ZAHID Hussain in his column ‘Reclaiming the original ideology’ (Nov 25) writes: “Islamic parties, gathered under the umbrella of the Milli Yakjehti Council (MYC), have threatened to launch nationwide protests against what they describe as a ‘conspiracy’ to turn Pakistan into a secular state. ‘We cannot compromise on the basic ideology of Pakistan,’ they have vowed.

This squabbling lot that never agrees on any religious issue now appears united in defending the country’s ‘Islamic identity.’ What mockery! Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah in his struggle for the creation of Pakistan said in an interview to Reuters in 1946: “The new state would be a modern democratic state with sovereignty resting in the people and the members of the new nation having equal rights of citizenship regardless of their religion, caste or creed.”

Pakistan was never supposed to be, in the words of Mr Jinnah, a “theocratic state,’ that these religious groups strive for.” He says this country has deviated from its core principle. Theocracy is anathema to modern democracy that the Quaid had envisaged.

Mr Hussain says: “The country drifted from its ideals when the state got involved in religious matters…” In fact, it is an attempt to redefine Pakistan’s ideology that has harmed the country the most by widening the religious divide. Rising religious extremism and intolerance have led to escalation in violence against religious minorities and their systematic persecution.

What happened in Shantinagar, Gojra, Joseph Colony, etc, and more recently in Jhelum is testimony to that. Many of the religious groups that form MYC are directly or indirectly patronising militant organisations like the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.

Pakistan was created to be a modern democratic state with freedoms of beliefs, and religion. He says, ‘We must reclaim the original ideology of Pakistan if we really want to move forward and establish a tolerant society.’

Wg Cdr (r) Sardar Ahmed Shah Jan
Peshawar

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2015