A new roadmap

This Independence Day we need to talk about why this country was created and how far we have strayed from that aim. Almost 68 years ago from today, the founder of the nation Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had told the constituent assembly of the newly created land of Pakistan while referring to the difficulties that arose with Partition that in time, in the country that had been created, “Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the state.” Pakistan was created to protect the rights of a minority, the Muslims of India. It was logical that it would also continue to protect the rights of the new religious minorities that would exist within its confines. How far we have strayed from that unique vision is a tragic story that barely requires retelling. Our failure to protect our minorities is not just one of ignoring them, but of drafting laws and organising mobs to engage in direct forms of oppression. It is good news then that on National Minorities Day a few days back on August 11, the National Assembly and Senate passed a resolution moved by the Minister for Ports and Shipping Kamran Michael, calling for minority groups to be given greater recognition. Their services, notably in the health and education sector, were made mention of. The resolution was amended on the opposition’s recommendations to call for the speech to be regarded as ‘a roadmap for the future’.
While the adoption of the speech as a pathway to the future may just be a token gesture, the fact that the JUI-F and Jamaat-e-Islami did not dispute its passing may be a sign of the changing times. The Quaid’s speech had been blacked out by earlier regimes, with its recording in Radio Pakistan said to have been misplaced for a long period. That the NA brought the debate on minorities back, on the recommendation of the opposition, will hopefully push for the deeper reform needed to make Pakistan a safe and secure place for its minorities. Perhaps the National Commission on Minorities proposed by MNA Munaza Hassan as part of the resolution can help restore these forgotten citizens as Pakistanis who deserve equal rights and equal security. Right now, on the ground, nothing much has changed. Killings and other acts of violence occur regularly and the white panel representing minorities in Pakistan’s green flag has been metaphorically stained red with blood many times over the past decades. Key laws have either not been passed or amended. Minorities still have no elected seats in any assembly and persecution remains an everyday matter. The NA resolution – if taken seriously – could show a way out of this mess. This should be our Independence Day resolution.