Seventy years have gone by since our independence and yet Quaid’s vision and agenda for a modern democratic welfare state, built on foundations of the Constitution finalised by Constituent Assembly and containing bribery and corruption, remains unfinished. After Quaid’s death in 1948, the process of finalising the constitution was delayed and Objectives Resolution was adopted contrary to vision of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. In 1954 the Constituent Assembly was dismissed. 

Back in 1937, the Colonial Raj introduced representative provincial governments through direct elections under Government of India Act 1935 to deal with local administrative matters but these were never intended to be democratic institutions. They were only to legitimise authority of bureaucracy who continued to be policy makers with the sole objective of serving the British Raj. In 1947, Pakistan inherited this imbalance of power which was tilted in favour of strong bureaucratic establishment but weak democratic representative institutions such as parliament and judiciary. Unlike Imperial Civil Service which recruited on merit, the Raj eroded Indian Civil Service through lateral direct recruitment, bypassing requirement for competitive examinations, because unlike the former, the latter was primarily to serve their political objectives. Recommendations of Civil Service Reforms submitted by Justice Cornelius, who had also served as Law Secretary to Quaid’s choice of Law Minister J Mandal in 1962, must be implemented. 

Quaid e Azam accompanied by Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah visited Quetta Staff College, where he reminded officers that “Defense Forces are the most vital of all Pakistan Services” and defined their role as “custodians of the life, property and honour of the people of Pakistan. He emphasised that armed forces officers had no other role to perform and advised them to “study the Government of India Act, as adapted for use in Pakistan, which is our present Constitution, that executive authority flows from the Head of the Government of Pakistan, therefore, any command or orders that may come to you cannot come without the sanction of the Executive Head”. 

Pakistan was created so that its citizens could decide their own fate through self government by directly elected representatives, where rule of law prevails over whims of individuals and institutions and everyone is accountable for transgressions of authority with justice for all citizens. Since 1947, no PM including Liaquat Ali Khan and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, were able to complete their tenures, the former assassinated, while latter deposed in 1977 by coup d’etat and later hanged. PM Nurul Amin held office for only 13 days. Other than Yusuf Raza Gillani and Mian Nawaz Sharif who were removed legally by orders of SC, the rest were forced out. 

Corruption, nepotism and abuse of power have increased since 1956. Territorial sovereignty and sanctity of our nation was compromised by men like Zia who gave sanctuary to alien extremists, while Musharraf is responsible for strengthening criminal economy by patronising Altaf Hussain who was vocally anti-Pakistan. 

MALIK TARIQ ALI, 

Lahore, August 14.