As many as 74 years later, a 210-million-strong nation should have learned the founding father’s vision by heart. The undisputed symbol of unity in the crescent-adorned land should have turned 145 this year. Quite a stretch of the imagination, indeed, but unfortunately, Muhammad Ali Jinnah was in great haste to leave the country he had carved as a homeland out of the iron grip of the British orphan. For his name may enthuse a hope for a better tomorrow to our currency bills and his confidant smile may continue to adorn hoardings all over the country but his manifesto seems to have conveniently slipped out of our collective memory. Jinnah, a true reformer, had set out to do the unthinkable. A modern Islamic state, one that would pander just as enthusiastically to the ever-so-popular Ulema and the secular elite class. The end-product would run its affairs based on the principles of fraternity, equality, and liberty where every Pakistani–irrespective of his religion caste, and creed–would get to breathe and prosper as free men. Had Pakistan been as lucky as its estranged cousin, modern India, which enjoyed the guiding light of revolutionary Nehru and spiritually charismatic Gandhi, we, too, would have been living in different times. Mr Jinnah had tried his best to steer the ship in the right economic and societal direction but the little a feeble man working on overtime could achieve was far too weak in impression to last the turbulent waters. Going as far back as 1947, the State Bank had been instructed to evolve practices that were compatible with the Islamic code while armed forces were urged to uphold the national banner. This was in no way meant to pave the way for theocracy because he repeatedly waved the flag of tolerance for other creeds. Sadly, the inflation-battered, intolerant vicissitude of the country we are living in could not be more different to the lofty–almost heavenly–goals we were repeatedly asked to strive for. Pakistan was created as an umbrella to safeguard us against the second-grade citizenry a pundit majority in India would enkindle. Free from any existential threat whatsoever, the miraculous nation was expected to actually deliver on its end of the bargain with unwavering commitment. A truly prosperous and wholesome Pakistan, which should have made the likes of Jinnah, Iqbal, Liaqat, and countless others proud. Something clearly gone missing in the economy that only makes headlines as one in a freefall; a society looked down upon for its innumerable episodes of mob violence and peddling to the agenda of frenzied extremists and a country that has clearly gone to war with itself. Let us strive to change all of this today and pull up our socks towards the true realisation of Mr Jinnah’s dream. Time may not be on our side but our hard work and resilience can once again tilt the odds. To stop being a beggar and becoming the king of the world! To Quaid’s Pakistan! *