The Quaid-e-Azam in the Governor General's House

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The Quaid-e-Azam in a pensive mood

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Quaid-e-Azam arrives to inaugurate Valika Textile Mills - 26 September 1947

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Faiz on the Quaid-e-Azam

As we write the Muslims of India and Pakistan are celebrating the birthday of the Quaid-i-Azam. As the man who has propelled, guided and controlled the national policies of nearly hundred million human souls, the man who has been responsible for the birth of a major State and the liberation of a major nation from economic and political bondage, the Quaid-i-Azam has already passed into history. With the establishment of Pakistan the mandate entrusted to him by his people may be considered to have been fulfilled and his historical role as the architect of our national State may be said to have reached its glorious consummation. The attainment of this objective demanded a steadiness of vision, fixity of purpose, an amount of unflagging devotion and courage that are rarely found among a people, broken and debased by enslavement and exploitation. The history of nations however is continuum like time, and the culmination of one struggle merely means the commencement of another. The mission of our national leaders, therefore, is far from complete and the national objective we have formally attained still awaits its material content. The future of Indian Muslims who have done as much and suffered far more for Pakistan than we the Muslims of Pakistan have, is still uncertain, and the State of Pakistan has still to require the constitutional flesh and bone. Both these problems are of as great an importance to us as the achievement of Pakistan itself and their satisfactory solution will require an equal amount of vision, determination and courage. There are already many among us, men of small minds and smaller vision, who think that the future of our brothers beyond the border need not enter our national calculations and now that we have got Pakistan, the future of non-Pakistanis is none of our business. The happenings in East Pakistan have utterly negated our thesis and proved that our kinsmen in the neighboring Dominion are very much our business that we have got to take them into calculation while formulating our national policies. We have got to ensure that these policies do not in any way adversely affect the national existence of our co-religionists in the other land, through injudiciousness or lack of imagination. Similarly we have to ensure that both the constitutional structure and the governmental practice of the Pakistani State conform to the ideals that we put before ourselves when we embarked on our national struggle. We have not yet had a glimpse of the Pakistan of our dreams, for we are still besieged by all the ills that have plagued us in the past and the common man has yet to taste the contentment, physical and spiritual, of a free and prosperous existence. The helmsmen of the nation, therefore, of whom the Quaid-i-Azam is the greatest and the most indefatigable, have far from reached the end of their labours and the future of the nation depends as much on their sagacity today as it has dependent on their industry and devotion in the past.

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Faiz Sahib’s editorial of the Pakistan Times dated Dec 27, 1947. The original title was: HOMAGE

Quaid-e-Azam, Islam, and Pakistan!!

It is said that truth is stranger than fiction. Quaid-e-Azam’s life is a case in point.

Quaid-e-Azam and Fatima Jinnah

What kind of reaction would be expected from an “educated” Pakistani, if one were to ask him or her: Do you think Quaid-e-Azam was inspired by the Quran or the Prophet (PBUH) in his struggle for Pakistan? The most likely reaction will be: Quran and Quaid-e-Azam? – Are you serious? And our Prophet (PBUH) and Quaid-e-Azam? – Are you kidding? Quaid-e-Azam was more like a British and a product of their culture. How could he be inspired by the Quran or the Prophet (PBUH)? Yes, he fought for Pakistan. But his motives were political and economic, not Islamic. He wanted to improve the economic condition of Muslims who were dominated by the Hindus. He was not a good Muslim himself but he used Islam very effectively as a slogan to make a case for a separate homeland for Muslims. He proved to be a great leader. And to accomplish his goals he employed his highly skilled legal mind as a weapon in his fight with the Hindus and the British, which earned him a place in history. He had nothing to do with Islam as such. He wanted Pakistan to be a secular state, not an Islamic state.

Believe it or not, these will be the kinds of reaction one would normally get in the streets, mosques, government and business offices in Pakistan.

But why did Quaid-e-Azam still insist on having Pakistan even though Gandhi offered him the leadership of undivided India? If Islam was not an issue in his mind and if he wanted Pakistan to be a secular state, then couldn’t he have used the enormous power as the leader of the largest secular state in the world to his advantage rather than settle for a moth-eaten tiny secular state for Muslims? That would have earned him: the respect of Hindus, the blessing of Gandhi, and high accolades of the British; plus it would have given him unimaginable world popularity. Any other leader seeking fame, fortune, glory, and power would have been only too happy to accept Gandhi’s offer. However, Quiad-e-Azam didn’t. Why did Quid-e-Azam not accept Gandhi’s offer? The answer requires a deeper understanding (than the above “street” responses) of the real motive and the spirit behind Quaid-e-Azam’s struggle for Pakistan.

At Quaid’s service

At Quaid’s Service is a biographical account written on the life of M. Rafi Butt. It deals primarily with the life and times of the young entrepreneur. The 1930’s and 1940’s were dominated by the conflict and aftermath of World War II. Thus, most of the focus of that era had been war-centric, and very few texts provided a prospective view on the culture of the Pakistanis, who gave birth to this country and their struggle against insurmountable odds to survive. Even fewer texts provide an insight into the dealings and preparations for the nation of Pakistan to become a state, along with all stately machinations and responsibilities, and virtually no text exists of the Quaid’s laborious ‘behind the scene’ plans to physically realise that successful, progressive Muslim homeland he saw in his visions.

The book tells Pakistan’s tale from a very different perspective. It is the story of a young Punjabi entrepreneur, who demonstrated economic genius on numerous occasions and had garnered great success in a culture where the odds were stacked almost relentlessly against the Muslims.

Born in 1909, in Lahore, Rafi’s father died while he was still at the young tender age of 16. He had to take over his father’s surgical instruments and supplies business, and soon developed it into an empire within a decade. Rafi went on to establish the Central Exchange Bank in Lahore, in 1936, and expanded it into other cities of the undivided India as well. He travelled extensively to the US and Europe in order to discover the latest innovations in the industry, and kept Jinnah informed on any economic and industrial revelations that could aid the future of Pakistan after its establishment.

It also provides a vivid and unique account of Lahore in the 1930’s and 1940’s, along with the names, places and independent accounts of the happening of the Muslim elites at the time of the Pakistan Movement. The Quaid was a messiah to the masses, but to the elites he was still a politician. Since Rafi was a high flyer in the Indian society, he had an insider view of the way the elites saw the Quaid and Pakistan.

At the same time, it narrates a story of how Jinnah inspired the youth of all segments of the Muslim society, and promised them that if they would follow him they will inherit a homeland with freedom, security and opportunity.

Congo’s Children With Pakistan’s Founder

Pakistani Blue Helmets In The African Nation

KINSHASA, Congo—I am serving with the UN mission in Democratic Republic of Congo. The contribution of Pakistani civilians and military in this country under the UN has earned a lot of respect for Pakistan. I have attached a recent photograph of JINNAH PUBLIC SCHOOL here in Bukavu which is the capital city of South Kivu Province. The school is named after the leader of the Pakistan Independence Movement, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

The school was established by Pakistan Army officers and soldiers as a gift to the people of Congo.

Pakistani Blue Helmets in Congo are earning respect and honor for Pakistan through service to humanity.

The effort is acknowledged by the people of this war-torn country in Central Africa.
The school is more commonly known here as the Jinnah School.

The students here sing the Pakistani national anthem every year during their annual function at Jinnah School. When I saw this scene for the first time, I had tears in my eyes.