People’s unity to solve problems

People from different walks of life say whatever their social problems and economic difficulties they believe in unity and want to see democracy flourish on solid foundation.

“But we also do not want to be divided into groups for any self-interest. We’ve realised that for all practical purposes we will have to stand united because divided we will fall; and we’ve already suffered a lot from our mistakes?”

“Living in one state, or having one government, doesn’t make us a nation, that’s not enough,” asserts a retired professor of Rawalpindi.

Well educated elders stress what is indispensable for a state, or for a nation, is people’s unity strengthened by the concept of being one in thought, word and action.

Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah borrowed the idea of unity from one God, one Prophet and one Book. He called upon the people not to forget the motto “unity, faith and discipline” — explaining “faith in God, in ourselves and in our destiny.” And that addresses the problem of getting united.

Pakistan, to its founder, was the embodiment of unity of the Muslim nation, and he expected of his followers to guard and preserve that unity zealously. He was mindful of the military and he did not underestimate its role in context of the country’s unity, independence, sovereignty and defence.

The man, as the country’s governor-general, emphasised to the defenders of homeland that the weak and the defenceless in the imperfect world invite aggression from others. “The best way in which we can serve the cause of peace is by removing the temptation from the path of those who think that we are weak and, therefore, they can bully or attack us.”

The unity, the makers of Pakistan wanted to create in the masses was effectively demonstrated during the September 1965 war between India and Pakistan. The national unity was exemplary in the sense that the people and the armed forces put up a grand show of solidarity and harmony to repel the foreign aggression.

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