Muslim Democracy League
PRESS RELEASE
Friday March 21, 2008
12 Rabi ul Awwal 1429
On the auspicious occasion of Eid Milad un Nabi, the birth anniversary of Holy Prophet Muhammad [peace be upon him and his family] Rabi ul Awwal 12, 1429 Friday March 21, 2008 a new political party - Muslim Democracy League was formed at a simple ceremony and meeting held here today at Islamabad, the Federal Capital of Pakistan Islamic Republic.
Mr. Anwar Ali Merchant was elected Chairman of the newly formed Muslim Democracy League, with mandate to organise the party on a three tier system - natioal, provincial and district.
The Mission:
Muslim Democracy League shall work to promote theological and political consensus between different stake holders in the political system of Pakistan, so as to enhance friendship, trust and peace among all segments of State, Government and Society.
Background:
“The fact that one Revelation should name others as authentic’”, Cyril Glasse remarks of Qur’anic liberalism toward the Christian and Judaic traditions (and those outside these traditions), “is an extraordinary event in the history of religions”. Diversity in seventh century Arabia is richly mirrored in the verses of that revelation that stressed its continuity rather than exclusivity: in cognizance of complex truths, tolerance is enjoined upon Muslims, a value whose benefit was denied to them as a nascent minority. Thus, “every community has a direction to which it should turn”. Mankind was made “into nations and tribes, that you may know each other” – for “if God had pleased He would made you a single people”. Theologically, the central principle of divine unity (Tawhid), which also unifies the secular and religious spheres in Islam, validated the experiences of those adhering to other faiths.
“O Humankind! We have created you out of male and female and constituted you into different groups and societies, so that you may come to know each other – the noblest of you in the sight of God, are the ones possessing taqwa.” (49:11-13)
The human quality that encompasses the concept of the ideal ethical value in the Qur’an is summed up in the term taqwa, which in its various forms occurs over two hundred times in the text. It represents, on the one hand, the moral grounding that underlies human action, while on the other; it signifies the ethical conscience which makes human beings aware of their responsibilities to God and society. Thus when applied in the wider social context taqwa becomes the universal, ethical mark of a truly moral community.
The norms and assumptions that characterise belief and action in Islam have their initial inspiration in two foundation sources. One is the message revealed by God to the Holy Prophet and recorded in Quran. The second is Sunnah, the recording of the Prophet’s life, his words, actions and habits, his character, struggle, piety, and success that has come in time to represent for Muslims, a timeless pattern for daily life.
Under the rocks of the Abu Kobeis, that rises eastward of Mecca over the narrow valley, stood the house of Amina, the birthplace of her only son. On the morning of Monday, 12th Rabbi ul Awal 52 years before ME, April 22, 571 CE, a grandson was born to Abdul Muttalib, who named him Muhammad (the extolled one).
“O Humankind! We have created you out of male and female and constituted you into different groups and societies, so that you may come to know each other – the noblest of you in the sight of God, are the ones possessing taqwa.” (49:11-13)
The human quality that encompasses the concept of the ideal ethical value in the Qur’an is summed up in the term taqwa, which in its various forms occurs over two hundred times in the text. It represents, on the one hand, the moral grounding that underlies human action, while on the other; it signifies the ethical conscience which makes human beings aware of their responsibilities to God and society. Thus when applied in the wider social context taqwa becomes the universal, ethical mark of a truly moral community.
The norms and assumptions that characterise belief and action in Islam have their initial inspiration in two foundation sources. One is the message revealed by God to the Holy Prophet and recorded in Quran. The second is Sunnah, the recording of the Prophet’s life, his words, actions and habits, his character, struggle, piety, and success that has come in time to represent for Muslims, a timeless pattern for daily life.
Under the rocks of the Abu Kobeis, that rises eastward of Mecca over the narrow valley, stood the house of Amina, the birthplace of her only son. On the morning of Monday, 12th Rabbi ul Awal 52 years before ME, April 22, 571 CE, a grandson was born to Abdul Muttalib, who named him Muhammad (the extolled one).
"To the Arab nation" writes Thomas Carlyle in "Heroes and Hero-Worship" (London, 1850, p. 101), "it was as a birth from darkness into light; Arabia first became alive by means of it. The Arabs, a poor shepherd nation, roaming unnoticed in its deserts since the creation of the world; a Holy Prophet was sent down to them with a word they could believe."
