Adil Najam
Today, December 25, marks the birth anniversary of Pakistan’s founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Mr. Jinnah has been a subject of frequent, and sometimes heated, discussion on ATP (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here). Maybe it is best to spare him the agony of argumentation on his birthday.
Instead, we wish to share this rather interesting and apt tribute to him (supposedly, the first in a series) by Dawn newspaper. (Click on image for larger image).
Dawn newspaper is currently celebrating its own and Pakistan’s 60th anniversary and as part of this celebration will carry a series of illustrated episodes from Mr. Jinnah’s life. This one, the first in this series, is illustrated by Syed Salman Nasir.
I, for one, liked this very much. As readers know I have always liked Jinnah the human even more than Quaid-i-Azam the icon. I also think that this type of story-telling might appeal to the young far more than staid narrations.
Given how our official portraits of Mr. Jinnah tend to be over-stylized and how the national discourse on his is more iconic than human, it is interesting (to say the least) that his human side (see here and here) emerges much more clearly in this caricature than it does in most of our national discussions about him.
http://www.longlivepakistan.com/ goes after Mullah’s
I believe this is based on actual accounts of the Quaid’s friends. I was also stunned by the comic book style at first but I think that is because we are not used to seeing this. I think this type of storytelling is eyecatching not only for the young but also for rest of us because it catches the attention by its unusual style. A good effort certainly.
I agree with Adil that the man before the title Quaid needs to come to the fore and I laud the efforts of Dawn in this regard.
Its high time the youth can link the Quaid and his principles to the Pakistan of today. Principles of justice and fair play are eternal and never grow old and its the youth that must incorporate them.
This ‘reawakening’ with the Quaids principles is a must for Pakistan for every generation. We must as each generation be able to draw strength from the Quaid and his principles. Indeed had we done so earlier we would not have endured the evil of military dictatorships for our people would never have accepted such distortions in our national fabric.
I am happy with the efforts of Dawn and believe them crucial in helping to bring the Quaid alive to today’s Pakistan. The Quaid must be more than a portrait above our offices and homes, he must live on in us for only then can we achieve the Pakistan our forefathers made sacrificies for.
I am confident that we can build a better, and a more just Pakistan, that ‘other’ Pakistan we all crave. Please help create such a Pakistan, do see http://www.otherpakistan.org/martial.html
Feimanallah
Wasim
Pakistaniat has both marbles and cricket, guli-danda and hockey.
No?
Seems the editor or the cartoonist has a dislike for marbles, as there was no need to bring that up in this manner. I particularly do not care, just thinking that if we have had distorted image of Jinnah before now, it looks to me it is fully hijacked in this rendition!
BTW, this ‘back-to-the-future’ genre was used by Akbar Ahmed’s Jinnah (http://www.chowk.com/articles/12244). A must see movie for all interested in Pakistaniat. And I also highly recommend his book.
Sorry for the double message. But does anyone know how frequently and when more episodes will appear?
I like this a lot. I think Dawn is onto something important in humanizing the Quaid. How can you go wrong with cricket. Great idea.
Its high time to human-ise our Azam-ish Jinnah.His personality has been made so controversial and so has been the case with his sayings,courtesy of the syllabus specially modified for the students of “Islamic Republic of Pakistan”-that he never founded!
Fascinating. Young kids learn so many of life’s lessons from such cartoon images than they would with Quaid’s farmaans relayed before the 9 PM news.
It is not only important that we see Jinnah, probably our only undisputed, non-discredited, leader as a person, but it is necessary for our political health as a nation. We need to also be able view today’s leaders as humans first…and judge how they rate before us as people and individuals, before what their famous last names stands for.