Adil Najam
I happen to be in Pakistan on this December 25 and have spent the last many days and specially today devouring the great out-pouring of ‘Jinnah-spection‘ that is on display all over the country, on television, in the press. As a Jinnah fan myself and having devoted so many posts on ATP on exactly the same question, part of me is delighted by the intensity and level of the discourse. More so, because I sense this is not just khanna purri, it is in fact real introspection. However, what struck me is that nearly the entire discussion is about figuring out the “real vision” of the Quaid-i-Azam, Mr. M.A. Jinnah. That after so many years we are still searching for that “vision’ is a statement not about Mr. Jinnah, but about our own national confusion.
Part of me feels that it is time that we acknowledge and confront our own national confusions without using (and misusing) Mr. Jinnah for our ideological skirmishes. Let the man be please. He did what he needed to do. And a did a remarkable job of it. What we did beyond that, was our doing and only we need to accept responsibility for it. Honor him for what he achieved, but please lets spare him the dissection; specially since the purpose seems to have little to do with understanding the essence of his achievements and much more with scoring points about what we are inclined to believe already and anyhow.
I should confess that this thought has been haunting me some weeks now, ever since I joined Dr. Akbar Ahmed at a recent panel at Harvard University marking Mr. Jinnah’s anniversary. Akbar Sahib is one of our leading authorities on the subject (including his movie and books on Mr. Jinnah) and in our conversation with the audience after his lecture the question of the “real Mr. Jinnah” came up again and again. As he pointed out, this question is not about Mr. Jinnah at all. It is about us ourselves. On this 25th of December as we celebrate Mr. Jinnah, it is time to recognize this fact. Let us please honor Mr. Jinnah for what he was, and not torture his memories with that which we ourselves have failed to become.
His achievements were a great blessing for all of us, but our failures are all our own. Let us accept that. To do so will itself be a first step in truly honoring him.
Seculars wants to see as a “playboy” and spoilt brat who used to run away from religion one way or other. Thus they come will all excuses to prove Jinnah an anti-religion personality thus kaafir. On other hand same seculars claim that right wingers of that time declared Jinnah Kaafir.
Left Hand Side = Right Han side.
Hence Proved.
What a wonderful picture of Mr. Jinnah.
In 2008, I asked professor Akbar Ahmad in his office in American University. I’m asking it again here:
In movie Jinnah there is a posthumous scene in which Quaid-I-Azam and Gandhi are watching footage of Babri Masjid riots. And QA says to Gandhi, this is the reason I demanded separate homeland for Muslims. My questions:
1-Are Pakistanis Muslims not doing the same to minorities in Pakistan?
2-Are Pakistani majority are NOT worse than Hindu majority in India, as Pakistani Muslims have NOT even made public the IN-CAMER trial of Ahmadis in 1974, to this day, especially when it does NOT have national security issues that Justice Hamud-ur-Rehman report had?
3-At least Hindus in India has made public inquiry report of Babri Mosque, where as to this day, Pakistanis have NOT made public Justice Sumdani Report on inquiry of attack on Medical College students on Rabwah railway station in 1974.
Professor Akbar Akbar did not reply my questions in 2008. I don’t know what he would say today. I would like to read replies of others here.
Very well said. We have made Jinnah’s day a joke by using him for our own politics.
Good point. We just use him to make whatever points we want, Pakistani politicians do this and so do Indians and others.
Its over guys. Pakistan was made, Thank you Mr. Jinnah. Now, what we did or do with it is our business, lets own responsibility for it.