Is Pakistan An Ideal State ???

Before we really go into the discussion of “is Pakistan an ideological state?” we need to have an
overview of the brief history of Pakistan. We need to know what basically ideology is, what
does it mean? And what was the long journey of struggle and what were the main driving
forces behind the creation of a separate homeland for the Muslims of the sub-continent.

What is IDEOLOGY????

                        Ideology is a set of ideas or norms on which the collective ideals of a community, nation or
millat are based. It also includes the sum total of principles set forth for the achievement of
these common ideal.
In lay man’s language ideology is simply a code of conduct, a manual you follow to order all the
aspects of life.

How does ISLAM define a nation & where does Two Nation Theory fits in?

The Muslims believe that by the virtue of their faith, they have an identity, separate and distinct
from other nations of the world. This feeling of oneness among themselves combined with the
consciousness of being separate from others is called “two nation theory”.
Islam is a democratic way of life, and the Muslims strongly believe in the right of self -
determination for all the human beings. This principle implies that in all parts of the world,
where the Muslims form a sizeable majority, they should ==be given a right to form an
independent state of their own, and living under this state they should avail the opportunity to
order their individual and collective lives in accordance with their faith and belief.
Up till 1947, the struggle for the creation of Pakistan was motivated by the Islamic faith and
guided by the objective of establishing a Muslim state in the sub-continent, based on the
principle of two nation theory (Muslims and Hindus are very different from each other and can
not live together in harmony as one).

Are we an IDEOLOGICAL state??

                                               65 years ago when this piece of land which we call as our beloved homeland Pakistan was proclaimed, it was established on the very basic idea of two nation theory. It was created on
the basis of Islamic ideology.
But as the years passed decline started and now in the present scenario Pakistan can not be
thought as an ideological state as we have overlooked all the major components of our so
called ideology by now.
ISLAMIC IDEOLOGY; a brief definition
Islamic ideology refers to the norms and injunctions which are given to us by ALLAH. it is the
divine code of conduct, the most perfect guiding principles to live our life.
Being Muslims, Islamic ideology defines our life and is an important part of our living.

What was OUR ideology?????

                                 Before the creation of Pakistan i.e. during the struggle period our leader Quaid-e-Azam in his one of many addresses stated the major components of ideology of Pakistan. Pakistan ideology
was based on following ideals;
 Islam
 Democracy
 Social justice, Equality and Sense of responsibility
 Fundamental Human Rights
Pakistan Ideology is a very vast subject of discussion, but just to ease our debate we can divide
the discussion in two parts i.e. era of struggle(1957-1947) and the era of decline(1947-to date).
All the components will be discussed in perspective of the two eras.

ISLAM:

            The religious belief of the many of the people of sub-continent was the first and foremost
motivating force behind their demand for Pakistan.
 Elaborating the guiding principles that
formed the basis of the Islamic state the Quaid-e-Azam said:
“Fundamentally in an Islamic state, the authority rests with Allah
Almighty. The working of an Islamic government is conducted according
to the Quranic principles and injunctions. In an Islamic state, neither its
head nor any parliament or an institution or an individual can act
absolutely in any matter. Only the Quranic injunctions control our
behavior in the society and in politics”
Islam played a major rule in uniting all the Muslims of the sub-continent under one flag of
Muslim League. Although there were many of the Muslims who supported the congress raj but
still there were minorities who supported Pakistan too. Everyone was fighting a battle for their
own good, but Muslims had one major dream of establishing their lives according to their
religion in peace and harmony and without any fear.
Islam was there in the beginning and Islamic ideology was made the ideology of the new
coming state called Pakistan but unfortunately in the present era there is no such thing as Islam
in practice today.

DEMOCRACY:

                     Now discussing the 2nd era i.e. era of decline (1947-to date), in 65 years of development there were 4 martial laws employed that clearly states “we aren’t ideological”. The details of the
martial laws are as under
 Ayub Khan (4th October 1958)
 Yahya Khan (25th March 1969)
 Zia-ul-haq (5th July 1977)
 General Pervaiz Musharraf ( 12th oct 1999)
These four eras of martial law ruined our constitution and the so called ideology we were
following during the years of struggle.
Moreover, we took 9 years to establish our own constitution while the country we are in fight
with for past many years took just 2 years to build its constitution.

SOCIAL JUSTICE, EQUALITY AND SENSE OF RESPONSIBILTY:

             The following key points will put light upon the ruined state of “social justice, equality, and sense of responsibkey points will put light upon the ruined state of “social justice, equality,
and sense of responsibility.
 The story of missing persons
 NRO
 The Sialkot brothers
 The haunted roads in different parts of the country

FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHTS:

                                                     An important objective underlying the demand for Pakistan was to safeguard the rights of people living in those areas, the Muslims and the non-Muslims alike. The Quaid-e-Azam was a great champion of Human rights, addressing the first session of the first Constituent Assembly
of Pakistan, the Quaid said:
“…..you are free; you are free to go to your temples, you
are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in the
state of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed….that
has nothing to do with the business of the state….we are starting with
this fundamental principle that we are all citizens, equal citizens of one
state.”
This was what the Quaid dreamed of but the reality is quite opposite to it. Every born child is in
a debt of almost 40,000. We do not have the freedom of speech; our media is independent but
only to say that our leaders are going great. And whoever criticizes or condemns something, he
has to bear the consequences.
Reviewing all the above main components of Pakistan ideology, we can say that Pakistan is not
at all an ideological state not even in its poorest shape. Whatever were the main components
of our ideology, we have demolished their true character by now. So in no way we can consider
this state as an ideological state.
Pakistan ideology had a very pure Islamic character but the politics “the dirty politics” of our
country damaged its character with the passage of time. Amendments were done by the
leadership for their own benefits resulting in an odd kind of constitution which had lost the true
essence of Islamic ideology which was once the driving force behind the struggle for THE
ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN.
                                  “Sadly PAKISTAN is NOT an ideological state”

Author: BS EE Students