Apparently, those who expressed this view were thinking of the non-Muslims who had been conquered by Musalmans in the past and on whom a special tax was levied in consideration of being exempted from military service. But in the case of Pakistan. there was no conquest and Partition was the result of an agreement, and it is one of the essential principles of Islam that when we enter into an agreement with another person, or persons, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, we should abide by it and Pakistan has all along acted on this principle. The opinion that non-Muslims should not be given the right to vote, though of a very microscopic minority and based on complete misconception, is, nevertheless, sufficient to give the enemies of Islam and to those who are not yet reconciled to the idea of Pakistan, opportunities to carry on malicious propaganda. We, therefore, consider that we should deal with this point in some detail.
114. It cannot be denied that Pakistan is based on Islamic ideology nor can there be any doubt that the main bond between the two wings of Pakistan is this ideology. This state cannot be in the nature of things, secular, as Islam pervades the life of a Muslim in all its aspects and does not allow politics to be kept apart from ethics as is the case in countries with secular constitutions. The moment it is stated that Pakistan is an ideological, and not a secular. State, our critics at once think of Theocracy which, in its widely accepted sense, is rule by priests in the name of God; but there is no priesthood in Islam and we are for a representative form of government. We are. therefore, theocratic only to the extent that we hold that real sovereignty belongs to God, which no non- Muslim of Pakistan disputes. Those who are anxious for establishing a class of society based on social justice should not be scared way by the malicious propaganda made against Islam, and by indiscreet and fanatical statements made by some of the doctrinaire Musalmans, giving the general impression that a non-Muslim is at a disadvantage in a Muslim State; for, the very basis of Islam, the Quran, has given a charter of equal civil liberties to humanity where under merit and not birth counts. A distinction, no doubt, exists between subject loyal to the State and those who are not. But this obtains in a secular form as well. History is replete with instances of non-Muslims having received just and generous treatment in Islamic countries. It cannot be denied that there were some instances of persecutions of non-Muslims in some stages of Muslim history, but they were mostly for political purposes. Muslim rulers have been more tolerant, and just, to non-Muslims than other have been to those who did not belong to their faith........
The minorities in Pakistan have been quite happy and there has been no interference with their rights or liberty. As Cantwell Smith in his book “Islam in Modern History", points out, the rights and treatment, accorded to any minority or non-powerful group in any state depend on the ideals of those in power. A merc enumeration of the rights in the constitution and a declaration that the state is secular, by itself, is not a practical guarantee of the rights of the minorities. The minorities in Pakistan cannot complain that they have, in any way, been tyrannized over by the majority community. Whether the minorities feel secure, or not, depends on the attitude of the majority towards them and no non-Muslim in Pakistan can, with justification, complain that the attitude of the majority has not been one of friendliness.
