Jinnah: Making of a Myth
Dr Mubarak Ali
Moreover, his image as a “Great Leader” (the Quaid-i-Azam) is presented in the textbooks to mould the mind of the young generation encouraging them to follow in his footstep. Scholars are eulogizing different aspects of his life. A film is screened to counter the film Gandhi in which Attenborough distorts the image of Jinnah. These efforts have made Jinnah sacrosanct. Any criticism of him is regarded a treason. He has become a paragon of super human virtues, beyond all weaknesses normal in human being.
And it is right in case of Dr Sb…
As on Monday, October 24, 2005 it is reported
Dr Mubarak Ali says police harassing and humiliating him“Although I am invited by world universities to deliver lectures on the history of Islam and the subcontinent, in my own country my family and I are harassed and humiliated and my house is raided by a Lahore Police Investigation Wing junior inspector, who is investigating to verify my learning,” internationally known Pakistani historian Dr Mubarak Ali told Daily Times on Sunday.
Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah had all the qualities and characteristics in his personality which go into the making of a myth. He was reticent, reserved, kept his personal matters secret, behaved coolly and proudly and was not warm towards anybody. Thus he created a halo of awe and fear around himself.
Sri Prakash, the first Indian High Commissioner to Karachi, in his book Pakistan: birth and early years gives an account of a reception which was given by the Governor-General of Pakistan, just after Independence to the diplomatic corps. It was also attended by the party leaders and bureaucrats. According to his version, Mr Jinnah was sitting at a distance alone on a sofa and called one by one those he wanted to talk to. He exchanged notes with each one of them just for five minutes. To the High Commissioner, he appeared a lonely man, averse to people. His serious and sombre expression made all those who interacted with him uneasy in his company.
This conveyed the impression that he was the final authority in every matter. The Muslim League and its leaders were merely rubber stamps. His image of being the sole spokesman of his party and people created a number of myths. For instance, the myth about his serious illness which is recounted by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre in their book Freedom at midnight fascinates everybody and compels readers to take it seriously. The version of their story is:
“If Louis Mountbatten, Jawaharlal Nehru or Mahatma Gandhi had been aware in April 1947 of one extraordinary secret, the division threatening India might have been avoided. The secret was sealed onto the gray surface of a film, a film that could have upset the Indian political equation and would almost certainly have changed the course of Asian history. Yet, so precious was the secret that that film harboured that even the British CID, one of the most effective investigative agencies in the world, was ignorant of its existence.”
These were the X-rays of Jinnah diagnosed as a TB patient. The authors, after creating a suspense, further write that: “The damage was so extensive that the man whose lungs were on the film had barely two or three years to live. Sealed in an unmarked envelope, those X-rays were locked in the office safe of Dr J.A.L. Patel, a Bombay physician.”
On the basis of the story, Jinnah emerged as the one on whom depended the whole movement of Pakistan. The story further becomes interesting when a Hindu doctor kept the secret at the cost of Indian unity. His professional integrity was more important than his political inclinations.
In 1997, on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of India-Pakistan Independence, Patrick French published a book, Liberty or death. After his own investigation, French refutes the whole story narrated by Collins and Lapierre. According to him: “The idea that Jinnah’s poor state of health was a closely guarded secret is absurd: it was referred to in the press at that time, and it is obvious from photographs taken in the mid-1940s that Jinnah was unwell.
Moreover, the reduction of the Muslim League’s wide popular backing to the whim of one man’s ‘rigid and inflexible’ attitude is indicative of the way that Pakistan history has been traduced. A second problem with Collins and Lapierre’s story is that it is not correct. Jinnah did not go to Bombay in May or June 1946, since he was busy in negotiating with Cripps in Simla and New Delhi. Nor did he have a doctor by the name of J.A.L. Patel. Although it is possible that Jinnah had tuberculosis in 1946, there is no evidence among his archive papers to support the theory.”
