Today, I revisited Jinnah's historic speech on 11th August 1947 to the first constituent assembly of Pakistan.
Here I list the things, in Jinnah's own words, that held top priority in Jinnah's vision of Pakistan and the challenges he thought Pakistan would have to cope with .
The original text of speech can be accessed from a host of sources like, Pak Tea House or Left Side of the Right Brain, where it was posted today.
1. First Duty of a Government
"You will no doubt agree with me that the first duty of a government is to maintain law and order, so that the life, property and religious beliefs of its subjects are fully protected by the State."
3. Black-Marketing
"A citizen who does black-marketing commits, I think, a greater crime than the biggest and most grievous of crimes. These black-marketeers are really knowing, intelligent and ordinarily responsible people, and when they indulge in black-marketing, I think they ought to be very severely punished, because the entire system of control and regulation of foodstuffs and essential commodities, and cause wholesale starvation and want and even death."
4. Nepotism and Jobbery
"I want to make it quite clear that I shall never tolerate any kind of jobbery, nepotism or any any influence directly of indirectly brought to bear upon me. Whenever I will find that such a practice is in vogue or is continuing anywhere, low or high, I shall certainly not countenance it."
5. Religious Freedom
"You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the State."
If we compare Jinnah's vision of a state as guardian of its subjects and free from the vices mentioned above with the current state of affairs, we are, no doubt, still at ground-zero. We have to re-visit our own mistakes, re-think our strategies and boot up again.
Here I list the things, in Jinnah's own words, that held top priority in Jinnah's vision of Pakistan and the challenges he thought Pakistan would have to cope with .
The original text of speech can be accessed from a host of sources like, Pak Tea House or Left Side of the Right Brain, where it was posted today.
1. First Duty of a Government
"You will no doubt agree with me that the first duty of a government is to maintain law and order, so that the life, property and religious beliefs of its subjects are fully protected by the State."
2. Bribery and Corruption
"That really is a poison. We must put that down with an iron hand and I hope that you will take adequate measures as soon as it is possible for this Assembly to do so""A citizen who does black-marketing commits, I think, a greater crime than the biggest and most grievous of crimes. These black-marketeers are really knowing, intelligent and ordinarily responsible people, and when they indulge in black-marketing, I think they ought to be very severely punished, because the entire system of control and regulation of foodstuffs and essential commodities, and cause wholesale starvation and want and even death."
4. Nepotism and Jobbery
"I want to make it quite clear that I shall never tolerate any kind of jobbery, nepotism or any any influence directly of indirectly brought to bear upon me. Whenever I will find that such a practice is in vogue or is continuing anywhere, low or high, I shall certainly not countenance it."
5. Religious Freedom
"You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the State."
If we compare Jinnah's vision of a state as guardian of its subjects and free from the vices mentioned above with the current state of affairs, we are, no doubt, still at ground-zero. We have to re-visit our own mistakes, re-think our strategies and boot up again.
Nicely summarized the message.
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