Adil Najam
This picture is carried today by both Dawn and Daily Times. Dawn’s title is “Still Heroes” and the caption reads: “Bronze statues of Quaid-i-Azam, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and Allama Iqbal put on display at the Science and Technology Expo-2007 being held at National Memorial Museum in Shakarparian in Islamabad.”
A visit to the Museum is on the top of my ‘To Do’ list when I return to Islamabad end of the month. I hope they are still there.
My first thought on looking at the picture was to note how both Jinnah and Iqbal are wearing suits here (this penchant of ours – me included – to dress up these guys in the garbs of our desires has been has been quite a remarkable historical see-saw!). My second thought was to wonder what the folks at Lal Masjid and Jamia Hafsa might have to say – or do – about this. I hope there is significant security against vandalism here.
But even more than that, I wonder what these three men are sitting there thinking about what is happening today in the country they helped conceive. Late at night when the museum is closed and the statues come alive and walk about, what is it that they sit together and talk about?
I guess then we can conclude from the list from Saad and comments from Jabir that looking back, the plight of Muslims in India has turned out to be no better than the plight of Muslims in Pakistan.
Hum becharey musalman. Wahan auroun nay maara, yahan apnou nay maara.
tina I didnt mean to offend you at all. I apologize if it is the case.
Do you agree there are dedicated revisionist making changes to history all the time? This presents two faces of history, one true and the other false (revisioned). The question is which is the one you accept as truth.
And same goes for quotes about Quaid, either they are true or false. Depends on who told the story. If he was an admirer of Attaturk, how come it means he also adhered to his philosophy as well? Second,I dont think you will ever call your father ‘grey wolf’ to please him, so how can you assume Dina ‘a daughter herself’ uttered these words about his father. Unless they were being used during her opposed marraige period, in anger.
And by the way being simplton has its rewards. I have seen the best approach of solving any problem is by using the simpler means first. They carried out a study on a japanese island to know the secret of happiness of its habitants. The conclusion was they gave a damn to over complicated ‘realities’ of life. Live a stress free life, otherwise the system will squeeze you dry.
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tina bibi Kindly tell me the status of Narendra Modi – the architecht of the riots at the that time.[/quote]
Jabir, the status of nerindar modi in India is less than the status of leaders of Jamaat Islami, Jamait Ulema Islam and other “religiousâ€
As for divided loyalties, see the statues above. Some have suggested that Jinnah, a London educated lawyer, should not be shown in Western dress. Yet he did wear it. Also, Jinnah had a love marriage to a girl who was not a Muslim which everyone disapproved of. He was an admirer of Ataturk, and his daughter called him “grey wolf” after Ataturk to please him. Ataturk as we know was an ambitious secularist. Yet, Jinnah is the father of the Islamic republic of Pakistan.
I think we might even be able to say that Quaid-e-Azam himself experienced an internal conflict or two in his life. As previous poster noted, so did Iqbal. Saying that someone has conflicted feelings or divided loyalties does not make them a bad person. Only simpletons are completely sure of themselves all the time.
tina bibi Kindly tell me the status of Narendra Modi – the architecht of the riots at the that time.