However, Jinnah himself on many occasions expressed the view that he was the sole creator of Pakistan. In one of his famous quotes, he said that he and his typewriter made Pakistan. The statement disregarded the efforts of his colleagues and the other Muslim League leaders in the Pakistan movement. It also downgraded the people’s participation in the struggle for a separate homeland.
There is evidence that he did not think highly of the leaders of the Muslim League. He found them mediocre and not capable of leading the nation. Perhaps, that was the reason that Jinnah, knowing his fatal illness, accepted ‘the moth eaten and truncated Pakistan’. The later history of Pakistan vindicates Jinnah’s assessment of the Muslim League leaders who miserably failed to solve the problems of a nascent nation.
The failure of these leaders has boosted Jinnah’s image as a superman. He overshadowed everybody. The nation also paid respect to him by naming universities, colleges, airports, roads, hospitals, and institutions of different kinds after him with the result that a citizen of Pakistan feels his presence every where in the country, wherever he goes.
Moreover, his image as a “Great Leader” (the Quaid-i-Azam) is presented in the textbooks to mould the mind of the young generation encouraging them to follow in his footstep. Scholars are eulogizing different aspects of his life. A film is screened to counter the film Gandhi in which Attenborough distorts the image of Jinnah. These efforts have made Jinnah sacrosanct. Any criticism of him is regarded a treason. He has become a paragon of super human virtues, beyond all weaknesses normal in human being.
The reverence accorded to him is such that mere association with him catapults a person from a humble position to the rank of freedom fighter. People take pride in their claim to have shaken hands with him (though he avoided shaking hands with people), or having seen him, talked to him, or merely attended his public meeting. The rulers of Pakistan, realizing the impact of his association, create myths of their links with him. Z.A. Bhutto claimed that as a student he wrote a letter to the Quaid – it is not known whether he replied to that letter or not, Zia’s sycophant bureaucrats discovered a diary of Jinnah (that was the time when Hitler’s diaries were discovered and later on proved false) which disappeared along with him.
Nawaz Sharif, assuming to follow in his footsteps, called himself ‘Quaid-i-Sani’ (the second leader). One such similar example is found in the history of France when Napoleon III made an attempt to revive the image of Napoleon I in order to legitimize his authority. Marx jokingly comments in The eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte that “Hegel remarks somewhere that all facts and personages of great importance in world history occur, as it were, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second as farce.” Nawaz Sharif’s self-given title proves it.
Jinnah has become such a symbol of wisdom in the Pakistani society that people visualize Pakistan with his reference. His vision, his agenda, his dream and his ideals, all remained unaccomplished because he died soon after Independence. It is commonly believed that had he lived some more years, the history of Pakistan would have been different. There are few nations which rely so heavily on one individual.
No doubt, Jinnah was a great leader of his people. He was a man of integrity and honesty, but to idealize him to such an extent as to preempt the emergence of another rank of leaders out of his shadow is strange. Every generation has its own dreams and vision which it wants to accomplish without interference. Not imitation but freedom is required to build a new world. Therefore, an attempt should not be made to repeat but to make new history. People should be liberated from the shadows and allowed to flourish in a free society. Great leaders should be respected but not worshipped.
Dr Shamsher Shaheed….
SWAT: The provincial assembly member belonged to Awami National Party (ANP) Dr. Shamsher and his brother killed in a suicide attack in Kabal area of Swat.
DIG Malakand has confirmed the killing of MPA and his brother. According to initial reports, large number of people was gathered at the house of Dr. Shamsher to exchange eid greetings when a suicide bomber blew up himself injuring Dr. Shamsher and his brother seriously. They were shifted to Syedo Sharif Hospital where both of them succumbed to injuries. Fifteen other persons also injured in the attack.
Curfew has been imposed in the area as wounded have been shifted to district headquarter hospital.
The area of Kabal is situated just one kilometer away from Imam Dehri area. a stronghold of Maulana Fazllulah.
