Erasing history

Yet another birth anniversary of the father of the nation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, has passed, and yet again all that was broadcast was mere lip service to him. None of his speeches in which he shared his vision of Pakistan becoming a modern democratic welfare state was aired. Instead of the country he dreamt of, we have a country that is hostage to greed and extremism and is mired in chaos. He warned us to avoid exploiting religion for politics, but throughout history, countless people have done just that.

Quaid’s address to the first Constituent Assembly on August 11 1947 used to be played extensively by media channels. However, these days there seems to be a deliberate attempt to distort his vision and replace it with the doctrines of the numerous usurpers and political midgets in the country. Almost since the start, there has also been a deliberate attempt by people devoid of vision and intellect to do the exact opposite of what Jinnah wanted. We, as a nation, have failed to follow the roadmap laid down by him and other leaders of the freedom struggle. As a result, Pakistan has suffered one crisis after another, and now its existence is threatened by extremism and a financial crisis like never before. Jinnah, on June 14 1948, reminded the civil servants of the significance of the oath they had taken, but all they have done is abuse their power and indulge in political manoeuvring.

Malik Tariq Ali

Lahore