KARACHI: A former adviser to the prime minister on foreign affairs, Sartaj Aziz, gave an online talk on ‘Main ne Pakistan bante dekha’ (I saw Pakistan come into being), organised by the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi, on Tuesday afternoon.

Mr Aziz said he became politically aware when he was 13 years of age in 1942 during an event held by his father where he got to hear that Muslims of India didn’t buy property and Hindus did because the latter were stingy. It raised questions in his mind. Two years later, when he [Aziz] after passing his matriculation examination, joined Islamia College Lahore, he got the answer to the question: Hindus had control over the economy of the region. For example, despite the fact that Lahore was a Muslim city, in Anarkali bazaar Muslims had only two shops. In such a situation a movement began to take root. “Pakistan’s history is basically about its economic emancipation because Muslims had limited economic opportunities.”

He said at Islamia College, the Muslim Students Federation (MSF) had a very active branch. The Quaid-i-Azam, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, had realised it at an early stage that students could play an important role in the Pakistan movement. He asked (the late) Hameed Nizami to form an MSF as a branch of the All India Muslim League. Later on, “I was included in the executive committee of the federation and made in charge of finance.”

Sartaj Aziz recalls his experience as an MSF member and how he received a gift from the Quaid-i-Azam for topping in his class

Mr Aziz said the real test came in the Feb 1946 elections because the Congress used to say that it represented Muslims of India and not just the Muslim League. “So we had to prove that the Muslim League was the only representative party of Muslims. The campaign that was organised in 1945-46 had good motives. That campaign by the students proved to be very successful. During the campaign the first question that would be asked of the voters was how many of them owed money to the banyas. Fifty per cent of the hands would be raised. Therefore, we used to say, ‘vote for the Muslim League and get rid of your debts’. It became a powerful slogan since it made the people understand that the movement was for their economic emancipation.”

Mr Aziz said when results [of elections] came, Muslims won 90 per cent seats in India and 85 per cent in Punjab. This was testimony to the fact the Muslim League was the only party representing the Muslims of India. Subsequently, when the Quaid-i-Azam talked with the British, the British too realised that it’s the League that represented Muslims, and not the Congress. Mr Jinnah fought that case with great skill and intelligence and Pakistan came into existence.

The students who had worked to achieve that goal got the Mujahid-i-Pakistan certificates. Acknowledging the MSF Islamia College’s work, the Quaid came to Lahore in March 1946 to attend the annual meeting of the college. “I received a gift from Mr Jinnah for topping in my class. It was a historic day because the Quaid in his speech said, ‘you’ve worked as the Mujahid-i-Pakistan, now’s the time to become the Maimaar-i-Pakistan’ [builders of Pakistan]. This message was a powerful one to my mind. The other message that he gave was that Muslims lagged behind in commerce and industry, so attention must be paid to that side.

He said the last time he saw the Quaid was on Sept 30, 1947 when the Quaid addressed a gathering at University Ground. It was a historic occasion (jalsa). Mr Aziz added, to date, when he hears that speech by the Quaid-i-Azam, he gets moved by it.

After the talk, the floor was opened for a question-answer session.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2021