27th February, 2002 is remembered every year but
not for paying any homage to the riot-hit and killed persons, but to spread a
message of hatred and to remind the people of a particular religious community of
the incident so that the people of two faiths be kept divided.
I wish to quote few lines from the speeches of ‘Mohammed Ali
Jinha’ after formation of independent ‘Pakistan ’:
“There is no other solution. Now what shall we do? Now,
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. If you will work in co-operation, forgetting the
past, burying the hatchet, you are bound to succeed. If you change your past
and work together in a spirit that everyone of you, no matter to what community
he belongs, no matter what relations he had with you in the past, no matter
what is his colour, caste or creed, is first, second and last a citizen of this
State with equal rights, privileges, and obligations, there will be no end to
the progress you will make. I cannot emphasize it too much. We should begin to
work in that spirit and in course of time all these angularities of the
majority and minority communities, the Hindu community and the Muslim
community, because even as regards Muslims you have Pathans, Punjabis, Shias,
Sunnis and so on, and among the Hindus you have Brahmins, Vashnavas, Khatris,
also Bengalis, Madrasis and so on, will vanish. Indeed if you ask me, this has
been the biggest hindrance in the way of India to attain the freedom and
independence and but for this we would have been free people long long ago. No power can hold another nation and
specially a nation of 400 million souls in subjection; nobody could have
conquered you, and even if it had happened, nobody could have continued its
hold on you for any length of time, but for this. Therefore, we must learn a
lesson from this. You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are
free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this 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 and equal
citizens of one State.
The constitution of Pakistan
has yet to be framed by the Pakistan Constituent Assembly. I do not know what
the ultimate shape of this constitution is going to be, but I am sure that it
will be of a democratic type, embodying the essential principle of Islam.
Today, they are as applicable in actual life as they were 1,300 years ago.
Islam and its idealism have taught us democracy. It has taught equality of man,
justice and fairplay to everybody. We are the inheritors of these glorious
traditions and are fully alive to our responsibilities and obligations as
framers of the future constitution of Pakistan . In any case Pakistan is not
going to be a theocratic State to be ruled by priests with a divine mission. We
have many non-Muslims — Hindus, Christians, and Parsis — but they are all
Pakistanis. They will enjoy the same rights and privileges as any other
citizens and will play their rightful part in the affairs of Pakistan . Broadcast talk to the people of the
United States of America on Pakistan
recorded February, 1948.
Jinha felt that the state of Pakistan should stand upon true
Islamic tradition in culture, civilization and national identity rather than on
the principles of Islam as a theocratic state. “
I pray to all right thinking persons of this country, “INDIA ” of ours,
to understand the things in the right way. Forgive and forget the bad
happenings of the past and choose a path of progress for the generations to
come of this country of OURS. A faith in a particular religion is an
individual’s birth right and one must pray in his own way to satisfy his own
inner soul but with a love and affection for every other person may the person
be from a different faith.