What went wrong

Stanley Wolpert credits Muhammad Ali Jinnah as a “once in a century hero”, with feats like “Few individuals significantly alter the course of history. Fewer still modify the map of the world. Hardly anyone can be credited with creating a nation-state. MAJ did all three”. Unfortunately, the Pakistan which Allama Iqbal dreamt of, and which Jinnah created in 1947, despite opposition by the Congress, witnessed a series of betrayals by those who succeeded him. MAJ’s insistence on drafting the constitution for the modern democratic welfare state was delayed. The Constituent Assembly which he formed, comprising those elected from their constituencies, in the 1946 elections was dismissed in 1954 along with Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan who served as Jinnah’s deputy president.

It is an unfortunate bitter reality Jinnah’s vision and his blueprint of a modern democratic state were shredded by the likes of Sikandar Mirza and Ayub Khan. Had Ayub Khan not been promoted, there would have been no Musa, Yahya or Zia etc, nor would we have been gifted with likes of MNS or AZ etc. This modern democratic state was replaced by a country torn apart by extremism, terrorism, ethnicity, sectarianism and financial corruption.

Malik Tariq Ali

Lahore