People are either brothers in faith or equals in humanity. This is the teaching of Islam. This was the vision of Jinnah- an egalitarian, tranquil and just society. Nonetheless, Jinnah’s vision for a peaceful inclusive Pakistan was elbowed away right after his demise. According to his ADC Shareef Pirzada, some far-right radicals had put all effort into getting his 11th September speech broadcasted. They wished to nip it in the bud. Jinnah had proclaimed in his famous address to the first Constituent Assembly that the state would be impartial and free for people of all religions, races and genders. Jinnah could foresee a bleak future for minorities including women if the fanatics were given reigns of the country. He also advocated his idea of inclusiveness.
Quaid-e-Azam asked Jagan Nath a Hindu poet to compose the national anthem. Moreover, SP Singh, a Christian, was the first speaker of the Punjab Assembly who had voted for Pakistan but his name is not mentioned in textbooks and was omitted to disregard his efforts in the making of Pakistan. Furthermore, Jogindar Nath Mandal – a lower caste Hindu – was President of the Constituent Assembly in which Quaid-e-Azam was a member.
These founders of Pakistan suffered the worst consequences of their endeavours. Mandal resigned and migrated to India. Another noteworthy evidence is the demographic numbers which show how drastically the minorities have been fleeing the land of pure. To present stats, the minority population declined from 44% to 14% between 1947-1951 then to 12% in 1961 and subsequently, it became 3% in the 1972 census.
In 1997, Shanti Nagar was burnt in response to a plea for abolishing distinct CNICs based on religious identity which could augment discrimination against minorities and become barriers to their progress. It was turned down by Nawaz Sharif.
In a nutshell, after Quaid-e-Azam, minorities have suffered at the hands of right-wing leaders and clerics, and caste and sex-based discrimination has been aggrandized beyond the pales.
MUHAMMAD SHARIF OTHO,
Khairpur Mir’s.
