Yasser Latif Hamdani September 5, 2007
#205 Posted by MantoLives on September 13, 2007 9:51:09 pm
Where did you explain HP's comments? The comments are there in black and white.
Your knowledge of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto is even less than your knowledge of Jinnah.
One can excuse you for being ignorant.
#204 Posted by masadi on September 13, 2007 10:45:57 am
Re #203, I have not dodged a single question, especially the comments by HP which I explained for any 5 year old to understand, somehow this monkey (or to quote thinkingstorm, "red assed baboon") doesn't get it. Today, when the corridors of power are lined with immorality and deception, anyone who wants to do something for the people has to deceive to get to the top, no other way around it, you cannot be honest and straightforward and then reach the top to change things, short of a revolution you have to maneuver your way in, do adjustments and make deals with the devil and then strike at the correct time. Read ZAB's speeches to the UN, full of support for Africans in their toil and the poor masses around the globe. The only joke is that those that serve the elite like the MAJ get their ugly mug shot put on currency and those that serve the people get killed in the most barbaric way. This Ramazan, I pray to Allah that he bless the good deeds of the ZAB, his relentless efforts to inculcate consciousness in the poor suffering masses that are and were being distracted by those that abuse Islam in the name of Islam, and may Allah overlook his bad deeds. Let the lackeys of the colonials beware their days of deception are coming to an end...
#203 Posted by MantoLives on September 12, 2007 2:37:30 pm
More jokes from Masadi the high priest of the Church of the Raja of Larkana...
Despite Jinnah's blunder on the language issue Bengalis were willing to elect his sister for just being his sister. Mujeeb was one of the leading supporters. Bhutto would have never won a single seat in Bangladesh...
Bhutto was the regime's B-Team ... and is universally hated by Bengalis. Almost every Bangladeshi I have met considers Bhutto one of the main supporters of the military regime, which even HP considers him to be.
I concur with HP's opinion of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in toto. For all Masadi's childish "HP-Masadi friendship for social justice" chants Masadi will remain a joke.
Masadi has dodged HP's conclusion that Bhutto had scant regard for morals or honesty. Instead he claims that Bhutto "empowered" the people. I have shown how the real empowerment was done by Fatima Jinnah ... Bhutto was merely a beneficiary who rode the tide of anti-Indian sentiment and later was built up - according to Rafi Raza- as an opposition to Mujeeb ur Rahman... the real truly elected Prime Minister of Pakistan. ZAB did not have a mandate. He was the product of military machination.
And that ZAB ran the country like a fascist is well known... no one can deny it
Despite Jinnah's blunder on the language issue Bengalis were willing to elect his sister for just being his sister. Mujeeb was one of the leading supporters. Bhutto would have never won a single seat in Bangladesh...
Bhutto was the regime's B-Team ... and is universally hated by Bengalis. Almost every Bangladeshi I have met considers Bhutto one of the main supporters of the military regime, which even HP considers him to be.
I concur with HP's opinion of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in toto. For all Masadi's childish "HP-Masadi friendship for social justice" chants Masadi will remain a joke.
Masadi has dodged HP's conclusion that Bhutto had scant regard for morals or honesty. Instead he claims that Bhutto "empowered" the people. I have shown how the real empowerment was done by Fatima Jinnah ... Bhutto was merely a beneficiary who rode the tide of anti-Indian sentiment and later was built up - according to Rafi Raza- as an opposition to Mujeeb ur Rahman... the real truly elected Prime Minister of Pakistan. ZAB did not have a mandate. He was the product of military machination.
And that ZAB ran the country like a fascist is well known... no one can deny it
#202 Posted by masadi on September 12, 2007 11:01:32 am
By the way, Long live the Masadi, HP friendship for social justice even though a-holes like Manto are hell bent on destroying it because they hate the ordinary people and worship the elite whose peon MAJ was
#201 Posted by masadi on September 12, 2007 10:54:22 am
Manto writes "Zulfikar Ali Bhutto planned the Military operation in East Pakistan which led to a much more violent episode than partition "
ZAB was not chief of the military to have "planned" the military operation in East Pakistan. Not even the Bengalis and not even Mujib blamed him. He was the single reason the mistakes of MAJ and the resulting backlash on the Muslims did not reach fruitation with the Muslims of Pakistan entering the union as third rate citizens
ZAB was not chief of the military to have "planned" the military operation in East Pakistan. Not even the Bengalis and not even Mujib blamed him. He was the single reason the mistakes of MAJ and the resulting backlash on the Muslims did not reach fruitation with the Muslims of Pakistan entering the union as third rate citizens
#200 Posted by masadi on September 12, 2007 10:51:30 am
Manto quoting HP "He showed scant regard for any moral, ethical, or political values."
I am sure that you have the little brains involved to see why such a judgment appears to be the case. ZAB had great "Moral, ethical and political" values when he raised consciousness in the people, when he brought economic issues that were keeping the people not only down but making them into animals and distorting their nature to the forefront, and he showed great political value when he made ethnicity, and theology that had been dominating Pakistani politics thanks to the MAJ, subordinate to bread and butter issues without provision of which no claimant to piety or leadership in Islam is ever valid.
Of course taken as a broad generalization this claim about ZAB is dead wrong but taken in its proper context of "gaining power", without which the bread and butter issues cannot be taken care of, the powers that be cannot be confronted and social structure cannot be restructured, they might well be true and for that I don't blame ZAB one single bit. Don't forget that Ibrahim was similarly guilty of destroying the idols of the idolators when they were not looking except the chief idol, and then lying to them that the "big one" of them did it....all for the purpose of showing them the errors of their ways, even though under normal circumstances such an act is outlawed in Islam- and was not sanctioned by God, and so would be deemed immoral by unthinking mullahs like yourself, comprendey? Probably not.
I am sure that you have the little brains involved to see why such a judgment appears to be the case. ZAB had great "Moral, ethical and political" values when he raised consciousness in the people, when he brought economic issues that were keeping the people not only down but making them into animals and distorting their nature to the forefront, and he showed great political value when he made ethnicity, and theology that had been dominating Pakistani politics thanks to the MAJ, subordinate to bread and butter issues without provision of which no claimant to piety or leadership in Islam is ever valid.
Of course taken as a broad generalization this claim about ZAB is dead wrong but taken in its proper context of "gaining power", without which the bread and butter issues cannot be taken care of, the powers that be cannot be confronted and social structure cannot be restructured, they might well be true and for that I don't blame ZAB one single bit. Don't forget that Ibrahim was similarly guilty of destroying the idols of the idolators when they were not looking except the chief idol, and then lying to them that the "big one" of them did it....all for the purpose of showing them the errors of their ways, even though under normal circumstances such an act is outlawed in Islam- and was not sanctioned by God, and so would be deemed immoral by unthinking mullahs like yourself, comprendey? Probably not.
