Jinnah is in all of us

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This is a story of an unruly boy, born on December 25, 1876, whose parents did everything they could to make him study, but to no avail.

Countless times he was reported by teachers for bunking classes, while he was out horse riding. After his aunt’s plans to take him to Bombay (present day Mumbai) and make him study there failed, he returned back to his hometown Karachi (then part of India). On his return, his parents decided to send him to a Christian missionary high school. This somehow turned out to be one of the stepping stones in opening his way to London. He developed admiration for his father’s business colleague named Sir Fredrick Liegh Croft. Croft offered to send him to London. And that paved the path for him to become a formidable lawyer and a great statesman.

We all know his as Mohammad Ali Jinnah, our dearest Baba-e-Quam. And today we remember him on his 67th death anniversary.

Even though happy for him, his mother was fearful of being parted from his son and doubted his return. Therefore, she got him married at the mere age of fifteen to ensure his return. Sadly, Jinnah never saw his mother or wife again as they both passed away while his stay in London.

Jinnah came to be the youngest barrister in 1986. He returned to Bombay a few months later. He became the most successful barrister and won a murder trial marking his final case in legal career.

Now, Jinnah was more interested in politics than law. Jinnah’s father was not very supportive of this decision and withdrew his financial help. However, Jinnah joined congress in 1906 nonetheless. In 1912, he joined Muslim League as well and for some time, he worked simultaneously in both parties.

Amidst all the work, he married a convert named Rutti in 1918. She became the mother of his only daughter, named Dina. Sadly, Jinnah’s career took toll on his marriage and it ended up in a separation in 1928. A year after this she passed away.

All of us Pakistanis know what happened after Jinnah left congress and joined Muslim League. All the conferences between congress and league, discussions with British and finally the evolution of Pakistan on the world map in 1947 are all very familiar to Pakistanis who have studied Pakistan Studies in high school.

A year later, in 1948, the father of nation left behind his very young son, Pakistan.

This year Pakistan became 68-years-old. The status of this country today is out in the open. While western media makes sure to label us as terrorists, we are not much help either. On the death anniversary of Quaid, let’s commemorate all the sacrifices that he gave for us. His sacrifices began when he left his wife and mother to go to London, broke ties with his father to start a political career, lost his second wife and then died trying to make his self-founded nation successful.

The least we could do to make his sacrifices be worth it is be a good citizen. Criticizing everyone through social media is the worst thing that we are doing. Keep a positive approach, smile at your fellow citizens. Snap out of your daily chores for a while and look around yourself. Be responsible for your own garbage. Avoid creating pollution. Follow traffic rules and be nice to each other and true to your country.

It’s the little things that count. We all have the potential to become Jinnah – we just need to embrace it.

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