China Study Centre of COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI) organized an interactive session with youth on ‘National Character as a Hallmark of National Cohesion’ by Javed Jabbar (Former Senator and Former Minister). Senator (r) Javed Jabbar has distinctions in diverse fields. He is a public intellectual who makes contributions to leading think tanks, research centres, public forums on a range of subjects. He has received numerous international and national honours for his contributions and achievements. He is an author of many award-winning books about Pakistani history with his 19th book “A President, a Prime Minister and a Party: Interactions with Farooq Leghari, MerajKhalid-and the Millat Party” being recently published. He has also made movies about the history of Pakistan; “Beyond the Last Mountain” and “Separation of East Pakistan: The Untold Story.”
The session was moderated by Dr. Tahir Mumtaz Awan, Head of China Study Centre, CUI. The Registrar, CUI Prof. Sajjad Ahmed Madani gave a welcome address and also gave an overview about the university. Javed Jabbar started the session with the representation of Islam in the Indo-Pak and now in Pakistan along with the representation of women and their true place, which is equal to man. Is this the true Islam that is being practiced and represented in Pakistan? He said that Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah was opposed by four major Muslim organizations who were against the idea of a separate Muslim country; Jamiat–ul-Islam, Jamat-e-Islami, Unionist Party of Punjab led by Khizar Hayat and Inayatullah Khan Mashriqialso known as Allama Mashriqi. All of these four parties still have a deep root in Pakistani politics and its government to this day even though they were against the idea of Pakistan and its creation. Quai-e-Azam was referred to as Kafir-e-Azam (The Great Kafir) by Mazhar Ali Azhar as he along with other Ahrarleaders opposed the partition of India. Then in 1942, a Muslim attempted to assassinate Jinnah in his own residence. Mr Jabbar went on to describe the meaning of Jihad in Islam. The real Jihad is the conquest of oneself. The application of acquired knowledge while still uplifting the five pillars of Islam. He emphasized the fact that no other nation or country was created as Pakistan. Pakistan – the name was thought of by Ch. Rehmat Ali Khan in 1933. Pakistan is an acronym P for Punjab, A for Afghania, K for Kashmir, S for Sindh and Tan for Balochistan. Bangladesh at that time was not included in the name as Mr. Rehmat Ali Khan was of the thought that Bangistan should be a separate country, but the Indians were opposing the fact that minority Hindus be ruled by a Muslim majority. Pakistan was unique country with 1000 meters distance of hostile territory between East Pakistan (48%) and West Pakistan (52%). The Indians thought that it won’t last more than 6 months. At that time the agreement between the British, Indian and Pakistani government were that half of the revenue be given to Karachi and the rest to Delhi, but the agreement was not upheld by the Indians leaving the Pakistanis in trouble. At that time Nizam of Hyderabad and Amir of Bahawalpur helped Pakistan through those tough times and more than one crore people migrated from different parts of India to Pakistan. They left their homes, lands for faith, confidence and vision that their new homeland, Pakistan, will overcome all odds. He also emphasized that Indians are the true Pakistanis as this was their land first. Pakistani land has a rich heritage as it acquired unique ancient societies with 2000 years to 7500 years of history as Harappa, Mehrgarh, Mohenjo-daro, Gandhara etc. These civilizations were not hierarchal societies, as they were led by priests. Giving an example he referred to the Native Americans whose population has been reduced to just 6 million from 60 million through genocide and are now forced to live in concentration camps. They refer to themselves as the first nationals of America as it was their land that was colonized by the Britishers. He referred to National Character and National Identity with “Pakistaniat”. Our National Character is a combination of different Provinces, regions, behaviours and cultures. No other nation has such a diverse combination of people. Not China or India even though they have a history of thousands of years. Yet Pakistan, against all odds is surviving and it is this National Character that will bind this Nation even in the future.