Ziarat-Quetta-Karachi (TheNews 19-06-2013)

[kal3m]

Harris Khalique

“As you know I am especially interested in Balochistan because it is my special responsibility. I want to see it play as full a part in the affairs of Pakistan as any other province, but it will take time to remove the symptoms of long neglect. In order that this time may not be a minute longer than necessary, I earnestly request you to cooperate with me, to give me your selfless support, and not to make my task difficult.”
This reads like a fresh statement from either the newly elected Chief Minister of Balochistan, Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, or the Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif, himself. However, I am quoting these lines from a speech made by Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah on June 15, 1948 in Quetta, almost exactly 65 years before his last abode in Ziarat – the beautiful mountainous suburb of Quetta in the midst of Juniper forests – was bombed.
There is an irony here. Quaid-e-Azam is seen by the Baloch separatists as a representative character that defines the nature of the Pakistani state and is solely criticised for the annexation of the Kalat state. This is done while completely ignoring what the chiefs of Makran and Kharan had said to him at the time. He is also held symbolically responsible for the shabby treatment meted out to the Baloch over the last six decades. In their concerted view the state he founded deprived them of their rights over their land and their sea, politics and decision-making. Above all, they feel it denied them any decent share – let alone control – over the rich natural resources found in their province.
However, Quaid-e-Azam himself was treated with utmost disrespect by the new establishment of Pakistan from day one. The state of Pakistan we see today has little whatsoever to do with his idea of a modern, rational and forward-looking country.
The bomb blast and arson at the Ziarat Residency where Quaid-e-Azam spent most of his last days due to ill health reminded me of what we have done to him, to his sister and closest confidant and, above all, to his political legacy. The feudal and elitist leadership belonging to the UP League and Punjab Unionists who came together in Pakistan’s ruling Muslim League on the eve of Partition tried their best to sideline the Quaid from the very beginning.
Mian Iftikharuddin relates an incident when Quaid-e-Azam was chairing the cabinet meeting of the Punjab government in Lahore. The attitude of people like Gurmani and Daultana towards him was dismissive, to say the least. He left the meeting with a heavy heart. Of course, what led to this was his support to Mian Iftikharuddin’s proposals for land redistribution and repatriation of refugees from East Punjab.
Later, when Mian Sahib argued with these people that even if they did not agree to the proposals, they should have been respectful of the Quaid, one of them said, “What do we respect him for? He has already wrapped a garland of shoes around our neck in the shape of East Bengal.” In my view, the position taken in this statement is easy to understand. East Pakistan had no major landholdings and a vibrant, progressive and conscious political culture. They were also in a majority.
Speaking of East Pakistan, I may also not agree with the argument Quaid-e-Azam made or the words he chose to express his views on the question of language. However, the contents of the speech he made to the students of Dhaka University in March 1948 have also been twisted and were used by both the West Pakistani junta and the Bengali resistance movement to their benefit. For instance, he never said that Urdu will be the only national language of Pakistan.
He said, “Let me restate my views on the question of a state language for Pakistan. For official use in this province (East Bengal), the people of the province can choose any language they wish. This question will be decided solely in accordance with the wishes of the people of this province alone, as freely expressed through their accredited representatives at the appropriate time and after full and dispassionate consideration. There can, however, be only one lingua franca, that is, the language for inter-communication between the various provinces of the state, and that language should be Urdu and cannot be any other.”
We also tend to forget that Bangla was recognised as the other state language in as early as 1952. The reality is different though. The English-speaking elites call the shots to this day and none of our languages get their due recognition. Even in today’s Pakistan, the demand of those of us who believe in equality of languages and peoples remains that all our languages, particularly Sindhi, Punjabi, Pashto, Balochi, Seraiki, Hindko, Shina, Brushiski, etc, should be considered national languages and used in the offices and schools of provinces and regions where they are spoken.
There should be no hierarchy of languages imposed by the state and all must get equal support and encouragement. Urdu, nevertheless, will remain the lingua franca and a language of collective public discourse for the simple reason of being understood as a second language by most people across the country as well as in the South Asian region.
It is also said that when Quaid-e-Azam was bedridden and the then prime minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, took the draft of the Objectives Resolution for his review, he disapproved of the move to introduce such a resolution which would pave the way for a theocracy. It was eventually passed after his death, despite strong opposition from the minority members of the assembly. It also led to the resignation of the first competent minister for law and labour, and then commonwealth and Kashmir affairs, Jogendra Nath Mandal, who was appointed by the Quaid himself and who chose to leave Pakistan in 1950.
The Objectives Resolution – drafted by clerics and adopted by the League-Unionist nexus in order to use religion to consolidate their interests – played a key role in transforming Quaid-e-Azam’s Pakistan into what it has become now.
Quaid-e-Azam was brought to Karachi from Ziarat just before he passed away. We so conveniently forget that there was no one important to receive the founder of the nation and the governor-general, the head of the state, at the Mauripur air base, which was in the outskirts of Karachi then. It was only his sister, Fatima Jinnah who, along with medics, sat beside him. The ambulance ran out of fuel in the middle of nowhere. Imagine. He was lying in that ambulance for hours in the notorious September heat of Karachi.
Some years later, while the self-proclaimed Field Marshal and the first military dictator, Gen Ayub Khan, commissioned a mausoleum to be built on the Quaid’s grave, he also fought against his sister who had become a symbol of democracy. We also forget that some years later, Ms Jinnah was mysteriously found dead in her bed.
Lastly, it is to be reiterated again and again that while Quaid-e-Azam was above any sectarian identity, he was born into the Shia sect of Islam. Fatima Jinnah held a Majlis-e-Aza after his death as is done in the Shia tradition. He had married Ruttie according to the Shia jurisprudence as well. In the country he founded, today people of his community are being killed indiscriminately from Karachi to Quetta to Gilgit to parts of Punjab.
It will be easier to build the Ziarat Residency back. It is a mammoth task to resurrect the country he envisaged.
Email: harris.khalique@gmail.com