Quaid-i-Azam M. A. Jinnah believed in justice and fair-play as his
highest ideals. He devoted his life to achieving the birth of Pakistan
as an independent State, because he feared that India’s Hindu majority
would prove incapable of treating a Muslim minority justly or fairly. As
Pakistan’s first Governor-General, Jinnah resolved “to serve” all of
its people “with honesty and faithfulness,” insisting that every member
of its civil and military services do, no less, abiding by Islam’s
noblest ideals – “brother-hood, equality and fraternity.”
Jinnah expected Pakistan to become one of the world’s greatest “free and powerful” nations, a “democracy,” based on “equality, justice and fair-play to everybody.” Opposed as he was to Hinduism’s caste system, Jinnah insisted on the need for Pakistan, always to “safeguard minorities” to “whichever community they may belong… Their religion will be secure. There will be no interference of any kind with their freedom of worship. They will be, in all respects, the citizens of Pakistan without any distinction of caste or creed.” His passionate faith in universal Human Rights was based as much on his devout belief in Islamic equality and justice and it was appreciation of secular British Common Law. “Remember that the scrupulous maintenance and enforcement of law and order are the pre-requisites of all progress,” Jinnah told his new Nation. “The tenets of Islam enjoin on every Musalman (Muslim) to give protection to his neighbors and to the minorities regardless of caste and creed.”
Jinnah’s personal honesty and complete integrity made him intolerant of any bureaucratic peculation or “petty jealousies,” insisting “We must… make up our minds to serve the people with honesty and faithfulness…We must have Unity, Faith and Discipline.” He was always fearless and spoke from his heart, whenever confronting powerful opponents, whether British Viceroys, National Congress leaders, or Muslim League competitors, reminding his devoted Pakistani followers that the “scrupulous maintenance and enforcement of law and order are the prerequisites of all progress.” He welcomed criticism but insisted that “it must be honest and constructive.”
Jinnah well understood the importance of modern education “to mobilize our people and build up the character of our future generations.” He was equally aware of the vital value of economic growth and development to Pakistan’s survival and future power. “Traders and merchants will always be welcome and they, in building up their own fortunes, will not forget their social responsibility for a fair and square deal to one and all, big and small…. May you, as true Pakistanis, help to reconstruct and build Pakistan to reach a mighty and glorious status amongst the comity of nations of the world,” he told Karachi Chamber of Commerce.
To every Pakistani group he had strength enough to address, Jinnah’s message was inspiring: “Work honestly and sincerely and be faithful and loyal to the Pakistan Government. I can assure you there is nothing greater in the world than your own conscience and, when you appear before God, you can say that you performed your duty with the highest sense of integrity, honesty and with loyalty and faithfulness.”
Jinnah felt most proud of having “achieved Pakistan…without bloody war and practically peacefully by moral and intellectual force and with the power of the pen,” cautioning his followers not “to be-smear and tarnish this greatest achievement… in the history of the world… Let us now plan to build and reconstruct and regenerate our great nation… now is the time… for every Musalman to make his or her fullest and best contribution and make the greatest sacrifice and work ceaselessly in the service of our nation and make Pakistan one of the greatest nations of the world. It is in your hands, …Pakistan is blessed with enormous resources and potentialities. Providence has endowed us with all the wealth of nature and now it lies with man to make the best of it.”
Jinnah was also enlightened enough to “sincerely hope” that Pakistan’s relations with neighboring India would always be “friendly and cordial,” knowing as he did that “we can be of use to each other and to the world.” Yet just a few months after their mid-August birth as independent Dominions, India and Pakistan were at War over Kashmir. Jinnah wished that conflict could swiftly be resolved, calling for “all-out efforts to restore peace and maintain law and order,” as he told Reuters in Karachi on 25 October 1947. “We should bury the past and resolve that, despite all that has happened, we shall remain friends. There are many things which we need from each other as neighbors and we can help each other in diverse ways, morally, materially, and politically and thereby raise the prestige and status of both Dominions. But before we can make any progress, it is absolutely essential that peace must be restored and law and order maintained in both the Dominions.”
Shortly thereafter, Jinnah’s fatally weakened lungs gave out and less than eleven months later he was dead. The Kashmir conflict has tragically continued to plague India and Pakistan. A quarter century after its birth, Pakistan lost its Eastern Wing with most of its population, following another War with India that gave birth to Bangladesh.
On this 136th anniversary of Quaid-i-Azam’s birth, will Pakistan’s current leaders have the strength and wisdom to revitalize his brilliant vision for their “Land of the Pure?” Will they return his ideal personal belief in “justice and fair play” to the pinnacle of Pakistan’s national faith, raised as high as Islam’s ideals of “Brotherhood, Equality and Fraternity” over Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad and all of its greatest provincial cities – Lahore, Karachi, Quetta and Peshawar? Will every young woman in South Asia’s only Islamic State feel free to attend any public or private school throughout their great land without fear of ever being shot or stabbed by any fanatic, mistakenly believing himself to be a “devout Muslim”? “No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your women are side by side with you. We are victims of evil customs,” Jinnah warned. “It is a crime against humanity that our women are shut within the four walls of the houses as prisoners.”
“Islam demands from us the tolerance of other creeds and we welcome… all those… willing and ready to play their part as true and loyal citizens of Pakistan,” Jinnah said, noting that “the scrupulous maintenance and enforcement of law and order are the prerequisites of all progress.”
And will every fearless Pakistani journalist, male or female, feel free to express his or her honest opinion, exposing corruption in the highest places, or unacceptable poverty and inequity among Pakistan’s poorest citizens? “I say, protect the innocent, protect those journalists who are doing their duty and who are serving both the public and the Government freely, independently, and honestly,” Jinnah said. Must his fondest dreams and highest hopes for Pakistan remain buried with him, or will they be resurrected, restoring to Pakistan global pride worthy of its Quaid-i-Azam?
