Jinnah Sindh Medical University,
Rafiqui H. J, Iqbal Shaheen Road,
Karachi, Sindh.
August 14, 2022
Dear Mr. Jinnah,
Assalam-u-Alaikum!
I, an undergraduate student of Jinnah Sindh Medical University, feel overwhelmed with enthusiasm while writing this letter on the 75th anniversary of Pakistan. I intend to deliver my opinion about what Pakistan has become today. But without the understanding of tales of the years 1948-2021, it would be quite difficult to apprehend the situation of Pakistan in 2022. Therefore, I have decided to brief you about the events that have impacted today’s Pakistan the most.
First of all, I would like you to know how honored I felt when I visited your house in Karachi and how wretched I felt when I realized that none of the four probable maps of Pakistan that were on exhibition in your house reflect the borders of today’s Pakistan because the province of East Pakistan has become Bangladesh (a separate independent state) in 1971 as a result of the most tragic civil war in the history of Pakistan that was later being intervened by India. Pakistani military faced insurmountable losses and surrendered before the Indian army on December 16, 1971. Every year December 16th is celebrated as independence day in Bangladesh and a black day in Pakistan. Today, Bangladesh has gotten ahead of Pakistan in literacy and currency.
Secondly, I would like to address the incident of September 11, 2001, when four suicide attacks were carried out against the U.S. and Pakistan decided to support the U.S. and fought the war on terrorism for years and years.
Thirdly, I plan to point out the stratocracy that governed Pakistan for decades. Pakistan has experienced four Marshal Laws and none of the democratic prime ministers have fulfilled their tenure of 5 years. But as the saying goes: “Worst democracy is better than best stratocracy”. Unfortunately, the public has always been more interested in speeches and rallies rather than the mandates of political parties which has led to the sorry state of today’s Pakistan. It is surrounded by poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, lawlessness, and an unstable economy.
Mr. Jinnah, you were a remarkable lawyer and rose to the top of your profession. But I sometimes wonder, were you a remarkable ideologist too? Was your ideology flawless? You achieved a separate state for Muslims to avoid any oppression against Muslim minorities in united India but how were you planning to avoid oppression against minorities in a Muslim state? Pakistani minorities have suffered extreme racism and intolerance. Since both of us were born in Karachi, let’s talk about the builders of Karachi, the Parsis. They were trade pioneers who rise the trade value of Karachi by leaps and bounds but experienced prejudice and hatred. Initial census reports more than 7000 Parsis in Karachi but the latest records show less than 1500 indicating a large number left Pakistan.
Hindus of Sindh have also received discrimination and injustice all along these years. The news of young Hindu girls’ abduction and forced conversion to Islam isn’t strange to anyone.
Mr. Jinnah, you brought into existence the world’s largest Islamic state in order to save Muslims from Hindus’ brutality but who will save them from getting at each other’s throats? All along these years, there have been thousands of blood-shedding contentious events based on sectarian, language, cultural and political differences. Last year, 11 dead bodies of Hazara Shia Muslims were lying on the highway for the sake of justice.
Balochis are being oppressed for decades. Sindhi-Punjabi riots breakouts every now and then. Last month Sindhi- Pashtoon contention resulted in a strike-like situation in Karachi.
Mr. Jinnah, I am really sorry that on such a happy occasion, I am writing you a very melancholic letter. But in my defense, I would say that when I thought about writing a letter to you, all of it started flowing in my mind like a river with no barrages. Therefore, now I will address the opposite side of the same coin.
Pakistan is one of the nine nuclear powers. All thanks to Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan. He deserves great appreciation from you. Another benefactor, who is my favorite and deserves all the love and respect is Abdus Sattar Edhi. He is the founder of the Edhi Foundation which has been of service to the people of Pakistan in difficult times.
Pakistan has won cricket world cup in 1992 and has also been runner up at 1999 cricket world cup. It has also been blessed with two Nobel prize winners namely, Abdus Salam and Malala Yousafzai. This land has also given birth to philanthropic doctors such as Dr. Adeeb Rizvi and Dr. Abdul Bari Khan.
All the aforementioned personalities brought hope of progress, the light of development, and fragrances of kindness to this nation and its people. May the name of Pakistan always shine brightest ( Ameen ).
In the end, I would just like to say that you are the nation’s greatest leader. None can be compared to you. May Allah blesses you with the best.
Allah hafiz!
Yours truly,
Adina Kazmi,
Citizen of Pakistan.
