The Quaid's motto

It will be a homage to the memory of the Founder of our Pakistan, who was known to be a paragon of honesty, integrity and courage, if we do not gloss over some home truths amid the cacophony of ritual tributes, and patriotic rhetoric, with self-projection only as the motive.
Of the glorious legacy of the great leader, whose footprints are being relentlessly obliterated by the people holding sway over the affairs of the country, what has been totally dissipated is the motto Faith, Unity and Discipline, he gave his nation as the war cry that ultimately won them freedom in the teeth of ten times mightier opposition.
Faith, the cornerstone of the Quaid's motto, is no more the unifying force over-riding the cultural and linguistic diversities of the masses. There is not a single definition of faith acceptable to all people, whatever the proponents of different beliefs may claim.
The differences on the very fundamentals are indeed deep and pregnant with the darkest possibilities. Unity, is the last thing to survive the poisonous soil of conflicting beliefs about the Divine purpose of life and the authority of different interpreters of the Quran and Sunnah.
Perhaps more pathetic is the chaos in mundane affairs. From serious political issues of democratic governance (if some people can no more tolerate a system headed by a president in uniform, their belated puritanism need not be faulted), to construction of dams, to Madressah curriculum, to contents of text books for primaries, and last of all to relief work in the earthquake devastated areas, and sabotage of power transmission system, the use of rockets to claim rights over the minerals hidden in the wilderness, there is not an issue on which the nation is not divided.
As if division and conflict are the only raison d'etre of Pakistan, the ruling elite and the opposition parties would not join hands even in relief operations while thousands of homeless victims of the tragic earthquake, exposed to the cruelties of winter, await rescue and shelter to live again.
These are painful thoughts no doubt. If only these could send a shiver down the spine of the elite and stir them into action in the right direction, the Quaid's memory will be better served. A prosperous and peaceful, progressive and powerful Pakistan, he had dreamed of, and we still have time to realise it with Unity, Faith and Discipline.