I remember seeing Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah as a young child when my father took me to Otcherly Monument Grounds in what was then Calcutta (now Kolkata) on the Direct Action Day in August 1946. My father raised me on his shoulder so that I could see the great leader of Muslim India. I have carried the memory of that unforgettable sight throughout my life.
Therefore, it may be a bit off centre to remember the birth anniversary of the father of the nation Mohammad Ali Jinnah by talking about his home at No 2, Mount Pleasant Road, Malabar Hill in south Bombay, built with a price of Rs 200,000 (imagine the value. Of rupee, then; now a dollar would cost Rs 61. Now, 37 of our population live below one dollar a day)
Latest reports speak of the Jinnah House, Bombay, claimed by his daughter, Dina Neville Wadia, who has written to the Indian government to restore the property to her, because she carried fond memories of her father, and desires to live in the mansion to cherish the affection she received from her father. Ever since the Quaid left India in 1947 there has been a dispute about his Bombay residence.
Sadly, the dispute is now more about the home he created for all of us to live as proud and equal citizens of Pakistan. From the accounts one reads from his ablest biographer Stanley Wolpert, the Quaid Azam was a family man, who loved all members of his family, including his wife, Ruttie, daughter Dina, and sister Fatima. Wolpert writes he would often visit his sister then studying in the Convent at Bombay and take her for a ride in the city on a horse drawn carriage. Quaid's grandchild, Nusslie keeps his Grandpa's cap as a souvenir he wouldn't part for life.
We also hear reports about a nephew of the Quaid's, now living at Karachi in straitened circumstances. Last Wednesday, Pakistan, in common with member countries of the UN, marked the day of immigrants. Not a word was spoken on this occasion for thousands of poor migrant people stranded and languishing at Dhaka Geneva Camps.
We may remember that Pakistan took thousands of people during the apartheid sneer of South Africa, Kenya, and Uganda, not to speak of hosting three million Afghan refugees after Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Yet we refused to bring the people now stuck up at Dhaka refugee camps, and even food assistance reaching them from international sources, mainly the HRC, stopped.
Many government leaders, including Pervez Musharraf, during their visit to Bangladesh promised to help the stranded Pakistanis, but all that has since been forgotten. Even the MQM party, which makes quite a dance and song about people migrating to Quaid-e-Azam's Pakistan in 1947, seems to have forgotten the issue, which is no longer included in their latest election manifesto.
The Quaid-i-Azam always leaned on legal and constitutional measures ranging from electoral safeguards to guaranteed representation in state institutions. There, for us is to feel and witness the cleavage between the promise and its attainment, the yawning difference between people's aspirations and the final compensation people actually receive from their government.
Yet, we should remember on the Quaid-i-Azam' birthday, preceding a general action after which people hope a change would come in how they should be managed by the state apparatus. It might, therefore, be relevant to remember the message he gave to the nation on the first Eidul Azha feast after the establishment of Pakistan in 1947.
'Let us, therefore, on the day of Eidul Azha which symbolises the spirit of sacrifice enjoined by Islam, resolve that we shall not be deterred from our objective of creating a State of our own concept by any amount of sacrifice, trials or tribulations which may lie ahead of us and that we shall bend all our energies and resources to achieve our goal. I am confident that in spite of its magnitude, we shall overcome this grave crisis as we have in our long history surmounted many others and notwithstanding the efforts of our enemies, we shall emerge triumphant and strong from the dark night of suffering and show the world that the State exists not for life but for good life.'
We may also recall some of his powerful messages in the hope that things would change hereafter and things would be done according to his wishes so the lost glory of the people might return exactly in the way the father of the nation desired.
"If our young people learn to befriend all, to help other people at all times, subordinate personal interest to the welfare of others, eschew violence of thought, word and action. I am sanguine that the attainment of universal brotherhood is possible and within our reach."
"It is the duty of government servants, who are responsible for enforcing the policy of the government to see that this policy is scrupulously carried out so we may not throw ourselves open to the charge that we do not mean what we say. It is you who can convince the man in the street of the sincerity of our intentions."
'Pakistanis must not sit back and brood over its injuries. Our people must work and work hard to repair and enrich their country. We are determined to go ahead, and God willing, we shall succeed.'
We may also recall some of his great words in the hope that things would change hereafter and they would be done according to his wishes so the lost glory of the people would return exactly in the way the father of the nation desired.
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