John William Draper also writes in "History of the Intellectual Development of Europe" (London, 1875, 1st vol., p. 329) that, "Four years after the death of Justinian, 571 CE, was born at Mecca, in Arabia, the man who, of all men, has exercised the greatest influence upon the human race." According to "The Life of Mahomet" (London, 1930, p. 171) by Dermenghem, "Muhammad appeared on the scene at one of the darkest periods in all history, when all the civilizations, from Merovingian Gaul to India, were falling to ruin or were in a state of troubled gestation."
Indeed, Muslims are the ones who submit to God. It is a community of the middle path and balance. The Qur’an teacheth to avoid extremes, to enjoin good and forbid evil, using the best of arguments. Muslims are religiously required to shun compulsion, propagate peacefully and leave each to their own faith. Islam encourages all to vie for goodness: it is the nobility of conduct which endears one in the sight of God. In its perfect sense, Islam refers to the inner struggle of the individual, waged singly and in consonance with fellow believers, to engage in earthly life, and yet, to rise above its complexity in search of the Divine. In Islam this quest is only meaningful if kept in tandem with the effort to do good for the kin, the orphan, the needy, the sick, the vulnerable; to be just, honest, humble, tolerant and forgiving.
John William Draper also writes in "History of the Intellectual Development of Europe" (London, 1875, 1st vol., p. 329) that, "Four years after the death of Justinian, 571 CE, was born at Mecca, in Arabia, the man who, of all men, has exercised the greatest influence upon the human race." According to "The Life of Mahomet" (London, 1930, p. 171) by Dermenghem, "Muhammad appeared on the scene at one of the darkest periods in all history, when all the civilizations, from Merovingian Gaul to India, were falling to ruin or were in a state of troubled gestation."
Indeed, Muslims are the ones who submit to God. It is a community of the middle path and balance. The Qur’an teacheth to avoid extremes, to enjoin good and forbid evil, using the best of arguments. Muslims are religiously required to shun compulsion, propagate peacefully and leave each to their own faith. Islam encourages all to vie for goodness: it is the nobility of conduct which endears one in the sight of God. In its perfect sense, Islam refers to the inner struggle of the individual, waged singly and in consonance with fellow believers, to engage in earthly life, and yet, to rise above its complexity in search of the Divine. In Islam this quest is only meaningful if kept in tandem with the effort to do good for the kin, the orphan, the needy, the sick, the vulnerable; to be just, honest, humble, tolerant and forgiving.
Addressing, the International Conference on the Example (Seerat) of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) in Karachi in 1976, the Aga Khan said that the wisdom of Allah’s final Prophet in seeking new solutions for problems which could not be solved by traditional methods, provides the inspiration for Muslims to conceive a truly modern and dynamic society, without affecting the fundamental concepts of Islam.
The divine revelation to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) opened new horizons, in that it has become a binding force for the humanity living in far-flung lands, the diverse languages and dialects it speaks, and the multitude of traditions – scientific, artistic, religious, and cultural – which goes in to the making of a distinctive ethos. This message of global pluralism is inspiring today and shall remain so even tomorrow, and thereafter.
The divine revelation to Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) opened new horizons, in that it has become a binding force for the humanity living in far-flung lands, the diverse languages and dialects it speaks, and the multitude of traditions – scientific, artistic, religious, and cultural – which goes in to the making of a distinctive ethos. This message of global pluralism is inspiring today and shall remain so even tomorrow, and thereafter.
Sultan Muhammad Shah – more familiarly known as Aga Khan III [1877-1957] occupies unique position in the history of creation of Pakistan. He was the first President of the All India Muslim League at a very young age, in his twenties. He entered into the forefront of the freedom movement which ultimately culminated in the independence of Pakistan. Earlier, Aga Khan III had been chosen as the best spokesman of Muslim interests and in that capacity led the famous Simla delegation to the Viceroy, Lord Minto, on 1 October 1906. That story has been detailed at length by Syed Razi Wasti in his Lord Minto and the Indian Nationalist Movement 1905 to 1910 and in brief by Syed Munir Wasti in Aga Khan III and the Morley-Minto reforms. Some description of the occasion from a feminine point-of-view is given by Mary, Lady Minto, in her book India: Minto and Morley 1905-1910, [London: Macmillan, 1935, pp. 45-48].
