The 133rd birth anniversary of Jinnah

The Pakistani nation is today celebrating the 133rd birth anniversary of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan, born on December 25, 1876 in Karachi. As a child, he was quite serious, kept his hands, dress and books very tidy and expected his friends to do the same. He played cricket with his friends and also rode horses.
His one very remarkable habit was that he read late into the night, for felt that this was the only way to become a big man in life. After his school education, his father sent him to England to study law at Lincoln's Inn, instead of bringing him in his family business. He was called to Bar from Lincoln's Inn in 1896, when he was only 18 years old. He returned home and started his legal practice in Mumbai (previously Bombay). While in England, he kept himself well - informed about the worsening plight of the Muslims in India due to increasing Hindu extremism, that jeopardised their survival and the future of their generations.
After the unsuccessful 'War of Independence of 1857' the Hindus got an upper hand over the Muslims due to British connivance. This caused great concern among the Muslim leaders of the day, who started to think of ways and means to counteract Hindu influence and how to regain their lost glory. Thus, the seeds of discontentment among the Muslims were sown and demand for a separate homeland for them in India was felt.
Jinnah after coming back to India, joined the All-India National Congress in 1905 and worked for unity between the Muslims and the Hindus. But increasing prejudices and widening differences between the Hindus and the Muslims led him to in utter disgust, resign from the All-India Congress in 1920. On the invitation of a die-hard Muslim Leaguer he joined the All India Muslim League in 1912 and found that the Muslim League was not adequate to counteract the Hindu Congress influence forcefully. Due to his political sagacity, he was given the title of the 'Quaid-e-Azam' by his admirers in the Muslim League and thus, he became the undisputed leader of the Muslims. After the passage of the famous 'Lahore Resolution' on March 23, 1940 the demand for a separate homeland for the Muslims was nilly-wily accepted by the British rulers and the Hindu Congress after some hesitation.
Today, the Muslim dreamland of Pakistan is passing through its most trying circumstances. The country is faced with the worst energy crisis and load shedding has become the order of the day. There is no limit or timings to load shedding, which has badly affected the country's business and industrial sector. Now it is feared that Sui gas will also experience load shedding. Sugar, which was till recently freely available, has now become scarce like wheat flour. Instead of any action being taken against the hoarders and smugglers of sugar and wheat flour, the government has appealed the people to forego sugar at least for a week in a month.
Foreign investors, who took Pakistan as a safe haven for their investments, due to the increasing law and order situation and kidnappings have fled to their homelands to save their lives. The government is ready to extend them full protection for their lives and properties, yet no foreign investor wants to come.
This has created much unemployment of educated and skilled workers and the rate of crime and corruption has gone up. Prices of petrol, CNG and Diesel have rocketed sky-high, with no future hope of their stability. Education and health facilities, given prime importance in the civilised world, are in great neglect.
Corruption considered the mother of all evils in a good government, is thriving at all levels, from the top to bottom. The Chinese saying that the 'fish rots from the head' is very true in our condition. Hopes of getting 'roti, kapra aur makan' by the poor are dashed to the ground, with no hope for it in the future.
Sometimes it is felt that such slogans were only a trap to woo the masses. People can now understand the difference between an empty promise and the rhetoric of the politicians of the country. The country is in the grip of the 'Taliban' in some of its pockets, who refuse to recognise the government writ, and want to introduce their self-conceived ideas of education and religion, that are shared neither by the government nor the religious heads of different schools of thoughts.
The insurgents have destroyed schools, wherever they could in the war-hit zones and thus modern education is not reaching the children of the affected areas. The superpowers are helping Pakistan in its War of Terror, more for their own protection than ours. Friendly neighbours are adding further fuel to our troubles.
Aid-giving agencies are pouring in heavy financial aid to rehabilitate displaced people and also to fight the menace of the 'Taliban', which is costing us immense loss of life, property, defenders of the country. General Pervez Musharraf (Retd) ruled the country for more than a decade.
He like other military dictators, is considered the root of all the present evils, faced by the present 'awami hukumat'. He is busy giving lectures at international fora defending what he did as the demand of the day. The people feel that the present government, with all its tall claims, is also working at the bidding of the US government.
The present rulers seem to have put more on their plates than what they can chew. The government is so unnerved that it is asking the world powers to come to its rescue to overcome its economics stress, financial problems and counteract the internal and external threats to the stability of the country. So, this is, in short, what the country is passing through.
The government is not quick to take bold actions, as anything; it can do is also thrown in the court of the parliament for decision. The poor find it hard to survive. Stray cases of not only suicides have increased, but even the poor bread-winners are selling their children, as they cannot afford them. Pakistan was intended to be a citadel of Islam and a leader in science and technology in the Islamic world, but it is now only a dream.
Pakistan has suffered the loss of its eastern wing, what is now 'Bangladesh' for its own fallacious policies, yet this tragic event has not opened our eyes to the realities of politics, to keep other parts of the country intact. Nothing seems more important now than unity, faith, discipline, but this is not realised by the people who have joined the rat-race to grab what they can. A strong and sincere government with its honest efforts can eradicate poverty, illiteracy, corruption, disease and hunger.
It does not feel good to see that the country is now looked down upon as the most corrupt country of the world due to bribery, favouritism, nepotism that are the worst challenges for any government aspiring good governance. With all our faults, we vow to keep Pakistan glowing with pride for years and years to come. Leaders like the Quaid-e-Azam come into this world after eons of time.
Not only the Hindu Congress leaders like M.K. Gandhi, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Sarojni Naido, Gohkle and Raj Gopal Acharia have acknowledged his qualities of head and heart, but world leaders like Churchill, Sir Stafford Cripps, Lord Wavel, Lord Mountbatten and Henry Truman could not also help praising him. Lately BJP, president Jaswant Singh has also praised him and held Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru responsible for the partition of India on August, 1947.