“Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can have a better tomorrow”, this was said by India’s great scientist and 11th president Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam, popularly known as APJ Abdul Kalam.
Every great man has sacrificed his today for the better future of his fellowmen and when they achieved their aim, they never resorted to revenge. There is no short cut or easy route to success, it comes after years of hard work, perseverance, tenacity, hope, faith, sacrifice and determination. Success that is achieved after taking short-cuts is short-lived. There are a few names in the history, who gave-up everything for the righteousness of their cause and became immortal.
The life of Holy Prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H was full of hardships, struggles and sacrifices. Born as a posthumous child and then losing beloved mother and loving grandfather in early childhood was the commencement of toughest journey. When he P.B.U.H, called upon his people to the way of Almighty Allah, Qureshites, the people who believed in his truthfulness and honesty, boycotted him and he was compelled to live into the secluded city named “Sheb-e-Abi Talib” for three years without being provided the basic necessities of life. His shoes were drenched in blood when people of Taif pelted stones on him showing deadly enmity. When his tower defence Abu Talib died, Makkans threatened him to death and Mohammad P.B.U.H had to leave his hometown Makkah to save his life. Again, the stay in Madinah was not comfortable at all with the enemies attacking from inside and outside. With firm determination, patience and statesmanship, the Prophet brought Makkah under his sway and announce clemency for all.
Another name is Mohammad Ali Jinnah in the list of leaders who lost his everything to achieve their mission. Mohammad Ali Jinnah was only 18 years old when he lost his mother and first wife Emi Bai. The teen-age boy was alone in England and had no shoulder to cry on. When he came back after bar-at-law, the business of his father was doomed and it became difficult to run household expenditures. Mohammad Ali went to Bombay to practise law but could not earn a single penny despite making rounds of courts for several months. To make both ends meet he accepted an adhoc job of presidency magistrate. His popularity grew and was offered a permanent job with monthly salary of 1500 rupees, which he denied by saying that soon he would earn this amount in one day. When he became a successful lawyer, he started a new mission to free his people from the clutches of British and Indians. The journey towards Pakistan Movement was full of hurdles, enmities and hardships which he crossed with perseverance and determination.
Because of his rational and logical views and peace with minorities, he was termed “Kafir-e-Azam” by religious fanatics. In 1918, his marriage with Ratti, who was 24 years younger than Jinnah, invited the personal attacks on the greatest political leaders about whom Allama Iqbal once said “he is incorruptible and unpurchaseable”. His beloved wife Ratti, known as flower of Bombay because of her beauty and delicacy, died on his 29th birthday leaving her 9 years old daughter and husband. Jinnah was bereft by the partner whom he needed the most at this crucial time. Jinnah never expressed his feelings and emotions in front of anyone. However, at times of loneliness, he used to open a box full of his wife’s clothes and kept saying “It is All right, It is Alright” with grief and sorrow. He even tolerated the loss of his daughter who married a non-Muslim going against his father. All alone, the man with iron strength, fought for the cause of his people and achieved a separate homeland.
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, father of two nation theory, who stood for replacement of Urdu with Hindi in courts and government offices, advocated the rights of Muslims in government jobs and motivated people to acquire scientific knowledge was also not spared by religious fanatics because of his rational views about Islam and leniency towards British to end discrimination against Muslims and to remove misunderstandings after the war of independence. This precise paragraph written by Jamal-ud-din Afghani shows the vindictiveness against Sir Syed Ahmad Khan: “The dog indulges in flattery to get a bone; wags his tail; and places his head on his benefactor’s feet, may he be from his own people or a foreigner. This man is worse than a dog”. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan did not care about the personal attacks and worked for the betterment of Muslims for whole of his life. It was because of his efforts that Muslim League, a political platform for the establishment of Pakistan, was founded by his followers after six years of his death. Jaun Elia has rightly said; “Pakistan is mischief, made by the boys of Aligarh”.
Similarly, the first South African president Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela spent 27 years in jail to vindicate his people from the racial discrimination. The oppressive policies and discriminatory laws did not make him budge from the righteousness of his mission.
The life of newly elected Prime Minister is also full of challenges but he is the man who definitely does the things that others say he cannot. He always love to make lemonade when life throws lemons at him. Two days before the world cup, he ruptured a cartilage in shoulder. He kept the injury secret because it could have lowered down the morale of his team. He played with painful injury and won the world cup in 1992, when everyone said he cannot. He saw the death of mother with helplessness as there was no hospital in Pakistan that could provide treatment to a cancer patient. That gave him an idea of Shaukat Khanum Hospital. When General Musharraf imposed emergency in the country, Khan was manhandled in Punjab University, put under house arrest and even jailed on the orders of political opponents. He writes in his autobiography “ The idea of constantly striving towards ever higher goals struck a chord with me, dovetailing with my own philosophy that I had developed through sport-the more you challenge yourself, the more you discover greater reserves of strength within you. He further writes in his book, “My ex-wife Jemima used to ask me how long I would keep pursuing politics without succeeding, at what point I would decide it was futile, but I couldn’t answer, simply because a dream has no time frame”. And the time frame was 22 years for Imran Khan who faced failures in politics and personal attacks by the opponents but never left his mission. Let’s invite Jemima on the fulfillment of dream of “Naya Pakistan”.