#199 Posted by masadi on September 12, 2007 10:37:22 am
Manto showing his rat=piss brain copy pastes two pages worth of BS after saying "yawn" to my well thought out piece, showing us once again that he is incapable of putting two and two together and still relies on the age old, theological, ignorant method of relying on "authority" based knowledge".
He quotes "Bhutto’s FSF Director-General Masood Mahmood recalled, ‘The Prime Minister phoned me up to say,. Mian (Abbas) has done balls! Instead of killing Kasuri, he got his father!’” (Wolpert, p. 244) "
Reminds me of the kind of "evidence" that those who falsely convicted him of murder and got rid of him for political and imperial reasons would present and this recollection enters Wolpert's book- amazing huh? and this is termed scholarship and "evidence" and a JI lawyer quotes it and a military poodle judge laps it up like sweet milk from an ally's bowl. These stinking bast**** the sooner the country takes care of them the better, they are the enemy of the people of this nation and not only this nation but the entire "Third World". Not only that he has to copy my terms, "The Church of the MAJ and its high priest"- he is not even original in this, like an infant who is at the "monkey see monkey do" stage he calls me the high priest of the Church of ZAB. Sorry sob, and HP thinks this guy is gonna do anything for the people of this nation, no my friend, people like him should be spat at....
He quotes "Bhutto’s FSF Director-General Masood Mahmood recalled, ‘The Prime Minister phoned me up to say,. Mian (Abbas) has done balls! Instead of killing Kasuri, he got his father!’” (Wolpert, p. 244) "
Reminds me of the kind of "evidence" that those who falsely convicted him of murder and got rid of him for political and imperial reasons would present and this recollection enters Wolpert's book- amazing huh? and this is termed scholarship and "evidence" and a JI lawyer quotes it and a military poodle judge laps it up like sweet milk from an ally's bowl. These stinking bast**** the sooner the country takes care of them the better, they are the enemy of the people of this nation and not only this nation but the entire "Third World". Not only that he has to copy my terms, "The Church of the MAJ and its high priest"- he is not even original in this, like an infant who is at the "monkey see monkey do" stage he calls me the high priest of the Church of ZAB. Sorry sob, and HP thinks this guy is gonna do anything for the people of this nation, no my friend, people like him should be spat at....
#198 Posted by majumdar on September 11, 2007 10:00:56 pm
Manto,
Did read somewhere that ZAB threatened to kill the Leader of Opposition in the middle of NA session, right?
Regards
Did read somewhere that ZAB threatened to kill the Leader of Opposition in the middle of NA session, right?
Regards
#197 Posted by MantoLives on September 11, 2007 12:50:05 pm
"checking how the Bengali Muslims were treated- no Hindu would have treated them worse than the Elite"
Yes... men like Bhutto (and his benefactors in uniform Ayub Khan and Yahya Khan) treated Bengalis with a contempt. So what if Mujeeb was legitimately elected Prime Minister of Pakistan... to Bhutto he was a frikkin' Bengali who did not deserve to the PM... only Bhutto did.
While Masadi keeps screaming about partition violence (587 000 by the most liberal estimate) which quite clearly had to do with Mountbatten who refused to deploy the boundary forces Zulfikar Ali Bhutto planned the Military operation in East Pakistan which led to a much more violent episode than partition ... and ZAB is taken off the hook for his very direct criminal role in the Bangladesh war.
Masadi is a hypocrite.
Yes... men like Bhutto (and his benefactors in uniform Ayub Khan and Yahya Khan) treated Bengalis with a contempt. So what if Mujeeb was legitimately elected Prime Minister of Pakistan... to Bhutto he was a frikkin' Bengali who did not deserve to the PM... only Bhutto did.
While Masadi keeps screaming about partition violence (587 000 by the most liberal estimate) which quite clearly had to do with Mountbatten who refused to deploy the boundary forces Zulfikar Ali Bhutto planned the Military operation in East Pakistan which led to a much more violent episode than partition ... and ZAB is taken off the hook for his very direct criminal role in the Bangladesh war.
Masadi is a hypocrite.
#196 Posted by VRV on September 11, 2007 12:10:32 pm
OK, 4 u Manto.
Aprt from two known times as mentioned by u, Jinnah cried another time at Howrah station soon after the meeting with Congress and Liberals at Calcutta.
He held the hand of his Parsi friend (he liked them since they are westernised & had good looking daughters) and said abt parting of ways btw him and the Congress.
As for:
'He wrote no autobiography or diary probably because he never had time to do so.'
Nope.
He never went to jail to find spare time to write something.
Aprt from two known times as mentioned by u, Jinnah cried another time at Howrah station soon after the meeting with Congress and Liberals at Calcutta.
He held the hand of his Parsi friend (he liked them since they are westernised & had good looking daughters) and said abt parting of ways btw him and the Congress.
As for:
'He wrote no autobiography or diary probably because he never had time to do so.'
Nope.
He never went to jail to find spare time to write something.
#195 Posted by MantoLives on September 11, 2007 12:06:48 pm
About Zulfikar Ali Bhutto... HP summed it up best in his article "If I am murdered... the ZAB saga":
"He was somewhat of an intriguer and to some a reincarnation of Machiavelli’s Prince. Bhutto had very little experience and understanding of how democracy worked. His unwavering ambition was to get to the top. Anything that came in the way was a hurdle to climb. He showed scant regard for any moral, ethical, or political values."
"He was somewhat of an intriguer and to some a reincarnation of Machiavelli’s Prince. Bhutto had very little experience and understanding of how democracy worked. His unwavering ambition was to get to the top. Anything that came in the way was a hurdle to climb. He showed scant regard for any moral, ethical, or political values."
#194 Posted by MantoLives on September 11, 2007 11:55:24 am
FALSE CHURCH OF THE RAJA OF LARKANA and its High Priest Masadi.
Zulfi-Rahim Effect
Very early in his presidentship, Bhutto made it known that even his old friends should not show any familiarity with him. In a cabinet meeting also attended by senior bureaucrats, when a member of his cabinet, who also happened to be an old friend, addressed him as “Zulfi”, he retorted in coarse graphic language, which cannot be reproduced here verbatim, but could be roughly paraphrased as: “If I have intimate relations with your wife it doesn’t mean that you should also be on intimate terms with me.” This was a clear message to Bhutto’s friends that they should not treat him as their friend but as their supreme boss. It is small wonder that some of his ministers started calling him “Aali Jah,” meaning “Your Exalted Highness.”
Another incident, one that sent shock waves to the ruling class was the criminal treatment of J.A. Rahim, the senior most cabinet member, by Bhutto and his thugs. Wolpert gives a graphic description of Rahim’s “brutal and tragic fall.”
