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In his letter of June 21,1937, Allama Iqbal wrote to Quaidi-Azam: To my mind the new
Constitution with its idea of a single Indian federation is completely hopeless. A separate
federation of Muslim provinces is the only course by which we can secure a peaceful
India .and get for the Muslims of North West India, the right of self-determination just as
other nations in India and outside India have. After having experienced the dangers of a
constitution in which the Hindus Mere likely to dominate the Muslims permanently, the
League was driven to seek a radical solution.

Muhammad All Jinnah had become the living symbol of Muslim unity. Muslim politics
had so completely centred round him that he had become almost an institution in himself.
People had learnt to repose confidence in the League,. The fear of exploitation by others
of the Muslim platform and sentiment had vanished. Those who were expecting to use the
League for their personal ends were disillusioned and Muslim intelligentsia had regained
the hope of forming the League into a really national organisation.

On March 22, 1940, the Annual Session of the League opened in Lahore amidst scenes of
great enthusiasm. Muhammad AH Jinnah in his presidential address explained the
position in which the Muslims found themselves and said that they were caught between
the devil and the deep sea. The Congress on the one hand and the British government on
the other were trying to put Muslims in an awkward position. The Congress rule of the
past two and a half years had been most deplorable and highly damaging to .the Muslim
interests. Thinking about the shadowing political events, Quaid-iAzam spelled out: As
soon as the circumstances permit or immediately after the War (WWII) at the least, the
whole problem of India's future constitution must be examined an. the Act of 1935 must
go once and for all. We don't believe in asking the British government to make
declarations. These declarations are really of no use. You cannot possibly succeed in
getting the British government out of this country by asking them to make declaration.
He, then, criticised the Congress attitude towards the constitutional problem and-its
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British subjugation for a separate homeland where they could live peacefully according to
the teachings of Holy Quran an the Si nnah. ,

People of the Subcontinent struggled hard against all odds for more tan seven long years
after the passage of the Resolution :i under a scrupulously honest, incorruptible leader,
Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad AH Jinnah who finally achieved the cherished dream- ^
Pakistan. It was mainly due to the "integrity of character" of the !* Quaid-i-Azam that the
Muslim masses had blind faith and trust in -t him and he too never failed them and
eventually achieved what was no less than a miracle-a homeland of our dreams. Thus he
achieved Pakistan through the force of faith and through a constitutional and non-violent
method and means.

Fifty-six years after the adoption of Lahore Resolution in

1940, later known as the Pakistan Resolution, we, in Pakistan, find ourselves at a cross
and are finding it difficult which way to go To be precise, we are a bewildered nation.

The decades that followed after independence saw the failure of the successors to frame a
Constitution early. And even when one was framed and enforced on March 23, 1956, it
failed to take off by holding a country-wide general election to usher in a democratic
stable government. Not that alone. It continued to be punctuated by periodic Martial Law
and semi-Martial Law regimes. The end result was a wide spread frustration and
disintegration of the county in December 1971.

The pursuit for the realisation of the fundamental objective for the establishment of
Pakistan further weakened and the grip of the inimical forces strengthened beyond
reception. Today, we find ourselves in the midst of a dispensation which goes to
furthering the cause of concentration of wealth in a few hands. The policy of equitable
distribution of wealth and resources for generation of wealth has been relegated to the
cold storage. Just as Iqbal though of the Islamic Shariat to provide an equitable system of
economy for amelioration of the conditions of the Muslim masses bogged into grim
poverty as a result of centuries-old imperialistic exploitation, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad
Ali Jinnah also spelled out the intent to implant the objective set forth during the Pakistan
Movement. March 23, even after 56- years of its passage, continues to indicate that the
objective is still to be achieved.

Creation of Pakistan marked an unprecedented historic event with far-reaching

consequences. For one thins, never before had a habitat been torn apart from a hostile
which constituted the core of the concept of Muslim nationhood.

Assembly. Finally, he outlined the Muslim demand in most emphatic terms:

"The problem of India is not of an inter-communal but manifestly of an international

character and must be treated as such. So long as this basic and fundamental truth is not
realised, any constitution that may be built will result in disaster and will prove
destructive not only to Muslims but to the British and Hindus also. If the British
government is really earnest and sincere to secure peace and happiness of the people of
this subcontinent, the only course open to us all is to allow the major nations separate
homeland by dividing into autonomous National States. There is no reason why these
states should be antagonistic to each other. On the other hand, the revelry and the natural
desire and efforts on the part of the one to dominate the social order and establish
political supremacy over the other in the government of the country will disappear. This
will lead more towards natural goodwill by international pacts between them and they
can live in complete harmony.

It is extremely difficult to appreciate why our Hindu friends fail to understand the real
nature of Islam and Hinduism. They are not religions in the strict sense of the world, but
are in fact quite different and distinct social orders and it is a dream that Hindus and
Muslims can ever evolve a common nationality. The Hindus and Muslims belong to two
different religious philosophies, social customs, art and literature. They neither inter-
marry nor inter-dine and, indeed they belong to two different civilisations which are
based mainly on conflicting ideas and conceptions. Their outlook on life and of life is
different. It is quite clear that Hindus and Muslims derive their inspiration from different
sources of history. To yoke to together two such nations under a single state, one as a
numerical minority and the other as a majority, must lead to growing discontent and final
destruction of any fabric that may be so built up for the government of such a state."

