Daily Times

KARACHI: Prominent intellectuals and academicians said that Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah was the greatest Muslim leader of 20th century.

According to the speakers, Quaid was not a traditional landlord, a sardar or a religious leader, but an intellectual from a middle class family who led the nation to independence with rationale and argumentation.

The speakers said this while addressing the inaugural ceremony of Sindhi translation of Dr Muhammad Ali Shaikh’s book titled “Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah,Education, Struggle and Achievement.” The inauguration ceremony was held in the inner courtyard of Sindh Madressatul Islam University (SMIU) on Saturday night.

The book was translated into Sindhi by Anwer Abro. It has also been translated into Urdu by noted journalist Rashid Butt.The speakers said that Jinnah set a unique example in history by getting independence for the Muslims of the sub-continent throughpursuing a purely legal way of conduct, police politics and power of argumentation.

The Sindh Minister for Education Syed Sardar Ali Shah said that the village of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s ancestors was near Kalibangan, which is now in present day Rajasthan. “Hence, it is not a matter of any debate that Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah was born either in Jhirrak or in Karachi city, but we own him as our great leader and we have to make Pakistan as he envisioned it,” added the minister.

Syed Sardar Ali Shah said that it was a matter of pride for him that he was talking regarding Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah at his Alma-Mater. “Sindh Madressatul Islam has remained a center of knowledge, a place of intellect and has contributed a lot in the fields of education, politics, social science, literature and other fields,” the provincial minister said. Shah said that it was only through following the vision and ideology of Quaid that we could craft a ‘new Pakistan’. “The Quaid’s dream of independent, prosperous and peaceful Pakistan will come true when we will act upon the constitution,” the minister asserted.

The author of the book Dr Muhammad Ali Shaikh said that he had written the book especially for young people of the country, as they were largely unaware about the real life, struggle and achievements of founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Speaking regarding his publication, he said that he had opted for a more pictorial format while penning the book because the youth did not review longer volumes.

While extending an offer to Sindh Education minister to print text books from SMIU Press, he said that the SMIU Press will print text books of the Sindh government without making any profit from it.

He also suggested the names of Dr Suleman Shaikh, Dr Jaffar Ahmed and Prof. Saleem Memon for the board of publication of SMIU. He said that these people might suggest most valuable books for publication.

Dr Jaffar Ahmed, a prominent intellectual said that this book should be translated into other languages of Pakistan including Punjabi, Pashtu, Balochi, Seriaki etc.

“This is a basic book on Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, therefore, the youth of the country must read it,” he said. Dr Jaffar Ahmed praised the contribution of Dr Shaikh towards the history of Pakistan by writing the book.

SZABIST secretary Dr Suleman Shaikh said that this was a brief but comprehensive account of the life of Mohammad Ali Jinnah. He said that the author had cleared many ambiguities that were especially in the minds of young people about the life and struggle of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.Furthermore, he said that we had not acted upon Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Jinnah’s thoughts that he had expressed about Pakistan in his famous speech of 11th August 1947, delivered in the Constitutional Assembly.

Professor Saleem Memon, chairman of Shah Latif Chair, University of Karachi also lauded the work of Dr Muhammad Ali Shaikh and said there was a need to write and get publish similar books for the younger generation.

Earlier, Dr Muhammad Ali Shaikh gave a presentation to Syed Sardar Shah and educationistsabout the formation of “School Education Commission” (SEC) in Sindh on the lines of Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) in the senate hall of SMIU.

In his presentation he said that the idea of formation of SEC was the brain child of five research scholars of SMIU, who wanted to improve the education system of the province from primary to intermediate level.

Speaking on the subject of “Reforming education and Re-thinking governance,” Dr Muhammad Ali Shaikh said that the Department of Education was fragmented and facing inconsistency. He opined that the education system in Sindh hadcollapsed due to governance problems. Speaking of the system he said that it had been cleaved into three parts. “One is school education headed by a separate secretary, second is college education which is also headed by another secretary and third is university education, which too is headed by another secretary,” he explained. He suggested that a chairman with ample experience in the sector of education and a PhD should head the proposed SEC. “Sindh Text Book Board, Curriculum Development, examinations boards and other such related departments should work under the SEC as its wings,” Dr Shaikh said.

Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Ali Shah in his speech said that he himself had received his education from public sector educational institutions; therefore we should all get our children enrolled in public sector schools and colleges. “This act will build trust on the public sector schools. He also said that there is a need of improvement and reforms in the education department of Sindh and they were working on it.Others also spoke regarding the book.

The ceremony was attended by a large number of writers, intellectuals, academics and students.

Published in Daily Times, October 15^th 2018.