KARACHI: On the launch of a biographical book on the Quaid-i-Azam on Saturday evening, Sindh Governor Mohammad Zubair said Mohammad Ali Jinnah had wanted a liberal and tolerant Pakistan, where all people irrespective of differences of ethnicity and religion, could live amicably and peacefully.

“Today also we need a liberal and tolerant country,” he said presiding over the event to launch Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah: taaleem, jehd-i-azadi aur kamyabiyan, an Urdu translation of Dr Mohammad Ali Shaikh’s book, held in the inner courtyard of the Sindh Madressatul Islam University (SMIU).

Giving an example of the first cabinet of the Quaid, Governor Zubair said the law minister of his first cabinet was a Hindu while the foreign minister was an Ahmadi. But, in the later days, people at the helm rewrote the history regarding the making of Pakistan in a manner to leave everyone confused.

Book on Quaid’s life launched

He said a flurry of wrong narratives had been associated with Mr Jinnah, adding that it was true that everyone interpreted the Quaid according one’s own ideology.

He said that before the creation of Pakistan, the Father of the Nation had realised that Pakistan could be driven in a wrong direction, which was why he clearly drew the sketch of the country in his speech delivered on Aug 11, 1947 at the Constituent Assembly.

“When someone asks a question that for whom Pakistan was created, someone replies it was created for Islam and another says it was created for Muslims of the subcontinent. This is why people are unaware about this thin line drawn between Islam and Muslims of the subcontinent.”

He said the book would immensely help the younger generation to understand the life and struggle of the founder of Pakistan.

The governor said in an age when there was a lack of quality research work in the country that book was based on good research depicting the real life of the Father of the Nation and conveyed the message of the Quaid-i-Azam to its readers.

He said being the head of the alma mater of the founder of Pakistan, it was part of Dr Shaikh’s responsibilities to write such a wonderful tome given the fact that most details about the Quaid were available with the SMIU.

Mr Zubair said there was no ambiguity about the political system to run the country in the mind of Mr Jinnah.

“He clearly wanted a parliamentary system in Pakistan on the pattern of the British parliamentary system.”

He added that the Quaid was the best parliamentarian and a democrat who believed in the supremacy of parliament.

“This made him the undisputed leader of all communities of the then undivided India. Apart from a great politician, he was a great lawyer as well. Had he given more time to his profession, which he had left after returning from England in the middle of 1930s, he would have been among the greatest lawyers of the region.”

Mr Zubair said Pakistan was destined to progress and prosper against all odds.

He hoped that the political process of the country should continue uninterrupted.

The author of the book, Dr Muhammad Ali Shaikh, spoke on the need for writing that book threadbare. He said when he went through a variety of biographies on the Quaid, including the books of his sister Madar-i-Millat Fatima Jinnah, and others, he found certain wrong narratives, especially regarding the history of his education.

“Some of them said he had passed his matriculation examination from the Sindh Madressatul Islam in 1887, which was not correct. He hadn’t passed matric exams from Sindh Madressatul Islam. Such basic errors compelled me to correct the history with the help of the record that was available at the SMI,” said Dr Shaikh.

He said he also went London to get the record of Mr Jinnah’s education at the Lincoln’s Inn.

The SMIU vice chancellor said in a textbook in Sindhi published in 1948, it was mentioned that Mr Jinnah was born in Jirrack, now a part of Thatta district.

“To keep all these things correct with clear perspective with some other things in my mind, I decided to write a book especially for the youth to give them a correct life account of the Quaid-i-Azam with the support of his rare pictures,” said Dr Shaikh.

He said Mr Jinnah belonged to an underprivileged family, but later he became one of the rich persons of the region through his perpetual struggle and hard work.

Columnist Wusatullah Khan said it was high time to seriously think why Pakistani youth had got alienated and why “we have failed to run the country according the thoughts and vision of Mr Jinnah”.

He said it was only Dawn that had published the full text of his Aug 11 speech while other newspapers had published the edited version, edited and released by a bureaucrat of that time.

Dr Mohammad Ajmal Khan, vice chancellor of the University of Karachi, said he had read the book in a single sitting and found it fascinating and informative.

Dr Fateh Mohammad Burfat, vice chancellor of the University of Sindh, said Dr Shaikh had written a valuable, informative and educative book.

Prof Khalida Ghous said the author had beautifully knitted the facts, suggesting, the book should be taught at the university level in the country.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2018

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