Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah in his August 11, 1947, speech categorically stated to make Pakistan happy and prosperous, every citizen was ‘ first, second, last ‘, irrespective of class, creed, and color a Pakistani. They can go to their places of worship without discrimination.
The spirit embodied in his address was that of a tolerant Pakistan. He followed it up by including a Hindu and an Ahmedi in his Cabinet. The First Speaker of the Constituent Assembly was a Hindu who opted for Pakistan despite partition. At the time of Partition, we had 23 percent non-Muslim minorities.
Objectives Resolution of 1949 laid down the foundational principles for the functioning of the State, providing a preamble for its Constitution. Quaid’s vision aside, intense debates started around Islamisation in the 1950s before the Constitution of 1956. In 1959 West Pakistan Auqaf Properties Ordinance was promulgated which led to the establishment of the Auqaf and Religious Affairs Department in 1960. In 1972 the Department moved to the provincial level. As of today, we have 548 shrines under Auqaf. Most of the guardians or Peers of these shrines are politicians and have served as a tool of the power game. It is still going on in the country by Peers or makhdooms who are apt at hooking their followers to their political ambitions in the name of spiritualism.
The Auqaf Ordinance was the product of military ruler General Ayub Khan to attract religious sentiment as he, like any other military ruler, lacked public support. The other was his alliance with America and he worked on the centuries-old formula of the troika of the King, Church, and Army to support the American-driven capitalist model. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto brought awam into focus yet he too used Islam with his Socialist manifesto. General Zia ul Haq went out unchecked with his Islamisation while fighting the Americans’ proxy war in Afghanistan. Culture, arts, and anything remotely opposite to his version of Islam was snubbed. Literature and media too become Islalmised or in case of even a slight defiance banned or punished.. The spirituality of Baba Ji ‘ was introduced to provide solace to the agonized people in the country. Drugs and arms led to armed conflicts. Sectarianism reached its zenith.
General Musharraf brought in his version of enlightened moderation and after the initial promise of bringing some sanity started a military misadventure raising religious sentiment in its wake. Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif could have brought Pakistan to normalcy but they squandered their opportunities in the face of the power game. In certain cases, sectarian groups were enrolled as partners by these parties. Imran Khan gave his Islamic touch and was nudged by Braveli school of thought which consists of shrine goers. An additional factor was the introduction of superstitions and paranormal forces.
Today we have 30000 Madaris and 10000 seminaries in Pakistan. Wafqul Madris ul Arabia linked to the Deobandi sect in Pakistan has 29000 Madaris. 2.5 million students are studying there who can become warriors at one call. Thousands of Taliban have returned from Afghanistan as a result of goodwill gesture and according to strategic depth, a notion propelled by General Hamid Gul and now being followed by his ardent admirers. With so many religious rituals and spirituality everywhere, Pakistan should have been a haven for the faithful but that is not the case.
Ironically, Pakistanis come out in thousands of numbers to back Kashmir, Palestine, and Bosnia while the rest of Ummah, except a few, prefer to shake hands with the perpetrators of genocide, namely Israel and the US.
We have an Islamic nuclear bomb that we showcase to frighten our enemies. We burn out buildings, block roads, and kill in the name of religion, women and minorities in particular. At the time of partition, we had 23 percent non-Muslims. At present, we have only 2.14 percent Hindus, 1.27 percent Christians, 0.09 percent others. We celebrate every religious festival with unbridled enthusiasm. Yet Ramadan is the month of hoarding and traffic jams with badmouthing by commuters at its peak.
This brings us to this basic question: with so much religiosity on display everywhere, why do we stand at the lowest rankings in the index of corruption, poverty, bad governance, human rights, and justice and why does our passport carry one of the lowest credibility? Any answers?
