On this very auspicious occasion of the 147th birth anniversary of the founder of Pakistan, Quaid- i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876 - 1948), let us revisit his great vision for the state of Pakistan where the protection of fundamental human rights can be excessively promoted and exercised thoroughly.
Jinnah’s letters, speeches, and actions illuminate his commitment to the protection and promotion of fundamental rights.
In an interview given to Mr Weldon James of the Collier’s Weekly Magazine on August 25, 1947, he said: “We expect to evolve a progressive democratic government in line with the Muslim belief in the equality of all men and to work for international peace. As I have said many times before, Pakistan guarantees the just and equal treatment of all citizens, Muslim or non-Muslim, with freedom of worship, speech, press, and assembly. The position of women is already equal in law to that of men.”
Quaid’s belief in the independence of the judiciary and rule of law and his concern for the promotion of fundamental rights and freedom, the purpose for which Pakistan was created, finds expression in the memorable words he delivered in an address to a public reception at Chittagong on 26 March 1948: “Brotherhood, equality and fraternity of man, these are all the basic points of our religion, culture, and civilization. And we fought for Pakistan because there was a danger of denial of these human rights in this sub-continent.”
Jinnah was opponent of colonial rule and its tyrannical laws imposed on the Indians and he frequently caused discomfort to the British government by blatantly calling out their atrocities. He raised objections against the laws for preventive detention that were prevalent in Britain and are still part of the statute books of South Asian countries. On March 23, 1925, he criticised the degenerated members of the bureaucracy and pleaded with Indian members of the house: “If you have a grain of self-respect, if you have an iota of the sense of justice and fairness to your countrymen, vote against these clauses” and “no man should lose his liberty or be deprived of his liberty, without a judicial trial in accordance with the accepted rules of evidence and procedure”.
The clauses of preventive detention were incorporated in the constitution of 1973 with several limitations that do not violate the basic rights of any person, however, later new amendments were made which gave further power to authorities to execute preventive detention. The prerogative of preventive detention is abused in Pakistan against political activists and opponents. Generally, preventive detention is prohibited under international human rights law. Human Rights Associations pressingly demand Pakistan to prevent the abuse of such laws.
Jinnah favoured judicial trials as opposed to action by the executive when the Rowlatt Bill (which allowed certain political cases to be tried without juries and permitted internment of suspects without trial) was put forward in the Assembly. He wrote a letter of protest to the Viceroy, dated March 28, 1919, against the Rowlatt Act and resigned from the Imperial Legislative Council as a protest to the promulgation of the Act on March 18, 1919.
When the Jallianwala Bagh massacre - a gruesome incident of mass killing carried out by colonial authorities - took place on the order of Brigadier Dyer on April 13, 1919, at Amritsar, Mohammad Ali Jinnah sent his telegram of protest to the secretary of state of India, Edwin S. Montagu, demanding “strict justice to be meted out to those responsible for the Punjab atrocities”.
The Indian Criminal Law (Amendment) Act of 1908 empowered the central government to declare any association as unlawful and punish its members. In September 1924, on the issue of freedom of association, Jinnah ardently supported Hari Singh Gour’s motion for this Act’s repeal.
Jinnah remained consistent in pleading for the cause of freedom of speech. While addressing a public meeting held under the Bombay Presidency Association on July 30, 1917, at Bombay, Quaid, protesting the detention of Annie Besant (a British activist who support Indian self-rule), asserted: “If we accept the policy of the Government, all constitutional and lawful agitation will, in effect, be stopped, that the freedom of speech and the Press and the right of a public meeting under the British Raj is henceforth to be regulated by the arbitrary judgment and decision of a Provincial Governor or Government, that the Executive is to decide what is lawful and constitutional propaganda without reference to the Court of Justice. We protest against the method adopted and attempts that are made to silence the people from carrying their constitutional agitation.”
When an adjournment motion was put forward in the assembly on March 10, 1930, which prohibited Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel from speaking at public meetings for a month, Jinnah denounced the order in the strongest of terms and warned “an order should not be passed which goes to the root of the principle of liberty of speech.”
He always stood firm for the liberty of the Press and was critical of those laws which curtailed this liberty. For instance, when the penal code was amended to punish the author of any work calculated “to promote feelings of enmity or hatred” between communities, Jinnah ardently expressed his misgivings.
In the Presidential Address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on 11 August 1947, he asserted “If we want to make this great State of Pakistan happy and prosperous we should wholly and solely concentrate on the well-being of the people and especially of the masses and the poor. Presiding at Karachi on 25 August, 1947, Quaid recalled “It should be our aim not only to remove want and fear of all types, but secure liberty, fraternity, and equality as enjoined upon us by Islam.”
Pakistan’s commitment to human rights emanates in the first place from its Constitution and duty towards its people, with Quaid’s words “We are equal citizens of one State” as the guiding principle. His pronouncements on fundamental rights over the years need a major recall to this day. The Government should prioritise the advancement of the objectives of human rights development with a strong and unequivocal political commitment in this regard.
