On Pak's 62nd I-Day, some apologise to Jinnah

As Pakistan celebrates its 62nd Independence Day on Friday, some of its citizens are apologetic for not being able to 'actualise' the country envisioned by the nation's founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah.  

'We are sorry, Mr Jinnah. We are sorry that we have not been able to actualise the Pakistan of your vision. At least, not yet,' reads a post dedicated to the Father of the Nation on a popular search engine.

The post by US-based academician Adil Najam reminded readers of Jinnah's speech on August 11, 1947 when he proclaimed: '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 (Pakistan).'

Najam cited the recent incident of sectarian violence in the Gojra region of Punjab, where at least eight Christians were killed and over 50 homes of members of the minority community burnt by a mob.

'We will shower platitudes on Mr Jinnah's vision of a tolerant Pakistan and then conveniently ignore that vision,' he wrote, adding, 'A Pakistan for all Pakistanis, irrespective of, as he would say, caste and creed…We are sorry, Mr Jinnah. We are sorry for the Gojra that happens every day in the Pakistan you created.'