Mahzarnama (The Memorandum) — Page iv
iv Mahzarnama government in this matter. When this preconceived political plan reached its logical conclusion, an internecine tussle broke out between the Government and the Opposition for the credit to have resolved this so-called "ninety-year old problem". As a matter of fact this marked a great tragedy in the history of Pakistan, enabling politics to impinge on religion and allowing religion, in turn, to interfere with politics. This indeed was the most serious blunder the outcome of which mars the contemporary Pakistani political scene that seems to find no way out of the mess. After this tragic mistake, the influence of extremist divines continued to plague national politics, culiminating in the imposition of a sinister eleven-year stint of martial law which proved much more macabre than the earlier martial law episodes, and whose gruesomeness continues to eclipse the future of our nation. The country continues to be deprived of discipline, unity, tolerance, and national purpose. The seeds of dissension sowed by selfishly motivated politics have resulted in a crop of multifarious hatreds, and have fragmented Pakistan into factions, sects, clans, and provincialism. It is plainly obvious to the intelligentsia that the foundations of our country's present misery were in fact laid in 1974. We pray that Allah may enlighten the nation and help adopt the noble charter which the Quaid-e-Azam prescribed for the nation, and which reflected his vision for this country. He said: "You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed— that has nothing to do with the business of the State. . . . We are starting with this fundamental principle that 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