Jinnah’s dream and the reality

Tomorrow marks the 65th independence day of Pakistan. The country has witnessed many conflicts, victories, triumphing moments and political dilemmas, however, many people across the globe still believe that the country is far from achieving the ‘paradise’ that Jinnah and his team aimed to establish.

With a history of coups and constant battle of power amongst different state institutions, coupled with anarchy and militancy, Pakistan has failed to harbour political and economic stability.

Jinnah dreamt of a secular state where minorities and Muslims could live congenially but given the current state of affairs, including forced conversions, fundamentalism and sectarian violence, have Jinnah’s dreams materialised?

Are the rulers and policymakers of Pakistan working to create the country which was founded on the grounds of humanity and coexistence?

Are we, as common citizens, working in our own capacity towards a better Pakistan and society where rights are mutually accepted and respected?

And most importantly had Jinnah foreseen the contemporary Pakistan, would he had ventured out to create a separate state for Muslims?

 

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99 Responses to “Jinnah’s dream and the reality”

  1. NASAH (USA) says:

    The way the things are ‘progressing’ in Pakistan since its inception — Jinnah’s dream will remain a dream for the foreseeable future.

  2. Nabarun Dey says:

    Jinnah created Pakistan but he was half Muslim. I suggest, keep the religion at bay and Pakistan will Prosper.

  3. U Gupta says:

    Mr. Jinnah wanted to become Governor General of India and may be Prime Minister and Nehru did not permit him. It was typical political fight. Jinnah had nothing to do with Muslims or Hindus. He was a great lawyer who made lot of money and enjoyed good life.

    All other discussions is of no use.

  4. Dr Rajesh Gupta says:

    This is an interesting article with equally interesting comments. This is the first time I see Indian and pakistanis not abusing each others religion on a forum. most of the comments are bit restraint and civilized and in good faith. Thats a very encouraging sign. Actually i presume whosoever is using internet and english is got to be educated. but i feel really sad when these so called educated people starts abusing each other and give comments which are shameful, esp as it is not expected from civilzed society. I hope that good sense will prevail, and people will come forward . We can develop peacefully toghether and prosper or we can fight till eternity and perish. Choice is ours. Counter the communal forces on both sides and come out triumphant. May god bless both these country.

  5. atif javed says:

    I am surprised to read this article that it has been published without asking the writer to substantiate the substance.
    For example, he talked of the forced conversions, has he taken into account the religious conversions
    taking place over the globe, even in USA and for that matter India where Islam is the fastest growing
    religion. Are the converters from Christianity and Hinduism in USA and India forced too.

    Who said that Quaid-e-Azam wanted a secular state. Quaid repeatedly said that Quran is the book
    which would guide Pakistanis to determine the form of government. Yes talking of rights of
    minorities, these have been amply explained in Islam and are not lesser then any other nation or for
    that matter secular states.
    Islam says don’t spread rumors without verification terming it a lie. Unfortunately to give a high blood pressure to the article, writer has just quoted gimmicks and rumors without any substantial proof. This is what I call JOURNALISM OF OPINION not the facts.

  6. sharin says:

    it’s ridiculous to blame a country for the people ills-what is required is that, everyone of us follow the basic good laws ,that Allah gave us, to maintain good relations with all humankind.Quid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah Was a Great Man,liked and respected well by friends and foe alike(May Allah rest his soul in peace,Ameen)He did his part in this world,now it is our turn.

  7. Human says:

    Education and exposure to the world outside the boundaries of Islam will help Pakistan.

    You must be the change you want to see in the world – Gandhi

    All the best Pakistan!

  8. ROHIT PANDEY says:

    Let me ASSERT once again: Mohammed Ali Jinnah wanted a SECULAR state.

    He PURPOSEFULLY CHOSE a National Anthem ( was discarded later and a Persianized version chosen!)

    written by a Hindu – Jagannath Azad.

