Jinnah’s struggle was based on provincial autonomy: Raza Rabbani

The mass protests under way across India have once again proven that Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s vision for a separate country was correct, said the federal minister for federal education & professional training on Wednesday.

Addressing the concluding session of the birthday celebrations of the nation’s founder at the Sindh Madressatul Islam University (SMIU), Shafqat Mahmood said the federal government is committed to introducing a uniform curriculum for the entire country to end the disparities between different educational systems.

“We are in the process of introducing the same curriculum for all the children enrolled at government and private schools and seminaries,” he said, adding that the divergent systems of education in Pakistan have created many problems.

Mahmood said that such divergent systems of education also discriminate against children, which is the reason why the federal administration wants to introduce a uniform curriculum.

Former Senate chairman Mian Raza Rabbani said the struggle of the nation’s founder was based on provincial autonomy, which he had also mentioned in his Fourteen Points. “We want the Pakistan that was dreamed by the Quaid-e-Azam. The media should be free and the people should enjoy complete freedom of expression, which is the essence of democracy.”

He said that every Pakistani should ensure that their country is sovereign, and they should also see that it is not negatively affected by interferences from foreign forces. “Every year we celebrate the Quaid’s birth anniversary, but we hardly follow his teachings. The Quaid-e-Azam had created Pakistan based on liberal views, and we have to follow his guiding principles.”

Rights activist leader IA Rehman said that the nation’s founder was a multifaceted personality and his achievements need to be duplicated across various fields and institutions.

Rehman said that to understand equality and freedom is the precondition for acting on the teachings of the Quaid. However, he added, the country is presently riddled with class division and human rights violations, which is against Jinnah’s teachings.

He said the Quaid was a great supporter of education, which was evident from the fact that he bequeathed his property to educational institutions after his death. Representing higher educational institutions of Sindh, the chief minister’s adviser on universities & boards and SMIU Pro-Chancellor Nisar Ahmed Khuhro said he felt proud to find himself speaking in the historical building of an educational institution where the Quaid had received his early education.

“We are thankful to Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who struggled for the independence of Pakistan, where we are free and where we feel safe,” said Khuhro. He added that the Muslim League Conference’s Sindh chapter held its first session in Karachi in October 1938, and adopted a resolution that recommended to the All India Muslim League to devise a scheme of constitution under which Muslims may attain full independence.

“If we look in the past and examine the 72-year existence of Pakistan, we will find many loopholes in the system. However, our joint struggle will lead the country to progress. For this cause, the Sindh government is focused on promoting higher education in the province.”

Addressing the concluding session, SMIU Vice-Chancellor Muhammad Ali Shaikh said that December 25 had a great significance in the country’s history. “It was a day on which a great leader, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, was born.”

He said that eminent speakers who attended the conference in the past three days had spoken well and showed the path to the young generation, walking on which they could achieve the destiny set by the Founder of the Nation. “We have to examine how we can dedicate ourselves with the cause for the Quaid-e-Azam’s Pakistan.”