Quaid's vision and Pakistan

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Quaid's vision and Pakistan

By Dr Mutahir Ahmed

After 59 years of the creation of Pakistan, debate is still going on about the origin and formation of the state, whether the Muslims of the sub-continent fought for the right of self-determination through a peaceful national democratic struggle or a land of peace where religion has an authority and the entire system was revolving around religious doctrine.

The idea of Muslims forming a separate state in India was initiated by Wilfrid Scavien Blunt in 1883 in Calcutta. He suggested that practically all the Provinces of Northern India should be placed under Muslim government and those in Southern India under Hindu government. In this scheme, the British would continue as the controlling power drawn their support form British troops stationed in each of the provinces, but the whole civil administration, legislation should be let to native hands.

After the inauguration of the government of India Act, 1919, it became clear that British seriously contemplated the transfer of power by stages to Indian hands. Regarding the sharing of power, the Muslims showed uneasiness. Maulana Muhammad Ali translated the feelings of Muslims in the annual session of the All India Muslim League held in Bombay in December 1924 in these words: "If a line be drawn from Constantinople to Delhi on the map of the world it would be found that at least right to Saharanpur, there was a corridor of purely Muslim people and Muslims were in clear majority. This gave them clue for understanding the background condition in which the Frontier and the Punjab were purposely kept by those in power'. The above mentioned statement clearly shows the Muslim's reservations and their separate tendency. Moreover, in Nehru Report of 1928 it is stated: "The Muslims being in a minority in India as a whole fear that the majority may harass them, and to meet this difficulty they have made a novel suggestion that they should at least dominate in some parts of India". But all these statements are uncertain and little bit confusing. A clear concept of separate states was given by Sir Muhammad Iqbal in his Presidential Address at the Allahabad session of All India Muslim League in December 1930. Iqbal's concept was clear, comprehensive and based o geographical and ideological frontiers. He stated: 'I would like to see the Punjab, North West Frontier Province, Sind and Balochistan amalgamated into a single state. Self government within the British empire or without the British empire, the formation of a consolidation of North West Indian Muslim state appears to me that the final destiny of the Muslims at least of North West India". The most important aspect of his thinking was that he only including North-West India and not Bengal and exclusion of Ambala Division and those districts where non-Muslims were in a majority from the North Western state. Thus, his vision was clearer than the participators of the Lahore Resolution of 1940. However, the most noteworthy in Iqbal's conception was the ideological basis of his statement based on Muslim state who was extremely Liberal and flexible. He declared in the same Presidential Address: 'Nor should the Hindus fear that the creation of autonomous Muslim sates will mean the introduction of a kind of religious rule I such states".

The Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah translated this vision into reality. The objective conditions especially after 1940 favored him. Though Jinnah was the President of League during the years 1919-30, educated Muslims were changed in early '40s when they came to the conclusion that under the majority rule they could not survive economically and politically. They were not so much concerned about their religious and cultural rights as they were about their share the government of the country. The overwhelming following that Jinnah had among these classes lay in the fact that he offered to them the political power under a new Muslim state through exercising the right of self-determination which is the birth right of any nation and universally acceptable.

The majority of the members of Muslim League were not westernised educated Muslims. They belonged to the poorer sections of the urban Muslims who were convinced by the Mullah that if they become good Muslims, God promised to give them power. Thus, the idea of establishing a Muslim state was not new. The anti-League organisations like Majlis Ahrar and Khaksar Tehreek had talked about it . The Ahrars put forward the idea of Hukumat-Ilahia (Government of God) and the Khaksars claimed that their aim was Istikhlaf fil Ard (Establishment of Khilafat (Islamic Government) on earth The other religio-political parties -- Jamat Islami and Jamiat Ulmai-i-Hind wanted to grab the political power through the unity of Muslims rather to have a separate homeland. When the Muslim League divided Pakistan, it was enthusiastically supported by these sections of Muslim who were mentally prepared to take political power. Thus Muslim League satisfied them on both fronts, power and influence and free from Hindu competition. The League had become more representative organisation than any other Muslim organisation or group. Under the charismatic leadership of Jinnah's Muslim League became a national movement whose aim was the establishment of the separate sovereign state of Pakistan. Within League one could find feudal landowners, industrialists, Ulemas, lower middle class, peasants, and urbanised Middle class. Ideologically extremist elements also had joined the League. The leadership of Jinnah was such that all these heterogeneous elements could be kept within the League without compromising its unity.

On religious front, Jinnah kept himself above from all kind of controversial issues. He always said that he was only a Muslim. The simple doctrine that he preached was that Islam transacted all petty sectarian differences since there was no state, no debates about what form of Islam should be established or practiced could arise. Muslim League put forward simple and straight forward, free of all theological and doctrinal subtleties which the ordinary Muslim masses could understand. This intellectual naiveté was such that it persuaded not only the Muslim masses, but influenced the leadership as well.

One can draw the conclusion that the idea behind the formation of Pakistan was to get rid of the majority rule who were threatened economically, politically, culturally and religiously to the minority the Muslims of the sib-continent peacefully stood up under the leadership of Jinnah and Muslim league by exercising the right of self determination by exercising democratic method. Parliamentary democracy, pluralistic party system, religion with Liberal and moderate interpretation were the basic ingredients of Pakistan movement. Unfortunately, after fifty nine years of independence we lost this path and involved ourselves on non-issues. The only way out is to study the true spirit of the Muslim league and understanding of the Muslim psychology who fought for democracy and to establish separate homeland. Today, religion has been sectarianised, democracy has been questioned, there is a powerful section in Pakistan society which wants to introduce theocracy in the name of Islam through back door. It is the responsibility of the intelligentsia to educate people and put forward the ideals of Quaid-i-Azam who fought courageously through democratic struggle to have a liberal and moderate Pakistan who can face the challenges of the 21st century.


Source : The NEWS