    A Minister in his cabinet was JOGENDRA NATH MANDAL a Dalit from East Bengal who was his Minister

    for Justice…he later resigned and migrated to live in Calcutta – he protested against ill treatment of

    Hindus in then E Pakistan.

    His resignation letter is available in Wikipedia.

    Another Hindu DHIRENDRA DUTTA wanted Bengali to be given a place of importance which never

    happened.He was a member of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan and resigned in protest.

    His,views and standpoint were however remembered and he was killed by Pakistani forces in Dacca in

    run up to the 1971 India Pakistan war.

    The one and ONLY way Pakistan can turn around is being BRUTALLY HONEST with yourselves – you

    need to introspect and introspect with HONESTY and bear the PAIN that goes with it!

    Good luck!

  9. dileep says:

    Can Pakistanis , at least now learn to come to terms with 2012 rather than keep brooding over the so called dream of Jinnah ?

    This , perhaps would be the third generation after 1947 ; Is it not still grappling with its legitimacy ?
    Now that you have a nation for Muslims , the best you need to do is prove by your actions that It in deed stands for Peace and Move on..

    You have been kept busy for the past 65 years is a false sense of insecurity against India and hence the periodic fodder for some pretext to be anti India .

    It is the people that make a nation and not the other way around . The early Pakistanis realize this the better it is for the peace for its people and hence their prosperity ..

    Now that India has moved way forward .. come to another term : you need to draw benefits of being friend rather than follow the now failed policy of anti Indian-ism..

    I am sure there still are millions of sane folks in today’s Pakistan . I believe they will see reason and not merely religion …

    The least that can be done is: May be do not be friends with India but you would loose if you perpetuate enmity towards it…

    Think again !!

    • Mudassir baloch says:

      When i came across the view of people talking about jinnah,s dream, it give the impression that our nation is standing where jinnah had left it. we are not only progressing in terms of material progress but also not progressing in terms of mental uplift.Jinnah gave his dream according to his common sense which is based on the available knowledge at that time.now the time has changed and also the requirements of state has also changed. i believe those who talk about jinnah,s dream do not want to move forfard rather drag the country to the pas.

  10. Secular Paksitan says:

    Jinnah’s dream has been turned into a nightmare.

    By allowing reilgion to enter in it’s veins, Pakistan has poisended all of its institutions. It saddens me to think so many Pakistanis, even after all the death and destruction, from the loss of its eastern half to now its remaining peices being ripped part are still putting their hope in an Islamic solution.

    There is no such thing as an Islamic welfare state. No one knows what this means. Name one Islamic state of today, starting with Saudi Arabia or from any in the past that would be indentified as such. Nowhere in history did this state ever exist unless we want to distort and view history with our blinders on.

    How about a secular state where all citizens rights are protected via universal human values.

    Pakistan needs to come out of its religio / feudal / tribal, mentality and enter the modern world. Until then the death march to exticntion contiues.

    Un-Happy 65th Birthday, Pakistan. Wishing you all more of, hopefully not the same.

  11. nisarchowdhari says:

    I am surprised by the editorial policy of Dawn, I thought that Dawn should always remain true to its ideology This newspaper was founded by the creator of Pakistan and the sacrifices that Haroon Family has given for Pakistan is well documented and even at the times of the clampdown of Field Marshal Ayub Khan Dawn had been true to its mission.,so how come we are now seeing so many anti Pakistan comments in the forum Pakistan is a country created for muslims but since there are other Nations also they are allowed equal rights but the country was made to become a place where we will again have a new thinking of to-days Islam not what we have of our muslim rulers but a real Islamic State

  12. Igloo says:

    Why the big deal about Jinnah’s view of Pakistan? He was one man out of 40 million. He played the lead role in negotiations and did a great job. At the time of the Pakistan movement many many people worked hard to make it happen. They all had views on what kind of country they wanted.

    The question is: are you happy with your Pakistan? Jinnah and the Partition Muslims left us a country – a country without very much in it other than people but a country nonetheless. That was the best they could do. What do you want to leave your children? What is the best you can do?

