Daily Times

Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, speaking at the Holi celebrations in Umerkot, has asked very poignantly why Pakistani non-Muslims are barred from becoming the president or the prime minister of the country. This is a question I have raised in this space on several occasions. We owe it to ourselves to tell the truth again and again till Pakistan sets itself on the right course, regardless of whether it is politically expedient to do so or not.

It bears repeating again and again that the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, had promised a Pakistan where there would be no bars against any community. This is what he said speaking as the president of the first constituent assembly of Pakistan on August 11, 1947: “Even now there are some States in existence where there are discriminations made and bars imposed against a particular class. Thank God, we are not starting in those days. We are starting in the days where there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another. We are starting with this fundamental principle that we are all citizens and equal citizens of one State. The people of England in course of time had to face the realities of the situation and had to discharge the responsibilities and burdens placed upon them by the government of their country and they went through that fire step by step. Today, you might say with justice that Roman Catholics and Protestants do not exist; what exists now is that every man is a citizen, an equal citizen of Great Britain and they are all members of the Nation.”

This particular proceeding of Pakistan’s first constituent assembly was presided over, at Jinnah’s instructions, by Jogindranath Mandal, a scheduled caste Hindu from East Pakistan. Mandal had earlier been nominated by Jinnah on a Muslim seat in the interim government of British India in 1946. In 1947, he was appointed as the first law minister of Pakistan. Not content with the symbolism of appointing a Hindu as the law minister of the newly formed Muslim majority Pakistan, Jinnah had also retained the services of Jagganath Azad, a Hindu poet, to write Pakistan’s first national anthem. Again the implication was clear: Pakistan would not discriminate on the basis of religion. A week later Jinnah attended a religious service in a Karachi church to pray for the prosperity and success of Pakistan. The founder of Pakistan was equally sensitive to ensuring intra-sectarian diversity within Muslims. A Shia himself, his chosen foreign minister, was an Ahmadi, Sir Zafrullah Khan, who was also one of the principal authors of the Lahore Resolution. No one could imagine then that the country would legislate one day to declare Ahmadis non-Muslim.

Even after Jinnah’s death, Pakistan’s first prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, speaking in defence of the Objectives Resolution in 1949, had expressly ruled out the idea that non-Muslims would be barred from becoming head of state or head of government under the constitution. He had explained that the idea of an Islamic state that the Objectives Resolution envisaged was not a theocracy discriminating against non-Muslims in any way. Nevertheless, when Pakistan’s first constitution was promulgated in 1956, the office of president was reserved for Muslims. It was argued, however, that president was the symbolic head of state like the Queen of England and that the real office of power i.e. prime minister was open to all communities, Muslim and non-Muslim alike. This changed under the 1962 constitution when the president of Pakistan became the effective head of government and the office was still reserved for Muslims. In 1973, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, himself no bigot, in an attempt to coopt the religious right conceded that both the president and the prime Minister of the republic shall be Muslims only. This then raised the question of who was a Muslim and who was not a Muslim. In 1974, Bhutto’s party aided by the entire parliament including the so-called ‘secularists’ of the NAP like Wali Khan voted unanimously to declare Ahmadis non-Muslim. Sectarianism was institutionalised. Jinnah’s Pakistan born in 1947 was buried in 1974.

We must exhume and resurrect Jinnah’s Pakistan. This is what young Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has attempted to do in Umerkot and we must support him wholeheartedly. It is a matter of greatest shame for us as Pakistanis that a section of Pakistanis are denied the right to aspire to the highest office in the land just because of their faith. Pakistani non-Muslims, including those who have been declared non-Muslim forcibly like the Ahmadis, have produced some of the finest Pakistanis of great integrity and immense talent. No one can deny the contributions of men like Sir Zafrullah Khan or Dr. Abdus Salam, forced minorities as they became in this republic of ours. Men like Justice A.R. Cornelius and Justice Rana Bhagwandas were luminaries of the justice system. Cecil Chaudhry, Peter O Riley, Mervyn Middlecoat and W.J.M. Turowicz were those remarkable air warriors who helped defend this country and lay the foundations of an air force and a space programme worthy of a great nation. Each and every one of them was more than qualified to lead the country as its elected leader and to represent Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

Pakistan must stop discriminating against its religious minorities who are every bit as Pakistani as any Muslim, if not more. Islam cannot be made an excuse to justify discrimination against them. Kudos to Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari for starting a very important debate that has been long overdue in Pakistan.

The writer is a lawyer based in Lahore and the author of the book Mr Jinnah: Myth and Reality. He can be contacted via twitter @therealylh and through his email address yasser.hamdani@gmail.com