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.
I think some people here are needlessly being abusive to all religious ideas. What the JUI is saying here is wrong and worth condemning, but it seems that most comments here have nothing to do with that, they are simply people’s own frustrations with religion coming out. Maybe we should really discuss why that is so.
Well said, Sharmeen
Who knows what happens in Madras with young boys, what I hear is very heart wrenching. Only education and better job prospects for all people will change the faith of unfortunates. They are the worst enemy of the human kind. They play with the future of our nation every day with different tactics. God forbid if someone in their family becomes a victim of polio.
Frankly speaking i take the JUI lot with a pinch of salt.
They are an uneducated lot (madrassa education hardly qualifies as education)who will say anything or do anything to gain political mileage. They dont do anything for Islam, in fact they are Pakistan and Islam’s biggest enemies…
I am sickened by their latest ploy, and im also quite tired of their religious mantras. These are the very same men, who have liasons with innocent young boys in Islamic schools, who vehmently oppose the west but send their children there whenever they can, load up trucks of poor “jihadis” for Afghanistan, whilst their loved ones sit in posh jeeps in Pakistan…
I dont know why Pakistanis cant see through them, i have no shred of respect for them, but who am i to judge them, god will one day and i hope we are all on the sidelines watching what becomes of them!
I won’t pay much attention to someone who was against the creation of Pakistan in the first place. They can’t keep up their word which is becoming their culture (remember the resignation hoopla after women bill) These Besharam first opposed the creation then all of them moved to this new land of opportunity to destroy it. He is doing nothing but diverting people’s attention form library siege issue. Who are they to criticize anyone especially with damage they are doing to theses young minds in the name of religion. What kind of education they are giving to girls by handing them weapons? (“some of whom were seen carrying either Kalashnikov assault rifles or long bamboo sticksâ€
Jinnah was not abused by some “bearded man” only, several others in past have abused Jinnah or his ideology directly or indirectly like GM Syed, Rasool bakhs paleejo,bacha and wali khan and secularist leader mr.Altaf hussain who even don’t agree with two-nation theory. So if Fazl said something insane then we shouldn’t react just because he’s part of some religious group.
It’s habbit in Pakistan to abuse jinnah directly or indirectly. Offcourse I find no difference in people who called jinnah a secular or “a person with no knowledge of Islam” and people who declared him “Kafir”. Both cabals are worthless and a blackspot on humanity.