of his own creation, the Quaid said: "One of the biggest curses from which India is suffering is bribery and corruption. We must put that down here (in Pakistan) with an iron hand..." Emporium Current Essays 231 Outrightly condemning the back marketers, he went on the say: "They (the black marketers) ought to be severely punished because they undermine the entire system of control and regulations of food stuff and essential commodities and cause wholesale starvation, want and even death ..." The Quaid wanted a changed in the government officers outlook and their adherence to a code of conduct. In an address to the Chittagong officers on March 25,1948, he observed: "Whichever government was formed according to the Constitution and whoever became the Prime Minister of Minister, their duty was to serve that government loyally and faithfully and at the same time fearlessly maintain their high reputation, their prestige, honour, dignity and integrity of service, it was none of their business to have a hand in supporting this political party or that political party. The officers should see that not only justice was done but the people are made to feel that justice was done ... " Quaid's last Independence Day message was: "Nature has given.you everything: you have got unlimited resources. The foundation of your state has been laid and it is now for you to build and build quickly and as well as you can. So go ahead and I wish you God-speed." As against Quaid's ideals that is the present situation obtaining in the country? When Pakistan came into being. It was a rich country of poor people. Now after about half a century of its existence, it is a poor country with a small minority of the rich and an overwhelming majority of the people born in poverty, living and dying in poverty, suffering under unemployment, inflation, law and order situation, ethnic and sectarian hatred and clashes. Forty per cent of the population has no access to safe, potable

drinking water, while the entire coverage of rural water supply is only 47 per cent of the population. This is a clear betrayal of Quaid's vision of Pakistan. How has this happened? Immediately after the death of the Quaid-i-Azam, bureaucracy started ruling the roost in Pakistan. This was facilitated by the absence of a political culture in the country due to lack of a Constitution, deliberately delayed to deny the people their birthright of being ruled "by their representatives through fair and transport elections. The bureaucrats, both civil and military were not trained to accept the concept of people's participation in government decision-making and the dominance of the genuinely elected leadership in government policy-making or, for that matter, public scrutiny of government operation. The system of governance232 Emporium Current Essays assumed the form of neo-colonialism-an extension of the British

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systt m. .•>: •-«.,!• The Quaid had categorically stated that if there were landlordism and capitalism in Pakistan, he would not have such a Pakistan. But after the establishment of Pakistan, the feudal leadership gave to landlordism a fresh lease of life in the country. The honeymooning among the bureaucracy, landlords and industrialists has remained unchecked throughout the political-cumeconomic history of Pakistan. MNAs and MPAs have ahvays been the by-product of this process. So all of them have been sharing the spoils of the exploited economy at the cost of the common man. But what is the way out? Socio-economic development requires individuals with ideas to develop institutions for their implementation. But in Pakistan no permanent institutions exist in any field of life. To live up to Quaid's ideals for which he toiled hard we need to rise above petty differences, sink our ethnic, sectarian and political differences to turn this country into a peaceful welfare sate and true Islamic polity. What we need is scrupulously honest sincere leadership with integrity of character to save this country and run it as visioncd by the Father of the Nation. We should do it now before its too late to make amends.-