Tell us, in one short sentence, how would you redraft the Pakistan Resolution, given the many challenges faced by the country today. A selection of readers’ opinions will appear in a Special Report of Dawn on March 23.
Please include your name, age, profession and location to qualify for the opinion to be published.
E.g. “Education and employment for all”
Sabiha Khan, 21, IT professional, Kohat
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It is integral for us to change our foreign policies and current Government.
Abrupt change perhaps cause more damage than it repair…. a continuous but evolutionary phase should move on rather than revolutionary…
Remove religion from politics, governance, education and from any entitlements. Religion is a personal matter. It does not need to be coursed by the state and everyone around you. Have you seen how discriminating the passport application is? I really like the comments from Murali above. Bring a revolution!
No! Politics should come under the religious boundaries. Why are we afraid of Islam? Two multiply by two equals to four and it will remain same as per the rules. Islam has already given us the rules please understand and follow them. Make them popular talk about them , teach about them. We can live happily and with contentment. But if keep on mixing things , reinventing the rules we will creating mess, as you all can observe and witness. Follow Rules but not tempered them for one or other forms.
irfan Munir, 32, IT professional, Lahore
This is the first and most intelligent comment I have seen.If we have more thinkers like Farhan, Pakistan will be a much better country.
Add the word ‘secular’ to the resolution.
This is going to sound biased but think about it.
One Sentence: There should not have been a Pakistan resolution.
Now think about it. It was based on one party’s desire for power 70 years ago – a party that ceased to exist following the first coup in the newly created country.
If the desire was for equal rights for minorities, that could have been achieved in a myriad of ways and to this days, Muslims in India enjoy equal rights as Hindus and Buddhists. Sure there is a long way to go for Indian minorities as well but they are not enshrined in the law like the Blasphemy law or the Sharia during Zia’s time and Hinduism has never had a culture that comes from evangelizing.
Without partition, Muslims would have had even more power than they have today and if you see the coalition politics in India, there is every chance that a party that ruled a Muslim majority state could have been at the center – either ruling or in a king maker’s role.
Silajit Kumar, 45, CEO software company, Houston TX
Are you trying to bribe Us by saying this as above!
” Without partition, Muslims would have had even more power than they have today and if you see the coalition politics in India, there is every chance that a party that ruled a Muslim majority state could have been at the center – either ruling or in a king maker’s role. ”
We need freedom , we have been blessed with it. Now we need the ways to live and will I.A find right ones, Its trial and error . If we commit error then we should promote to say this strategy doesn’t work, try another one ! Instead of saying you are bad , you cannot do this you are ineligible of this. Keep on practicing for perfection but no contention.
irfan Munir, 32, IT professional, Lahore
I follow indian politics regularly and know that Congress and its allies cant be in power without muslim votes since Muslims wont vote for BJP and her allies. THere is some sense in your statement that Muslims could have been in more power in an united India. However minorities dont enjoy equal rights in india. Gujrat riots and Babari masjad are a examples of that. This is a reality please accept it.
Saad Malik
Analyst Sydney
I would add a line/clause saying that efforts should be made to make all Pakistanis (not only Muslims) understand what the Pakistan Resolution is all about, and a sub-clause, that efforts should be made to implement its vision in letter and spirit.
Education must be same for every one.
I strongly agreed and count this as a pillar.
“Redraft the Resolution” is just a meaning less topic because it is well written but poorly implemented.
Sana, Student of Public Policy, Lahore.
To me the resolution was well written, guaranteeing and safeguarding the autonomy of all states that were to unite as Pakistan… The only thing missing today to live the promise back and make the federating units more autonomous because unity always lie in diversity.
So many people are constantly blaming religion for the corruption that is present in Pakistan. Take a second and imagine Pakistan without any religious extremists. Yes, I agree that a few of the problems will be gone, such as oppression in the North, but the corrupt politicians will still be present. I’ve never heard them blame religion for wasting our money, for cheating people, and for not keeping their promises. Alhamdullilah, our religion presents us with an ideal example of a human being, a leader, and a mentor, The Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) who is praised by many world leaders, including Gandhi, Mother Teresa, etc. I don’t think we need to eliminate religion in order to reach the solution. Islam tells us to respect other religions. We don’t need need to eliminate Islam from politics to implement that mindset because clearly, the Quran tells us to respect religions as well.
At the end of the day, the comments made by people enraged me till a certain extent, because most people haven’t read the translation and don’t bother looking into what Islam says about politics, and the example it has given us of a leader. Do your research, and make Pakistan a moderate islamic society. Religon and politics can exist simultaneously as they have successfully in the past before a few people chose to modify the religion, while the rest decided to assume that religion is the root of all problems. Corruption exists outside of religion too, and it’s time you realize that.
Naveen Khan, 18 years old, Business Student, Canada.
True that !
