Adil Najam
Today is 9/11. Much will be written and much discussed on the 5th anniversary of the cruel attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, on what has happened since, on all the ways in which the world changed, and on all the other ways in which it did not. Today is a sad day, and at ATP our hearts and prayers go out to the dear ones of the victims of this tragedy, and to the loved ones of all who have lost their lives in the events that were unleashed by it.
While 9.11.2001 will be much debated elsewhere, we here at ATP want to recall the events of 9.11.1948.
For Pakistanis, 9/11 has always been a sad date. A date on which – barely a year after the nation’s birth – its founding leader, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, died. Here is a short (50 sec) newsreel video clip on Mr. Jinnah’s death :
Like every year, APP has announced in advance how the “nation” will mark this occasion, and every newspaper (e.g., Dawn) has printed this “news” on its front page:
ISLAMABAD, Sept 10: The nation will observe Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s 58th death anniversary on Monday with a pledge to transform Pakistan into a vibrant, progressive and enlightened country as envisioned by the great leader.
I am glad that the APP has he psychic power to know exactly how this “nation” will observe the anniversary, even before the occasion. They have been making the same stale prediction every year for as long as I can remember. Maybe, we as a “nation” do actually make that “pledge” every year. Its just that we have not been very good at keeping the pledge.
Some might argue that the “nation” had already begun to let Mr. Jinnah down even in those brief 13 months that he lived in the country he had founded. Others like to believe that Pakistan’s history might have taken a very different path had he lived longer. It may well have. I am just not sure what that path might have been given that tensions between him and those who were running day-to-day Pakistan had begun to appear even while he was alive.
His death, and the circumstances of his death, was itself not without controversy (see, for dramatic effect, the opening scenes of the movie, Jinnah, here). But today, September 11, should not only be a sad reminder of his untimely death. It should also be a moment to reflect on his life. And, maybe, it should be a moment to reflect on what lessons that life might have to offer for the future.
From its very inception, ATP has had an ongoing discussion on the legacy of Mr. Jinnah and the various meanings it has for different people. Today seems to be an appropriate day to continue that discussion; to think, yet again, about the meaning of the life and death of Mr. Jinnah.
Related ATP Posts:
– Read about the Other Side of Mr. Jinnah
– Watch Jinnah: The Movie
– Read about Jinnah’s first message to the nation
– Watch historic footage from August 1947
– Read about the Jinnah-Gandhi relationship
– Listen to and watch Mehdi Hassan’s classic, “yeh watan tumhara hai”, which is in many ways Jinnah speaking to the rest of us.
Yasser:
I made no assertions in my posts to Saima pointing her to these links so there is nothing to defend in my last post. Even in the case of what you think as “assertions” in the earlier instances, a re-reading of those posts will show that that there were no assertions there either, including in the posts related to “racism”. The only “assertions” I have made are about Jinnah being a great leader, albeit not a visionary in my opinion.
Yet, if it entertains you to first build strawmen and then to demolish them, please feel free to do so. Feel free to play your personal games – just don’t expect me to participate in them.
Saima Nasir,
Adnan Siddiqui represents the mentality which has till now hindered Pakistanis from effectively
a- reassessing their own identity and national discourse
b- doing justice to Jinnah’s life as a complex historical figure whose vision of a modern democratic and pluralistic Pakistan is the only vision compatible with modernity in Pakistan.
I shudder to think of where we are heading… but suffice to say, with friends like Adnan Siddiqui, who needs enemies.
On Margaret Bourke-White’s book… it is a rather interesting book to read and I would want you to read this book amongst others. It is always good to know all points of view before coming to a conclusion. I love reading Gandhi’s collected works for the simple reason that they give me new insights on what he was thinking.
As you will read the book and then compare it to primary source facts, no doubt you will discover that the objections, about the veracity of the account that I have raised above, are wholely true… and dent Margaret Bourke-White’s credibility as an objective interactor … which she admittedly was not. Infact that is what makes her grudging statements reaffirming Jinnah’s honesty and integrity and his lack of bias more truthful.
Dear Adnan Siddiqi,
you have a lot to learn about Islam and muslims, until then carry on with your aim —and here, I quote you from the above post,—“if someone says any crap about Jinah infront of me then I will atleast hit between his legs in reaction.”
Dear Sridhar,
Despite the fact that I have been most respectful to you, you keep hiding behind some excuse while continuing to discuss the issue with other people. It is not only downright insulting, but only fortifies my view that you were here only to drive home an esoteric point and then found yourself in an unsavoury situation. As with your earlier comment, the only reason you are not interested in discussing this issue is because you can’t defend your assertions. I asked you earlier to produce some evidence to back up your claim and you failed. Now you’ve done the same with this one.
Margaret Bourke-White’s comments have been dissected enough. As I showed above, the glaring inconsistency in her statement vis a vis the 29th July 1946 statement… It is well known Margaret Bourke-White did a lot to promote Gandhi’s and the Congress’ cause abroad… and therefore her view can only be seen as partisan and her statements where she grudgingly admits Jinnah’s lack of bias and his honesty and integrity …
Here are three observations I made regarding her account of the July 29th 1946 meeting:
Please note these….
1. It is highly unlikely “Fezzesâ€
Thanks Y.L.Hamdani- I will definitely want to read the book and when I said “heart broken”, it didn’t mean, that there was any particular leader responsible for the events of partition….it is just that at my age , ambitions, aims and goals look smaller and less precious than human life and dignity-thats all-nothing personal.