Just a few days before independence, on August 11, 1947, Azam made a strong statement against the perils of communalism in front of the Constituent Assembly. However, similar to many aspects of Mr. Jinnah’s vision, the governments that succeeded him did little to bring these aspirational objectives to pass.
As Pakistan commemorates Minorities’ Day today, it is necessary to examine how and why the government has failed its non-Muslim compatriots. Pakistan’s founding fathers intended for all communities to be able to live in harmony and prosper there. The exact reverse has happened. On this day, we should concentrate on our mistakes rather than the fact that India may have followed the same path after Partition, eventually losing its secular exterior and adopting the aggressive form of Hindutva.
For Pakistan’s minorities, this year has been challenging, just like many others before it. For instance, Ahmadis have seen attacks by crowds on their houses of worship, and their members have also been prevented from performing their rites at home. Due to false accusations of blasphemy, there has also been mob violence directed towards the Christian community. May saw a nasty wave of anti-Christian violence in Sargodha, which brought back terrible memories of the Jaranwala rampage from the previous year.Still, there might be time to turn the tide. Ten years ago, Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, the Pakistani chief justice at the time, gave a historic ruling protecting the rights of minorities in response to suo motu proceedings. Judge Jillani made a number of instructions in it that, if followed, might greatly support the fight for equal rights for Pakistan’s non-Muslim residents. These included creating a national council on minority rights, regulating hate speech on social media, and designating a special police force to guard non-Muslim sites of worship.To protect the rights of minorities, rights campaigners are still calling for the establishment of a body with such authority and independence. The Quaid reaffirmed in his speech on August 11 that the government’s “first duty” was to safeguard the “life, property, and religious beliefs of its subjects.” To fulfill this obligation, the state must go above and beyond what it is doing now.