Until 3 July 1974 he (J. A. Rahim) had been one of a handful of confidants, advisers, even ‘friends’ though some insisted that Zulfi had no friends, only followers, servants, or family. ... It was hardly surprising, therefore, that J.A. was one of a select group of cabinet ministers and important political advisers invited to dinner at the prime minister’s house on 2 July. The handsomely embossed invitation said 8:00 p.m. ... Rahim ... knew that Zulfi liked his guests to be punctual. ... (H)e showed up on time, as did all the others. But Bhutto was nowhere to be seen at eight, nor did he appear even so much as to show himself from the room “upstairs,” where he remained closeted on some “more important business,” at nine, ten, or eleven o’clock. (Wolpert, p. pp. 239 - 240)
Rahim, an old man, could not wait any longer and just before midnight, he got up and said, “Pakistan is becoming a rajwara (raja’s kingdom) and Mr Bhutto is its raja.” Then he left for home. According to J.A. Rahim,
About 1.0 a.m. ...(s)ome men of the FSF (Federal Security Force) were climbing up the front balcony for the purpose of entering my bedroom.... Said Ahmed Khan, Chief of the Prime Minister’s Security, who was at the head of that mob of armed FSF thugs, ... and several others rushed in ... armed with rifles or sub-machine guns. ... Besides being beaten by fists I was hit by rifle butts. I was thrown to the ground and hit while prostate. ... My son tried to intervene to protect me and was himself assaulted by FSF men.... I was dragged out by my legs, then thrown into a Jeep... bleeding profusely from a wound in the nose, the left nostril having been ripped open. No medical attention or first aid was offered. After nearly a couple of hours Mr. Rafi Raza arrived at the police station. (Quoted in Wolpert, p. 240)
Rafi Raza has also corroborated Rahim’s story. According to Raza, “(W)hen I got home I found that he and his son had been beaten up and taken to a nearby police station. I brought them back to their house after two in the morning and with difficulty, secured the help of a doctor.” (Raza, p. 300)
The criminal beating of J. A. Rahim, a highly respected minister, was according to Rafi Raza, “intended to serve as a lesson and to instill fear in others.” (Raza, p. 30) The obscene rejoinder to a minister, narrated earlier, and the physical assault on Rahim produced, what might be called the Zulfi-Rahim Effect. For ministers, PPP leaders, governors, and senior bureaucrats, who came in regular contact with Bhutto, the Zulfi-Rahim Effect became the guideline, making them live in fear and sapping any possibility of their giving him bold and honest advice.
When Jam Sadiq Ali, another Bhutto supporter and PPP leader became the victim of Bhutto’s wrath, he could have faced a worse fate than Rahim’s but for his personal connections at the right place at the right time. According to former Federal Security Force Director Masood Mahmood, Bhutto once told him, “ ‘Jam Sadiq Ali is a mouse. Can’t you find a cat to take care of him?’ Masood immediately informed his friend Jam Sadiq Ali, who flew from Karachi to London the next day.” (Wolpert, p. 309.)
One of Bhutto’s closest lieutenants, Ghulam Mustafa Khar, who was Governor and Chief Minister of Punjab stated in the Lahore High Court, that it was true that “when somebody showed political differences with Mr. Bhutto he used to be jailed and based on his personal likes and dislikes, revengeful action used to be taken against political opponents but sometimes he also showed tolerance” (quoted in Wolpert, p.309).
Rule by fear was applied to both friends and foes. It has been noted by Khalid B. Sayeed that during the session of the National Assembly in November 1975, when “the opposition members voiced their bitter opposition to the way the government was pushing through a constitutional amendment limiting dissent, the Federal Security Force was brought in and several protesting members were beaten and physically ejected from the assembly.” (Quoted in Khalid B. Sayeed, Politics in Pakistan: The Nature and Direction of Change, New York, Praeger, 1980, p. 107)
In November 1974, during a speech in the National Assembly, the Pathan opposition leader Wali Khan “repeated his ‘stale’ old phrase ‘Bhutto and Pakistan cannot coexist.’” (Wolpert, p. 243) This was a brave statement to make as Wali Khan had survived four assassination attempts.
According to an intelligence report reaching Bhutto, another opposition leader, Ahmad Raza Qasuri, had said on 27 October 1974 that “’the Prime Minister ... had broken Pakistan into pieces to install himself into power and that he was a traitor and son of a traitor.’” (Wolpert, pp.243-244). On the night of 9th November, Kasuri was going home in his car with his father, mother and aunt. On a dark road, his car came under attack with automatic gunfire from two directions. In the shooting, his father, Ahmad Khan Kasuri, who was sitting next to him, was fatally wounded, “his shirt and seat soaked with blood.”
Wolpert writes,
In his First Information Report (FIR) Ahmad Raza told them (the police) exactly what he could remember ... and when they asked if he had any idea of who the perpetrator might be, he answered without a moment’s hesitation, ‘Zulfikar Ali Bhutto!’ That was the name he repeated and insisted upon having recorded in the FIR.... (N)o amount of pressure, advice, subtle warnings, or reasoning could move him to retract one jot of the FIR accusation. (Wolpert, p.244)
Wolpert adds, ”When Kasuri’s father was killed, Bhutto’s FSF Director-General Masood Mahmood recalled, ‘The Prime Minister phoned me up to say,. Mian (Abbas) has done balls! Instead of killing Kasuri, he got his father!’” (Wolpert, p. 244)
Zulfi-Rahim Effect
Very early in his presidentship, Bhutto made it known that even his old friends should not show any familiarity with him. In a cabinet meeting also attended by senior bureaucrats, when a member of his cabinet, who also happened to be an old friend, addressed him as “Zulfi”, he retorted in coarse graphic language, which cannot be reproduced here verbatim, but could be roughly paraphrased as: “If I have intimate relations with your wife it doesn’t mean that you should also be on intimate terms with me.” This was a clear message to Bhutto’s friends that they should not treat him as their friend but as their supreme boss. It is small wonder that some of his ministers started calling him “Aali Jah,” meaning “Your Exalted Highness.”
Another incident, one that sent shock waves to the ruling class was the criminal treatment of J.A. Rahim, the senior most cabinet member, by Bhutto and his thugs. Wolpert gives a graphic description of Rahim’s “brutal and tragic fall.”