It is already a well written document, the only thing is to follow in its true spirits, otherwise it will again serve as a reference document which need further changes.
Pakistan for all the Pakistanis and not only for Muslims.
need of implemention of Pakistan Resolution
When you say how would you like to redraft the Pakistan Resolution in view of the various challenges facing Pakistan today the implication seems to be that the challenges being faced by Pakistan are due to some shortcomings in the Pakistan Resolution and redrafting the Resolution is ‘the’ solution. Nothing could be farther from truth. At the root of all the challenges facing Pakistan is total deviation from the path suggested by Pakistan’s Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah in his historical address to the nation on 14th August 1947. ‘Tomorrow you will all be citizens of a free country Pakistan. You may go to your mosques, temples or churches to pray but the State will not have anything to do with that. As far as the State is concerned you are all citizens of Pakistan. The State will not discriminate against you because of your religion or the place of your worship’. When the Quaid was asked if democracy and secularism could be compatible with Islam, his reply was, ” Islam is everything that is good and decent and since democracy and secularism are good and decent these are compatible with Islam”. It is gross deviation from this path of enlightened good governance by the successive governments in Pakistan that is solely responsible for all the challenges the country faces today. Get back to the path shown by the Quaid-e-Azam and the challenges will simply vanish. Let the Pakistan Resolution be as it is.
Before posing this question, author should have quoted actual Pakistan Resolution the “Qarardad e Pakistan. Almost all of the comments are just rephrasing it without knowing that the Pakistan resolution of 1940 was a secular one. It turned on its head by the so called Objectives Resolution, the “Qarardad e Maqasid” of 1949 tabled in the first legislative assembly of Pakistan.
Two terms only for the post of president and prime minister. Army totally under civilian control. Independent election and accountibility commission. No ethnic or religious party allowed to participate in elections.
I wouldn’t re-draft the Resolution. Its perfect the way it is.
Its we that have to change to live the resolutions.
I think Pakistan has enormous potential to be South Korea of south Asia. It is interesting to note that Pakistan was a role model for all the developing nations world wide during 60s. How many of you know that Seoul’s (south Korea’s) world trade center is designed in the lines that of Karachi’s one? Solution is simple, revisit the positive side of History. On the religiopolitical front, except a few liberals, majority seems to be in denial mode about how fast the extremism and sectarianism are tightening their grip. state endorsement of them must stop. Islamisation is OK, but Science & technology, trade, religious tolerance should be given equal space. being one of the youngest nations, English speaking, Naturally rich in resources, Pakistan will be second to none if the right policies are introduced. Long wait for a messiah to bail out the country has only created more mess.
The main reason for this state of Pakistan is only due to religious interference in the Politics. Therefore there should be no any religious interference in the Politics. As the Quaid-e-Azam stated in his speach that all the religious are equal. There would not be any interference of the religion in the daily routine of the Pakistani Politics.
There is no need to redraft the Pakistan Resolution.
The answer justifies itself, as someone posing a question : Suppose ! if you are awarded another life whom would you choose to be as your parents ?
A.J.Siddiqui,45 ,private job, Canada.
very true what you said
I would add the following:
-Ban all the religious-political parties (Religion has nothing to do with politics).
-Send Generals on diet; after all we pay for their expensive toys and real-estate investments. It’s about time we put them at a place where they belong – public servants not public abusers.
-Use the money saved from defense cuts to overall the education system.
-Ship “Ghairat-mand” & hate-monger Mullah’s to Kabul.
-Rename the country to its original name that was approved by Jinnah – ‘Pakistan’ – which is not just meant for one sect but for EVERYONE.
Zish Baloch, 30, BI Specialist, Auckland
Given the many challenges faced by the country today, I would redraft the Pakistan Resolution as follows:
“Pakistan will be an independent, autonomous and sovereign country built on the foundations of freedom, justice, peace and happiness, where the fundamental aim of every person and every institution will be to strive to ensure that everyone is entitled to all the unalienable rights and freedoms set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, regional or social origin, property, birth or other status — And for the support of this Resolution, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we the people of Pakistan mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor”
Terence Pinto, 33, Chartered Accountant, Melbourne, Australia
Clearly spell out Pakistan as a secular state. States that enforce Shariah are among the MOST repressive in the world, and adding a few religious terms like “SWT” and Hadith in your laws doesnt make them any more palatable and less horrendous to a modern society.
Pay your taxes… Severe punishment to anybody caught doing corruption from the top to the bottom, and most of all justice for the common man and women..and lastly some kind of health and social service from the collected taxes… I’m sick and tied to the old rubbish, you dug the hole now get yourself out of it
Qamar Rathore. consultant, Switzerland
“Same Education, Same Law, Same Opportunities for all!”
Self realization and a thorough redirection towards our basic Islamic ideals is the essence to the individual, political and economic freedom, that was the embodiment of the original resolution.