Following photo is courtesy of Associated Press. It was taken in Beijing in 1956 on the occasion of Pakistani members of parliament’s visit to China.
Clicking on the photo above will take you to its larger size image.
Two of the leaders marked with circles in this photo are Shaikh Mujeeb-ur-Rehman and Makhdoon Alamdar Hussain Gilani. Besides the historic value there is one more very interesting feature of this photo.
Interestingly Pakistan’s current PM Yousuf Gilani is the son of Makhdoom Alamdar and Bangladesh’s PM Shaikh Hasina Wajid is daughter of Shaikh Mujeeb-ur-Rehamn.
From Chinese side, Mao Zedong is present in the center of the photo. Second from left in front row standing is Zhou Enlai, PM of China. Left most person in front row standing is Chairman of National Peoples Congress, Peng Zhang.
The reason for sharing this photo here is that it is a snapshot of our history. Also noticeable is how a generation of politicians has changed hands in Pakistan and Bangladesh, with the current generation of leaders being direct descendents of the former ones.
ATP’s Other Similar Posts:
1. Beijing’s Pakistani Connections
2. Chinese Characters on Pakistani Transport
3. Made in China: samosa and paratha
Looking at this picture made me realize what’s really meant by getting new blood in our political arena. The lack of which becomes obvious whenever we look at black and white images – or even coloured ones- from our past.
This delegation probably deserves some credit along with successive leaders of China and Pakistan for the strong friendship the two nations enjoy in a volatile world.
It also says something about the feudal/hereditary nature of leadership in Islamabad (and Dhaka) that differentiates industrialized China from feudal Pakistan (and Bangladesh).
“Looks like the Pak-China friendship has taken a long time to build up. Long live Pakistan and China and their friendship.”
if this is all you see in this picture, then no wonder pakistan’s troubles are far from over.
jinnah’s pakistan died on 16 december 1971 (after a painful period of desease, that it was afflicted with soon after his death). a country borne out of a democratic and constitutional struggle, has had more than 3 decades of military rule. where the party winning at the ballot box in a free and fair elections cannot even set a foot inside parliament let alone be allowed to govern. It didn’t matter that you were a freedom fighter or a veteran parliamentarian, or you won 162 seats, if you were not from West Pakistan…
if you are one of what Jinnah called “khhottay sikkay” or their descendents, you will virtually be guaranteed a seat in parliament. if you are one of the mullahs or their descendents who called jinnah ‘kafir e azam’, you will always have the military’s/agencies’ support if not actually a seat in parliament. thousands of East Pakistanis were massacred and raped and nobody in West Pakistan cared one bit. That is what this picture reminds me.
how long would our friends tolerate it while we stay busy following a course which will fast turn us in to a liability even for them (remember china’s strong rebuke to pakistan during kargil?). long live pak-cheen dosti. Long live pakistan.
Looks like the Pak-China friendship has taken a long time to build up. Long live Pakistan and China and their friendship.
iska matlab hay hum log, as a nation, waheen kharray hain :(