Updated: Wednesday April 09, 2014/AlArbia'a
Jamada El Thaniah 09, 1435/Budhavara
Chaitra 19, 1936, at 08:42:13 AM
Address of the Founder of Pakistan
Mr.
President (Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah): Ladies and Gentlemen, I cordially
thank you, with the utmost sincerity, for the honour you have conferred upon me
— the greatest honour that it is possible for this Sovereign Assembly 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 our future constitution of
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 emphasise 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. (Hear, hear.) 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
black-marketers are frequently caught and punished. According to our judicial
notions sentences are passed, and 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 or the
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
black-marketers 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 they undermine the entire system of control and
regulation of food-stuffs and essential commodities, and cause wholesale
starvation and want and even death.
The next thing that strikes me is this. Here again
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. This
evil must be crushed relentlessly. I want to make it quite clear that I shall
never tolerate any kind of jobbery, nepotism or any influence directly or
indirectly brought to bear upon me. Wherever I 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 Indian and the partition of the Punjab and
I cannot emphasise 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 Bengalese, Madrasis and so on — will vanish. Indeed if you ask me this has
been the biggest hindrance in the way of
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 fair-play 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
Source:
G. Allana, Pakistan Movement Historical Documents (Karachi: Department of
International Relations, University of Karachi, nd [1969]), pp. 407-411.
Paragraph numbers in double brackets have been added by FWP for classroom use;
punctuation has been slightly adjusted for clarity. Editorial comments in
square brackets have been added by FWP.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah's first
Presidential Address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan (August 11, 1947)
Mr. President,
Ladies and Gentlemen!
[[1]] I
cordially thank you, with the utmost sincerity, for the honour you have
conferred upon me -- the greatest honour that is possible for this Sovereign
Assembly to confer -- by electing me as your first President. I also thank
those leaders who have spoken in appreciation of my services and [thank them
for] 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
[[2]]
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.
[[3]]
The second thing that occurs to me is this: One of the biggest curses from
which
[[4]]
Black-marketing is another curse. Well, I know that black-marketeers 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 black-marketeers 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 they
undermine the entire system of control and regulation of foodstuffs and
essential commodities, and cause wholesale starvation and want and even death.
[[5]]
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 [=corrupt employment
practices], nepotism, or any any influence directly or 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.
[[6]] I
know there are people who do not quite agree with the division of
[[7]] 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 Bengalees, Madrasis and so on -- will
vanish. Indeed if you ask me, this has been the biggest hindrance in the way of
[[8]]
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.
[[9]]
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 fair play 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
[[10]] I
have received a message from the
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
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.
Secular
Pakistan: ‘Pakistanis should know Quaid’s Aug 11 speech by heart’
By Sonia Malik
Published: August
12, 2012
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The
original recording of Jinnah's address to the Constituent Assembly has gone
missing.
Speakers
and the audience at a seminar Jinnah ka
The
seminar was organised by the Awami Party in
Jamil
Omar, the party’s general secretary, compared Jinnah’s August 11 speech with
the
The
people of
He said
it was the third point which had led to the speech being blacked out. Jinnah
had reiterated secularism and wanted to keep state and religion apart, said
Omar. If these four points had been adhered to, he said,
Wajahat
Masood cited references from several books quoting from Jinnah’s speeches that
promote a tolerant
He said
the Quaid had objected to slogan
He said
three articles of the national constitution needed to be expunged – Article 2
(a) upholding the Objectives Resolution; Article 227, which says that no law
can be repugnant to Quran or Sunnah and Article 203 that gives the Federal
Shariat Court the power to strike down any law passed by the parliament that is
repugnant to Quran or Sunnah.
He also
quoted Thomas Jefferson who had warned that if church was not separated from
the state half the people will be hypocrites and the other half stupid. “We
should not care if Jinnah was a mullah, a secularist or a pluralist; a
nation-state by definition is a secular entity,” he said.
He ended
his speech by quoting Jinnah, “In the course of time, Muslims will cease being
Muslims; Hindus will cease being Hindus, not religiously, but politically.”
IA
Rehman urged the participants to reflect on Jinnah’s views. He said Jinnah had
wanted a government that worked for the citizens’ welfare and a country where
everyone had equal rights.
After
the speeches, the participants asked the party to demand that the clauses added
to constitution during General Zia’s rule be removed and the Objectives
Resolution declaring
Published
in The Express Tribune, August 12th, 2012.
Quaid-e-Azam's
speech before the Constituent Assembly in the context of Two Nation Theory
| 0
comments ]
The
Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah during his first address to the Constituent
Assembly of Pakistan on 11th August, 1947 said:
“We are all citizens and equal citizens of one state….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.”1
Those who do not have full grasp of the Two-Nation Theory are often misled by
the phrase used by the Quaid when he said, “Hindus would cease to be Hindus and
Muslims would cease to be Muslims.” They wrongly infer from these words that
the Quaid’s vision of
“The pattern of Government which the Quaid-i-Azam had in mind was a secular
democratic government.”2
The pre-political phase of the Two-Nation Theory should not be confused with
its post-political era. Evidentially, before the creation of an Islamic State,
the Muslims and the non-Muslims are two different and distinct nations. The
Muslims, in every respect, are a nation, irrespective and independent of
geographical boundaries and racial or linguistic bonds. Their religion governs
them in every walk of life. In their socio-economic solidarity they have not to
be dependent on the state legislation. State legislation is just transcendence
of the comprehensive and complete code of life laid down by the Holy Quran and
the Holy Sunnah of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Sall Allah ho alaihe wa sallam).
