Vision for tolerance

December 25th has a special significance for Christians around the world as the day Prophet Jesus Christ was born. For Pakistan, the day is duly significant, marking also the birth anniversary of the founder of the nation Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. These two crucial events are intertwined in so many ways, reminding us first of all of the desperate need for tolerance and acceptance for all beliefs in a nation that has seen bitter acrimony and divide over the years, especially over sect and belief. While we may have forgotten the fact that Pakistan was created as a country to protect a religious minority: India’s Muslims, the fact is that Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah never forgot. In his speech to the first constituent assembly on August 11, 1947, Jinnah reminded those formulating the constitution of the new country that Pakistan would be a country where Muslims, Hindus, Christians and all other religious groups would be free to go to the worship places of their choice. This was the dream of Pakistan. This is a dream that has unfortunately suffered many an attack. But this is the dream that we must remember and revive as we celebrate Christmas and the birth of our founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

Jinnah, in his all too brief tenure as head of state of the nation, spoke on more than one occasion of the need for tolerance, of a country that belonged to all, in which everyone was free to follow their individual form of worship. In his own life, Jinnah had been an enlightened man, unwilling to speak along the lines of hatred but focusing only on justice and equality for all human beings. As such, he would undoubtedly have been shocked at the plight of Pakistan’s minuscule Christian minority today. We have every reason to believe that Jinnah, a man of moderate, tolerant religious views, would have been shocked by what has become of the country he founded. This is something we need to reflect on today. It is clear we stand at a very important crossroads. We need to choose which path to take. It could be the road Jinnah had advocated: one that leads to rights for all; and justice, equality and tolerance for all beliefs – or the one that was carved out after Jinnah by forces that hold that there can be no concept of equal rights for all. As we wish all our Christian readers a very happy Christmas, and remember the Quaid for the leader he was, we hope for a future that does not hold insecurity and communal disharmony and violence as its ethos. We hope for Jinnah's Pakistan.