The Aga Khan realized that the Muslims should not keep themselves aloof from politics because the Congress was already proving incapable in representing the Indian Muslims. At length, the demands of separate electorate and weight age in number in representation to all elected bodies were accepted by the Viceroy Lord Minto, and incorporated in the Minto-Morley Reforms of 1909. The natural consequence of a favourable response to Muslim demands and safeguards was the creation of an active political party, the All India Muslim League, which would take upon itself the important task of providing the Muslims a platform for their protection and work for the furtherance of their political agenda independently.As Aga Khan III writes in his Memoirs: Our achievement in 1906 seemed important enough; and it was obvious to most of us associated with it…that we must have the political organization to make that separate representation effective.
The All-India Muslim league was therefore founded at a meeting at Dacca later that year... I was elected its President and as such I remained till 1912.Thus, on 30 December 1906, less than three months after the delegation visited Lord Minto, the All India Muslim League was formally launched at Dacca. This is the definitive date. Contrary to the prejudiced versions of Hindu historians, this separate grouping of Muslims did not receive any accolades from the British. Important British publications like The Times and The Spectator were indifferent.The Muslim League rose rapidly in political importance and became the rallying point of the Muslims. Early financial difficulties were removed by generous grants from the Aga Khan and other philanthropists. A constitution was framed and accepted within two years. The Muslim League held its annual sessions regularly from 1907 to 1913 – the tenure of the Aga Khan’s presidency. A contributory factor in pulling off this amazing political triumph was the dynamic. foresight and energetic leadership of the young Aga Khan who held his own special equation with the British. Thus, he was on friendly terms with John Morley, the Secretary of State for India, who writes the following in his diary for 18 February 1909: I had a long talk with the Aga Khan last Saturday on the eve of his retreat into a nursing home. As always, I found him pleasant, extremely intelligent, and quick. I begged him to dismiss from his mind what I had seen stated, that, “like all other English Radicals, I had a hatred of Islam.” What other Liberals thought about Islam, I did not know; but for myself, if I were to have a label, I should be called a Positivist, and in the Positivist Calendar, framed by Comte after the manner of the Catholics, Mahomet is one of the great leading saints, and has the high honour of giving his name to a Week!(The Recollections, by John Viscount Morley, Vol. 2, pp. 296-297, 1917)Of direct descent from Prophet Muhammad [peace be upon him and his family], the Aga Khan could raise himself above the blinkered views of the various Indian nationalists. Even an antagonistic historian, Lal Bahadur admits:On account of his deep knowledge of Arabic and Persian languages, his extensive tour of Western countries his immense financial resources and high connections, the Aga Khan had already captured the imagination of Muslim masses. [The Muslim League: its history, activities and achievements, Lahore: 1979, p. 45.]After the founding session of the Muslim league in Dacca, the first formal session was held in Karachi in 1907. In the third session [at Aligarh] in 1908, the Aga Khan was elected permanent President. He made first donation to the League fund. In 1909, the League sessions were held in Lucknow after which the Aga Khan visited the famous Islamic seminary, the Nadwat-ul Ulema, and supported their movement for the spread of Islamic teachings and culture throughout India [Matiur Rahman: From consultation to confrontation – a study of the Muslim League in British Indian politics 1906-1912 p. 180]. In an interview to The Times [14 February 1909], the Aga Khan advised the headstrong Hindus that ‘they should frankly abandon the untenable claim that they speak for the whole of India…’ [Aga Khan III – selected speeches and writings, Ed K.K. Aziz, London: 1998, vol. 1, p. 293].At a speech given at a civic reception in Bombay, the Aga Khan [on 10 January 1910] said: ‘You have been kind enough to refer to me as the leader of the Muslims. It is the greatest honour that any individual can aspire to and that a community can confer….’ It is clear that the Aga Khan was conscious of the tremendous responsibility that his leadership of the Muslims entailed and he geared up all his resources in the service of that goal. [Aziz, p. 320]In 1912, the venue for the sessions of the Muslim League was Calcutta. The Balkan War [against Turkey] had been launched and was universally condemned. The Aga Khan [in Europe] cabled the session that the Muslim League should suspend all its work and concentrate totally on assistance to Turkey. Finally, in 1913, the Aga Khan resigned from the Presidentship of the Muslim League. His reasons for doing so are spelled out in a letter to Syed Ameer Ali [2 November 1913] thus: My reasons are numerous, both personal and public… I am so circumstanced that I am compelled to be out of India for considerable periods every year…Thus, I cannot carry out the duties of President in the way I should like…But I do not propose to sever my connexion with the League; far from it – I indeed wish to belong to its council…. [Aziz, p. 464].In summary, the great and vital role played by the Aga Khan in the establishment and during the formative years of the Muslim League is noted for dedication to an ideal: the resurgence of the Muslims at all levels. It was an opportune moment for the Muslims at such a critical juncture when they were in danger of being swept away amid the flood of Indian nationalism; they were given a clear goal and a sense of direction by Aga Khan III and other selfless Muslim leaders.As Matiur Rahman writes, ‘Within a short time, it [Muslim League] had galvanised the Indian Muslims into a political force second only to the Congress, leading to creation of Bharat and Pakistan largely influenced by the concept of the two nation theory of Aga Khan.
