Jinnah's Vision of Pakistan and our Success to realize it
JINNAH'S VISION OF PAKISTAN
There is not much debate or even concern about what was the vision of the founders of Pakistan. What type of state they had in mind when they struggled of an independent country that we call our homeland, Pakistan? In answering this question, we will assess whether or not we have been driven by that vision and how we have shaped our system of governance.
The Muslim intellectuals, thinkers and social reformers that contributed to the idea of Muslims being a separate political category in India were essentially modernist, rationalist Muslims. They wanted the Muslims to acquire knowledge of new sciences and empower themselves economically and politically. Their central objective was rights of the Muslims and their share in power under the British colonial system. They understood how the world had changed, and accordingly they thought the best tools for Muslim empowerment were modernity, education, politics of rights and peaceful struggle for accommodation of their interests.
Jinnah and many other leaders of the Muslim communities in the subcontinent were products of post-reissuance modern world. Unlike European modernists all varieties of nationalists in the colonial world had more difficult task of building a modern nation in a traditional, Islamic cultural climate. The question then and now for modernists is how to reconcile modernity with religion and social structures. Muslim modernists from Sir Syed Ahmad Khan to Jinnah wanted modem education, science and technology and political forms and institutions without offending religion.
Jinnah's vision of Pakistan in this respect has four salient points. We can judge where does Pakistan stand today in the light of these four ideas.
1: Constitutionalism First and foremost, Jinnah was quintessential a constitutionalist. The term and its underlying philosophy is so foreign to our rulers that they have really disabled themselves intellectually to seek guidance from him. What it really means
There is not much debate or even concern about what was the vision of the founders of Pakistan. What type of state they had in mind when they struggled of an independent country that we call our homeland, Pakistan? In answering this question, we will assess whether or not we have been driven by that vision and how we have shaped our system of governance.
The Muslim intellectuals, thinkers and social reformers that contributed to the idea of Muslims being a separate political category in India were essentially modernist, rationalist Muslims. They wanted the Muslims to acquire knowledge of new sciences and empower themselves economically and politically. Their central objective was rights of the Muslims and their share in power under the British colonial system. They understood how the world had changed, and accordingly they thought the best tools for Muslim empowerment were modernity, education, politics of rights and peaceful struggle for accommodation of their interests.
Jinnah and many other leaders of the Muslim communities in the subcontinent were products of post-reissuance modern world. Unlike European modernists all varieties of nationalists in the colonial world had more difficult task of building a modern nation in a traditional, Islamic cultural climate. The question then and now for modernists is how to reconcile modernity with religion and social structures. Muslim modernists from Sir Syed Ahmad Khan to Jinnah wanted modem education, science and technology and political forms and institutions without offending religion.
Jinnah's vision of Pakistan in this respect has four salient points. We can judge where does Pakistan stand today in the light of these four ideas.
1: Constitutionalism First and foremost, Jinnah was quintessential a constitutionalist. The term and its underlying philosophy is so foreign to our rulers that they have really disabled themselves intellectually to seek guidance from him. What it really means