ISLAMABAD, Aug 17: The good thing was that Halqa-i-Arbab-e-Zauq Islamabad discussed the contribution of Madar-i-Millat Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah in the context of Urdu Adab and Pakistan on Saturday evening on the Academy of Letters premises. The bad thing, however, was that very few ‘regular critics’ of the Halqa attended the meeting.

Asghar Abid said all that was written in praise of Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah when she took up cudgels against the existing dictatorial rule, and challenged Ayub Khan in the Presidential ‘election’, should be termed part of the literature of resistance.

Akbar Hameedi, who presided over the function, spoke of the silent role of Mohtarma. It is truly said that behind every man is a woman, he said, and thought that the sister played a “silent role” in helping the Quaid to single-mindedly concentrate on his great destination of Pakistan. As for the other l leaders, according to him, the Quaid had said that he had fake coins in his pocket. He traced the history of the internal bickering of the politicians, which, according to him, led to the imposition of martial law in the country. According to him, they, in fact, played a very negative role in bringing the sister of the Quaid on the political stage. None of them had an all Pakistan following at that time. Unlike the earlier leaders, many of them were not that clean in politics. In their shrewd “hypocrisy” they “used” the unblemished, political reputation of the Quaid’s sister, playing their game from the backstage by bringing out the only rallying point available for advancing their interest.

In another argument, it was noted that it was the genuine concern of the stalwarts of the movement like Khawja Nazimuddin, which led to the active political participation of the Quaid’s sister. She had, in fact, until then kept her aloof from the political scene (except the speech she used to make every year for some time, and which, it is said, had been often been edited by the establishment). It was a fight for one-man one vote against the Electoral College introduced by Ayub Khan, which consisted of his “ basic democrats”.

Col Salamat Ali (retired) spoke of the great role of the sister of the Quaid, and the “attitude” of politicians, which ultimately brought about the present state of affairs.— Mufti Jamiluddin Ahmad