Published on, Sept. 22 -- September 22, 2025 3:32 AM

There is nothing more important than peace within and peace without. This is what the great Quaid-i-Azam, the Founder of Pakistan, had said in the early years of the newly independent state. Unfortunately, the succeeding leadership did not understand the underlying message of Quaid, and hence, the concept of peace, as well as its manifestation, remains elusive.

Peace, as defined by early Western theorists, was understood to be the absence of war. However, Quaid's vision of peace was far more expansive than the Western concept of peace. Remember, Pakistan was created to be an Islamic state where Muslims of the sub-continent could practice their religion without fear of religious persec...