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 dont know anything about Jinnah, beyond the fact that he championed the cause for Pakistan. What I do notice is that he is beyond criticism in Pakistan – the gold standard. Uneducated or opportunistic rants from regressive mullahs aside, I’ve never seen an intelligent critique, or a painting of him in gray. Only visible is a unquestioned celebration of his greatness, perhaps understandable given he’s the founding father.
This lack of any healthy criticism is also what makes me skeptical of the nature of this adulation. (As a comparable figure, Gandhi, across the border, takes enough beating, and many paint him in gray.)
Against this backdrop, can any of you point me to a Pakistani public space or Pakistani literature that throws a critical eye on Jinnah? Are there sane dissenting voices out there?
(If its in Urdu, can someone oblige with a summary?)
@Razia: I already cleared in very first post that right wing religious extreemist are not more harmful than left wing secular and liberal extreemist and both cabals should be eliminated from the face of earth ASAP so that world become a better place for living. Religion asks to follow rules and regulation to lead a sane life and seculars prefer to “reject” a religion in the name of freedom or liberty which is not different than “atheism” that is to reject any law given by God in the name of equal rights.
I myself choose to ignore JUI and Fazlur Rehman in general. But re-reading these comments I am VERY DISTURBED by all these referecnes to Ataturk and to killing Mullahs. If that is your solution, then I am sorry you are no better than extremists of all ilk, Mullah or not. And you are certainly no friend fo Jinnah!
Sharmeen i could consider your lunatic statment a bit credible and had paidt attention if I had experienced Musharraf ,Nawaz,Bibi,ALtaf as a Madrassah student but then I know that people studies in English students don’t sound less ignorant than those who are labelled as Madrassah student. If Fazl said something insane then you don’t sound less ignorant than that Madrassah student. If speaking and understand English could declare someone educated and learned than a british janitor would be more respected in your eyes than urdu poet Iftikhar Arif or Ahmad Faraz.
Ignorance is bliss but too much ignorant is a curse.
Adnan, secularism is *very different* from atheism but this is not the place for that discussion. But as I said, it is wrong to blame all religious leaders for the silly statements of some. Also, like others I think the knee jerk reaction of wanting to kill everyone, religious or secular, is never the solution.