Partition - a reality :::: 'Accidental nation' ?? In 1948, no less than Jinnah told army bosses "any command that may come to you has to come from executive head”

 "In a 1948 address to army officers in Quetta, Jinnah underlined that “executive authority flows from the head of the government … and therefore, any command or orders that may come to you cannot come without the sanction of the executive head”. 

- its a painful reminder for the 76-year-old nation and its Army....and more paradoxically on a day, the country gets a new caretaker PM in Anwar-ul Haq Kakar -- who is supposed to enjoy the 'confidence' of military brass!

        Anwaarul Haq Kakar swearing in 

Nay, I am not reminding them from India. Nor it is India's incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- who started with 'Mia Musharraf' jibe is now a talking point even in TV debates in Pakistan. The reminder comes from 'Dawn' in its August 14, 2023 editorial.  

The country's leading newspaper further says "His (Jinnah's) was an uncanny lucidity about matters of the state — the right to change dispensations and their policies rests with the electorate." 

This is no rocket science and that's what democracy is all about. This is not intended to hurt their sentiment, but Pakistanis should take break from the usual hatred and 'unscientific rivalry' they have towards India as a nation and must appreciate that when change of guards take place --- there is political cacophony at times, but the transition of power takes places in a much healthy and friendlier atmosphere.

When PM Modi took oath on May 26, 2014, his predecessor Dr Manmohan Singh was present and so was the visiting Nawaz Sharif from across the border. Incidentally, whenever I interact with Pakistanis, there is a refrain that Sharif has 'business interest' and hence he prefers friendly ties !

Others do not have 'business interest' ? What interest Pakistani generals have vis-a-vis keeping intact their rivalry with a mightier force is best known to Pakistanis?

I need not impose my personal agenda. Going back to 'Dawn' edit is an easier option but yet again, what it says is more than just being 'important'.

"The founding fathers imagined an egalitarian, prosperous welfare state; one that thrived in harmony and justice with absolute civil supremacy. But decades after them, what emerged is entirely divergent from their beliefs. So this day begs the question: is ‘Jinnah’s Pakistan’ an ideal fading into a myth?" - Dawn

The editorial is more than pointblank.

"Our wounds and dilemmas are largely of our own making. For one, we reconstructed Jinnah — from a modernist to an orthodox — to suit prevalent narratives and enhance the power of clerics and the military in forming state policies." 

Can Pakistan change?

Let us again see how the edit has tried to visualize a possibility !!

"Admittedly, there isn’t a magical way out, but stemming cronyism, corruption, and intervention is a good place to start. Salvation lies in retrieving Jinnah’s dream with the rule of law, education, health, welfare, and people power in a meritocracy. For non-political forces to usurp or derail the Constitution and cave into religious hardliners violates every ideal close to the Quaid’s heart."

List of Indian PMs: Cacophony n Democracy !!

Meanwhile in another newspaper 'Express Tribune', columnist Ahsan Jehangir Khan
presents his views albeit in a different tone and style. 

"Another day of celebrating the country’s independence is upon us and the question remains: what should we celebrate? Perhaps the fact that no one is above the law in our great state! After all, the incumbent Speaker of the National Assembly, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf is the only Prime Minister, post-dictator Musharraf era, who has not gone to jail." 

In other words, he too is not very positive of how things are unfolding in Pakistan.

He also mocks, - "Future is certainly bright. We are doing much better than our competitors, North Korea and Afghanistan".

Khan also laments:

"The only (fictitious) ranking we care about is having the 2nd most beautiful capital in the world – a true feather in our cap. Besides, rankings are useless, because as per the Minister of State for Petroleum we have more than 6 trillion dollars’ worth of minerals in our country. An amount, which is, once again as per the Minister, more than the total valuation of Amazon, Apple and Google combined. 

Obviously, the Minister is wise beyond his years, to equate a sovereign security state to three companies; and we can celebrate the fact that Ministers both past and present are equally wise. 

For instance, the former Minister for Climate Change once implored that the handsome Prime Minister deserved credit for the good weather in the country. Another former Minister, who served as Minister for Science and Technology, once said that the Prime Minister’s helicopter’s operational costs were a measly Rs50 to Rs55 per kilometer. Are such ‘selected’ intellectual giants, representing the populace in Parliament, not worth celebrating? "

ends