The Pakistan Writers Forum (PWF) of Jeddah recently organized a seminar to commemorate the world-renowned Muslim poet, philosopher and reformer Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal on the occasion of his 78th death anniversary. Syed Ehsan-ul-Haque, convener of the Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC), presided over the function in which several prominent leaders of the Pakistani community as well as some others in Jeddah attended. They included Aziz Ahmed, Prof. Khursheed Ahmed, Ayub Bahjat Najmi, Malik Mohiuddin, Agha Akram, Tayyab Mosani, Fazal Usmani, Niamatullah, Mohammed Salim Khan, Muzaffar Raja, Ashfaque Ahmed, Yasir Mahmoud, Aslam Zubair and Shamsuddin Altaf. The speakers were all in agreement that Allama Iqbal played a great role, through his poems, articles, and ideas, in helping the Muslim masses realize their dream of establishing an independent state for Muslims in the Indian subcontinent. In his speech, Syed Ehsan-ul-Haque said that the establishment of Pakistan was a miracle that happened within seven years after the adoption of the Pakistan Resolution in March 1940. He said that enormous sacrifices were made for the creation of Pakistan by the Muslims of the subcontinent, especially those from the Indian state of Bihar, which was also acknowledged by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. It was unfortunate that the people of East Pakistan were not given an equal opportunity to run the affairs of the country though their loyalty could not be doubted. Haque also noted that in the 1964 presidential election, Fatima Jinnah garnered more votes in East Pakistan than she secured in the West Pakistan, but things changed so that within six years after the election, the Bengalis decided to secede. Also, those patriotic Pakistanis who stood by the Pakistani army in the 1971 war with India to safeguard the unity of the country are today living in miserable condition following the creation of Bangladesh. Haque emphasized that it is the sole responsibility of the Pakistani government to facilitate their repatriation and rehabilitation in Pakistan. In his speech, Syed Neaz Ahmed, chairman of the PWF, prayed for Pakistan's stability, security, development and prosperity so that it can play a much better role in future in leading the Islamic world. Zamurrad Khan Saifi briefed the audience on the major activities of the PWF. The organizers of the seminar requested that my keynote speech should be focused on the Pakistan Movement. I told the audience that the idea of creating a separate state for Muslims of the subcontinent was first made public during the annual meeting of the All India Muslim League in Lahore with the adoption of the Pakistan Resolution or Lahore Resolution in March 1940. However, the idea of a separate nation for Muslims of the subcontinent originated several centuries before that date. The credit for this goes to Abu Rayhan Muhammad Bin Ahmad Al-Biruni, one of the greatest scholars of the Medieval Islamic era. Born in Khwarezm, which is today in Uzbekistan, Al-Biruni was a world-renowned thinker, historian, author, traveler, mathematician, astronomer and linguist. He traveled to India and acquired proficiency in the Sanskrit language in the beginning of the 11th century CE. Al-Biruni is the author of several books about India, the most important among them is "Critical study of what India says, whether accepted by reason or refused", which is also known as the Indica – a compendium of India's religion and philosophy. In the book, he describes in detail the ideologies, religious customs and traditions of Hindus in their marriage, food habits and festivals. In this book, as well as in his other books about India, such as "The remaining signs of past centuries" and "History of India," he explains that Hinduism and Islam are totally different from each other and that their peaceful coexistence is a difficult affair. He made comparisons between Islam's justice system and the unjust caste system of Hinduism. Many people considered Al-Biruni the real proponent of the two-nation theory upon which Pakistan was founded after a long struggle and great sacrifices made by Muslims in the subcontinent during the first half of the 20th century after the formation of All India Muslim League in 1906. This idea later won more credence through the poems, writings and thinking of Allama Iqbal, and finally through the great struggle led by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and other Muslim leaders who realized the miracle, represented by the creation of Pakistan. I also drew attention to the great sacrifices and the enormous efforts which led to the foundation of a new nation for the Muslims of the subcontinent. At the same time, I emphasized the need to resolve the issue of more than a quarter of a million Pakistanis who have been languishing in squalid camps in Bangladesh for more than 40 years with the hope that one day they will be repatriated and rehabilitated in Pakistan, which is the nation that they chose to live in from the time when it was founded. I concluded my speech with an appeal to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resume the work that he started during his first two tenures as prime minister for the repatriation and rehabilitation of the stranded Pakistanis. Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at [email protected]