World After The Fall Of Berlin Wall
(Courtesy : Dawn)
BERLIN: The United States should cede some of its powers to international organisations to create a ‘world order’, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday in an unusually sharp criticism of Washington before she led world leaders through the Brandenburg Gate — the climax of ceremonies marking 20 years since the Berlin Wall came crashing down in 1989.
‘We Europeans are used to this…. We have voluntarily given up many of our powers to Brussels and to the European Union,’ said the German chancellor.
‘But our American partners find it much more difficult to hand over powers to the International Monetary Fund or to any other international organisation,’ she said.Within the EU, Germany has become used to accepting the will of the majority, even if it does not agree, but this has not yet lodged itself in the American psyche, she added.‘What we need today is a much more multi-polar vision than that to which we have become accustomed,’ the chancellor said.’ This world will only be a peaceful and good world if we have more of a world order and more multilateral cooperation,’ she said.
On a recent trip to Washington, Angela Merkel received one of her greatest honours and biggest embarrassments in the space of a few hours.
She was the first German leader to address a joint session of Congress but, soon afterwards, she learned of an abrupt about-turn by car maker General Motors which was supposed to sell Germany’s Opel to her preferred bidder but decided to keep it instead.
Washington said the White House had played no part in the decision, but the German press described it as a bitter slap in the face for the chancellor.
Fall remembered
Ms Merkel, who grew up in communist East Germany, marched through the historic Brandenburg Gate with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and representatives from across the European Union.
The leaders joined more than 100,000 revellers who thronged the monument despite a steady cold drizzle.
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and ex-Polish president Lech Walesa also appeared at the landmark, which now stands as the symbol of German unity.
‘It is not only a day of celebration for Germans,’ Ms Merkel said of the anniversary. ‘It is a day of celebration for the whole of Europe.’
In a surprise video address beamed into the ceremonies, US President Barack Obama said he still took inspiration from the courage of East Germans who stood up against their oppressive regime.
‘Few would have foreseen … that a united Germany would be led by a woman from (the east German state) Brandenburg or that their American ally would be led by a man of African descent,’ he said.‘But human destiny is what human beings make of it.’
But Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sounded a sour note, saying the end of the Cold War did not justify any nation’s global dominance, in a clear swipe at the United States.‘The transition to a new multipolar world is today very important for most countries, for all the countries in Europe and the world,’ he said.
Medvedev said Russia had often felt on the back foot since the Wall fell, despite assurances at the time that NATO would not expand eastward, as it since has.
‘We were hoping the disappearance of the Warsaw Pact would be accompanied by a different degree of Russia’s integration into common European space,’ he added.‘What have we received as a result? Nato is still a bloc whose rockets are targeting the Russian territory.’
British prime Minister Gordon Brown called the unity of Berlin, Germany and Europe ‘majestic’ achievements.
The Wall ‘was swept away by the greatest force of all — the unbreakable spirit of men and women who dared to dream in the darkness,’ he said.
French President Nikolas Sarkozy said the global community still needed to live up to the promise of that euphoric night.
‘The fall of the Berlin Wall is an appeal, an appeal to all to vanquish oppression, to knock down the walls that throughout the world still divide towns, territories, peoples,’ he said.
Crowds surged to hear Berlin’s renowned State Opera orchestra play strains of Beethoven and Wagner and cheered the symbolic toppling of 1,000 giant styrofoam dominoes along two kilometres of the Wall’s former course, where border guards once had shoot-to-kill orders.
At least 136 people who tried to cross it were killed during the 28 years it stood. The Wall was raised in Aug 1961by the erstwhile East German government in an attempt to stop immigration to the West.
Following weeks of protests against the regime, East German authorities suddenly allowed people to travel to the West on the now epochal night of Nov 9, 1989.
After almost three decades as prisoners in their own country, stunned East Germans streamed to checkpoints and rushed past bewildered guards, many falling tearfully into the arms of West Germans on the other side.
Easterner Christel Schneider, now a 62-year-old bank employee, said the mood that night was electrifying.
