Mr. Jinnah's address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan
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Mr. Jinnah's presidential address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan
August 11, 1947
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen!
I cordially thank you, with the utmost sincerity, for the honour you
have conferred upon me - the greatest honour that is possible to confer
- by electing me as your first President. I also thank those leaders who
have spoken in appreciation of my services and their personal references
to me. I sincerely hope that with your support and your co-operation we
shall make this Constituent Assembly an example to the world. The Constituent
Assembly has got two main functions to perform. The first is the very onerous
and responsible task of framing the future constitution of Pakistan and
the second of functioning as a full and complete sovereign body as the
Federal Legislature of Pakistan. We have to do the best we can in adopting
a provisional constitution for the Federal Legislature of Pakistan. You
know really that not only we ourselves are wondering but, I think, the
whole world is wondering at this unprecedented cyclonic revolution which
has brought about the clan of creating and establishing two independent
sovereign Dominions in this sub-continent. As it is, it has been unprecedented;
there is no parallel in the history of the world. This mighty sub-continent
with all kinds of inhabitants has been brought under a plan which is titanic,
unknown, unparalleled. And what is very important with regards to it is
that we have achieved it peacefully and by means of an evolution of the
greatest possible character.
Dealing with our first function in this Assembly, I cannot make any
well-considered pronouncement at this moment, but I shall say a few things
as they occur to me. The first and the foremost thing that I would like
to emphasize is this: remember that you are now a sovereign legislative
body and you have got all the powers. It, therefore, places on you the
gravest responsibility as to how you should take your decisions. The first
observation that I would like to make is this: You will no doubt agree
with me that the first duty of a government is to maintain law and order,
so that the life, property and religious beliefs of its subjects are fully
protected by the State.
The second thing that occurs to me is this: One of the biggest curses
from which India is suffering - I do not say that other countries are free
from it, but, I think our condition is much worse - is bribery and corruption.
That really is a poison. We must put that down with an iron hand and I
hope that you will take adequate measures as soon as it is possible for
this Assembly to do so.
Black-marketing is another curse. Well, I know that blackmarketeers
are frequently caught and punished. Judicial sentences are passed or sometimes
fines only are imposed. Now you have to tackle this monster, which today
is a colossal crime against society, in our distressed conditions, when
we constantly face shortage of food and other essential commodities of
life. A citizen who does black-marketing commits, I think, a greater crime
than the biggest and most grievous of crimes. These blackmarketeers are
really knowing, intelligent and ordinarily responsible people, and when
they indulge in black-marketing, I think they ought to be very severely
punished, because the entire system of control and regulation of foodstuffs
and essential commodities, and cause wholesale starvation and want and
even death.
The next thing that strikes me is this: Here again it is a legacy which
has been passed on to us. Along with many other things, good and bad, has
arrived this great evil, the evil of nepotism and jobbery. I want to make
it quite clear that I shall never tolerate any kind of jobbery, nepotism
or any any influence directly of indirectly brought to bear upon me. Whenever
I will find that such a practice is in vogue or is continuing anywhere,
low or high, I shall certainly not countenance it.
I know there are people who do not quite agree with the division of
India and the partition of the Punjab and Bengal. Much has been said against
it, but now that it has been accepted, it is the duty of everyone of us
to loyally abide by it and honourably act according to the agreement which
is now final and binding on all. But you must remember, as I have said,
that this mighty revolution that has taken place is unprecedented. One
can quite understand the feeling that exists between the two communities
wherever one community is in majority and the other is in minority. But
the question is, whether it was possible or practicable to act otherwise
than what has been done, A division had to take place. On both sides, in
Hindustan and Pakistan, there are sections of people who may not agree
with it, who may not like it, but in my judgement there was no other solution
and I am sure future history will record is verdict in favour of it. And
what is more, it will be proved by actual experience as we go on that was
the only solution of India's constitutional problem. Any idea of a united
India could never have worked and in my judgement it would have led us
to terrific disaster. Maybe that view is correct; maybe it is not; that
remains to be seen. All the same, in this division it was impossible to
avoid the question of minorities being in one Dominion or the other. Now
that was unavoidable. There is no other solution. Now what shall we do?
Now, if we want to make this great State of Pakistan happy and prosperous,
we should wholly and solely concentrate on the well-being of the people,
and especially of the masses and the poor. If you will work in co-operation,
forgetting the past, burying the hatchet, you are bound to succeed. If
you change your past and work together in a spirit that everyone of you,
no matter to what community he belongs, no matter what relations he had
with you in the past, no matter what is his colour, caste or creed, is
first, second and last a citizen of this State with equal rights, privileges,
and obligations, there will be on end to the progress you will make.
I cannot emphasize it too much. We should begin to work in that spirit
and in course of time all these angularities of the majority and minority
communities, the Hindu community and the Muslim community, because even
as regards Muslims you have Pathans, Punjabis, Shias, Sunnis and so on,
and among the Hindus you have Brahmins, Vashnavas, Khatris, also Bengalis,
Madrasis and so on, will vanish. Indeed if you ask me, this has been the
biggest hindrance in the way of India to attain the freedom and independence
and but for this we would have been free people long long ago. No power
can hold another nation, and specially a nation of 400 million souls in
subjection; nobody could have conquered you, and even if it had happened,
nobody could have continued its hold on you for any length of time, but
for this. Therefore, we must learn a lesson from this. You are free; you
are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to
any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to
any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business
of the State. As you know, history shows that in England, conditions, some
time ago, were much worse than those prevailing in India today. The Roman
Catholics and the Protestants persecuted each other. 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.
Now I think we should keep that in front of us as our ideal and you
will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims
would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is
the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens
of the State.
Well, gentlemen, I do not wish to take up any more of your time and
thank you again for the honour you have done to me. I shall always be guided
by the principles of justice and fairplay without any, as is put in the
political language, prejudice or ill-will, in other words, partiality or
favouritism. My guiding principle will be justice and complete impartiality,
and I am sure that with your support and co-operation, I can look forward
to Pakistan becoming one of the greatest nations of the world.
I have received a message from the United States of America addressed
to me. It reads:
I have the honour to communicate to you, in Your Excellency's
capacity as President of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, the following
message which I have just received from the Secretary of State of the United
States:
On the occasion of of the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly
for Pakistan, I extend to you and to the members of the Assembly, the best
wishes of the Government and the people of the United States for the successful
conclusion of the great work you are about to undertake.
Source: Dawn, Independence Day Supplement, August 14, 1999.
Transcribed from printed copy by Shehzaad Nakhoda
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