After the collapse of the Great Revolution of 1857, the Muslims in the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent were hounded out of all opportunities and employments. Full advantage of the hostile attitude of the British was taken by other communities who thus surpassed the Muslims in every field. It was the genius of Syed Ahmed Khan, which tried to bring about a change in their prejudices against the British.In 1875, Syed Ahmed Khan laid the foundation of the Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh. In 1885, Mr. Hume, an English retired member of I.C.S. established the Indian National Congress. The Muslims under the leadership of Syed Ahmed Khan were soon found trying to keep themselves aloof from the Congress because it had become obvious that its activities were by no means favorable to them.It was in the great hall of Aligarh College, that in the year 1896, this grand old man of Muslim India met a very young man in whom he soon began to pin his hopes. His Highness Sir Sultan Mohammed Shah Prince Aga Khan had visited the college where Syed Ahmed Khan, aged 82, welcomed him and presented an address in Persian to which the former also replied in Persian. Two years later Syed Ahmed Khan passed away.In 1897, the Aga Khan presented three addresses of congratulations to the then Viceroy Lord Elgin at Simla; one on behalf of his community, the other as leader of the Muslims of Western India and a third on behalf of a representative assemblage of the citizens of Bombay and Poona. In 1902, Prince Aga Khan was appointed for two years a member of the Viceroy's Council, which in those days was a very influential body. He took his residence at Calcutta then capital of India.The Aga Khan's appointment to the Viceroy's Legislative council at the age of 25 years, as he then was, proved an effective training ground for his future public and political life. Besides other important men, he came in close contact with Lord Curzon, Lord Kitchner and the great Indian Leader, Mr. Gokhale. He also kept himself in touch with Nawab Viqarul Mulk and Nawab Mohsinul Mulk, whom he had met during his visit to Aligarh in 1896. In 1904, Aga Khan was again offered membership of the council for two more years but he did not accept it. I think it was mostly for the reason that he wanted to participate actively in politics, as the future events show. In 1902-03, he presided at the session of the All India Muslim Education Conference held at Delhi, on the occasion of the Coronation of King Edward VII, and made a strong appeal to the Muslims to raise the Aligarh College to the status of a University.His active participation in the public life for about ten years gave the young Aga Khan an insight into the condition of Muslim India. He recalls his impressions about this period in his Memoirs as under:"At the same time I began to realize, during these two crucial years (when he was a member of Viceroy's Executive Council) that the Congress Party, the only active and responsible political organization in the country, would prove itself incapable, was already proving itself incapable, of representing India's Muslims, or of dealing adequately or justly with the needs and aspirations of the Muslim community. The pressure of Hindu extremism was too strong. Already that artificial unity which the British Raj had imposed from without, was cracking. Deep seated and ineradicable differences expressed themselves once political activity and aspiration had advanced beyond the most elementary stage. The breach was there in Hindu intransigence and lack of perception of basic Muslim ideals and hopes. I did all I could to prevent the breach widened. I maintained a campaign of remonstrance with Sir Pheroze Shah Mehta, who was high in the counsels of the Congress Party, who was a friend of my family and who had known me since childhood. I begged him to use his influence and make Congress realize how important it was to win Muslim confidence. But all to no avail."Having been disappointed at the attitude of the Hindu dominated Congress, Prince Aga Khan, and his old friend Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk along with other Muslims, thought of organizing the Muslims and safeguarding their interests. On 1st October 1906, after consultations with Prince Aga Khan Nawab Mohsin- ul-Mulk, organized a deputation of 35 Indian Muslims, with the former as their leader, to present demands of Muslim India to the then Viceroy, Lord Minto, at Simla. The copy of the Address was prepared and sent in advance to the Viceroy. However, while traveling from Colombo to Simla, His Highness telegraphically suggested certain additions and alterations from intervening stations to be made in it. The Address read before the Viceroy by Prince Aga Khan inter alia demanded what is known as separate electorates for the Muslims of India. Hitherto the Congress which had numerical majority was persisting in ignoring the realities of communal situation and in sending only third rate Muslims from preponderantly Hindu provinces like Madras and Bombay. The Muslims, therefore, asked for their separate representations at all levels of Government working - district boards, municipalities and legislative councils. They demanded that the elections for Muslims in these tiers should be held separately and exclusively by them thus providing an opportunity to Muslim voters to return Muslim representatives according