Jinnah expected Pakistan to become one of the world’s greatest “free and powerful” nations, a “democracy,” based on “equality, justice and fair-play to everybody.” Opposed as he was to Hinduism’s caste system, Jinnah insisted on the need for Pakistan, always to “safeguard minorities” to “whichever community they may belong… Their religion will be secure. There will be no interference of any kind with their freedom of worship. They will be, in all respects, the citizens of Pakistan without any distinction of caste or creed.” His passionate faith in universal Human Rights was based as much on his devout belief in Islamic equality and justice and it was appreciation of secular British Common Law. “Remember that the scrupulous maintenance and enforcement of law and order are the pre-requisites of all progress,” Jinnah told his new Nation. “The tenets of Islam enjoin on every Musalman (Muslim) to give protection to his neighbors and to the minorities regardless of caste and creed.”
Jinnah’s personal honesty and complete integrity made him intolerant of any bureaucratic peculation or “petty jealousies,” insisting “We must… make up our minds to serve the people with honesty and faithfulness…We must have Unity, Faith and Discipline.” He was always fearless and spoke from his heart, whenever confronting powerful opponents, whether British Viceroys, National Congress leaders, or Muslim League competitors, reminding his devoted Pakistani followers that the “scrupulous maintenance and enforcement of law and order are the prerequisites of all progress.” He welcomed criticism but insisted that “it must be honest and constructive.”
Jinnah well understood the importance of modern education “to mobilize our people and build up the character of our future generations.” He was equally aware of the vital value of economic growth and development to Pakistan’s survival and future power. “Traders and merchants will always be welcome and they, in building up their own fortunes, will not forget their social responsibility for a fair and square deal to one and all, big and small…. May you, as true Pakistanis, help to reconstruct and build Pakistan to reach a mighty and glorious status amongst the comity of nations of the world,” he told Karachi Chamber of Commerce.
To every Pakistani group he had strength enough to address, Jinnah’s message was inspiring: “Work honestly and sincerely and be faithful and loyal to the Pakistan Government. I can assure you there is nothing greater in the world than your own conscience and, when you appear before God, you can say that you performed your duty with the highest sense of integrity, honesty and with loyalty and faithfulness.”
Jinnah felt most proud of having “achieved Pakistan…without bloody war and practically peacefully by moral and intellectual force and with the power of the pen,” cautioning his followers not “to be-smear and tarnish this greatest achievement… in the history of the world… Let us now plan to build and reconstruct and regenerate our great nation… now is the time… for every Musalman to make his or her fullest and best contribution and make the greatest sacrifice and work ceaselessly in the service of our nation and make Pakistan one of the greatest nations of the world. It is in your hands, …Pakistan is blessed with enormous resources and potentialities. Providence has endowed us with all the wealth of nature and now it lies with man to make the best of it.”
Jinnah was also enlightened enough to “sincerely hope” that Pakistan’s relations with neighboring India would always be “friendly and cordial,” knowing as he did that “we can be of use to each other and to the world.” Yet just a few months after their mid-August birth as independent Dominions, India and Pakistan were at War over Kashmir. Jinnah wished that conflict could swiftly be resolved, calling for “all-out efforts to restore peace and maintain law and order,” as he told Reuters in Karachi on 25 October 1947. “We should bury the past and resolve that, despite all that has happened, we shall remain friends. There are many things which we need from each other as neighbors and we can help each other in diverse ways, morally, materially, and politically and thereby raise the prestige and status of both Dominions. But before we can make any progress, it is absolutely essential that peace must be restored and law and order maintained in both the Dominions.”
Shortly thereafter, Jinnah’s fatally weakened lungs gave out and less than eleven months later he was dead. The Kashmir conflict has tragically continued to plague India and Pakistan. A quarter century after its birth, Pakistan lost its Eastern Wing with most of its population, following another War with India that gave birth to Bangladesh.
On this 136th anniversary of Quaid-i-Azam’s birth, will Pakistan’s current leaders have the strength and wisdom to revitalize his brilliant vision for their “Land of the Pure?” Will they return his ideal personal belief in “justice and fair play” to the pinnacle of Pakistan’s national faith, raised as high as Islam’s ideals of “Brotherhood, Equality and Fraternity” over Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad and all of its greatest provincial cities – Lahore, Karachi, Quetta and Peshawar? Will every young woman in South Asia’s only Islamic State feel free to attend any public or private school throughout their great land without fear of ever being shot or stabbed by any fanatic, mistakenly believing himself to be a “devout Muslim”? “No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your women are side by side with you. We are victims of evil customs,” Jinnah warned. “It is a crime against humanity that our women are shut within the four walls of the houses as prisoners.”
“Islam demands from us the tolerance of other creeds and we welcome… all those… willing and ready to play their part as true and loyal citizens of Pakistan,” Jinnah said, noting that “the scrupulous maintenance and enforcement of law and order are the prerequisites of all progress.”
And will every fearless Pakistani journalist, male or female, feel free to express his or her honest opinion, exposing corruption in the highest places, or unacceptable poverty and inequity among Pakistan’s poorest citizens? “I say, protect the innocent, protect those journalists who are doing their duty and who are serving both the public and the Government freely, independently, and honestly,” Jinnah said. Must his fondest dreams and highest hopes for Pakistan remain buried with him, or will they be resurrected, restoring to Pakistan global pride worthy of its Quaid-i-Azam?
The Writer is U.S. based professor of
History at University of California, Los Angeles and has authored 17
books including all time famous, ‘Jinnah of Pakistan’. This article was
published in Hilal Magazine, December 2012 issue.
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