Islam provides intellectual foundation for the institutional organization of mankind;
whereas territorial nationalism based on geographic, linguistic and racial
affinities lead to spiritual paralysis and material superiorities of colour,
language, territory, tribe and heritage. Territorial nationalism makes
impossible the universal brotherhood of mankind. The motto of Muslim Nationhood
in the expression of the Unity of God (Taied-e-Ilahi) in thought and action in
accordance with the Will of God. Despite everything else the word country
(watan) as a term of Geography is not contrary to Islam. Love of Motherland is
a natural sentiment. But when the word country is used as a concept of
Political Science, it comes into conflict with Islam, for Islam is itself a
comprehensive principle of institutional organization.
When the Muslims succeed in establishing a sovereign Islamic State, a change
takes place in the political status of the Muslim and the non-Muslim citizens
of the Islamic State. Both of them are full citizens of the State. The
non-Muslims are not the second grade citizens of the Islamic State. In a
secular state the rights of the minorities are a bounty of the ruling majority.
But in the Islamic State the rights of the non-Muslims are bestowed upon them
by the Holy Quran and the Holy Sunnah of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Sall Allah
ho alaihe wa sallam). In this regard the rights of non-Muslim citizens are
protected by the ‘Shariah’ which is the fountain head of all matters for the
Muslim rulers of an Islamic State. In the terminology of the International law
and Political Science this is called Pluralism.
The Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah is therefore, rightly following in the
footsteps of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Sall Allah ho alaihe wa sallam) when
before the
The Holy Prophet Muhammad (Sall Allah ho alaihe wa sallam) treated the Muslims of
Arabia as a different nation from the non-Muslim Arabs. When he established a
sovereign
“They (the Muslims and the Jews of Madina) constitute a single community
distinct from the other people.”
The famous orientalist Montgomery Watt fell into the similar fallacy about the
Holy Prophet Muhammad (Sall Allah ho alaihe wa sallam). In his book Muhammad At
Medina he has misread Article No.1 of the Mithaq al – Madina and he has wrongly
inferred that the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Sall Allah ho alaihe wa sallam) wanted
to establish a secular state. He writes:
“This suggests that the Ummah (Ummat al-Muslima) is no longer a purely
religious community.”3
Montgomery Watt has not read the Mithaq al-Madina as an organic whole and
therefore has drawn an unsustainable conclusion. He has ignored Article 42 of
the Mithaq al-Madina (the Constitution of the State of
“Whenever among the people of this document there occurs any incident or
quarrel from which disaster for it (the people) is to be feared, it is to be
referred to Allah (Subhanahu wata-ala) and to Muhammad (Sall Allah ho alaihe wa
sallam) the Messenger of Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala). Allah (Subhanahu wa ta’ala)
is the most scrupulous and truest of what is in this document.”4
This Article clearly stipulates the supremacy of Allah and the Holy Prophet
which means that the ‘Shariah’ shall be the supreme law of the State of
We can, therefore, safely conclude that this misconception thus created seems
to be an act of extreme injustice, aimed at distorting the real version of the
Quaid’s speech and impute secularism and separation of politics from religion
to Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, when he actually did not mean it. It is
intellectual dishonesty and a worst kind of distortion in utter disregard of
the context of the speech and the context of all other statements and speeches
of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Even, in this speech he has advocated the
integration of religion and politics in the light of the Sunnah of the Holy
Prophet Mohammad (Sall Allah ho alaihe wa sallam).
QUAID-I-AZAM’S PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS TO
THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY OF
ON THE 11TH AUGUST 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 for this Sovereign Assembly to confer-by electing me as your first
president. I also thank those leaders who 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 our future
constitution of
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 emphasis 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
Black-marketing
is another curse. Well, I know that black-marketeers 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 black-marketeers 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 they undermine the entire system of
control and regulation of food-stuffs and essential commodities, and cause,
wholesale starvation and want and even death.
The next
thing that strikes me in this: Here again 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. This evil must be crushed relentlessly.
I want to make it quite clear that I shall never tolerate any kind of jobbery,
nepotism or any influence directly or indirectly brought to bear upon me.
Wherever I 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
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, Punjabies, Shias, Sunnis and so on and among the Hindus you
have Brahmins, Vashnvas, Khatris, also Bengalis, Madrasis, and so on-will
vanish. Indeed if you ask me this has been the biggest hindrance in the
way of
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 fair-play without any, as is put in the political language,
prejudice or ill will, in other words partiality, or favoritism. 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
I have
received a message from the
“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
On the
occasion of the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly for Pakistan, I
extend to you and to 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.”
-------------------------
Above
articles are collected from different sources. Please note that Address of Quaid-e-Azam
was not meant to make the Pakistan Secular or
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