Can the Creation of Pakistan Be Justified On the Religious Grounds?

  Can the Creation of Pakistan Be Justified On the Religious Grounds?

With the Slogan, “Pakistan ka Matlab kia? la illah ila Allah”, almost everyone is familiar. We have been listening to this since our childhood. Now, the question is: was this slogan really popular among the Muslims of Sub-continent before independence?  Or is it really true that Pakistan was solely the end-result of efforts of religious groups; upon which basis, they demand the state to be “an Islamic Republic”. The answers can conveniently be found in our textbooks, but distorted ones. Those nations can never reach the height of glory, that feed its people with untruthful version of history. George Santayana has a piece of advice for such nations, “Those who do not remember their past are condemned to repeat it". 

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It is a well-known fact that religious figures like Molana Al Maududi And Abdul Kalam Azad were opposed to the creation of Pakistan. They called the region Dar-ul-Islam, meaning “House Of Islam”. On this basis, they refuted the partition of the sub-continent, saying that it was against the spirit of Islam. What is more, some renowned scholars used to call Muhammad Ali Jinnah “Kafir-e-Azam” instead of “Quaid-e-Azam”.  After independence, the same scholars, ironically, started claiming themselves as the guardians of the newly-independent country.

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Cabinet mission, 1946, was a marked event in the political history of the sub-continent. When the plan was proposed by the commission, the demand for Pakistan was nowhere in the papers. The Muslim league was at the lowest position of bargaining. Quaid-e-Azam was even content on the proposal of separate constitutions for the Hindus and Muslims. But, it was Jawaharlal  Nehru who was averse to this proposal and did not want to see anybody equal to his match and grandeur in the Sub-continent. Therefore, fearing the charisma and popularity of Quaid-e-Azam, Mr. Nehru acquiesced on the demand of Pakistan.  Christina Lamb has well documented these accounts in her book, “Waiting for Allah”.

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There is also a considerable contradiction in the speeches of Quaid-e-Azam about what type of state, he actually wanted. On his first address of 11^th August in the constituent assembly, he said: “In the course of time, Hindus will cease to be Hindus, and Muslims will cease to be Muslims, not in a religious sense because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as the citizens of the nation”. Here one can get a fair idea that what he got through religion-that is, Pakistan- has nothing to do with politics now. Moreover, one can also imply here that he indicated having a secular state for the Pakistani Muslims. Was it not the same thing Mr. Nehru also wanted for India?  In this case, the question of Kashmir is very intriguing, as Sheikh Abdullah- a Kashmiri politician- once remarked, “We have a religion in common with Jinnah, but a dream in common with Nehru”. Paradoxically, three of these leaders were on the same ideological lines. Then why all this hullabaloo? If religion determines borders, why is the Muslim Gulf divided into 12 states? 

According to Christina Lamb, Pakistan was just the demand of a narrow elite that was meant to rule the country later on. It was not the popular demand of the common or middle-class people. In Addition, the renowned scholar, Mubashir Javed Akbar, states that Pakistan was not created by the Muslim masses; it owed its birth to a handful of leaders who were not content with beliefs- they wanted separate electorates, a separate language, separate dress, separate identities, and finally separate homes”.

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Broadly speaking, in today’s Pakistan, people call themselves Sindhis, Punjabis, Balochis first, Muslims second, and finally Pakistanis. This very order negates the creation of Pakistan on religious grounds. Paraphrasing Christina Lamb’s harsh words, “Pakistan has gone from a nation searching for a country to a country searching for a nation”.

To ensure Pakistani nationalism, the above order must be reversed.  It is time the authorities tried to enforce the Quaid-e-Azam's envisioned version of Pakistan. Long live Pakistan !!