HVK Archives: Quaid-e-Azam's Pakistan - Vision of a secular state
Quaid-e-Azam's Pakistan - Vision of a secular state - The Times of India
Mohammed Ali Jinnah
()
12 August 1997
Title: Quaid-e-Azam's Pakistan - Vision of a secular state
Author: Mohammed Ali Jinnah
Publication: The Times of India
Date: August 12, 1997
Following are excerpts from the address of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah
to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan in Karachi on August 11, 1947..
You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to
your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan...
You may belong to any religion or caste or creed - - that has nothing to do
with the business of the State ... We are starting in the days when there
is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no
discrimination between one caste or creed and another. We are starting with
this fundamental principle that we are all citizens and equal citizens of
one state. The people of England in course of time had to face the
realities of the situation and had to discharge the responsibilities and
burdens placed upon them by the government... Today, you might say with
justice that Roman Catholics and Protestants do not exist; what exists now
is that every man is a citizen, and equal citizen of Great Britain ... all
members of the Nation...
Equal Citizens
If you change your past and work together in a spirit that every one of
you, no matter to what community he belonged, no matter what relations he
had with you in the past, no matter what his colour, caste, or creed, is
first, second, and last a citizen of this state with equal rights,
privileges and obligations, there will be no end to the progress you will
make... We are starting with this fundamental principle that we are all
citizens and equal citizens of one state. Now I think we should keep that
in front of us as, our ideal and you will find that in course of time
Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not
in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each
individual, but in the political sense as citizen of the State... I shall
always be guided by the principles of justice and fairplay without any, as
is put in the political language, prejudice or ill-will, in other words,
partiality or favouritism. My guiding principle will be justice and
complete impartiality, and I am sure that with your support and
cooperation, I can look forward to Pakistan becoming one of the greatest
Nations of the World...
All the same in this division it was impossible to avoid the question of
minorities being in one Dominion or the other. Now that was unavoidable.
There is no other solution. Now what shall we do? Now, if we want to make
this great State of Pakistan happy and prosperous we should wholly and
solely concentrate on the well-being of the people, and especially of the
masses and the poor. If you will work in co-operation, forgetting the
past, burying the hatchet you are bound to succeed.
I cannot emphasise it too much. We should begin to work in that spirit and
in course of time all these angularities of the majority and minority
communities, the Hindu community and the Muslim community - because even as
regards Muslims you have Pathans, Punjabis, Shias, Sunnis and so on and
among the Hindus you have Brahmins, Vaishnavas, Khatris, also Bengalees,
Madrasis, and so on - will vanish. Indeed if you ask me this has been the
biggest hindrance in the way of India to attain the freedom and
independence and but for this we would have been free peoples long long ago...
The first and the foremost thing that I would like toemphasise is this -
remember that you are now a Sovereign Legislative body and you have got all
the powers. It, therefore, places on you the gravest responsibility as to
how you should take your decisions. The first observation that I would
like to make is this... You will no doubt agree with me that the first duty
of a government is to maintain law and order, so that the life, property
and religious beliefs of its subjects are fully protected by the state.
Curse of Corruption
The second thing that occurs to me is this. One of the biggest curses from
which India is suffering... is bribery and corruption. That really is a
poison. We must put that down with an iron hand and I hope that you will
take adequate measures as soon as it is possible... Blackmarketing is
another curse... I know that blackmarketeers are frequently caught and
punished. Judicial sentences are passed or sometimes fines only are
imposed. Now you have to tackle this monster which today is a colossal
crime against society, in our distressed conditions, when we constantly
face shortage of food ... A citizen who does blackmarketing commits, I
think, a greater crime than the biggest and most grievous of crimes. These
blackmarketeers are really knowing, intelligent, and ordinarily responsible
people ... I think they ought to he very severely punished, because they
undermine the entire system of control... and cause wholesale starvation
and want and even death.
History's Verdict
The next thing that strikes me is this: Here again it is a legacy which has
been passed on to us ... the evil of nepotism and jobbery. This evil must
be crushed relentlessly. I want to make it quite clear that I shall never
tolerate any kind of jobbery, nepotism or any influence directly or
indirectly brought to bear upon me... I know there are people who do not
quite agree with the division of India and the partition of the Punjab and
Bengal. Much has been said against it, but now that it has been accepted,
it is the duty of everyone of us to loyally abide by it and honourably act
according to the agreement, which is now final and binding on all. But you
must remember, as 1 have said, that this mighty revolution that has taken
place is unprecedented.
But the question is, whether it was possible or practicable to act
otherwise than what has been done... A division had to take place. On both
sides, in Hindustan and Pakistan, there are sections of people who may not
agree with it, who may not like it, but in my judgment there was no other
solution and I am sure future history will record its verdict in favour of
it. And what is more it will be proved by actual experience as we go on
that that was the only solution ... Any idea of a United India could never
have worked and in my judgment it would have led us to terrific disaster.
May be that view is correct; maybe it is not; that remains to be seen."
(Times of India Editor's Note : The above speech appeared in the Indian
press 50 years ago today. These views are today not publicly acknowledged
by the Pakistani establishment)
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