Pakistanis all over the world organized functions recently to mark the birth anniversary of the nation's founder Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. There could be no better description of this leader than what the famous American writer Stanley Wilbert said about him: "Few individuals significantly alter the course of history. Fewer still modify the map of the world. Hardly anyone can be credited with creating a nation-state. Mohammad Ai Jinnah did all three." Jinnah was able to alter the course of history, modify the world map and lead the All India Muslim League party successfully to achieve the goal set by the founders of the party through the creation of a nation for Muslims in the subcontinent. In Jeddah, I was invited to attend two functions held to commemorate Quaid-e-Azam. The first function was organized by the Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC). Several prominent leaders of the Pakistani community spoke on the occasion. They included Amir Mohammad Khan, Choudhry Riaz Ghumman, Tayyab Mosani, Abu Bakar Memon, Shamsuddin Altaf, Azeez Ahmed and Mohammad Amanatullah. The speakers thanked PRC for organizing the event to pay rich tribute to the great leader whose heroic struggle together with other Muslim leaders, including Allama Muhammad Iqbal, led to the creation of a separate nation for Muslims of the subcontinent. They also drew attention to the pressing issue of the Pakistanis stranded in Bangladesh. The speakers demanded the government of Pakistan to take urgent steps for the repatriation and rehabilitation of these Pakistanis who made great sacrifices for the sake of Pakistan and stood by the Pakistan Army in its bid to safeguard the unity of the country. The Guest of Honor Shahid Rasheed, general secretary of the "Ideology of Pakistan", congratulated PRC for holding the function to mark the birth anniversary of Quaid-e-Azam. He said that Jinnah had an impeccable character and was known for his honesty and commitment. He wanted Pakistan to become a modern Islamic welfare state based on the Holy Qur'an and Sunnah. Those who portray him as a secular leader are trying to misguide the nation, he said. Rasheed recalled that the late Majid Nizami had sent him to Bangladesh to visit the camps of stranded Pakistanis in the year 1990 to take stock of their living condition. Rasheed said that he was really shocked to see the inhuman and precarious conditions in which they were living. "On the basis of the report, presented by me, Nizami set up a fund called Nawa-e-Waqt to support the stranded Pakistanis." He also praised Ghulam Haidar, the then chief minister of Punjab, who constructed 1,000 residential units to house repatriated Pakistani families. Pakistani leader Mir Nawaz Khan Marwat, another Guest of Honor, spoke about the charismatic leadership of Jinnah and his immense popularity among the masses. Marwat also pledged his full support to the PRC and its great efforts to ensure repatriation and rehabilitation of stranded Pakistanis on the basis of an endowment project, launched earlier by the Makkah-based Muslim World League (Rabita). In my speech, I focused on the outstanding contributions and remarkable achievements made by Quaid-e-Azam, who was a real genius. I spoke about the great efforts made by Jinnah initially to maintain a united India by ensuring that Muslims received their due rights. However, he realized later that Muslims would be guaranteed their legitimate rights at the hands of the majority Hindu leaders. It was his strong conviction that if the struggle for the country's independence was pursued without guaranteeing the rights of Muslims, it would simply lead to the transfer of power from the British to Hindu leaders. Such a grim situation forced him to demand the creation of Pakistan as a separate state for Muslims in the subcontinent. Jinnah was successful in his struggle to create a separate nation for Muslims in the subcontinent. As Stanley Wilbert pointed out, he altered the course of history, modified the map of the world and created a new state. Quaid-e-Azam supervised personally the migration of millions of Muslims from various parts of India to the western and eastern parts of Pakistan. However, the new state of Pakistan, established by Jinnah, was quite different from present day Pakistan in the sense that there are now more than a quarter of a million Pakistanis who have been stranded in Bangladesh since the secession of East Pakistan. These hapless people are considered to be enemies by Bengalis because of their full backing of the Pakistan army during the civil war that resulted in the secession of East Pakistan and the creation of the new state of Bangladesh. The stranded Pakistanis are now languishing in their squalid camps after having been subjected to murder and expulsion from their homes. Successive governments in Pakistan have failed to fulfill their promises with regard to the repatriation and rehabilitation of these people. One exception was during the period of President General Zia-ul-Haq. The Zia government, in cooperation with Rabita, created the Rabita Endowment. At that time, Dr. Abdullah Omar Nasif was the secretary general of Rabita. I was also invited to be Guest of Honor at a second function organized by the federation of some organizations and the Pakistani community in Jeddah. In the next article, I will shed light on the program that was held to commemorate Quaid-e-Azam, a great Muslim leader of all time. — Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at [email protected]
