Daily Times

As a Muslim League child every time my father’s party, the All-India Muslim League (AIML) is vandalised I am seriously concerned. AIML was formed in Decca on December 30, 1906. Jinnah joined the party in 1913, and became its President in 1916. After the creation of Pakistan on August 14, 1947, Jinnah took over as governor general while Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman was elected to lead the Pakistani portion of the Muslim League, leaving behind the Indian component which eventually perished. Pakistan Muslim League (PML) remained intact till the first Martial Law in October 1958 when the dictator decided to vandalise the founding party of the country to create an artificial political outfit called PML (Convention) with its headquarter on Davis Road.

Syed Ahmad Saeed Kirmani, who recently passed away was an old member of the League. My father Nazir Ahmed Malik and Kirmani Sahib both joined the Muslim Students Federation (MSF) in 1935. Originally from Amritsar, the Kirmani family had settled in Lahore before the partition. They lived in Qila Gujar Singh behind the famous Lahore Hotel. My father migrated from Ludhiana and settled in the same city where they both resumed their political links with the League. Kirmani Sahib was a lawyer who took deep interest in politics often ignoring his legal practice, whilst my father the ‘Muhajir’ concentrated to revive his business interests. Honesty, integrity and hard work were the defining characteristics of the people of Ludhiana, due to this they served the new land well.

Since 1958, the vandalisation of Muslim League has continued unabated. The famous comedian Bob Hope once commented on the hair colour of the female actress, Lucie Carmichael. According to him Lucie had changed her hair shade so many times that she had lost track of the original colour. A similar situation exists within the League. It seems that ‘cosmetic engineering’ is here to stay while we talk about change.

As a Muslim League child, I feel obliged to protect the legacy of my father’s party. Vandalisation, butchering, resuscitation, re-organisation, renaming of the founding party of the country should stop. In the words of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Muslim League is dead as a political entity, even Dr. Christian Bernard, the famous Heart Transplant Surgeon, cannot bring it back to life

The inept and corrupt, political leadership that we have to endure today is a result of this cosmetic engineering; a flawed approach which was initially started by Ayub Khan, an ordinary soldier who hailed from Haripur Hazara. To date, his family dominates the politics of this area.

Looking back at the checkered history of Pakistan, only two genuine political parties have been formed without institutional help. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in 1967, by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in 1996, by Imran Khan. Farooq Leghari also indulged in this struggle by forming his Millat Party in 1996, which emerged as a political force in 2002 much ahead of Imran Khan’s PTI, in which he secured 12 National Assembly seats to PTI’s 1. Under pressure Leghari Sahib decided to merge his party with the The Pakistan Muslim League-Q (PML-Q), despite this the Kaptaan did not give up.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has outlived its utility, its decline is understandable but the rise of PML-Q from the ashes was unbelievable. Every time I drive through Zahoor Elahi Road, my blood pressure rises. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto named several properties in Lahore during the Islamic Summit. National Stadium became Gaddafi Stadium, Gol Bagh became Nasir Bagh, he also called Zahoor Elahi, Chor Sepoy. The roads should carry their name, or their original identity will be lost.

Nations must learn from history to correct their course. Unfortunately, in our Islamic Republic no lessons are learnt and cosmetic engineering continues. While at times it is called ‘Islami Nizam’ while at others ‘enlightened moderation’. On August 14, 1973, Pakistan became a constitutional democracy. A constitution is an agreement between the rulers and the ruled which is binding for all.

Under the leadership of Kaptaan we are now moving towards a ‘Naya Pakistan’ which in fact was the original vision of the Quaid. The first cabinet of the country was formed by the Quaid himself, only the best and the most able were chosen as elected members. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto followed the same approach in 1972, by picking proficient cabinet members for his ‘Awami Haqoomat’. There were visible changes with Ghulam Mustafa Khar as Governor, the gates of his mansions were open for the public for the first time. His four Chief Ministers of Punjab (Mairaj Khalid, Mustafa Khar, Hanif Ramay, Sadiq Hussain Qureshi) ably led the largest province of the country. The current choice of CMs leaves a lot to be desired in all the three provinces (KP, Punjab, Balochistan).

As a Muslim League child, I feel obliged to protect the legacy of my father’s party. Vandalisation, butchering, resuscitation, re-organisation, renaming of the founding party of the country should stop. In the words, of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Muslim League is dead as a political entity, even Dr. Christian Bernard, the famous Heart Transplant Surgeon, cannot bring it back to life. For Pakistan to move forward, it is back to the barracks for the Khakis while we rebuilt civilian institutions which are needed for good governance.

The writer is an ex-Chairman of Pakistan Science Foundation. He can be reached: fmaliks@hotmail.com

Published in Daily Times, September 4^th 2018.