Independence Day: Some obligations as a nation

During the crucial struggle for a separate homeland for the Muslims of Subcontinent from the yoke of British elites and dominant Hindu class, the Father of the Nation, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, once said that, “I have no illusions in the matter and let me say again that India is not a nation nor a country. It is Subcontinent composed of nationalities with Hindus and Muslims being the major nations”. Once the destination was achieved, the great leader emphasized on good governance, by setting high goals and said: “I shall always be guided by the principles of justice and fair play, without any prejudice or ill-will, in other words partiality or favouritism. My guiding principle will be justice and complete impartiality and I am sure that with your support and cooperation, I can look forward to Pakistan becoming one of the greatest nations of the World”. With these towering envisioned determinants, the first ideological Muslim state of the world took a formal start having Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah; a dedicated leader at its driving seat on August 14, 1947. Regretfully, the indomitable founding fathers of the country could not continue for a long and met the fate first, Quaid-i-Azam died in September 1948 and then Liaquat Ali Khan in 1951. T hereafter, Pakistan; the great gift of God, has been at the mercy of the dwindling leadership which continues even to date in one or the other form. Thus, there remains a lack of good governance in the country, which could not be addressed by successive rulers. In the process, the country was confronted with the greatest turn of the history, once in the efforts of undoing it, its crucial adversary; India disintegrated it in 1971. Thereafter, this great nation, although could not gulp down the loss of its eastern half, but progressively acquiescent and recovered from the shock to re-adjust itself in order to meet challenges at the global level as a living nation. Therefore, in a very short span of time, it did not only convalesced alone, but also attained the status of a nuclear power. However, owing to the ill-timed Russian invasion of Afghanistan in December 1979, Pakistan once again became a battleground of major powers of the cold war. The upshots of the war left a horrific future for Pakistan, mainly the militancy which gave way to a new form of war, the global war on terror, following the inexplicable incident of 9/11. This western sponsored form of civilizational clash is gaining popularity in the world as an age of “long war”, as the interlude from 1945 to 2001 is being considered as the period of “long peace”. These global transformations badly affected the environment of Pakistan both at domestic and external level. Currently, the country is facing a gruesome level of militancy conspired by a host of anti-state forces. Indeed the multiplicity of threat perceptions has put the independence of the state at stake. Conservation followed by preservation of the independence has thus become a real challenge for the Pakistani nation as a whole. In order to meet these challenges the nation perhaps would be required to work harder than what our forefathers did in attaining the independence for us in 1947. While analyzing the challenges being faced to protect and safeguard the independence, two striking parallels are being identified: first; in the historical perspective, there was no infrastructure and institutional setup in the newly independent state in the beginning as everything was in the areas becoming part of India. And secondly; the current collapse of most of its institutions and organisations throughout in the country at the critical stage of its history. In the initial days, the nation had to build anew, all the infrastructure, institutions and organisations and now we need to re-orientate and put-right all of them. To begin with let us start from the two glaring problems facing the society side by side. These are; the lack of justice at all levels and extraordinarily low ratio and abhorrent standard of education. As also adequately highlighted by the Quaid in his above mentioned excerpt of the speech, denial or delayed justice creates most of the ills in society. According to a survey, over 80% crimes in society are the result of direct or indirect denial or delay in the provision of justice. In the absence of justice grieved people take the law in their hands, thus promoting violence and “violence begets violence”. The element of violence has a major contribution in the ongoing militancy in Pakistan, which can be accredited to the non-availability of justice. At the political level, Pakistan is a federation where all provinces have grievances against the Centre or differences among each other, mainly against the larger one. This factor is major hurdle in the national integration. There is an immediate need to realise the mistakes of past with the motives to rectify them at three levels; provision of basic justice at the level of social setup, provision of justice through unbiased judiciary to every citizen and giving an equal treatment, including awards and provincial shares to the provinces by the federal government. This essentially important step would reduce the grievances of masses and provinces alike, subsequently enhancing the national integration; a gateway for the conservation of independence. Listing education after the justice system never meant to lessen its priority. Indeed, both have to be dealt simultaneously or in most of the cases, education takes the lead role. Education is the basic media for awareness among the masses, without which all other aspects of a society and a state would cease to exist. Even provision of justice owes a lot to the quality education. Over the years, there has either been absolutely low intake of the children in the existing educational institutions or the dreadful decline in the standard of the educational output. This trend has been at the peak in rural areas, but even at the level of cities, there has been far less than what was to be desired. Apart from the multiple educational systems and syllabi prevalent in the country, the educational institutions under the government have been much below the required standard; both intakes wise as well as the output is concerned. An educated lot of masses would better understand the price of independence in its true perspective, rather an illiterate mind. For this purpose, there is a need that government should ensure steps like: one; adoption of uniform system of education throughout the country without any discrimination. Two; educational system must have elements of nationalism, national interest and national integration inbuilt in syllabi at all levels. Three; among the educated lot, the best one should be selected as teachers, keeping merit as the yardstick without any political or bureaucratic influence. Four; strict enforcement of the compulsory education at the level of secondary school by everyone in the country on tangible terms instead of being a paper plan only. The educated youth would get motivation by reading the past history of Pakistan and sacrifices made by our forefathers for attaining the independence for us, therefore would make all out efforts to preserve it for the sake of their own future. Poverty and unemployment are yet other impediments, which restrict the national thinking. Over 40 per cent population of Pakistan suffers from these two very serious issues since the last almost two decades. There is no letup in the social cost of the life; rather, it is becoming costlier day by day. Since a common man cannot think beyond his bread, how would we expect him to preserve the independence, which in practical terms is not available to him? The government therefore should take concrete steps to address these real issues amounting to lives and deaths of the bulk of the masses of Pakistan. Human resource development coupled with the establishment of the resources bases would prove a key to resolve the issues on priority. Only the financially freed masses would be able to concentrate on the issue of securing the independence in true perspective. As immediate measures, there is a need that government machinery, the elected representatives at federal and provincial levels and above all the media should launch a massive campaign for creating awareness among the general masses, highlighting the significance of the independence. The students of higher educational institutions may be grouped in the campaign for immediate and long lasting results. The masses be educated of the conspiracies cropping up against the integrity of Pakistan both within as well as across the borders. Sovereignty is always a blessing, therefore must be respected. Today Pakistan is at the cross roads of its history. The nation has always stood by the challenges posed by circumstances ever since the first ideological Islamic state came into being in August 1947. The current challenges facing the country in the form of militancy and threat to its basic ideology are to be dealt on multiple fronts by every Pakistani. We have to identify the root causes and then address them in their entirety. Good governance, awareness through education, unprejudiced justice and addressing the basic needs of deprived masses would pay a rich dividend in this regard.

Dr. Raja Muhammad Khan
Email: drmk_edu@yahoo.com