Pakistan's Islamic Factor

History proves that religion has been repeatedly used by various classes to secure
their personal or class aims and objectives ! Religion as a political factor to
unite Indians against the British was introduced in politics by Gandhi ! Gandhi
represented the Hindu middle and professional classes funded by the business
classes who were western educated , outwardly secular in outlook but relied on
Hindu religious symbols to achieve their political ends ! When Gandhi sidelined Mr
Jinnah from main congress leadership after 1921-22 Mr Jinnah also abandoned his
initial ideology of Indian nationalism based on constitutionalism and adopted
Islam as his slogan ! In most of his political speeches Mr Jinnah stressed on the
fact that the Indian Muslims were a separate nation and their unique religious and
social practices entitled them to have a separate country ! This slogan was
convenient and politically expedient to unite the pre 1947 Indo Pak Muslims
against the Hindu dominated congress ! In 1947 while addressing the constituent
assembly of Pakistan Mr Jinnah clarified that his idea of Pakistan was a secular
state where Muslims and non Muslims would politically speaking only be Pakistanis
and religion would be a private matter !
Mr Jinnah’s line of reasoning was not immediately questioned by the religious
right since Jinnah was an indisputed leader but the question whether Pakistan was
a secular state or an Islamic state was hotly debated in the constituent assembly
of Pakistan from 1948 till 1956 ! The Muslim League and most other parties of this
time were dominated by the professional middle classes or landlords who had merely
viewed religion as a slogan to galvanise the masses and never wanted a theological
state ! The landlords wanted to get rid of a Hindu money lending class and a land
reform threatening congress party while the middle classes enthusiastically
supported Pakistan because they viewed the new state as one with greater...