Today we commemorate March 23, 1940, when the founders of this nation gathered at Lahore's Iqbal Park (then known as Minto Park) and passed the historic Lahore Resolution, laying the foundation of a separate homeland for the Sub-continent's Muslims. To mark the occasion, like the years before, celebrations have gone on with special flag hoisting ceremonies and gun salute in the federal capital as well as principal cities in the provinces.
Awards are to be bestowed on select citizens for distinguished services in different fields of national endeavour and fine speeches made recalling the struggle for independence, which culminated in the realisation of a new Muslim homeland seven years after the Founding Fathers, first laid out a vision for a new Muslim homeland.
It should also be an occasion for some soul-searching. Is it the country the Founding Fathers had wanted to build? Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah had stated on more occasions than one that Pakistan would be a modern, pluralistic, democratic welfare state. Lest there should be any confusion he had averred it will not be a theocratic state. Yet what we see today is the opposite of his vision.
For nearly half of its existence, the country has been ruled by military dictators. The religious parties which opposed the creation of Pakistan, saying Islam holds a universal message and hence could not be confined within the boundaries of a nation-state, have been claiming to be the custodians of 'Islamic ideology', which they insist, must define this state.
Minorities are under attack, and religious extremists challenging the writ of the state to establish a theocracy according to their narrow, bigoted interpretation of Islam. Nearly 40 percent of the population struggles everyday to stay alive below the poverty line. The Baloch people are up in arms against the federation over denial of rights and unmitigated suppression.
The founders would certainly be horrified to see what the successor generations have made of the homeland they had struggled for so that the Muslim population of the sub-continent would not remain a permanent minority in Hindu-dominated India, deprived of its political and economic rights.
The one source of satisfaction at this point is that for the first time since this country came into being, an elected government has completed its full term in office and the democratic process is en course to pave the way for transfer of power from one elected government to another.
The road ahead, though, is still rough. The militants fighting the state and sectarian extremists killing innocent people in different parts of the country present a grave challenge - a challenge no one party can deal with alone. All must unite to confront the problem of extremist violence and help build a stable and strong democracy which, as envisioned by the Quaid, gives due respect and recognition to the rights of every ethnic, sectarian and religious community calling this country their home.
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