Adil Najam
Mohamed Ali Jinnah, it seems, was not a “real freedom fighter” and he did “nothing for Islam.” (On Jinnah, see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here).
So says the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI). And by what logic does Maulana Fazlur Rehman and his party come to this conclusion? According to the party spokesman: “Jinnah was not imprisoned during the independence struggle. That is why he did nothing worth remembering.”
I am left rather speechless. So, here is the news item from Daily Times (February 9, 2007) that reports on the matter:
The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) will celebrate 2007 by paying tribute to the heroes who played an important role in the independence of Pakistan ignoring Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and his companions, JUI officials told Daily Times on Thursday. They said that the party would hold conventions in Peshawar and other cities of the NWFP in March to highlight the services of “real freedom fighters”
“The decision to this effect was taken at the meeting of the JUI executive council in Lahore a couple of days ago. National Assembly Opposition Leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman presided over the meeting,” they added. JUI information secretary Maulana Amjad Khan said that Jinnah and his companions would not be commemorated because they had not done anything for Islam. “Jinnah was not imprisoned during the independence struggle. That is why he did nothing worth remembering,” Khan added.
He said the JUI would remember only those leaders who had sacrificed their lives for the creation of Pakistan or who had been imprisoned by the British Raj. JUI leader Qari Nazir Ahmed said the party would remember Hussain Maulana Ahmed Madni, Maulana Qasim Nanotri, Maulana Ubaid Ullah Sindhi, Maulana Mehmoodul Hassan, Syed Ahmed Shaheed, Shah Ismael Shaheed, Mauala Rasheed Ahmed and other leaders, who had rendered great sacrifices for the creation of Pakistan. “Maulana Qasim Nanotri established the Madrasa Darul Uloom Deoband. The institute produced a large number of freedom fighters,” Qari Nazir added. He said a schedule for conventions in the Punjab had not been decided yet. JUI Lahore chapter ameer Maulana Muhibun Nabi said the party would also arrange programmes in Lahore in this connection.
Interesting, by the way, that it seems that to be a “real freedom fighter” you have ‘Maulana’ prefixed before your name or a ‘Shaheed’ as a suffix.
Note: My thank to Watandost for alerting me to this rewriting of history.
Aurangazeb won the battle over Dara. The Ulema over the Sufis. The common thread running through these is the victory of hard line or close-minded Islam over its progressive side. The result is a gradual squeezing out of the liberal space, with a desire for eventual strangulation. So the battle continues. JUI is latest regressive instinct incarnate in this battle.
No sign yet that there is a strong enough renaissance on the progressive front. Which bodes ill, because Nature has no permanent berth for stagnation or regression. Patience, maybe, indulgence, no. Eventually, it will deal with it. If it means wiping the whole world out,it will, and start with the Dolphin.
I agree with everyone here that this is sheer absurdity on JUI’s part. But in principle I agree with Alvi Sahib that if we believe in freedom of speech then we have to believe that everyone has a right to say stupid things… its just that Maulana Fazlur Rehman and his cronies seem to exercise this right more often than most. When they say that Jinnah did not really fight for freedom, then it is they only expose their own agendas and ideology. In some ways I am glad their true views are shown through this, for people who have supported them this should open their eyes. But beyond that, yes, it is their right to believe whatever they want… including stupid ideas like this one!
“Good Lord – no wonder we are ruled by the people we deserve!”
We deserve them because while we are very good at talking/writing about their shortcomings and misdeeds, we do nothing to produce better leaders and build institutions. Military rule is a favourite excuse, even if the military were to leave the political system alone, we would still elect a bunch of idiots, constantly complain and crib about them, but do nothing to produce better leadership, not even vote for someone new. Lets hate Ayub and the other leaders by all means, but lets also spend some time trying to create better alternatives and institutions.
Anwar: As I said “let us not discredit Ayub totally just because he was a military dictator”. Take it for what it is worth. And if you do not like him, that’s OK with me too. Over throwing civilian governments and suppressing democracies is what dictators do. No leader is all good or all bad. Ayub did a lot of good for the country. Karachites do not like his moving capital to Islamabad and I could understand why. In the balance he was not all bad for the country. You have right to disagree.
MU: I respect your right to say what you say. At the same time religious parties, “mullah” if you prefer, are also part of Pakistani fabric and therefore must not be denied an expression of their opinion even though I personally do not agree with much what they say. In a civil society even a criminal, no matter how heinous his crime may be, have a right to defend himself. JUI is playing to its own base. Lets not get too worked up over that and use words like traitors and hang them or drown them etc. People have right to differ. I hope you agree with that and even if you say otherwise I will agree with you. I am tying to cool your passions, my brother, as best as I can.