On April 25, 2003, Mr. Khalid Waqar Chamkani, a member of parliament from JUI (F) in the Frontier assembly, presented a new bill aimed at revolutionizing the educational system of Pakistan. The bill declared the wearing of shirts and trousers as “Un-Islamic” (and hence un-constitutional), and called for a strict ban on shirts and trousers in all schools and colleges of the province. From now on, the bill proposed, everyone will be required to wear the more “Islamic” shalwar kameez. The proposal which at first sounded more like a bad joke was quickly taken up by the august assembly and passed within minutes by the ruling majority.

Ironically in the parliament house where the bill was passed, hangs a huge portrait of the founder of the nation, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, all dressed up in a sharp English suit. Perhaps Mr. Chamkani believes that if Jinnah could achieve so much in spite of wearing shirts and trousers all his life, he could have conquered the whole world by changing into a shalwar kameez.

The more serious question however is how did we get to Mr. Chamkani from Mr. Jinnah? And if the trend continues, where is it likely to lead us?

From the vantage point of 1947, the Maulanas, Mullas, and Qazis that comprise today’s political elite, looked like a defeated lot. Their political forerunners like Majlis-e-Ahrar and Maulana Maududi had bitterly opposed Jinnah in the struggle for Pakistan. They gave Jinnah names such as “Kaafir-e-azam” (the great infidel), and referred to the idea of Pakistan as “Paleedistan” (a land of filth). However, Jinnah overcame all such opposition and succeeded in creating a political representation for the majority of Muslims in British India.

On August 11, 1947, Jinnah stood as the victor as he gave the newly formed constituent assembly of Pakistan guidelines for creating the new constitution. He gave a short address, barely 3 pages long. But it contained the fundamental principles upon which he expected and hoped the future of Pakistan to be built. Those principles had no religion because they embraced all religions. Jinnah’s vision presented a government whose main objective was to maintain law and order, and protect life, property and religious beliefs of its citizens. Specific religious beliefs or interpretations had nothing to do with the business of the State. All citizens of the State were supposed to be equal in the eyes of the law without any discrimination, or distinction based on religious beliefs.

Jinnah’s words were supposed to form the constitutional foundation for the new Republic of Pakistan. However, more than 50 years hence, this foundation looks completely deserted. Myopic leaders from Bhutto to Zia and the present day helped the opponents of Jinnah build a tower of religious bigotry, fanaticism, and outright insanity on top of which the likes of Mr. Chamkani stand today.

The strategy used by these “religious” politicians to tighten their grip on power has been a simple two step procedure. First, declare that the only law in the country should be “Islam”. Second, enforce a complete monopoly to define what this “Islam” means by suppressing all rational thought and debate through force and terror. If there appears to be any organized opposition to this monopolized version of Islam, then have the opposition declared heretic, non-Muslim, and threatened by imprisonment and death. In most other countries of the world, such politics would be discarded as “Fascism”. In Pakistan they took the guise of “Nifaz-e-Shariat” and presented as something holy. The result has been that the very Mullahs that Jinnah fought so hard to defeat, today stand ready to bulldoze whatever is left of Jinnah’s vision.

To me, true Islam represents the best of what mankind can hope to achieve. But no matter how beautiful and potent I may consider Islam to be, it remains a choice. A choice given by none other than God Himself. No one has the right to take this choice away from man, and impose their version of Islam on the rest of the population. To mix religion with politics by imposing ones religious ideology on the population is one of the biggest immoral acts.

If Pakistan is to become the progressive, scientific, and compassionate society that Jinnah envisioned, then politicians should no longer be allowed to use Islam as an excuse to pass draconian laws. New and existing laws should be judged purely on the merit of how they promote the basic objectives of any sane constitution namely absolute justice, religious freedom, and economic well-being. No new law should be passed, nor any existing law be allowed to stay in the constitution whose sole justification is that it is considered “Islamic” by some Mullahs. Mr. Chamkani should be free to practice, believe, and wear whatever he wants in his personal life, but he should not be allowed to impose his religious will on the rest of the society.