Until 3 July 1974 he (J. A. Rahim) had been one of a handful of confidants, advisers, even ‘friends’ though some insisted that Zulfi had no friends, only followers, servants, or family. ... It was hardly surprising, therefore, that J.A. was one of a select group of cabinet ministers and important political advisers invited to dinner at the prime minister’s house on 2 July. The handsomely embossed invitation said 8:00 p.m. ... Rahim ... knew that Zulfi liked his guests to be punctual. ... (H)e showed up on time, as did all the others. But Bhutto was nowhere to be seen at eight, nor did he appear even so much as to show himself from the room “upstairs,” where he remained closeted on some “more important business,” at nine, ten, or eleven o’clock. (Wolpert, p. pp. 239 - 240)
Rahim, an old man, could not wait any longer and just before midnight, he got up and said, “Pakistan is becoming a rajwara (raja’s kingdom) and Mr Bhutto is its raja.” Then he left for home. According to J.A. Rahim,
About 1.0 a.m. ...(s)ome men of the FSF (Federal Security Force) were climbing up the front balcony for the purpose of entering my bedroom.... Said Ahmed Khan, Chief of the Prime Minister’s Security, who was at the head of that mob of armed FSF thugs, ... and several others rushed in ... armed with rifles or sub-machine guns. ... Besides being beaten by fists I was hit by rifle butts. I was thrown to the ground and hit while prostate. ... My son tried to intervene to protect me and was himself assaulted by FSF men.... I was dragged out by my legs, then thrown into a Jeep... bleeding profusely from a wound in the nose, the left nostril having been ripped open. No medical attention or first aid was offered. After nearly a couple of hours Mr. Rafi Raza arrived at the police station. (Quoted in Wolpert, p. 240)
Rafi Raza has also corroborated Rahim’s story. According to Raza, “(W)hen I got home I found that he and his son had been beaten up and taken to a nearby police station. I brought them back to their house after two in the morning and with difficulty, secured the help of a doctor.” (Raza, p. 300)
The criminal beating of J. A. Rahim, a highly respected minister, was according to Rafi Raza, “intended to serve as a lesson and to instill fear in others.” (Raza, p. 30) The obscene rejoinder to a minister, narrated earlier, and the physical assault on Rahim produced, what might be called the Zulfi-Rahim Effect. For ministers, PPP leaders, governors, and senior bureaucrats, who came in regular contact with Bhutto, the Zulfi-Rahim Effect became the guideline, making them live in fear and sapping any possibility of their giving him bold and honest advice.
When Jam Sadiq Ali, another Bhutto supporter and PPP leader became the victim of Bhutto’s wrath, he could have faced a worse fate than Rahim’s but for his personal connections at the right place at the right time. According to former Federal Security Force Director Masood Mahmood, Bhutto once told him, “ ‘Jam Sadiq Ali is a mouse. Can’t you find a cat to take care of him?’ Masood immediately informed his friend Jam Sadiq Ali, who flew from Karachi to London the next day.” (Wolpert, p. 309.)
One of Bhutto’s closest lieutenants, Ghulam Mustafa Khar, who was Governor and Chief Minister of Punjab stated in the Lahore High Court, that it was true that “when somebody showed political differences with Mr. Bhutto he used to be jailed and based on his personal likes and dislikes, revengeful action used to be taken against political opponents but sometimes he also showed tolerance” (quoted in Wolpert, p.309).
Rule by fear was applied to both friends and foes. It has been noted by Khalid B. Sayeed that during the session of the National Assembly in November 1975, when “the opposition members voiced their bitter opposition to the way the government was pushing through a constitutional amendment limiting dissent, the Federal Security Force was brought in and several protesting members were beaten and physically ejected from the assembly.” (Quoted in Khalid B. Sayeed, Politics in Pakistan: The Nature and Direction of Change, New York, Praeger, 1980, p. 107)
In November 1974, during a speech in the National Assembly, the Pathan opposition leader Wali Khan “repeated his ‘stale’ old phrase ‘Bhutto and Pakistan cannot coexist.’” (Wolpert, p. 243) This was a brave statement to make as Wali Khan had survived four assassination attempts.
According to an intelligence report reaching Bhutto, another opposition leader, Ahmad Raza Qasuri, had said on 27 October 1974 that “’the Prime Minister ... had broken Pakistan into pieces to install himself into power and that he was a traitor and son of a traitor.’” (Wolpert, pp.243-244). On the night of 9th November, Kasuri was going home in his car with his father, mother and aunt. On a dark road, his car came under attack with automatic gunfire from two directions. In the shooting, his father, Ahmad Khan Kasuri, who was sitting next to him, was fatally wounded, “his shirt and seat soaked with blood.”
Wolpert writes,
In his First Information Report (FIR) Ahmad Raza told them (the police) exactly what he could remember ... and when they asked if he had any idea of who the perpetrator might be, he answered without a moment’s hesitation, ‘Zulfikar Ali Bhutto!’ That was the name he repeated and insisted upon having recorded in the FIR.... (N)o amount of pressure, advice, subtle warnings, or reasoning could move him to retract one jot of the FIR accusation. (Wolpert, p.244)
Wolpert adds, ”When Kasuri’s father was killed, Bhutto’s FSF Director-General Masood Mahmood recalled, ‘The Prime Minister phoned me up to say,. Mian (Abbas) has done balls! Instead of killing Kasuri, he got his father!’” (Wolpert, p. 244)
#193 Posted by MantoLives on September 11, 2007 11:55:22 am
FALSE CHURCH OF THE RAJA OF LARKANA and its High Priest Masadi.
Zulfi-Rahim Effect
Very early in his presidentship, Bhutto made it known that even his old friends should not show any familiarity with him. In a cabinet meeting also attended by senior bureaucrats, when a member of his cabinet, who also happened to be an old friend, addressed him as “Zulfi”, he retorted in coarse graphic language, which cannot be reproduced here verbatim, but could be roughly paraphrased as: “If I have intimate relations with your wife it doesn’t mean that you should also be on intimate terms with me.” This was a clear message to Bhutto’s friends that they should not treat him as their friend but as their supreme boss. It is small wonder that some of his ministers started calling him “Aali Jah,” meaning “Your Exalted Highness.”
Another incident, one that sent shock waves to the ruling class was the criminal treatment of J.A. Rahim, the senior most cabinet member, by Bhutto and his thugs. Wolpert gives a graphic description of Rahim’s “brutal and tragic fall.”