to their choice. In the Address, Prince Aga Khan also laid great emphasis on the raising, of the Aligarh College to a full-fledged University.On 1 October, 1906, the news of the demands of Muslims for separate electorates spread like wild fire throughout the length and breadth of India. The Congress raised a storm of protests. There was some so-called nationalist Muslims who ridiculed this step of their brethren.To assert their stand and make known the correct view-point of Muslims, Prince Aga Khan thought that it was necessary to have a political platform and association for the Muslims of India. He, therefore, on 24th October, 1906 wrote a letter to Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk which is a very important document in the History of Muslims of this subcontinent because with this document starts the Muslim League under whose flag the Muslims won their freedom and got Pakistan. The letter (1) is quoted below in full:11, Elysium Road. Calcutta24th October, 1906My dear Nawab Sahib,Perhaps I may be allowed as one, who took part in the recent deputation to H.E. the Viceroy to make a few suggestions as to future. The whole of the Mohammedan Community have taken the keenest interest in the movement and look to us to try our best to secure that the objects which were set forth in the address may be ultimately secured.It may be well that provincial associations should be formed with the aim of safeguarding the political interests of Mohammedans in the various portions of India, and similarly some central organization for the whole. On these matters, I do not wish to pronounce an opinion. They are best left I think to the discretion of the leaders in the days that are to come.But as the deputation was formed with a view to the securing of certain definite objects of the most vital interest to Mohammedans as a whole, I venture to regard its work as begun only, and it seems to me from every point of view important that it should without delay continue its labors until complete success has crowned its efforts. To this end, I would suggest that the deputation which presented the address resolve itself into a committee to endeavor to obtain the granting of the various prayers which the address embodied. This Mohammedan Committee for the completion of work of the deputation might, if it were thought necessary, add to its numbers, though I would suggest, in the interest of the rapid carrying out of its business, that this would be done sparingly, I am sure also that I express what is the wish of all my fellow Mohammedan when I ask you to continue to act as Secretary of this Committee.Please circulate my letter among the members of the deputation.I am, my dear Nawab Sahib,Sincerely Yours,Aga KhanPSI further suggest that if any of the members of this committee be absent or unable to give proper attention the other members should act without consulting him. However, this should not mean his resignation, but only his inability to be of service for the time being. Such an absent or indisposed member, unless direction asked to resign or himself resigns will continue to be a permanent member of the Committee.AKIt was decided to deliberate upon the contents of Prince Aga Khan's letter at the time of All India Muslim Educational Conference that was being held at Dacca. Consequently, at a conference held there on 30th December, 1906 under the chairmanship of Nawab Viqarul Mulk a political institution known as the Muslim League was formed. The resolution for this was moved by the Nawab of Dacca Khwaja Salimullah who had earlier, by the middle of December, elaborated a scheme in view of Aga Khan's letter. Both Nawab Viqar-ul-Mulk and Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk, as was the desire of the Aga Khan in his letter, were appointed the secretaries. Prince Aga Khan was appointed its first Permanent President which office he occupied for six years until 1912. The second and third sessions of the League were held at Karachi which was attended by the Aga Khan and at Aligarh. In September 1907 and March 1908, respectively, Maulvi Mohammed Amin Zubairi in his Urdu compilation "Prince Aga Khan" published in 1952, at page 121, says "At that time it was very necessary to propagate and explain the aims and objects of the Muslim League as well as to have money for its office expenses. The League had no fund of its own. As such His Highness was good enough to fix an annual recurring grant and also contributed a lump-sum as initial grant. In the mean time at the initiative of His Highness a British branch of the All India Muslim League was formed in London with Sir Amirali as its Chairman. Here also all the expenses were given by the Aga Khan."As a corollary to the political awakening of Muslims the Aga Khan took up the project of raising Aligarh College founded by Syed Ahmed Khan, to a University about which he had already emphasized in his speech in 1902.In 1911, the Aga Khan along- with Maulana Shaukat Ali toured all over India and collected funds to get the status of a University for the Aligarh College. Maulana Shibli commenting on this work of the Aga Khan said, "What six crores of Muslims could not do what the Aga Khan alone did and got for the Muslims of India a University of their own". Looking back to the history of Muslim struggle in this Subcontinent who can doubt that it was in the portals of Aligarh University that Pakistan was born.
Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah was nominated by the Muslim League as the Governor-General of Pakistan, while the Congress appointed Mountbatten as India's first Governor-General. Pakistan, it has been truly said, was born in virtual chaos. Indeed, few nations in the world have started on their career with less resources and in more treacherous circumstances. The new nation did not inherit a central government, a capital, an administrative core, or an organized defense force. Its social and administrative resources were poor; there was little equipment and still less statistics. The Punjab holocaust had left vast areas in a shambles with communications disrupted.
Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah was nominated by the Muslim League as the Governor-General of Pakistan, while the Congress appointed Mountbatten as India's first Governor-General. Pakistan, it has been truly said, was born in virtual chaos. Indeed, few nations in the world have started on their career with less resources and in more treacherous circumstances. The new nation did not inherit a central government, a capital, an administrative core, or an organized defense force. Its social and administrative resources were poor; there was little equipment and still less statistics. The Punjab holocaust had left vast areas in a shambles with communications disrupted.
The treasury was empty, India having denied Pakistan the major share of its cash balances. On top of all this, the still unorganized nation was called upon to feed some eight million refugees who had fled the insecurities and barbarities of the north Indian plains that long, hot summer. If all this was symptomatic of Pakistan's administrative and economic weakness, the Indian annexation, through military action in November 1947, of Junagadh (which had originally acceded to Pakistan) and the Kashmir war over the State's accession (October 1947-December 1948). In the circumstances, therefore, it was nothing short of a miracle that Pakistan survived at all. That it survived and forged ahead was mainly due to one man-Mohammad Ali Jinnah. The nation desperately needed in the person of a charismatic leader at that critical juncture in the nation's history, and he fulfilled that need profoundly. After all, he was more than a mere Governor-General: he was the Quaid-i-Azam who had brought the State into being.
In the ultimate analysis, his very presence at the helm of affairs was responsible for enabling the newly born nation to overcome the terrible crisis on the morrow of its cataclysmic birth. He mustered up the immense prestige and the unquestioning loyalty he commanded among the people to energize them, to raise their morale, land directed the profound feelings of patriotism that the freedom had generated, along constructive channels. Though tired and in poor health, Jinnah yet carried the heaviest part of the burden in that first crucial year. He laid down the policies of the new state, called attention to the immediate problems confronting the nation and told the members of the Constituent Assembly, the civil servants and the Armed Forces what to do and what the nation expected of them. He saw to it that law and order was maintained at all costs, despite the provocation that the large-scale riots in north India had provided. He moved from Karachi to Lahore for a while and supervised the immediate refugee problem in the Punjab. In a time of fierce excitement, he remained sober, cool and steady. He advised his excited audience in Lahore to concentrate on helping the refugees, to avoid retaliation, exercise restraint and protect the minorities. He assured the minorities of a fair deal, assuaged their inured sentiments, and gave them hope and comfort. He toured the various provinces, attended to their particular problems and instilled in the people a sense of belonging. He reversed the British policy in the North-West Frontier and ordered the withdrawal of the troops from the tribal territory of Waziristan, thereby making the Pathans feel themselves an integral part of Pakistan's body-politics. He created a new Ministry of States and Frontier Regions, and assumed responsibility for ushering in a new era in Balochistan. He settled the controversial question of the states of Karachi, secured the accession of States, especially of Kalat which seemed problematical and carried on negotiations with Lord Mountbatten for the settlement of the Kashmir Issue.
