Adil Najam
By way of an Independence Day Special, ATP has dug up for you some historic video footage from 1947.
In fact, we have three separate newsreels; the first two from 14 August, 1947 and the third from July of that year. These should be of interest to subcontinental history buffs and also include some fascinating video clips of what Karachi used to look like.
This first video is from 15 August, 1947 and shows the opening session of the Pakistan Constituent Assembly. Produced by Gaumont British News, it is placed for public viewing by the Germany-based GandhiServe Foundation.
click on the play (arrow) button on the image below:
Please note in particular the Chairman (Speaker) of the Assembly (in the robe-like garment). This is Jogindar Nath Mandal (1904-1968), a Hindu Dalit from Bengal, who later became Pakistan’s first Law Minister (and then resigned from in protest, but that is a post that will come later).
There is more of Jogindar Nath Mandal in this second clip which is (as far as I can tell) from 14 August, 1947. This newsreel is from Universal Newsreel and was made for a US audiences (note, also, how Liaquat Ali Khan’s name is mispronounced; some things never change!). I should add that this newsreel was also part of an earlier ATP post (courtesy www.harappa.com).
click on the play (arrow) button on the image below:
For Karachites: see if you can recognize Karachi landmarks including the Sindh Assembly Building and Elphinstone Street. And if you can, see how much you can recognize in this earlier newsreel (also from Gaumont British News, placed by GandhiServe Foundation) which shows Karachi in July 1947 as it readied itself with construction and activity to become the seat of government of the new country.
This newsreel also shows clips of New Delhi railway station as people readied to leave for Karachi. This, of course, was before the carnage of partition. Also shown is the arrival of Mr. Jinnah in Karachi and footage of Mr. Jinnah, Mr. Nehru and Lord Mountbatten together. In my opinion, the only one who gets undeserved praise from the commentator is Mountbatten.
click on the play (arrow) button on the image below:
All videos from video.google.com placed for public viewing by www.harappa.com and by GandhiServe Foundation.
Nice reminder of the great hopes we started with. Are any of these old clips available for sale on a video or CD?
Joginder Nath Mandal’s treatment by Pakistan is the greatest blot on our collective conscience.
There are two other events in Mr. Mandal’s life that should not be forgotten:
a. He, a scheduled caste Hindu, represented the Muslim League on Interim government’s cabinet… nominated on a “Muslim” seat.
b. He was the first person to preside over the opening session of the Pakistan constituent assembly.
Shivam:
Jogendra (and not Jogindar) Nath Mandal was a Dalit leader from Bengal and a follower of B.R. Ambedkar.
He was appointed law minister in Jinnah’s cabinet. His reason for joining the league camp was his respect for Jinnah combined with his own belief about its pragmatism, but after his death, he got completely disillusioned with his (Jinnah’s) followers. When the Objectives Resolution was passed in the Pakistan Constitutent Assembly, steamrolling the minority opposition, he resigned from his Government posts and emigrated to India. He led a retired life in Calcutta for the rest of his life.
An interesting piece of history in this context is his letter of resignation from the cabinet, addressed to Prime Minister Liaqual Ali Khan. It is a very lengthy letter, but worth reading nevertheless.
http://www.bengalvoice.com/uproot_appendix1.htm
Adil:
Here’s the reference you were asking for
http://www.dawn.com/weekly/cowas/20020526.htm
Actually, there was no attempt to break the statue by any mob. According to Cowasjee, it was removed on Jinnah’s orders due to a “potential” (and not an actual) act of vandalism.
Great video.
I had just found a nice video which shows how Pakistan day was celebrated in Chicago Devon (2004). Please do see this video. Nice editing and a very inspiring background song by
Haroon. A must watch video. I would recommend every Pakistani who is abroad must watch it. BTW you can get a glimpse of the names of the famous restaurants of chicago mentioned in my previous discussion.
Here is the link for it:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-858190360 8785449934&q=pakistan day devon&hl=en