Until 3 July 1974 he (J. A. Rahim) had been one of a handful of confidants, advisers, even ‘friends’ though some insisted that Zulfi had no friends, only followers, servants, or family. ... It was hardly surprising, therefore, that J.A. was one of a select group of cabinet ministers and important political advisers invited to dinner at the prime minister’s house on 2 July. The handsomely embossed invitation said 8:00 p.m. ... Rahim ... knew that Zulfi liked his guests to be punctual. ... (H)e showed up on time, as did all the others. But Bhutto was nowhere to be seen at eight, nor did he appear even so much as to show himself from the room “upstairs,” where he remained closeted on some “more important business,” at nine, ten, or eleven o’clock. (Wolpert, p. pp. 239 - 240)
Rahim, an old man, could not wait any longer and just before midnight, he got up and said, “Pakistan is becoming a rajwara (raja’s kingdom) and Mr Bhutto is its raja.” Then he left for home. According to J.A. Rahim,
About 1.0 a.m. ...(s)ome men of the FSF (Federal Security Force) were climbing up the front balcony for the purpose of entering my bedroom.... Said Ahmed Khan, Chief of the Prime Minister’s Security, who was at the head of that mob of armed FSF thugs, ... and several others rushed in ... armed with rifles or sub-machine guns. ... Besides being beaten by fists I was hit by rifle butts. I was thrown to the ground and hit while prostate. ... My son tried to intervene to protect me and was himself assaulted by FSF men.... I was dragged out by my legs, then thrown into a Jeep... bleeding profusely from a wound in the nose, the left nostril having been ripped open. No medical attention or first aid was offered. After nearly a couple of hours Mr. Rafi Raza arrived at the police station. (Quoted in Wolpert, p. 240)
Rafi Raza has also corroborated Rahim’s story. According to Raza, “(W)hen I got home I found that he and his son had been beaten up and taken to a nearby police station. I brought them back to their house after two in the morning and with difficulty, secured the help of a doctor.” (Raza, p. 300)
The criminal beating of J. A. Rahim, a highly respected minister, was according to Rafi Raza, “intended to serve as a lesson and to instill fear in others.” (Raza, p. 30) The obscene rejoinder to a minister, narrated earlier, and the physical assault on Rahim produced, what might be called the Zulfi-Rahim Effect. For ministers, PPP leaders, governors, and senior bureaucrats, who came in regular contact with Bhutto, the Zulfi-Rahim Effect became the guideline, making them live in fear and sapping any possibility of their giving him bold and honest advice.
When Jam Sadiq Ali, another Bhutto supporter and PPP leader became the victim of Bhutto’s wrath, he could have faced a worse fate than Rahim’s but for his personal connections at the right place at the right time. According to former Federal Security Force Director Masood Mahmood, Bhutto once told him, “ ‘Jam Sadiq Ali is a mouse. Can’t you find a cat to take care of him?’ Masood immediately informed his friend Jam Sadiq Ali, who flew from Karachi to London the next day.” (Wolpert, p. 309.)
One of Bhutto’s closest lieutenants, Ghulam Mustafa Khar, who was Governor and Chief Minister of Punjab stated in the Lahore High Court, that it was true that “when somebody showed political differences with Mr. Bhutto he used to be jailed and based on his personal likes and dislikes, revengeful action used to be taken against political opponents but sometimes he also showed tolerance” (quoted in Wolpert, p.309).
Rule by fear was applied to both friends and foes. It has been noted by Khalid B. Sayeed that during the session of the National Assembly in November 1975, when “the opposition members voiced their bitter opposition to the way the government was pushing through a constitutional amendment limiting dissent, the Federal Security Force was brought in and several protesting members were beaten and physically ejected from the assembly.” (Quoted in Khalid B. Sayeed, Politics in Pakistan: The Nature and Direction of Change, New York, Praeger, 1980, p. 107)
In November 1974, during a speech in the National Assembly, the Pathan opposition leader Wali Khan “repeated his ‘stale’ old phrase ‘Bhutto and Pakistan cannot coexist.’” (Wolpert, p. 243) This was a brave statement to make as Wali Khan had survived four assassination attempts.
According to an intelligence report reaching Bhutto, another opposition leader, Ahmad Raza Qasuri, had said on 27 October 1974 that “’the Prime Minister ... had broken Pakistan into pieces to install himself into power and that he was a traitor and son of a traitor.’” (Wolpert, pp.243-244). On the night of 9th November, Kasuri was going home in his car with his father, mother and aunt. On a dark road, his car came under attack with automatic gunfire from two directions. In the shooting, his father, Ahmad Khan Kasuri, who was sitting next to him, was fatally wounded, “his shirt and seat soaked with blood.”
Wolpert writes,
In his First Information Report (FIR) Ahmad Raza told them (the police) exactly what he could remember ... and when they asked if he had any idea of who the perpetrator might be, he answered without a moment’s hesitation, ‘Zulfikar Ali Bhutto!’ That was the name he repeated and insisted upon having recorded in the FIR.... (N)o amount of pressure, advice, subtle warnings, or reasoning could move him to retract one jot of the FIR accusation. (Wolpert, p.244)
Wolpert adds, ”When Kasuri’s father was killed, Bhutto’s FSF Director-General Masood Mahmood recalled, ‘The Prime Minister phoned me up to say,. Mian (Abbas) has done balls! Instead of killing Kasuri, he got his father!’” (Wolpert, p. 244)
Zulfi-Rahim Effect
Very early in his presidentship, Bhutto made it known that even his old friends should not show any familiarity with him. In a cabinet meeting also attended by senior bureaucrats, when a member of his cabinet, who also happened to be an old friend, addressed him as “Zulfi”, he retorted in coarse graphic language, which cannot be reproduced here verbatim, but could be roughly paraphrased as: “If I have intimate relations with your wife it doesn’t mean that you should also be on intimate terms with me.” This was a clear message to Bhutto’s friends that they should not treat him as their friend but as their supreme boss. It is small wonder that some of his ministers started calling him “Aali Jah,” meaning “Your Exalted Highness.”
Another incident, one that sent shock waves to the ruling class was the criminal treatment of J.A. Rahim, the senior most cabinet member, by Bhutto and his thugs. Wolpert gives a graphic description of Rahim’s “brutal and tragic fall.”
Until 3 July 1974 he (J. A. Rahim) had been one of a handful of confidants, advisers, even ‘friends’ though some insisted that Zulfi had no friends, only followers, servants, or family. ... It was hardly surprising, therefore, that J.A. was one of a select group of cabinet ministers and important political advisers invited to dinner at the prime minister’s house on 2 July. The handsomely embossed invitation said 8:00 p.m. ... Rahim ... knew that Zulfi liked his guests to be punctual. ... (H)e showed up on time, as did all the others. But Bhutto was nowhere to be seen at eight, nor did he appear even so much as to show himself from the room “upstairs,” where he remained closeted on some “more important business,” at nine, ten, or eleven o’clock. (Wolpert, p. pp. 239 - 240)
Rahim, an old man, could not wait any longer and just before midnight, he got up and said, “Pakistan is becoming a rajwara (raja’s kingdom) and Mr Bhutto is its raja.” Then he left for home. According to J.A. Rahim,
About 1.0 a.m. ...(s)ome men of the FSF (Federal Security Force) were climbing up the front balcony for the purpose of entering my bedroom.... Said Ahmed Khan, Chief of the Prime Minister’s Security, who was at the head of that mob of armed FSF thugs, ... and several others rushed in ... armed with rifles or sub-machine guns. ... Besides being beaten by fists I was hit by rifle butts. I was thrown to the ground and hit while prostate. ... My son tried to intervene to protect me and was himself assaulted by FSF men.... I was dragged out by my legs, then thrown into a Jeep... bleeding profusely from a wound in the nose, the left nostril having been ripped open. No medical attention or first aid was offered. After nearly a couple of hours Mr. Rafi Raza arrived at the police station. (Quoted in Wolpert, p. 240)
Rafi Raza has also corroborated Rahim’s story. According to Raza, “(W)hen I got home I found that he and his son had been beaten up and taken to a nearby police station. I brought them back to their house after two in the morning and with difficulty, secured the help of a doctor.” (Raza, p. 300)
The criminal beating of J. A. Rahim, a highly respected minister, was according to Rafi Raza, “intended to serve as a lesson and to instill fear in others.” (Raza, p. 30) The obscene rejoinder to a minister, narrated earlier, and the physical assault on Rahim produced, what might be called the Zulfi-Rahim Effect. For ministers, PPP leaders, governors, and senior bureaucrats, who came in regular contact with Bhutto, the Zulfi-Rahim Effect became the guideline, making them live in fear and sapping any possibility of their giving him bold and honest advice.
