SEPTEMBER 11 was the 71st death anniversary of our great Quaid Mohammad Ali Jinnah. He spent his whole life in an organised manner. He spent a life with full devotion, dedication and application to achieve his goal — a separate homeland for the Muslims of subcontinent.

With a frail body, he worked for more than 18 hours daily. He alone stood against the strongest opposition. Here are some extracts from his speeches:

“We have undoubtedly achieved Pakistan, and that too without bloody war, practically peacefully, by moral and intellectual force, and with the power of the pen, which is no less mighty than that of the sword and so our righteous cause has triumphed.

“Are we now going to besmear and tarnish this greatest achievement for which there is no parallel in the history of the world? Pakistan is now a fait accompli and it can never be undone. Besides, it was the only just, honourable, and practical solution of the most complex constitutional problem of this great subcontinent. Let us now plan to build and reconstruct and regenerate our great nation...”

“With faith, discipline and selfless devotion to duty, there is nothing worthwhile that you cannot achieve.

“Think a 100 times before you take a decision, but once that decision is taken, stand by it as one man.”

“Failure is a word unknown to me.”

Iftikhar Mirza
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2019