Daily Times: by Yasser Latif Hamdani

Apparently, ‘secular’ is some sort of a bad word and anyone using this word in connection with Quaid-e-Azam is automatically a traitor

Our Urdu press, conspiratorial, nationalist and rightwing, is full of nazriati (ideological) warriors. This article is a rebuttal of two of the most popular standard-bearers of the ghairat brigade and the so-called Nazaria-e-Pakistan (idea of Pakistan).

In one of his recent columns (because in our country it is perfectly alright for in-service civil servants to moonlight as columnists), Orya Maqbool Jan has taken to task those misguided souls — such as this writer — who believe that Mr Jinnah wanted a secular Pakistan. Apparently, ‘secular’ is some sort of a bad word and anyone using this word in connection with Quaid-e-Azam is automatically a traitor. In this particular article, Orya Maqbool Jan relied on the ‘research’ of one Selena Karim who wrote a book called Secular Jinnah: Munir’s Hoax Exposed several years ago. The entire issue revolves around a quote attributed to Jinnah dating to a pre-partition interview.

The late Justice Munir, paraphrasing the Quaid’s interview with Doon Campbell of May 21, 1947, said that Jinnah believed that sovereignty would rest with the people regardless of religion, caste, creed, etc. I reproduce the actual quote by the Quaid: “Government of Pakistan can only be a popular representative and democratic form of Government. Its Parliament and Cabinet responsible to the Parliament will both be finally responsible to the electorate and the people in general without any distinction of caste, creed or sect, which will be the final deciding factor with regard to the policy and programme of the Government. The minorities in Pakistan will be the citizens of Pakistan and enjoy all the rights, privileges and obligations of citizenship without any distinction of caste, creed or sect. They will be treated justly and fairly.

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