When Jam Sadiq Ali, another Bhutto supporter and PPP leader became the victim of Bhutto’s wrath, he could have faced a worse fate than Rahim’s but for his personal connections at the right place at the right time. According to former Federal Security Force Director Masood Mahmood, Bhutto once told him, “ ‘Jam Sadiq Ali is a mouse. Can’t you find a cat to take care of him?’ Masood immediately informed his friend Jam Sadiq Ali, who flew from Karachi to London the next day.” (Wolpert, p. 309.)
One of Bhutto’s closest lieutenants, Ghulam Mustafa Khar, who was Governor and Chief Minister of Punjab stated in the Lahore High Court, that it was true that “when somebody showed political differences with Mr. Bhutto he used to be jailed and based on his personal likes and dislikes, revengeful action used to be taken against political opponents but sometimes he also showed tolerance” (quoted in Wolpert, p.309).
Rule by fear was applied to both friends and foes. It has been noted by Khalid B. Sayeed that during the session of the National Assembly in November 1975, when “the opposition members voiced their bitter opposition to the way the government was pushing through a constitutional amendment limiting dissent, the Federal Security Force was brought in and several protesting members were beaten and physically ejected from the assembly.” (Quoted in Khalid B. Sayeed, Politics in Pakistan: The Nature and Direction of Change, New York, Praeger, 1980, p. 107)
In November 1974, during a speech in the National Assembly, the Pathan opposition leader Wali Khan “repeated his ‘stale’ old phrase ‘Bhutto and Pakistan cannot coexist.’” (Wolpert, p. 243) This was a brave statement to make as Wali Khan had survived four assassination attempts.
According to an intelligence report reaching Bhutto, another opposition leader, Ahmad Raza Qasuri, had said on 27 October 1974 that “’the Prime Minister ... had broken Pakistan into pieces to install himself into power and that he was a traitor and son of a traitor.’” (Wolpert, pp.243-244). On the night of 9th November, Kasuri was going home in his car with his father, mother and aunt. On a dark road, his car came under attack with automatic gunfire from two directions. In the shooting, his father, Ahmad Khan Kasuri, who was sitting next to him, was fatally wounded, “his shirt and seat soaked with blood.”
Wolpert writes,
In his First Information Report (FIR) Ahmad Raza told them (the police) exactly what he could remember ... and when they asked if he had any idea of who the perpetrator might be, he answered without a moment’s hesitation, ‘Zulfikar Ali Bhutto!’ That was the name he repeated and insisted upon having recorded in the FIR.... (N)o amount of pressure, advice, subtle warnings, or reasoning could move him to retract one jot of the FIR accusation. (Wolpert, p.244)
Wolpert adds, ”When Kasuri’s father was killed, Bhutto’s FSF Director-General Masood Mahmood recalled, ‘The Prime Minister phoned me up to say,. Mian (Abbas) has done balls! Instead of killing Kasuri, he got his father!’” (Wolpert, p. 244)
#192 Posted by MantoLives on September 11, 2007 11:35:27 am
"credits it to someone else"
Yes "someone else" called J A Rahim... the real founder of Pakistan People's Party... the author of its manifesto.. a true socialist ... and an honest man that Bhutto never could be.
J A Rahim who was dragged out of his house by fascist Bhutto's fascist security force (FSF) in the middle of the night and beaten to pulp.
J A Rahim whose departure marked the end of ZAB's opportunist alliance with the Left.
J A Rahim whose departure marked the end of Bhutto's sordid 5 years in power.
Yes "someone else" called J A Rahim... the real founder of Pakistan People's Party... the author of its manifesto.. a true socialist ... and an honest man that Bhutto never could be.
J A Rahim who was dragged out of his house by fascist Bhutto's fascist security force (FSF) in the middle of the night and beaten to pulp.
J A Rahim whose departure marked the end of ZAB's opportunist alliance with the Left.
J A Rahim whose departure marked the end of Bhutto's sordid 5 years in power.
#191 Posted by MantoLives on September 11, 2007 11:27:52 am
To the dismay of some MAJ is not only the most enduring cultural heritage but beats hands down the false churches of feudals like the Raja of Larkana anyday.
http://pakistaniat.com/2007/09/10/a-look-at-the-personal-life-of-jinnah-ru ttie-jinnahs-last-letter-to-her-husband/
Last week, while surfing though flickr, I came across a wonderful collection of mostly black & white photos by Dr. Ghulam Nabi Kazi. His collection has a major section Plain Mr. Jinnah dedicated to Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s rare photographs and some of his personal letters that not many people have ever read. Dr. Kazi is doing a great service by preserving all those historic photographs and letters for us and uploading them on flickr for public viewing. The one that I found most interesting, and which made me write this post, was the last letter written by Ruttenbai “Ruttie” Petit to her husband “J”, as she used to call him. Ruttie was given an Islamic name Mariam when she converted to Islam and married Jinnah in 1918. Ruttie originally wrote this letter in Paris on October 5, 1928 but re-wrote it in Marseilles and posted it from there. The letter is beautifully written and gives you some idea of marriage and personal life of Jinnah. For ATP reader’s interest, a typed text of the letter has also been included in this post.
S. S. Rajputana,
Marseilles 5 Oct 1928
Darling thank you for all you have done. If ever in my bearing your once tuned senses found any irritability or unkindness, be assured that in my heart there was place only for a great tenderness and a greater pain -a pain my love without hurt. When one has been as near to the reality of Life (which after all is Death) as I have been dearest, one only remembers the beautiful and tender moments and all the rest becomes a half veiled mist of unrealities. Try and remember me beloved as the flower you plucked and not the flower you tread upon.
