The idea of Pakistan

Pakistan in its 76th year is a country that suffers somewhat from a case of arrested development. For the well-fed, this may be a country full of possibilities but for a vast majority it is a country that just won’t grow up even at 76. This has no doubt been fuelled by a neighbour on the east that has led ties with animosity and intervention. However, let us not forget that before Pakistan was a country, it was an idea. From the Two Nation Theory of Sir Syed Ahmed to the coining of the word Pakistan by Chaudhry Rahmat Ali to the passage of the Lahore Resolution in 1940, Pakistan is the product as much of thinkers as it is of political leaders. This is what many seem to have forgotten. In Jinnah, Pakistan had the one person who could combine both. Ever since, we have been trying to find a similar Great Leader, sometimes turning to military dictators who would inevitably disappoint and sometimes to inspiring figures who flattered to deceive. The one thing we have never been able to do is define what Pakistan is. Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah attempted to do so in his address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on August 11, 1947. Unfortunately, we have strayed from that ideal and in doing so and paid the price.

For anyone keeping tabs – and we certainly are – history has continued to repeat itself in Pakistan over and over and over again. Democratic leaders have been ousted, killed, maligned. Progress has been thwarted. The people have been ignored at best and treated with immense cruelty at worst. Until the 21st century, not a single elected government served out its term. More than half the country was so alienated it decided to form a whole different nation. And today, so many Pakistanis had rather take the most dangerous journeys out of the country than try and live here. This is probably why when we look back we say we are a resilient people, that even surviving 75 years has been an achievement in itself. But the question to ask ourselves today is whether survival alone is enough. And the answer to this should never be in the affirmative.

On August 14, 1947, Pakistan emerged on the world map as an independent nation, free from colonial rule. This is a day that symbolizes the triumph of a people’s will and commitment to forging a path towards a better future, a commemoration of past achievements, an occasion to celebrate the nation’s diversity. But while the country will be decked out today in green and white, and while the nation’s ‘leaders’ will make tall claims of how they are saving the nation, there is also the fact that the country has stood far too close to the edge for far too long. A year that saw Pakistan come dangerously close to default and suffer a political crisis not at all of the people’s making is a reminder of how much is left to be done to complete the Quaid’s vision. Not all is lost though. The country is still young at 76 – around 64 per cent of its population under the age of 30. It is these young people who are the hope for a better Pakistan. We have silos of optimism – civil rights movements working in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad trying to make civic rights work for the people; young entrepreneurs trying to make Pakistan a startup country; filmmakers and artists and singers/performers making waves in international arenas. And where we have bigotry in abundance, we also have a resistance to it that may seem small but is significant in its steadfast earnestness. This is what the dream of Pakistan’s next 76 years must be – a way to chart a path that takes us to progress that is not for the one per cent alone. Peace, stability, prosperity, political and religious freedom are all realistic dreams. But we must demand more and do more. If the next government too does not deliver, it must not mean that we stop fighting for a better tomorrow. Pakistanis have become used to too many false dawns. Independence Day should be about remembering the dream of Pakistan – and working to make it true for all of us.