MORE than six decades after the division of the subcontinent, there continue to be reminders of Pakistan’s difficult start as a new country in terms of resources. At the time of partition, for example, All India Radio was well established; but there was no broadcast station in Karachi and those in Lahore and Peshawar had no recording facilities. As a result, the many speeches delivered by various important personalities, including Mohammad Ali Jinnah, were broadcast live but Pakistan, unfortunately, had no recording of them. That the country bore this glaring absence of valuable historical record for so many decades is astounding. Thankfully, however, as a result of efforts made by former director general of the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation, Murtaza Solangi, audio tapes bearing recordings of the speeches Jinnah delivered on June 3 and Aug 14, 1947, have been made available to Pakistan; India’s Right to Information Act was the tool that saw these pages of history see the light of day.

Mr Solangi’s perseverance deserves appreciation, and illustrates also how much can be achieved by a single interested individual. More such work is needed from other quarters as well. The Aug 11, 1947 address to the first constituent assembly of Pakistan — one that is increasingly being quoted as the shape of the country’s future is debated — remains missing from our records, for example. And it is not just Mr Jinnah’s speeches. Pakistan is fast losing track of and falling out of touch with its own history and record. Where on the one hand there have been accidents and attacks such as the fire at Radio Pakistan’s Karachi offices or the destruction of the Ziarat Residency by militants, on the other state and society in general have disregarded history and historical record. Beyond a handful of individuals and organisations, acquisition and preservation efforts are few. As Pakistan seems in danger of morphing into what many argue Jinnah was opposed to, it needs the passion of those original intentions to carry it through.