I have suffered much sweetheart because I have loved much. The measure of my agony has been in accord to the measure of my love.
Darling I love you, I love you - and had I loved you just a little less I might have remained with you only after one has created a very beautiful blossom one does not drag it through the mire. The higher you set your ideal the lower it falls.
I have loved you my darling as it is given to few men to be loved. I only beseech you that the tragedy which commenced in love should also end with it.
Darling Goodnight and Goodbye
Ruttie
I had written to you at Paris with the intention of posting the letter here but I felt that I would rather write to you afresh from the fullness of my heart. R.
Even today, not much is known about Jinnah’s personal life although a great deal has been written about his vision, politics and his role as a founder of nation. Like how many of you know that when he was a law student in London, he regularly did theatre and seriously considered acting as a profession. There are many reasons that not much is known about his life other than politics and Pakistan movement. He wrote little, and what he wrote was formal and a matter of fact. He wrote no autobiography or diary probably because he never had time to do so. He was reserved, taciturn and secretive. He wrote his will in May, 1939, but it was after his death that Liaqat Ali Khan, his close associate and first Prime Minister of Pakistan, came to know that he was its trustee and executor. ATP readers can take a look at Jinnah’s will here and I can tell you that many of you will find it very interesting. Although Prof. Akbar Ahmed’s movie Jinnah tried, to some extent, throw some light on Jinnah’s personal life but 15-20 minutes is no where near enough. His marriage with the most beautiful girl of Bombay - Ruttie: The Flower of Bombay - was like a fairy tale. A separate movie can be made on Jinnah’s pre 1940 life and I can assure you, if made properly, it will do serious business.
Dina Wadia (Jinnah’s daughter) has hardly spoken about her father in public. I know of a few books which are specifically about the personal life of Ruttie Jinnah and her relationship with her husband. These books give us some insight of Jinnah’s personal life. One of them is Ruttie Jinnah: The Story, Told and Untold by Khwaja Razi Haider. The book was originally published in Urdu but later Khwaja Sahab also translated it into English for the international audience. M C Chagla’s book, ‘Roses in December‘ also had a few chapters about Jinnah and Ruttie Jinnah. Chagla knew the couple very well as he assisted Jinnah at his chambers during those days and he later became Chief Justice of Bombay High Court and then an Indian diplomat at UN. He idealized Jinnah but severed all ties when he began working on the idea of independent state for Muslims. The book is also interesting because it help you understand a different viewpoint shared by many Muslims in India too. Chagla writes about Ruttie and Jinnah:
By 1927, Ruttie and Jinnah had virtually separated. Ruttie’s health deteriorated rapidly in the years after they returned from their final trip together. Ruttie lived at the Taj Hotel in Bombay, almost a recluse as she became more and more bed-ridden.Kanji continued to be her constant companion. By February 18, 1929 she had become so weak that all she could manage to say to him was a request to look after her cats.
Two days later, Ruttie Petit Jinnah died. It was her 29th birthday.
She was buried on February 22 in Bombay according to Muslim rites. Jinnah sat like a statue throughout the funeral but when asked to throw earth on the grave, he broke down and wept. That was the only time when I found Jinnah betraying some shadow of human weakness. It’s not a well publicised fact that as a young student in England it had been one of Jinnah’s dreams to play Romeo at The Globe. It is a strange twist of fate that a love story that started like a fairy tale ended as a haunting tragedy to rival any of Shakespeare’s dramas.”
But the one I found more detailed is the book Ruttie Jinnah: The story of a great friendship written by Ruttie’s closest friend Kanji Dwarkadas who was also looking after her when she fell seriously ill during her last days.Jinnah was a very private person and he hardly showed emotions but he is known to have cried twice in public. One of the occasion was the funeral of his beloved wife Ruttie in 1929 and the other one in August 1947, when he visited her grave one last time before leaving for Pakistan. Jinnah left India in August 1947, never to return again, but he left behind a piece of his heart in a little grave in a cemetery in Bombay
http://pakistaniat.com/2007/09/11/wolperts-jinnah/
Wolpert’s Jinnah
Posted on September 11, 2007
Filed Under Salim Chowdhrey, People
Email This | Front Page | Try a Random Post! 7 Comments
Total Views: 369 Gues Post by Salim Chowdhrey
It was late summer in 1984 or 1985. I received a surprise call from a friend in Pakistan. We had been friends since kindergarten but our destiny had carried us on different trajectories. However, to date we have managed to keep abreast of what is going on in eachother’s lives. When my friend called me he said that he was in New Jersey, USA. He said he was sent here from the then President Zia-ul-Haq. I was very impressed that he was sent here by the President and conveyed my thoughts to him. He gloomily said that that he may not be able to meet the goal of his visit.
Zia came to the dinner that evening. No not the President Zia-ul-Haq but Zia Hussain my childhood friend. In our conversation that evening he shared that he was the General Manager of Oxford University Press (Pakistan) - a Publishing house in Karachi. Their parent company in New York had published the biography of the Father of the Nation titled as Jinnah of Pakistan. Though the book was full of unvarnished facts, it was also scholarly honest and unbiased. Most of all; the image of Jinnah that came through the book was of a once in a century hero- much like George Washington of the US.
Amazingly enough the book got banned in Pakistan. President Zia-ul-Haq, on the other hand, not only wanted the book be published, but he also wanted it to be the core of all undergraduate studies in the Universities across Pakistan. In his mind President Zia could not smudge Jinnah Sahib’s image. So the mention of Jinnah Sahib ’s indulgence with whiskey and eating forbidden flesh was unacceptable to him. It had to be excluded from the book. This was Zia Hussain’s mission. He had to convince Mr. Stanley Wolpert to expunge a part of Mr. Jinnah’s Life, in order to make him a “True Hero”.
Zia Hussain’s mission failed. Wolpert didn’t even feel the need to meet Mr. Hussain. His publisher Oxford University Press and Zia Hussain were told firmly and politely (which was his style as I later found out) that the book was written to document the life of a Great Man. A part of President Zia’s message contained the temptation of selling millions of copies in Pakistan as it was proposed to be part of a perpetual curriculum of all the Universities in Pakistan. Mr. Wolpert alluded that having written many books, text and otherwise; and being a Professor at Stanford University (He is now Professor Emeritus there), he was financially more than secure and riches were not his goal.
Years later Mr. Wolpert came to Asia Society in New York City, to introduce his book Zulfi Bhutto of Pakistan. I had the good fortune to meet him. He had flown in from California; and had directly arrived at the Asia Society. It was dinner time. A few friends and I invited him for dinner. He graciously accepted. We instantly arranged for a catered Pakistani meal at Tariq Malik’s place. We spent five unforgettable and precious hours with Mr. Wolpert. In an informal setting one could see that he himself is a great man. No pretensions, but very proper, gentlemanly, polite and firm. We talked about ZAB, Nehru and Gandhi. He has since then written books about all of them. He was respectful talking of his subjects but there was a special respect for the Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. In the conversation, many time he called him Mr. Jinnah. He said that no one suggested to him to write about Jinnah Sahib. It was his own admiration that led him to research and write about this remarkable hero. I was left wondering whether great historians have heroes too? And heroes from far off lands?
