Re: Secular?
Care to give evidence?
I’ve read some books which say that Jinnah was only using the threat of Pakistan as a political move to try to gain more seat in the Indian congress. Apparently he got overly greedy though, demanding equal number of seats for Hindus and (minority) Muslims. I don’t believe that Pakistan was necessary or that, once it was created, Jinnah intended for it to be a Muslim country ruled by Islamic law.
Jinnah was educated and worked in England, drank alcohol, and was pretty westernized. His grandson is a Christian. There are people who believe that had he not died, Jinnah would have worked to make Pakistan a secular country and I believe that this would have helped the country tremendously. Obviously I believe Pakistan should be secular.
Now I’m not saying that we should totally disregard our conservative culture, far from it. Look at India, it is still a relatively conservative country and they are secular. As long as the mullahs rule the country, Pakistan will always be backwards. The persecution of other religions by Pakistanis is an embarrassment. Responses like the one I quoted above by Zarvan Ali are the reason Pakistan is falling behind India.
In short, I believe the separation of Pakistan was a purely political move which Jinnah only employed to gain influence in the government and he never intended the country to be ruled by Islamic law (the man was a lawyer, and pretty westernized).