Happy Independence Day “PAKISTAN” & Thank You Quaid-e-Azam for the Identity

Pakistan was brought into being at the time of the partition of British India, in response to the
demands of Islamic nationalists: as articulated by the All India Muslim League under the
leadership of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, India’s Muslims would receive just representation only in
their own country.
The Muslim-majority state of Pakistan was born out of the partition of the Indian sub-continent in
1947, and has faced both domestic political upheavals and regional confrontations. It is estimated
that over 15 million people were displaced during the Partition of the Indian subcontinent and two
million lost their lives in the ensuing communal violence.

Created to meet the demands of Indian Muslims for their own homeland, Pakistan was originally
made up of two parts. The break-up of the two wings came in 1971 when the Bengali-speaking
east wing seceded with help from India to become the independent state of Bangladesh.

Development in Pakistan has been hampered by terrorism, outright violence and economic
stagnation, and relations with its key neighbours India and Afghanistan are often fraught.

Since independence the issues which we were facing down the line the line , we are still stuck up
in that cobweb even with broken swords, this nation still managing to win every battlefield.

1|Page
Pakistan continues to face multiple sources of internal and external conflict. While incidences of
domestic terrorism have reduced, in part due to measures taken by the Pakistani state, extremism
and intolerance of diversity has grown.

There is some recognition by the state that instead of merely kinetic responses holistic
counterterrorism policies are needed to counteract this trend. The growing extremism has been
fueled by a narrow vision of Pakistan’s national identity, threatening the country’s prospect for
social cohesion and stability. The inability of state institutions to reliably provide peaceful ways
to resolve grievances has encouraged groups to seek violence as a legitimate alternative.

Politics is known for coining new slogans and creating visions of the future. This becomes more
common near election time when different political leaders and parties offer new and catchy
slogans for the betterment of the people. We often hear the narratives and slogans of “New
Pakistan” and “Jinnah’s Pakistan” as the frameworks for articulating the present and the future of
Pakistan. These are two visions of the nature and dynamics of the Pakistani state and society.

There are several competing visions of Pakistan. The advocates of different narratives of Pakistan
are passionate about their vision and slogans and make a selective use of historical evidence to
support their contention and reject the competing visions.

Seventy years after independence, Pakistan’s political and societal elite have not been able to
develop an enduring consensus on the nature and direction of Pakistani state and society. Different
slogans are raised to protect and advance each partisan societal narrative. There are several reasons
for the proliferations of the visions of Pakistan and the attendant slogans.

The early demise of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in September1948 did not enable him
to transfer his charisma to the institutions and processes of the new state of Pakistan. Had he lived
longer to evolve a constitutional framework for Pakistan, we would have enjoyed greater
legitimacy because of his blessings, establishing a grand narrative of the present and the future of
Pakistan.

Quaid-i-Azam’s death created a serious crisis of leadership inside and outside the ruling Pakistan
Muslim League. Liaquat Ali Khan, Prime Minister (August 1947-October 1951), offered a
narrative of Pakistan in his speeches on the objectives of the resolutions in the first Constituent
Assembly, 1949. But, competing narratives, especially by orthodox and fundamentalist leaders,
contested the constitutional democratic and modernist perspective as advocated by Liaquat Ali
Khan and others.

The delay in constitution-making and the lack of political continuity also adversely affected the
efforts to create a broad-based understanding on the features of the state system and societal
arrangements. The political governments changed frequently during 1951-58 which weakened the
political forces. This made it possible for the military to step directly into the political domain and
assume power in October 1958 and three other occasions.

2|Page
The political order created by the military regimes in Pakistan reflected military ethos of control
and management. It could not accommodate the pressures for political participation and socio-
economic justice. Their efforts to create a selective consensus provided a temporary solution to the
problems of national identity and the future of the state and society. This selective consensus
unravelled when military rule came to an end for one reason or another.

Another reason for emergence of multiple narratives of Pakistan and the slogans associated with
each narrative is the inability of the political leaders to evolve an acceptable framework for the
relationship between the federal government and the provinces. They could not adequately address
the issues of representation of the provinces in federal institutions, distribution of administrative
and political powers and financial resources. The initial framework of federal-provincial
relationship was based on monolithic nationalism to the exclusion of other ethnic, linguistic and
regional identities.

This approach to federal-provincial relations caused much bitterness in East Bengal (now
Bangladesh) and smaller provinces and administrative units in Western Pakistan (the present-day
Pakistan). The region-based political and societal elite challenged the hegemonic federal model
and underlined the need of recognizing provincial rights and interests in the constitutional and
political arrangements. The first major attempt to accommodate provincial concerns was made in
the original 1973 Constitution which included many new institutional arrangements and
procedures to upgrade the status and role of provinces.

The slogan of every political party in their election manifesto described the updated version of
Pakistan as being inspired by the views of Allama Iqbal and Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
and stood for “justice, peace and prosperity” for all people. The manifesto makes the “catch-all”
promises for improvement in the affairs of the state and society and a better and prosperous future
for all. This is simply an election slogan and combines ideas from the original grand narrative, the
Islamist vision with inclination towards the notion of Jihadi Pakistan.

The notion of “Jinnah’s Pakistan” overlaps with the original grand narrative. The major focus is
on the political discourse of Quaid-i-Azam and the resolutions of the Muslim League in the pre-
independence period. Both projected the establishment of Pakistan as a homeland for the Muslims
of British India in order to protect and advance their socio-cultural identity, rights and interests.

Neither Jinnah nor the Muslim League resolutions in the pre-independence period argued that a
separate state was needed because Islam was in danger in British India or Islam would be
obliterated in united independent India. Jinnah talked of the concern and anxieties of the Muslims.
He advocated worldly political, social and economic demands of the Muslims in his famous
“Fourteen Points”, his discourse on constitutional issues after his return to India in 1934 and the
speeches made at the Lahore session of the Muslim League (March 1940). Subsequently he
focused on protection and advancement of the political future of the Muslims of British India.

3|Page
Pakistan’s salvation lies in implementing Jinnah’s vision of Pakistan in letter and spirit. There is a
need to go beyond slogans and adopt definite measures to improve the quality of life for the
common people. Other visions and narratives of Pakistan will lose their attraction only if Pakistan
is genuinely transformed on the basis of the principles enunciated by Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad
Ali Jinnah.

While concluding my thoughts on Pakistan I would end it with the positive notes enclosing the
quotes of our Father of the nation “There is no power on earth that can undo Pakistan” and
couplets of the rhyme of Baba Bullah Shah

1. We are a wounded 2. so what if luck 3. mounting these

bird, show that we isn't favoring us, clouds of
are alive. there is so what if the adversity,
courage left in us. swords are holding the collar
against our sbroken, of Time,
passion win every we have to ask the
even the sky would battlefield address of victory.
ask for refuge, with the broken
if we decide on swords only....
something.
4. as such, we are 5. following you, 6. looking into the
just a particle, these paths, eyes of the
we are just an iron moulding moments,
pellet, our themselves into fight with all your
attempts will be the marks of your strength.
successful, arms,
when your will find their
insistence turns home.
into a fire.
burn away all the
hopelessness.

Written by

Usama Sufi

4|Page