Sindh adds Jinnah’s speech on freedom of religion and equality of citizens in school curriculum
Faisalabad (AsiaNews) – The Province of Sindh has decided to include in its high school curriculum the historic address Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan, made to the country’s first constituent assembly.
In this historic speech, Pakistan’s Founding Father expressed hope that the new nation would become a pluralistic democracy, based on the rule of law and the equality of its citizens.
Awaz Ittihad-e-Haq (AHI), a coalition of 12 human rights organisations, has welcomed the decision taken by the Sindh government.
Along with Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, Ali Jinnah was one of the foremost leaders in India's independence movement from the United Kingdom.
Since the Congress and the Muslim League could not reach a power-sharing formula for a united India, everyone agreed to separate independence for a predominately-Hindu Union of India, and for a Muslim-majority Pakistan, with Jinnah as its first governor general.
In his address to the first Constituent Assembly of the Dominion of Pakistan on 11 August 1947, Ali Jinnah laid out his ideas about the new state.
"We are all citizens and equal citizens of one state,” said Jinnah said. “[W]e should keep that in front of us as our ideal, and you will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the State.”
Hence, “You are free; you are free to go to your temples. You are free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any region or caste or creed – that has nothing to do with the business of the State."
Speaking about minorities in an earlier speech, Jinnah had said, their rights “will be safeguarded. Their religion or faith or belief will be secure. There will be no interference of any kind with their freedom of worship. They will have their protection with regard to their religion, faith, their life, their culture. They will be, in all respects, the citizens of Pakistan without any distinction of caste or creed.”
At the same time, “they will have their rights and privileges and no doubt, along with it goes the obligation of citizenship. Therefore, the minorities have their responsibilities also and they will play their part in the affairs of this state. As long as the minorities are loyal to the State and owe true allegiance and as long as I have any power, they need have no apprehension of any kind.”
For Peter Jacob Convener, and Cecil Shane Chaudhry, respectively AHI convenor and coordinator, the government of Sindh should be “commended for taking this initiative.”
Once implemented, such a “step will go a long way in reducing the biases and divisions based on colour, creed and descent” in society. In view of this, “We would like to strongly recommend that [other] governments” do the same.
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31/07/2007
