G.M. Syed remained an antagonist of Pakistan and the Quaid-i-Azam. However, he remains one of the founding members of Pakistan
‘Mr Jinnah, with the help of Mr G.M. Syed, established Pakistan in Sindh, simultaneously with the Pakistan Resolution passed in the Sindh Assembly, the only assembly in India which has done it’. This extract is from Professor Jeth Mal Parsram’s views on Pakistan published in the book, Pakistan X-Rayed.
Once, while browsing through a heap of cheap, old books on one of the pavements running along Bank Road in Saddar, Rawalpindi, I came across the 115-page book. Torn at the seams almost page after page, the book was in very bad shape. Some of the pages were also missing. I picked up the book and scanned it casually. It contained thoughts of certain persons on Pakistan before its coming into being. I looked at the contents. Some of the contributors, in their own right, were prominent scholars and intellectuals of the subcontinent such as Achariya Kirpalani, Professor Jeth Mal Parsram, Dr Syed Mahmud and Moulana Abul Kalam Azad. I bought the book and gave it to a bookbinder to give it a decent look. He almost revived it and gave it a presentable appearance. I dumped the book among my reading material that always remains in disarray, and forgot all about it.
After remaining in job-imposed exile for 30 years in Islamabad, I returned to Karachi a couple of years ago. Karachi is my hometown wherein I have spent my fascinating childhood and the most memorable youthful years of my life. I revere the educational institutions from Ratan Talao Government Primary School, situated in the alley behind Radio Pakistan, to Karachi University that I have attended for my formal education.
The years I spent at the KU were the most turbulent, when the students of Karachi had fought pitched battles against the forces of General Ayub Khan, the first military dictator of Pakistan. We were extremely thin in number. Karachi then (1959-61) was not an unmanageable, huge and a chaotic city. Islamia College, N.E.D. Engineering College (now a university), D.J. Science College, Urdu College (now a university), S.M. College and S.M. Law College were the only prominent higher educational institutions in the city.
How did the students of Karachi, under the leadership of Masud Bhai, Syed Safwanullah, Mohammed Shafi, Shaista Karar, Johar, Mairaj Mohammed Khan and a few others whose names I am not able to recall, put up an invincible front against the dictator Ayub Khan is a story of indomitable will and courage that I would narrate to you on some other occasion. Presently, let us briefly look at one of the most puzzling chapters in the history of Pakistan.
While returning to Karachi, I made it a point to bring back with me each and every book I had purchased in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. For the first time in my life, I have begun arranging my reading material, the books that I have procured over the years. Last week, I categorized books for the history section. Before I could keep the book Pakistan X-Rayed in its proper rack, I casually perused a few pages. It was then that I was stunned by the first sentence in the write-up of Professor Jeth Mal Parsram: ‘Mr Jinnah, with the help of Mr G.M. Syed established Pakistan in Sindh’.
All along, Pakistanis have been made to believe that G.M. Syed was against the creation of Pakistan.
Professor Parsram’s sentence reminded me of a voluminous research work accomplished more than 20 years ago by an assistant professor, Mohammed Laiq, under the title, Contribution of Sindh in the Creation of Pakistan. It was a thesis that earned Mohammed Laiq a doctorate in political science from Sindh University. Now he is known as Professor Dr Mohammed Laiq Zardari. With authentic source material and references, Dr Laiq has credited G.M. Syed with the lion’s share in the creation of Pakistan. His thesis candidly highlights G.M. Syed’s unflinching support and committed cooperation that he had always extended to the Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah in carving out a new country for the Muslims of India.
Let me reproduce from Dr Laiq’s thesis (page 201) an extract from G.M. Syed’s essay published in Daily Al-Waheed (23 November, 1941) in support of Pakistan:
1- Pakistan (thereby he means the proposed territory for Pakistan) had never for long remained a part of India, and under its political influence. Pakistan is a territory within the Central Asian States. Like Burma, let Pakistan remain within the fold of Commonwealth.
2- People living within Pakistan will be called a Pakistani nation.
3- The life and property of non-nationals (perhaps he means minorities) will be safeguarded, but they will not have any political rights.
4- Armed forces will run the affairs of the country.
5- Political, cultural and economic equilibrium shall be maintained among the people.
6- Legal framework shall be within the principles of Army.
Dr Muhammed Laiq Zardari has cited non-political reasons on the part of G.M. Syed for his parting of ways with the Quaid-i-Azam after the creation of Pakistan. Thereafter, G.M. Syed remained a vowed antagonist of Pakistan and Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah. However, he remains one of the founding members of Pakistan.
