Jinnah wanted a secular Pakistan
Shabir Choudhry
Director, Institute of Kashmir
Affairs
As a matter of a policy I avoid writing on history
and politics of Pakistan .
But those who project that Mohammed Ali Jinnah wanted a theocratic state are
not doing any service to Pakistan .
And using that as a pretext these people have set their eyes on Kashmir . These people have twisted and abused the above
topic so much that facts are clouded by their propaganda. And it is in this
context that I felt obliged to put the record straight. In doing so I am aware
of the fact that I am inviting criticism from this very powerful lobby.
Muslim League was the vehicle used to achieve Pakistan . Let
us look at what was the purpose to set up this party of Muslims. The Muslim
League was set up on 28
December 1906 in Dhaka, with the following objectives:
·
To promote
among Muslims a feeling of loyalty to the British government and to remove
misunderstandings;
·
To protect and
advance the political rights and interests of Muslims, and to represent
properly their needs and aspirations to the British government; and
·
To prevent the
rise of hostility among Muslims toward other communities.
(Source:
'Quaaid-i- Millat Liaquat Ali Khan', Page 27, by Ziuauddin Ahmed).
The Muslim League, which was dominated by landlords
and Westernised elite, closely followed the policy of Sir Syed Ahmed and did
not want to annoy the British. They wanted to show that like Hindus, Muslims
are also loyal to the British. It is partly because of this strategy that the
Muslim League opposed the Khilafat Movement led by Maulana Mohammed Ali. This
Movement was against the British and in support of Turkey . It is surprising that the
Congress openly supported this Movement, which was popular with the Muslim
Masses; and Mr Gandhi was at the forefront of this. Mr Jinnah told Gandhi that
the Congress should not get involved in this, as it was a religious issue and
religion and politics should be kept separate.
(Source: 'Pakistan -The
formative phase', pages 48-50, by Khalid Sayeed).
This explains what was the thinking and philosophy
of the Party which was used as a vehicle to "make" Pakistan . Now
let us see the thinking and political philosophy of the man who was at the helm
of affairs. Mohammed Ali Jinnah formally assumed the responsibility of the
President of Muslim League in 1935, after his return from England . He
firmly believed that religion and politics must be kept separate, and one could
see the strength of his views by his speech made in the Legislative Assembly of
India, he said:
"I, Sir,
stand here with a clear conscience and I say that I am a nationalist first, a
nationalist second, and a nationalist last….I once more appeal to this House,
whether Mussulman or a Hindu, for God's sake, do not import the discussion of
communal maters into this House and degrade this Assembly which we desire
should become a real national Parliament".
(Source:
'Islamic concept of a modern state', page 27, by Dr Muhammad Shaffique).
This clearly tells what was the real thinking of the
man. But after his bitter experience in dealing with Gandhi and Nehru, and
especially after the elections of 1937, forced him to change his strategy.
Allama Iqbal had always encouraged him to spearhead the Pan Islamic Movement.
Allama Iqbal once said that:
"One
lesson I have learnt from the history of Muslims. At critical moments in their
history it is Islam that has saved the Muslims and not vice versa".
(Source: 'Pakistan -The
formative phase', page 1, by Khalid Sayeed).
Apart from these factors, Mr Jinnah also witnessed
during the Khilafat Movement that Muslims aroused in the name of Islam and a
mass movement started. In order to achieve Pakistan he wanted a slogan to get
the mass support, and he used that very successfully. He made hundreds of
speeches that he wanted Pakistan
for Muslims in the name of Islam. This became a very popular slogan and Muslims
throughout the Sub Continent were ready to sacrifice their lives. Some
commentators, after analysing the above development, believe that: "Jinnah had to bring Islam into his
programme in order to win mass support".
(Source:
'Islamic concept of a modern state', page 28, by Dr Muhammad Shaffique).
Many Muslim scholars of the time, especially of
Jamiyyat -al -Ulama -e -Hind, seriously suspected the religious commitment of
the Muslim League as they had secular back ground and little Islamic knowledge.
They thought Muslim League was using the name of Islam to push through their
political agenda, and they had many other reasons for opposing this movement.
Molana Maududi, Amir Jamat e Islami, also opposed Mr Jinnah and his demand for Pakistan . While
speaking to students of Aligarh ,
he said:
"A
particular type of revolution demands the same type of movement, the same type
of leaders and workers and same type of social consciousness and cultural and
moral atmosphere". In his view the 'people who did
not care for Islamic values would create a state which would not be Islamic, it
would not be Kingdom
of God but be a Kingdom of Jungle '.
(Source:
'Islamic concept of a modern state', page 35, by Dr Muhammad Shaffique).
Most people, who claim that Mr Jinnah wanted to
create an Islamic State, only quote his speeches made during the campaign for Pakistan . They
dismiss his earlier statements by saying that Mr Jinnah changed from secular to
an Islamic leader, after assuming the leadership of the Muslim League. This
transformation, they believe, was complete when he launched his demand for Pakistan in
1940.
But these people very conveniently forget his speech
he made to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on August 11, 1947 . In his speech, Jinnah
explained the core of his philosophy, his ideas, and his vision of the new
state he had founded. He said:
"You are free, free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship in this state of
(Source:Constituent
Assembly of Pakistan Debates, vol 1 no 2, 11 August 1947, page 20)
From the above one can clearly tell that he wanted
to establish a Muslim
State , which is, of
course, different to an Islamic state. Arif Hussain in his book, 'Pakistan : Its
ideology and Foreign Affairs', on page 22, commented: Jinnah was not religious from the point of view of Islamic dogma.
Pakistan was not to be an Islamic state because Islam was not used as a
programme, only as a slogan, to achieve its creation'.
From the time when the Lahore Resolution was passed
until Pakistan
became reality, Mr Jinnah spoke in support of an Islamic State. He could not
have said to the people that he wanted to set up a liberal and democratic
state. But that is exactly what he wanted to do. He was a secular minded person
who believed in liberal and democratic values, but he could not have sold this
to his people, as they did not fully appreciate the value of these ideals.
After the Punjab
disturbances in 1953, Justice Munir was appointed the head of court enquiry to
find out the reasons for this. In his report, 'Justice Munir reached the conclusion that Jinnah believed in the
equality of all citizens without regard to religious differences. He believed
that religion should not interfere in political matters because religion is a
matter of personal faith. Jinnah wanted Pakistan to be a modern Muslim
national state'.
(Source:
'Report of the Court of Inquiry', pages 203-232, Justice Munir Ahmed).
Mohammed Ali Jinnah, by any one's standard, was a
great leader. He achieved Pakistan
despite all the odds, and if he had lived for some time, he would have laid
down foundations for a liberal and democratic state. As he did not live long,
those who opposed his dream of Pakistan ,
saw the opportunity to destabilise his Pakistan , in fact, they have broken
it. May be they are taking revenge of their failure from Jinnah's Pakistan , and
in doing so they are also hurting Kashmir , my
homeland, which Mr Jinnah wanted to remain as an independent state.
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