While some prefer to emphasise the economic independence within
secular Pakistan, others dream of theocracy like Iran. They try to
support their perceptions by misquoting and twisting sayings of Muhammad
Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. Both are far from the reality. This fundamental question has been settled through Objectives Resolution, adopted by first constituent assembly on March 9, 1949, and subsequently by all assemblies till now. Any ambiguity was further clarified by Liaquat Ali Khan, the 1st Prime Minister of Pakistan, also a close associate of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, in his speech on the Objectives Resolution, March 9, 1949.
"Pakistan
was founded because the Muslims of this sub-continent wanted to build
up their lives in accordance with the teachings and traditions of Islam,
because they wanted to demonstrate to the world that Islam provides a
panacea to the many diseases which have crept into the life of humanity
today."
"Islam does not recognize either priesthood or any sacerdotal authority; and, therefore, the question of a theocracy simply
does not arise in Islam. If there are any who still use the word
theocracy in the same breath as the polity of Pakistan, they are either
labouring under a grave misapprehension, or indulging in mischievous
"propaganda."
"The
Preamble of the Resolution deals with a frank and unequivocal
recognition of the fact that all authority must be subservient to God.
It is quite true that this is in direct contradiction to the
Machiavellian ideas regarding a polity where spiritual and ethical
values should play no part in the governance of the people and,
therefore, it is also perhaps a little out of fashion to remind
ourselves of the fact that the State should be an instrument of
beneficence and not of evil."
"The
Muslim [in Pakistan] shall be enabled to order their lives in the
individual and collective spheres in accord with the teachings and
requirements of Islam as set out in the Holy Quran and the Sunnah"
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