25th December is not just a holiday dedicated to the father of the nation Muhammad Ali Jinnah who was rightly titled Quaid- e- Azam. When we hear the name of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, imagination is automatically directed towards his appreciable personality traits ie honesty, uprightness, intellect, commitment to cause, truthfulness, selfless devotion and unmatchable political farsightedness. Jinnah never struggled for petty personal benefits. Greater well-being of the Muslim community was the focal point of his political struggle. As the influential Muslim political figure head, Muhammad Ali Jinnah neither struck a compromising secret deal with opponents nor surrendered to strong conservative circles.
He continued to struggle with vigor for what he believed just and right. During entire political career, Quaid never responded in an irresponsible manner even to the worst opponents and critics. Undoubtedly, Jinnah was a symbol of grace, determination and uprightness. While dealing with the British umpire in political arena, Muhammad Ali Jinnah never compromised on the vital interests of the Muslims of subcontinent. When British government offered federation to India under the Act of 1935, it was only the Jinnah who refused this option and emphasized on exclusive guarantee for the political rights of the Muslim.
Renowned historian and researcher late Dr Safdar Mehmmod has written about this episode that later on PM Macdonald had offered the title of Lord to lure in the Jinnah for a political compromise. Quaid loudly refused the secret deal and refused to meet the British PM anymore in the future. Muslim identity mattered a lot to the Quaid. He was very cautious about the customary respect of the religious rituals and values. During his tour of UK in connection with reforms in India, Muhammad Ali Jinnah refused the lunch invitation from British King due to the ongoing holy month of Ramadhan. Linguistic, territorial and sectarian divisions carried no importance for Quaid. As per the true teachings of Islam, Jinnah successfully united the Muslims of the subcontinent under on flag and won the freedom in the form of Pakistan.
His flawless political statements and speeches are text book material for the so called leaders of present era.
Violation of Quaid’s code of conduct in all walks of life is a painful reality in todays’s Pakistan. Preference to ceremonial rituals over practical measures have pushed us into a state of unmanageable turmoil. Today we need to move beyond the verbal claims and ceremonial tributes to the great Quaid . Speaking about the transparent political career and upright conduct of Jinnah is the easiest option, but following his footsteps, while being at helms of state affairs , is probably the most difficult act for most of our ruling elite. Muhammad Ali Jinnah should be taken as a role model by the legislators, executives, judges and the political leaders.
Unfortunately, our political elite badly lacks any resemblance with principle based political career and ideology of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. It is time to introspect that how far has Pakistan deviated from the course set by the founding father? Obviously, Jinnah and his companions struggled for a progressive Islamic welfare state. Quaid desired a truthful, honest, morally upright, visionary, sincere and devoted leadership to run the state affairs of Pakistan.Praising the Quaid as a ritual once or twice in a year is not enough. Leaders, at the helm of respective political parties’ affairs, are responsible to repair the damaged culture. Absence of democracy in the ranks and files of parties is a fundamental handicap which subsequently jeopardizes the overall political dynamics and governance system. Muhammad Ali Jinnah never betrayed his followers with behind the curtain deals, populist misleading narratives, corrupt practices, violation of merit, unlawful violent agitation, demagoguery and hollow promises.
Quaid was a man of his words who neither compromised on collective goals nor traded the fate of the followers for petty benefits. Unfortunately, his early departure created a huge vacuum which turned in the Achilles heel due to persistent unwise ways of successor rulers. While celebrating 147th birthday of Quaid, as a nation we should pledge to end corruption, bad governance, verbosity, abusive statements, unjust protocols, human rights violations, extremism, exploitation and hypocrisy . Dispassionate introspection is an initial step to identify the faults for subsequent exploration of corrective measures. Few pertinent quotes of Muhammad Ali Jinnah must be remembered in the context of highly challenging internal disorder confronted by the Pakistan today. Quaid said “Corruption and bribery are like a poison and horrible disease, which needs to be put down with an iron hand”.
Relevance of these golden words needs no further elaboration. Father of the nation had a clear vision for Pakistan as evident from his address to the Bar Association of Karachi at the occasion of birthday of holy Prophet (peace be upon Him) on 25th January 1948 “We are all Pakistanis and the citizens of the state and we should serve, sacrifice and die for the state so that we may make it the most glorious and sovereign state in the world”. At another occasion Quaid countered the merchants of despair and rejected all negative predictions with these solid words “There is no power on earth that can undo Pakistan”.
