Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi The Pakistani community in Jeddah recently celebrated the 69th Independence Day of the country. All Pakistani organizations, followers of various political parties, and representatives of associations gathered together under the banner of the Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) and the slogan “We are united under our flag.” This slogan reminds us of the vision of Pakistan's Father of the Nation Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah that was based on faith, unity and discipline. The function started with the recitation of a few verses from the Holy Qur'an by Faiz Al-Haq. This was followed by the recitation of some national and patriotic songs from the collections of Allama Muhammad Iqbal. Poets Zamurrad Saifi and Athar Nafees Abbasi presented poems on the occasion. Several leaders representing various sections of the Pakistani expatriate community spoke on the occasion. They included Riad Chowdhury (Muslim League), Tasawar Hussain (Pakistan Peoples Party), Nusharwan and Asif Bhutt (Jamaat-e-Islami), Shamsul Haq (Islamic Scholars Society), Saifullah Tahir (Tehreek-e-Insaf. Party) and Muhammad Irshad Al-Haq (Jammu and Kashmir movement). All the speakers underscored the need for further strengthening the solidarity and unity of the Pakistani community so as to put an end to the tendencies of racism and exploitation as well as to strengthen the spirit of nationalism in order to safeguard the nation from any threat or danger. The major highlight of the function was that all segments of the Pakistani community joined together to celebrate the national event. The function was presided over by Majid Awan, consul at the Pakistan Consulate General in Jeddah. Professor Asif Ahmed Khan of King Abdulaziz University and I were the guests of honor at the function. The speech of Asif was impressive and it received a round of applause from the attendees. He congratulated the organizers of the function on bringing together all sections of the Pakistani community in Jeddah under one roof. He also lauded the historic role played by Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in establishing Pakistan as a progressive and democratic nation. Speaking on the occasion, I thanked the organizers for inviting me as a guest of honor. I congratulated them for bringing together the leaders of all segments of the Pakistani expatriate community after taking inspiration from the word of Almighty Allah in the Holy Qur'an: “And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided. And remember the favor of Allah upon you - when you were enemies and He brought your hearts together and you became, by His favor, brothers. And you were on the edge of a pit of the Fire, and He saved you from it." Then, I dealt with the phases that culminated in the formation of Pakistan as a Muslim nation in the subcontinent. I drew attention to the demand of Muslims for protecting their rights while remaining an integral part of the United India. However, the founders of Pakistan came to realize that this was impossible, and that the protection of their rights could be achieved only through the creation of a separate state for Muslims. The leaders of the All India Muslim League who met in Lahore in March 1940 during the annual conference of the party took the historic decision in this regard. The conference, presided over by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, adopted the Lahore Resolution, commonly known as the Pakistan Resolution, after extensive and elaborate discussions and deliberations that lasted for three days. It was very clear and evident from the resolution that a separate nation was indispensable for Muslims in the subcontinent. The new nation of Pakistan became a reality after making great sacrifices and relentless efforts for the same. Ultimately, Muslims, under the leadership of Jinnah and other senior leaders of the Muslim League from all regions of the country, were able to establish a separate nation for themselves. Pakistan was declared an independent nation on 14 August 1947 and Jinnah became the governor general of the new nation. It was a great joy and delight for all Muslims around the world to see the creation of a new Islamic state. The creation of Pakistan was not only important for the Muslims of the subcontinent but also for the whole Muslim world in view of the fact that a strong and stable Pakistan was the need of the Muslim Ummah. Before concluding the speech, I drew attention to a topic that I can neither ignore nor forget. I told the audience: There are some people who are also celebrating Independence Day today. These people are speaking Urdu just like all of you here. They are Pakistanis who have been stranded in Bangladesh for 44 years. These people are languishing in squalid camps and are denied basic human rights and facilities. The only thing that they are demanding is to be repatriated to the nation that they have chosen to live in and for which they have made a lot of sacrifices. Even though promises were offered by the successive governments in Pakistan with regard to their repatriation and rehabilitation, nothing has happened so for. These people are still living with the hope that the current Pakistani government, headed by Nawaz Sharif, will fulfill its obligation to them as in the case of other Pakistani citizens. Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at [email protected]
