Guest Post by Yasser Latif Hamdani

Today being 11th August Day has a great significance in Pakistan’s history.

60 years ago, Mr. Jinnah, Pakistan’s undisputed Quaid-e-Azam, Governor General and elected President of the Constituent Assembly elaborated his vision for the future of Pakistan.

Jinnah’s vision is unambiguous.

1. The state would be completely impartial to religion of the individual.
2. The state where every citizen would be equal and there would be no distinction between citizen on the basis of faith or caste or creed.

A lot of controverey has emerged about this speech. Any student of political science would tell you that is the classic exposition of a modern secular democratic state. However, the issue of whether this constitutes a “secular” state or an “Islamic” state is besides the point. A rose by any name is after all a rose.

Aqil Sajjad

We are all aware of how our political parties are run by a few personalities without any regard for democratic principles. We also know how this seriously weakens the parties and impacts their ability to address the issues of the people and stand up to the establishment where needed.

Even now, while most of the party workers of PPP are against any deal, BB is having talks with Musharraf in sheer disregard of the majority opinion in her party. Many opportunistic politicians are holding negotiations for tickets with more than one party without any commitment to any ideology or manifesto. All this naturally undermines the political process and prevents it from having much relevance to the people at the grass roots level.

While the events of the last few years have convinced many that military rule is not a solution to Pakistan’s problems, it is equally true that the political system, as it stands, is in need of a major overhaul. Most Pakistanis feel a complete disconnect between politics and how it impacts their lives. They are either indifferent or jubilant when the military takes over, hoping that perhaps the new ruler will turn out to be better. If the people are to have confidence in the political process, it must give them a genuine sense of participation.

Guest Post by Dr Ghulam Nabi Kazi

The mention of the late Mr A K Brohi’s name brings to mind a rush of memories. Pakistan has seen only a few members of the legal fraternity of his competence. He belonged to an exclusive set including eminent jurists like A R. Cornelius, Manzur Qadir, M R Kayani, Dorab F Patel, Mian Mahmud Ali Kasuri, Tufail Ali Abdul Rehman, Fakhruddin G Ebrahim and Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada. Ever since I was a student at the Dow Medical College I had the opportunity of listening to his ‘elaborate’ speeches.

In the historical photo above A.K. brohi (center) is flanked by Syed Hashim Raza (left) who later became Chief Secretary of East Pakistan and Hakeem Mohammad Saeed (right) who besides ‘Hamdard’ fame also became Governer of Sindh later on. Photo is circa 1960s