Democratic welfare state as visualised by the Quaid-i-Azam

Abstract

The Quaid-i-Azam is generally projected only as a statesman with keen political acumen, who created an independent state for the Muslims despite the Hindus and British opposition. This image of the Quaid-i-Azam has for long overshadowed his serious concern for the socio-economic uplift of the people of the Subcontinent in general, and of Muslims in particular. However, over the past two decades, a number of authors have undertaken to project this aspect of his personality in greater detail. This paper reviews the work of these writers to highlight the Quaid-i-Azam's economic vision and his serious concern for the economic and social uplift of the masses. These studies show that his concern for social justice was based on the study of scholarly analysis of the Islamic welfare state as envisioned in the Quran, his study of the British welfare system, the appalling poverty in India under British rule, and the vision of Allama Iqbal, particularly the Islamic system of governance as compared to western democracy. Influenced by all these factor, the Quaid-i-Azam's concept of a welfare state can be summed up as: (i) a people's government which would not allow landholders and capitalists to flourish at the expense of masses; (ii) an economic system based on the Islamic concept of equality and social justice; and (iii) a major role of the public sector in fair distribution of the resources between the haves and have-nots. The paper also outlines the evidence of the Quaid-i-Azam's ideals and the Islamic welfare approach. It concludes with a hope for the reversal of the existing system, which is seen as contrary to the Quaid's ideals of economic and social justice.