‘I crossed the border into the West — it was madness,’ she said, still breathless from the memories. ‘There were so many people that we were driving at a snail’s pace.’
Eleven months later, in Oct 1990, East and West Germany unified.—Agencies
Iqbal : Everyone has his Own
By Aliarqam
Today when we are facing a devide at almost every aspect on almost everything from religious interpretations to political ideas, from personalities to their concepts and thoughts, from hisrory to its interpretations and from educational policy to foriegn policy and from national issues to the Wars at our doorsteps.This devide is most of the times having extremes on every sides.
In our society Qur’anic Ayaats, Ahadiths of the Prophet(saaw) and Iqbal verses are used as conclusive remarks most of the time crushing difference of opinion in every debates. When News Channels were condemning Jehadis and terrorists they were using Qura’nic Ayaats of La Tufsidoo dil Arz and a few days earlier At Talaat Husain Show Dr. Safdar(PML-N) was using Hadith in favour of his opinion and on objection from the host he said, “Musalman Ki tou siasat shuru hi Masjid se hoti hai”(politics of muslims start from the mosque) and in the same way when the Nation was preached that Foriegn aid is a curse for them, famous Iqbal Verse are used “A Tair Lahotee Us Rizq Se Maut Achee Jis Rizq se Aati Ho Parvaz mey Kotahi”
Unfortunately as in Pakistan everyone has the right to quote and interpret Qura’n O Ahadiths for their own means and under their own slogan, in the same way whether its an honour or not but Iqbal Verse has the same status.
Interstingly Qazi Husain in every speech of him and every article appearing at the Newspapers has Verses of Iqbal Urdu and Persian quoted and interpreted and last week Hillary Clinton also praised Iqbal and visited his Tomb.
When we We as a nation has made everything disputed.In the same way personalities though respected but everyone has his own Context.
OIC : 40th Anniversary
10:0522/09/2009
Sergei Demidenko, an expert on Arab affairs at the Institute of Strategic Assessments and Analysis
(Courtesy ; Ria Novosti)
Question: What could you say about the work of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) 40 years after its inception?
Answer: I cannot say that the work done by OIC has been effective. Unfortunately, the Organization comprises countries with various political, cultural and economic interests. In effect, the OIC is a kind of discussion club, which does not adopt any decisions but creates a necessary platform and facilitates long-term decisions. On the whole, the OIC is more of a discussion club.
Q.: What, in your opinion, has the OIC accomplished in the past 40 years?
A.: The OIC is probably one of the few discussion platforms in the world that enables Islamic countries to discuss various important regional and civilizational issues now of concern to the Arab world and the Islamic world. We should keep in mind that the OIC is one of the few organizations dominated by former Third World countries. This is very important because it is probably the only platform where they can discuss their problems without the great powers, the United States, the European Union and their pressure, and tackle various issues together.
Q.: Do you think these countries and the world as a whole would not fare better without the OIC?
A.: It is not completely correct to pose the question this way. I believe this organization should be viewed in the long-term context. The OIC can play a constructive role in the future. But, in my opinion, this will happen after most Islamic countries achieve success, primarily in the economic and political spheres. Consequently, such countries will gain a voice among industrial states. Quite possibly, the OIC will then be able to draft more or less important decisions.
At present, the OIC is just a conglomerate of states that are multidirectional in all respects.
Q.: What could you say about specific contacts and cooperation between the OIC and Russia?
A.: Russia has observer status with the OIC and must retain its presence in this organization. Whether we like it or not, Russia is also part of the Islamic world because many of its citizens preach Islam. Russia must keep its eyes open and follow various political and economic trends in the Islamic world because this directly affects us.
Q.: What should the OIC do in order to increase its influence in the solution of regional and global problems?
A.: OIC leaders are unable to change anything in this respect. An evolutionary process is a top priority. The organization will change, depending on changes in the Islamic world’s socio-political situation. Its role will also change as a result.