On the next day, i.e., March 23, 1940, the Open Session of the Ali India Muslim League
passed its historical resolution which ultimately changed the dVeam of Muslims into
reality,

March 23 is almost a red letter day of great historical importance and reverence for
Pakistan which the day assumed 56 years ago in the city of Lahore. It was on this day that
in 1940 the Muslims of the then undivided India under the dynamic leadership of Quaid-
i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah unanimously decided to launch an independent struggle
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The bitter truth, however, is that far from being perched on the pedestal of leadership, we
are enmeshed in an abysmal state of disarray. We have lost half of our country and the
other half is at war with itself. What brutalities are being committed in Karachi is a sure
indication that we are drifting to a suicidal end. Why has this disaster happened? Why
this steep fall?

When you survey the hazardous course of the freedom struggle, you see no extraordinary
people around who waged it. They were ordinary run of people, the Same who inhabit the
land today. However, what made them different was the fact that there stood in their
midst the towering personality of the Quaid-i-Azam who irretrievably bound them to an
unshakeable allegiance to the cause. But dint of faith and high moral conduct, he
provided an inspiration which raised them to a place of endeavour and sacrifice which
couldn't be frustrated. The stature of the nation was enlarged by virtue of the sheer
conviction and character of the leader. They were roused to a overwhelmed the might of
their antagonists. The motto of "unity, faith, discipline" had made them invincible.

The question is: have we forfeited the heritage of the Mujahideen who wrought the
miracle of Pakistan? The answer is simple-while the people have not changed, the
charisma of leadership has evaporated. No one jfollowed in the footsteps of the Quaid,
not even Liaqat AH Khan. Noteader arose to rally the nation against the dishonest and
insincere leadership disintegration of Pakistan. No movement is underway to nullify the
designs of those who want Karachi to be wrenched apart so that Pakistan cannot survive.
The nation which has benefited with an ideology to guide the destiny of man has been
deprived of its will-power and sense of direction. The abject lesson of our degradation is
that the fate of a people is hinged on the quality of leadership. Since we are leaderless, we
have become underlings. Even our nationhood and sovereignty looks dubious.

To Quaid, Pakistan was to be an Islamic democracy, a democracy which would strive

towards the establishment of what he called the Islamic principles of social justice and of
equality of man, democracy which would contribute toward' the onward march of the
Renaissance of Islamic culture and ideals." In his address to the Assembly of Pakistan on
August 11, 1947 as the first governorgeneral of the state of his own creation, the Quaid
said: "One of the biggest curses from which India is suffering is bribery and corruption.
We must put that down here (in Pakistan) with an iron hand..."

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Outrightly condemning the back marketers, he went on the say: "They (the black
marketers) ought to be severely punished because they undermine the entire system of
control and regulations of food stuff and essential commodities and cause wholesale
starvation, want and even death ..."

The Quaid wanted a changed in the government officers outlook and their adherence to a
code of conduct. In an address to the Chittagong officers on March 25,1948, he observed:

"Whichever government was formed according to the Constitution and whoever became
the Prime Minister of Minister, their duty was to serve that government loyally and
faithfully and at the same time fearlessly maintain their high reputation, their prestige,
honour, dignity and integrity of service, it was none of their business to have a hand in
supporting this political party or that political party. The officers should see that not only
justice was done but the people are made to feel that justice was done ... " Quaid's last
Independence Day message was:

"Nature has given.you everything: you have got unlimited resources. The foundation of
your state has been laid and it is now for you to build and build quickly and as well as
you can. So go ahead and I wish you God-speed."

As against Quaid's ideals that is the present situation obtaining in the country? When
Pakistan came into being. It was a rich country of poor people. Now after about half a
century of its existence, it is a poor country with a small minority of the rich and an
overwhelming majority of the people born in poverty, living and dying in poverty,
suffering under unemployment, inflation, law and order situation, ethnic and sectarian
hatred and clashes. Forty per cent of the population has no access to safe, potable
drinking water, while the entire coverage of rural water supply is only 47 per cent of the
population. This is a clear betrayal of Quaid's vision of Pakistan. How has this happened?

Immediately after the death of the Quaid-i-Azam, bureaucracy started ruling the roost in
Pakistan. This was facilitated by the absence of a political culture in the country due to
lack of a Constitution, deliberately delayed to deny the people their birthright of being
ruled "by their representatives through fair and transport elections. The bureaucrats, both
civil and military were not trained to accept the concept of people's participation in
government decision-making and the dominance of the genuinely elected leadership in
government policy-making or, for that matter, public scrutiny of government operation.
The system of governance232 Emporium Current Essays

assumed the form of neo-colonialism-an extension of the British ,

systt m. .•>: •-«.,!•

The Quaid had categorically stated that if there were landlordism and capitalism in
Pakistan, he would not have such a Pakistan. But after the establishment of Pakistan, the
feudal leadership gave to landlordism a fresh lease of life in the country.

The honeymooning among the bureaucracy, landlords and industrialists has remained
unchecked throughout the political-cumeconomic history of Pakistan. MNAs and MPAs
have ahvays been the by-product of this process. So all of them have been sharing the
spoils of the exploited economy at the cost of the common man. But what is the way
out? Socio-economic development requires individuals with ideas to develop
institutions for their implementation. But in Pakistan no permanent institutions exist
in

any field of life.

To live up to Quaid's ideals for which he toiled hard we

need to rise above petty differences, sink our ethnic, sectarian and political differences to
turn this country into a peaceful welfare sate and true Islamic polity. What we need is
scrupulously honest sincere leadership with integrity of character to save this country and
run it as visioncd by the Father of the Nation. We should do it now before its too late to
make amends.-