    • Sanjay says:

      i disagree if jinnah made this nation for islam than he can ask all hindu to get out of pak he never think islam practice in danger but their right and voice can remain unheard due to majority of hindus and he also want to show to india that how good the how good the minority should be treated but their fall in all three front islam accept the sunni is in danger in pak second democracy is in pressur of army and judicary and third minority suffering while in india contary to him flowring mistake is what pak people still don’t know what he want and army and argument is going on

  13. Nasser Ali Khan says:

    The author has got his facts wrong. If Jinnah had wanted a secular state, he would have not demanded Pakistan. That would have been a contradiction. The need for Pakistan arose because Jinnah and the majority Muslim population of pre-independence India felt that as Muslims they would not be able to practice their religion they wanted. Whether they were right or wrong is a seperate matter.

    The fact is Jinnah and majority Muslims wanted an Islamic state. The definition of an Islamic state is that the laws will be Islamic based. This means EVERYONE would be able vto practice whatever faith he or she belongs to or not belong to. As a Muslim for example, I should be free to attend a mosque, or fast, or say my prayers. I do not see any reason why if I was a Hindu, why I couldn’t attend a temple or have a Hindu procession, or enjoy Holi. It is noy as if you can have one and not the other.

    But as Muslims, the sizeable minority has forgotton that Islam is for Humanity and not just Muslims. How Allah will judge EACH of us human beings, is HIS job not ours. We are all humans and our beliefs and practices are our own.

    • Hassan Parvez says:

      Nasser Ali Khan is in a state of denial as most of the Pakistani citizens. Mr. Jinnah struggled to create Pakistan as a secular state and he named it Republic of Pakistan, only after his death Liaquat Ali Khan changed the name to Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the founder had made it very clear in his first speech to the new Parliament that Pakistan is a secular state. The only reason to make a separate country for the minority Indian Muslims was to ensure econoic prosperity for Muslims as they were mostly uneducated and could not compete with Indian Hindus who were more educated and were able to get good jobs.
      Nasser’s view that Pakistan was made only for religious freedom of Muslims is completely wrong. Muslims were living in undivided India for hundreds of years and among the other minorities, Muslim population was increasing at a much higher rate.

    • Armagan says:

      I think you have misconstrued a term, Jinnah wanted a Muslim state, not an Islamic one. the difference being one run on Islamic law (Islamic state), one a modern state for muslims not necessarily linked to any one interpretation of Islam. In fact one of his most famous sayings is religion has nothing to do with the running of a state, he was staunchly secular.

      I am only now beginning to see he was actually right, and understood us Pakistanis much better than even we ourselves today understand ourselves.

    • Osman Siddiqi says:

      So I’m not here to disagree with you, I actually sort of agree with you, but there is a funny contradiction in your comment.

      Jinnah propagated Pakistan as an Islamic bulwark and a state for Muslims to achieve their self-determination. Note that a state for Muslims is different from an Islamic state. Take some of the Central Asian Republics for example.

      He also vouched heavily for secularism in the country because he feared the same level of oppression on minorities in Pakistan as was perceived to exist heavily in India. (Pseudo)Islamic value imposition on minorities.

      Now what you said was that he didn’t want a secular state and he wanted an Islamic state. You further said that as an Islamic state those being governed would be free to practice whatever they wished to. Inherently that’s secularist and clearly not mutually exclusive to the idea of an actual Islamic state.

      On a tangent, I feel a large part of the controversy also comes from the Urdu-English gap. Not in the populace, but for example – what is the translation for secular in Urdu? The closest thing I can find is ‘la deeni’ which if back translated simply means No Religion or Without Religion.

      And we wonder why there’s such a backlash against the push of secularism.

  14. ROHIT PANDEY says:

    Had Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s dream materialized Pakistan would have been like India…at least in it’s political set up.

    It would have been Pakistan,a SECULAR state with a large Hindu minority.

    Pakistan today is Islamic with 1% Hindu minority and truncated from what was created in 1947.

