All the Maulvis are up in arms against Pakistan’s march to humanity and progress. Well these are the excerpts from my favourite Jinnah speech (11 September 1929 in the Central Indian Assembly):
“How can there be such a divine sanction to this cruel, horrible, disgraceful, inhuman practice that is prevailing in India? Sir, whether certain practices have any sanction divine or religious or not, and when any social reform is suggested which goes to destroy the usages and customs to which people are used and upon which they have looked as semi-religious usages and practices, it is always known all over the world that those people who have got deep sentiments, deep convictions, strong opinions, always resent, and they believe that it is destroying the very root of their social life or religion. Always the social reformer is face to face with this orthodox opinion…But are we to be dragged down by this section for whom we have respect, whose feeling we appreciate, whose sentiments we regard, -are we to be dragged down and are we to be prevented in the march of progress, in the name of humanity, I ask you?
But, Sir, I make bold to say that if my constituency is so backward as to disapprove of a measure like this then I say, the clearest duty on my part would be to say to my constituency, ‘You had better ask somebody else to represent you”…if we are going to allow ourselves to be influenced by the public opinion that can be created in the name of religion when we know that religion has nothing whatever to do with the matter, – I think we must have the courage to say, ‘No, we are not going to be frightened by that’.”
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