Jinnah Suggested a Strict Actions Against Radicals

By: Muhammad Umair Khan

On Quaid-i-Azam's death anniversary, it's important to remember that Pakistan's

founder is known for his moderate approach, patience and constitutional ways.
But as a true democrat, he also believed in parliament's sovereignty and
establishing the writ of the state at any cost. The governments in Pakistan are
known for surrendering their mandates to pressure groups despite them being in
the minority and people completely ignoring them during the elections. This is a
slap in the face of the people who elect them after reading their progressive
manifestos only to be backstabbed when those representatives sign deals with
those radical groups whose regressive manifestos get completely ignored during
the elections. In simple words, currently, a minority of extremists are ruling the
country through blackmail. That hardly classifies as a democracy or a robust,
functional and sovereign parliamentary system.

Quaid-i-Azam had drafted the 'Child Marriage Restraint Bill' in 1929 which
initiated the ban on child marriages in the subcontinent. It was not only a
controversial issue among the Islamists but also among Hindutvists. Both of them
considered it against their faiths and ways of life. The great Gandhiji, despite not
being a Hindutvist, had also opposed the bill by calling it "satanic." Let alone the
Mullahs who were known for putting pressure on the elected representatives
through their threats and agitation. While talking about such individuals Quaid-i-
Azam Jinnah said, “If we are going to allow ourselves to be influenced by public
opinion that can be created in the name of religion when we know religion has
nothing to do with the matter, we must have the courage to say ‘no we are not
going to be frightened by that’.”

Hence, the bill was moved and it became an Act. In the following years, the
Islamists on Congress' payroll used it against Jinnah during their election
campaigns but, as usual, he didn't lose his sleep over it and also emerged
victorious in the polls, hence, creating the largest Muslim State in the world. In
2015, a certain group was created in Pakistan whose only job is to force
governments to strengthen Pakistan's draconian blasphemy laws further and
target specific sects.

Instead of signing deals with them, as an official did a few months ago, one should
take cues from Jinnah's school of thought against violent mobs who have no
respect for constitutional ways, human lives or the system. After the Shia-Sunni
riots of Lucknow, which ended up killing several citizens, Jinnah addressed the
Muslims about reactionary elements within their own community. "There are
amongst you those who are killing and destroying each other because of sectarian
differences. These are evil and corrupt elements who do not deserve to live. It is
better for the nation to get rid of them," he suggested.

While talking to the students of Aligarh about the clergy and regressive ideologies,
he claimed, "What the League has done is to set you free from the reactionary
elements of Muslims and to create the opinion that those who play their selfish
game are traitors. It has certainly freed you from that undesirable elements of
Maulvis and Maulanas. I am not speaking of Maulvis as a whole class. There are
some of them who are as patriotic and sincere as any other, but there is a section
of them which is undesirable."

He greatly hated the intolerant section of the Muslims. Once he became

frustrated and told his followers, "This is the cause of our having gone down as a
Nation, because if a Musalman is displeased in however small a matter, his temper
is uncontrollable and he does not make any allowance for the point of view of the
other side [...] but condemns him without any explanation, unheard and in the
strongest terms."
While talking to Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru about the clergy, he asserted, "I think I have
a solution for the Hindu-Muslim problem. You destroy your orthodox priestly class
and we will destroy our Mullahs and there will be communal peace." When the
reactionary elements were involved in the rioting of 1947 he asked Mountbatten
to establish the writ of the state while stating, "I don't care whether you shoot the
Moslems or not, it has got to be stopped." Nehru went a step further and asked
Mountbatten to impose martial law in Punjab and issue "shoot at sight" orders.

Jinnah believed that the vision of pressure groups and clerics wouldn't work in
Pakistan because "there are over seventy sects regarding the Islamic faith" and
imposing one sect's views on everyone else would lead to the "struggle of
religious opinion" leading to the destruction of the entire state. After the creation
of Pakistan, Jinnah wanted Muslim League to be transformed into a "National
League open to all" citizens of Pakistan because Muslims were no longer in the
minority; so, an organisation tasked to protect their rights wasn't needed, unlike
Pakistani non-Muslims who were now in minority. He wanted to deal with the
"mad Mullahs" who were "out to create trouble" for him because of his
progressive views. In November of 1947, Pakistan's first educational policy was
announced. The conference was presided by Quaid-i-Azam.

After Quaid-i-Azam's brief address, Pakistan's first Minister of Education, Fazlur

Rehman, a liberal politician from Bengal, revealed his policy to the public stating
that the study of religion would only include principles of universal brotherhood,
equality and social justice and it'd be inclusive while avoiding strict doctrines and
sectarianism. While explaining the difference between a Muslim-majority state
and a theocratic state he gave a road map to the politicians and the people of
Pakistan about the country's politics and its future.
"The impression that Pakistan [...] is a theocratic State is being sedulously fostered
in the certain quarters with the sole object of discrediting it in the eyes of the
world [...] Islam has not sanctioned government by a sacerdotal class deriving its
authority from God [...] Ruler far from being a vice-regent of God on earth is but a
representative of the people who have chosen him to serve them," he said about
the role of the Church in Pakistan and the use of religion in politics.

Needless to say, our current 'leaders' can learn a lot from their predecessors.
Otherwise, the reactionary elements will continue to push the country towards
the Stone Age, and such a Nation in the 21st century has no future. It will continue
to have the fourth worst passport in the world and face foreigners who are too
afraid to invest in the country because of security issues and mob lynchings. If we
still haven't learned our lesson in the last six decades after losing tens of
thousands of people to extremism and millions of brilliant minds to the West then
it's truly shameful and worrying.

(Jinnah Papers volume 2, pages 132-33).

(Jinnah Papers volume 2, page xlv).

(Jinnah Papers volume 2, page 829).

(Pakistan Educational Conference 1947, record).