THE liberals believe that Pakistan is to be a state where religion was to be a personal matter. They cite some of the speeches of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah toprove that Pakistan should be a country where religion should have no role.
The conservatives tend to bring their own interpretation and they usually refer to the Quaid`s speech when he inaugurated the State Bank of Pakistan.
Both are wrong. Liberals are wrong when they say Islam should be separated from the state. In a country where people are attached emotionally and psychologically to their religion, it is totally wrong to argue that religion should be kept separate from the state.
The conservatives are wrong when they say that Islam should be imposed. Things that are good need not be imposed. They need to be imparted, inculcated and instilled. Smoking is not banned, but we try to enlighten people not to smoke.
Furthermore, when you impose a religion, it means people are not practising it of their own free will. Islam believes that what you do should be embedded in your intention otherwise this trickery won`t do them any good in the hereafter.
Furthermore, there is no compulsion in Islam.
What Pakistan`s founding fathers wanted was that the country should be Islamic, but not by imposition. This is where we went wrong: the liberals focused on separating religion from state, while the religious leadership tried to impose its ideology.
It is a majority Muslim country. Why do we need imposition of religion to make this country Islamic? It is like imposing education on schools.
