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A CONTROVERSY has been going on for some time as to who Islamabad International Airport should be named after. Why this debate when the choice is so obvious? The name of any one of the heroes of the Pakistan movement would fit like a nugget in a ring.
Unfortunately, our politicians would like to disown the movement and its leaders altogether. Why? A teacher of psychology has an interesting explanation. People disown their past when there are irritants in it for them.
What are the irritants for them in the Pakistan movement and our early leaders? The irritants are: honesty, integrity, altruism and going beyond the call of duty to serve the nation. Liaquat Ali Khan, Pakistan’s first prime minister, is the finest example of altruism and of what an ideal head of government should be. (I can see many eyebrows are raised already.)
He renounced fame and wealth. When a government official came to him with the news that the he had 300 plus properties in India which he could claim here in compensation, he told the officer to get lost. He said, “People don’t have a roof on their head and you want me to get back my properties?”
He said the prime minister of a poor country shouldn’t draw a big salary. He voluntarily reduced his salary. This is in sharp contrast to our ministers, who want to see their salaries and privileges grow manifolds overnight. As for public funds, the ministers think public is not relevant to these public funds.
Liaquat achieved in his four years tenure as much as other leaders would achieve in 20 years. He organized the armed forces and turned them into a performing unit. He set up a government out of the chaos of the 1947 holocaust and created Kakul Academy. Liaquat said, “I have given everything to the country that I had.When time comes, I won’t hesitate to give my own blood.”He kept his word.
The Islamabad airport should be named ‘Liaquat Ali Khan International Airport’. Let a gratefull nation return something to the one who sacrificed everything for us.
Humayun Sultan
Karachi
Published in Dawn, October 29th, 2018
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