The Quaid's last Message:
It was, therefore, with a sense of supreme satisfaction at the fulfillment of his mission that Jinnah told the nation in his last message on 14 August, 1948: "The foundations of your State have been laid and it is now for you to build and build as quickly and as well as you can". In accomplishing the task he had taken upon himself on the morrow of Pakistan's birth, Jinnah had worked himself to death, but he had, to quote richard Symons, "contributed more than any other man to Pakistan's survivial". He died on 11 September, 1948. How true was Lord Pethick Lawrence, the former Secretary of State for India, when he said, "Gandhi died by the hands of an assassin; Jinnah died by his devotion to Pakistan".
A man such as Jinnah, who had fought for the inherent rights of his people all through his life and who had taken up the somewhat unconventional and the largely misinterpreted cause of Pakistan, was bound to generate violent opposition and excite implacable hostility and was likely to be largely misunderstood. But what is most remarkable about Jinnah is that he was the recipient of some of the greatest tributes paid to any one in modern times, some of them even from those who held a diametrically opposed viewpoint. The Aga Khan considered him "the greatest man he ever met", Beverley Nichols, the author of `Verdict on India', called him "the most important man in Asia", and Dr. Kailashnath Katju, the West Bengal Governor in 1948, thought of him as "an outstanding figure of this century not only in India, but in the whole world". While Abdul Rahman Azzam Pasha, Secretary General of the Arab League, called him "one of the greatest leaders in the Muslim world", the Grand Mufti of Palestine considered his death as a "great loss" to the entire world of Islam. It was, however, given to Surat Chandra Bose, leader of the Forward Bloc wing of the Indian National Congress, to sum up succinctly his personal and political achievements. "Mr Jinnah", he said on his death in 1948, "was great as a lawyer, once great as a Congressman, great as a leader of Muslims, great as a world politician and diplomat, and greatest of all as a man of action, By Mr. Jinnah's passing away, the world has lost one of the greatest statesmen and Pakistan its life-giver, philosopher and guide". Such was Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the man and his mission, such the range of his accomplishments and achievements.
It was, therefore, with a sense of supreme satisfaction at the fulfillment of his mission that Jinnah told the nation in his last message on 14 August, 1948: "The foundations of your State have been laid and it is now for you to build and build as quickly and as well as you can". In accomplishing the task he had taken upon himself on the morrow of Pakistan's birth, Jinnah had worked himself to death, but he had, to quote richard Symons, "contributed more than any other man to Pakistan's survivial". He died on 11 September, 1948. How true was Lord Pethick Lawrence, the former Secretary of State for India, when he said, "Gandhi died by the hands of an assassin; Jinnah died by his devotion to Pakistan".
A man such as Jinnah, who had fought for the inherent rights of his people all through his life and who had taken up the somewhat unconventional and the largely misinterpreted cause of Pakistan, was bound to generate violent opposition and excite implacable hostility and was likely to be largely misunderstood. But what is most remarkable about Jinnah is that he was the recipient of some of the greatest tributes paid to any one in modern times, some of them even from those who held a diametrically opposed viewpoint. The Aga Khan considered him "the greatest man he ever met", Beverley Nichols, the author of `Verdict on India', called him "the most important man in Asia", and Dr. Kailashnath Katju, the West Bengal Governor in 1948, thought of him as "an outstanding figure of this century not only in India, but in the whole world". While Abdul Rahman Azzam Pasha, Secretary General of the Arab League, called him "one of the greatest leaders in the Muslim world", the Grand Mufti of Palestine considered his death as a "great loss" to the entire world of Islam. It was, however, given to Surat Chandra Bose, leader of the Forward Bloc wing of the Indian National Congress, to sum up succinctly his personal and political achievements. "Mr Jinnah", he said on his death in 1948, "was great as a lawyer, once great as a Congressman, great as a leader of Muslims, great as a world politician and diplomat, and greatest of all as a man of action, By Mr. Jinnah's passing away, the world has lost one of the greatest statesmen and Pakistan its life-giver, philosopher and guide". Such was Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the man and his mission, such the range of his accomplishments and achievements.
Pakistan Islamic Republic supports UN, enhances knowledge, interfaith harmony, development and global peace.
For more information please contact:
+92 (0) 345 5086313
No comments:
Post a Comment