    It seems a country without a direction and purpose with Islamism leading it to it’s demise.

    The road ahead for Pakistan is steep,up a slippery slope and Pakistanis,it seems to me,are negotiating

    with their hands tied behind their back- under the burden of ‘Islamism”..you need all the luck in the

    world to get out of this !

  15. Muneeb Ahmed says:

    Dream and reality. Well its the dream that makes one awe in wonder as to what they, our forefathers, have given us and its the reality that frightens me as i think we do not have a lot of remaining time to realize that we might loose our freedom. What have we lost in this era of looting. we have lost a lot of values that directly threaten our sovereignty. We have lost faith. We have lost traditions. We have lost the true meaning of being a muslim. We have been engaged in the imposed petty problems for a long time which takes all our time. Hence the lack of philosophical understanding of the life, advancement in science and technology, values and traditions and more. We believe in revolution but do not want to be the one starting it. We believe in rights but are tamed to the brutal lack of electricity. We belive in equality but feel proud to be named with a cast. Yes, its depressing yet thats what the reality is. Core problem. Lack of education. Permanant and only one solution: Free education for all under 18. Parents should recieve punishments by law for not sending children to school. Day wage for the poorly students should be regulated. Private school system should be kicked out of our socity. Highest pays for the teachers. If all this happens today, it would take us atleast 15 years to come back to the level where rest of teh world stands. Think.

  16. sanjay says:

    hello friends.. happy independence day.

    Jinnah made Pakistan for Pakistanis and now they have all the rights to make it or break it, in a secular way or Sharia way.

    In today’s world democracy has failed, ever since UN was left meaningless and various wars were waged for oil or whatever. Similarly, Islamic nations over years have gone from being myopic to near total blindness in their ways.

    I guess nature is designing another extinction. i way to clean to the mother earth beautifully crafted in evolution.

    • A. Ali says:

      well said mr. sanjay. a tad pessimistic but seems true.

      Happy Independence to your country too.

  17. surinder says:

    I wonder why even after 65 years as independent nations, indians and pakistanis show so much interest in the internal happenings of the other country. It is not so say with indians and bangladeshis. Should it not be better that we wish each other well and move on rather than giving commentries and sermons.

    • Naeem says:

      Surinder, we take so much interest in each others nation because behind all the hostility we are one people. I do not know why but my heart swells with pride when I see India achieve great things although I know I am a Pakistani. similarly I feel as disappointed as nay Indian when India looses a game of cricket against Australia or UK. Perhaps behind all this hostility we secrely admire each other becuase we know that we were one once upon a time. We both can move on but I doubt we will ever be able to forget our natural ties with each other. And by the way , this not how I feel about our other neighbours, Iran, Russia, China, etc.

  18. Kaly says:

    Pakistan was created on the basis of religion, that is true. But then why all Muslim didn’t moved to Pakistan? why they stayed in India.

    Personally I feel it would have been better if all Muslims would have moved to Pakistan, while others would have been in India. Then there is no riot, no conflicts, no vote bank politics in India…apna apna ghar me sab kush….

    • Armagan says:

      2 thirds of India’s Muslims did actually live in Pakistan, read your history books.

    • Silajit says:

      Dimaag kharaab ho gaya hai? South Asians will always find something to fight about. It has been the case since before Emperor Ashok and it is the same thing today.
      If its not Hindu Muslim, its Shia Sunni or Linguistic, or Caste based.

      Desis in the subcontinent should be happy that we are split across so few countries.
      Having said that, here’s wishing everyone in the subcontinent a VERY HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY.

  19. Vasant says:

    Who muslim go to Madrsa school OR Urdu school They having lot problem in india My All muslim friends went english School having govt job in india

  20. Sid says:

    Pakistan can never become what Jinnah envisioned until & unless we, the masses, of Pakistan stand up to the tyranny of our corrupt civilian leaders & the terror of our army & its affiliated intelligence services.. Egyptians, Tunisians, Libyans and now Syrians shed their ‘fear’ of the state & the armed forces and other institutions had to fall in line behind the public.. So UNLESS, we, Pakistanis are willing to shed our fear that we live in day-to-day from the army, or even militant organizations.. nothing will change.

    Time for secular Pakistanis & all those who want to see Jinnah’s Pakistan to pick up arms & form a FREE PAKISTAN ARMY ‘cuz we have been pushed to a corner & our backs are against the wall.. All mullahs, tehriks, hari-pagri, lashkars, etc have to be eliminated from the face of this sacred country for it to survive!

    • Mikal says:

      That statement as Pakistan will become even more extremist if the masses rise up as they are considerably more extreme in their views and perceptions of Islam than those at the top. However, I agree that the masses must begin to make their weight felt otherwise there is nothing to force these leaders to to anything in their long term interest.

  21. Madan says:

    Lots of time and cyber space has been wasted on speculation as to why things are the way they do in Pakistan and India. This is all a worthless effort. As a true believer, everything happens as ordered by the HIM and we humans have no say in that. nor can we change our Kismat. So let us go back to what we do and the do the stuff we have always done them. May be He would take pity and make our lot a trifle better by sending some fresh air our way.

  22. salman says:

    My grand father who is almost 87 years old he informed me and still living till today alhamdulilah a man who saw jinnah by his own eyes he informed me very wall Jinnah never created a secular pakistan this nation is created on basis of 2 nation theory now i believe it is very important to record his interview and people like him who saw how pakistan was made they know the truth dawn news of liars

  23. A.Vetta says:

    I have argued for some time that Mr Jinnah was a great leader FOR independent India. By creating Pakistan he condemned the people of Pakistan to the mercy of would be Khalifas whether in uniform or not. Had India remained united some Muslim Generals of the Army would surely have found some Hindu Generals of their ilk and not have allowed democracy to take root. This would have taken India to the state where Pakistan is today. I also argue, with apology to Amritya Sen, that the real value of democracy is that it allows the establishment of many Centres of Power which, inevitably, leads to progress as many brains compete against each other. A society like Pakistan where there is only one Centre of Power, namely, Pak Army the progress of the country depends on the wisdom of dictators or lack of it.

  24. does not matter says:

    I think Jinnah either had no clue what he wanted or he failed miserably to convey what he wanted. If he wanted a secular country then there was no need for partition of India as congress indeed was pushing for a secular India with every one being equal irrelevant of their cast, creed, gender, religion etc. If he wanted a Sharia based country then he contradicted himself when he said people can follow their religion in free Pakistan as this would just just meant a religious freedom but entire social structure and justice system based on Sharia which in my opinion is not very favorable to “non-believers”. Also his vision is questionable since he saw partition which i am sure would have made him think what people can do in name of religion and this could be one reason he did not push a constitution based on Sharia otherwise why would Pakistan be so late in forming a constitution if everything was laid for them in form of Sharia.

    • Agha Ata says:

      Mr. DNM, you made me think again. and It does matter. :)

    • Shafi says:

      Surely you are living on the other side of the border. Jinnah did not fail as you put it. He got a new country on the map. Unfortunately his early demise did not allow the country to progress as he envisioned. You have to find out what Sharia means. I would suggest you Google ‘Sharia’ and look it up on Wikipedia. You might be surprised to find that our 12 man jury system was part of Sharia.

      • does not matter says:

        Are you saying that entire vision and idea of Pakistan was depending upon just one man and no one else beside him was capable enough to carry that idea? If that is the case, then again it is a failure of Jinnah who could not choose right people to side along with him to bear the torch of progress for Pakistan.May be he was too idealistic or naive to understand the people around him who were just looking for an opportunity to grab the power after him.

      • ssm says:

        I did all my groundwork on this…and found that muslim business man dealing with Congress feel that the Hindus would takeover and never give them their due share in the independent india so they supported Jinnah and pakistan created.

  25. Huda says:

    Listen to Jinnah’s own words and then decide:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXXwECs_oMQ&feature=g-hist

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