About the Author: Salim Chowdhrey M.D. is a Clinical Associate Professor at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and an Attending at St Barnabas Medical Center. He practices Psychiatry in Livingston. NJ
....
Now Mian Masadi can go on lying about the figures, make up lies and try and reinvent ZAB as some sort of a figure her was not... but people of Pakistan are quite clear as to whose memory endures.
http://pakistaniat.com/2007/09/10/a-look-at-the-personal-life-of-jinnah-ru ttie-jinnahs-last-letter-to-her-husband/
Last week, while surfing though flickr, I came across a wonderful collection of mostly black & white photos by Dr. Ghulam Nabi Kazi. His collection has a major section Plain Mr. Jinnah dedicated to Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s rare photographs and some of his personal letters that not many people have ever read. Dr. Kazi is doing a great service by preserving all those historic photographs and letters for us and uploading them on flickr for public viewing. The one that I found most interesting, and which made me write this post, was the last letter written by Ruttenbai “Ruttie” Petit to her husband “J”, as she used to call him. Ruttie was given an Islamic name Mariam when she converted to Islam and married Jinnah in 1918. Ruttie originally wrote this letter in Paris on October 5, 1928 but re-wrote it in Marseilles and posted it from there. The letter is beautifully written and gives you some idea of marriage and personal life of Jinnah. For ATP reader’s interest, a typed text of the letter has also been included in this post.
S. S. Rajputana,
Marseilles 5 Oct 1928
Darling thank you for all you have done. If ever in my bearing your once tuned senses found any irritability or unkindness, be assured that in my heart there was place only for a great tenderness and a greater pain -a pain my love without hurt. When one has been as near to the reality of Life (which after all is Death) as I have been dearest, one only remembers the beautiful and tender moments and all the rest becomes a half veiled mist of unrealities. Try and remember me beloved as the flower you plucked and not the flower you tread upon.
I have suffered much sweetheart because I have loved much. The measure of my agony has been in accord to the measure of my love.
Darling I love you, I love you - and had I loved you just a little less I might have remained with you only after one has created a very beautiful blossom one does not drag it through the mire. The higher you set your ideal the lower it falls.
I have loved you my darling as it is given to few men to be loved. I only beseech you that the tragedy which commenced in love should also end with it.
Darling Goodnight and Goodbye
Ruttie
I had written to you at Paris with the intention of posting the letter here but I felt that I would rather write to you afresh from the fullness of my heart. R.
Even today, not much is known about Jinnah’s personal life although a great deal has been written about his vision, politics and his role as a founder of nation. Like how many of you know that when he was a law student in London, he regularly did theatre and seriously considered acting as a profession. There are many reasons that not much is known about his life other than politics and Pakistan movement. He wrote little, and what he wrote was formal and a matter of fact. He wrote no autobiography or diary probably because he never had time to do so. He was reserved, taciturn and secretive. He wrote his will in May, 1939, but it was after his death that Liaqat Ali Khan, his close associate and first Prime Minister of Pakistan, came to know that he was its trustee and executor. ATP readers can take a look at Jinnah’s will here and I can tell you that many of you will find it very interesting. Although Prof. Akbar Ahmed’s movie Jinnah tried, to some extent, throw some light on Jinnah’s personal life but 15-20 minutes is no where near enough. His marriage with the most beautiful girl of Bombay - Ruttie: The Flower of Bombay - was like a fairy tale. A separate movie can be made on Jinnah’s pre 1940 life and I can assure you, if made properly, it will do serious business.
Dina Wadia (Jinnah’s daughter) has hardly spoken about her father in public. I know of a few books which are specifically about the personal life of Ruttie Jinnah and her relationship with her husband. These books give us some insight of Jinnah’s personal life. One of them is Ruttie Jinnah: The Story, Told and Untold by Khwaja Razi Haider. The book was originally published in Urdu but later Khwaja Sahab also translated it into English for the international audience. M C Chagla’s book, ‘Roses in December‘ also had a few chapters about Jinnah and Ruttie Jinnah. Chagla knew the couple very well as he assisted Jinnah at his chambers during those days and he later became Chief Justice of Bombay High Court and then an Indian diplomat at UN. He idealized Jinnah but severed all ties when he began working on the idea of independent state for Muslims. The book is also interesting because it help you understand a different viewpoint shared by many Muslims in India too. Chagla writes about Ruttie and Jinnah:
By 1927, Ruttie and Jinnah had virtually separated. Ruttie’s health deteriorated rapidly in the years after they returned from their final trip together. Ruttie lived at the Taj Hotel in Bombay, almost a recluse as she became more and more bed-ridden.Kanji continued to be her constant companion. By February 18, 1929 she had become so weak that all she could manage to say to him was a request to look after her cats.
Two days later, Ruttie Petit Jinnah died. It was her 29th birthday.
She was buried on February 22 in Bombay according to Muslim rites. Jinnah sat like a statue throughout the funeral but when asked to throw earth on the grave, he broke down and wept. That was the only time when I found Jinnah betraying some shadow of human weakness. It’s not a well publicised fact that as a young student in England it had been one of Jinnah’s dreams to play Romeo at The Globe. It is a strange twist of fate that a love story that started like a fairy tale ended as a haunting tragedy to rival any of Shakespeare’s dramas.”
But the one I found more detailed is the book Ruttie Jinnah: The story of a great friendship written by Ruttie’s closest friend Kanji Dwarkadas who was also looking after her when she fell seriously ill during her last days.Jinnah was a very private person and he hardly showed emotions but he is known to have cried twice in public. One of the occasion was the funeral of his beloved wife Ruttie in 1929 and the other one in August 1947, when he visited her grave one last time before leaving for Pakistan. Jinnah left India in August 1947, never to return again, but he left behind a piece of his heart in a little grave in a cemetery in Bombay
http://pakistaniat.com/2007/09/11/wolperts-jinnah/
Wolpert’s Jinnah
Posted on September 11, 2007
Filed Under Salim Chowdhrey, People
Email This | Front Page | Try a Random Post! 7 Comments
Total Views: 369 Gues Post by Salim Chowdhrey
It was late summer in 1984 or 1985. I received a surprise call from a friend in Pakistan. We had been friends since kindergarten but our destiny had carried us on different trajectories. However, to date we have managed to keep abreast of what is going on in eachother’s lives. When my friend called me he said that he was in New Jersey, USA. He said he was sent here from the then President Zia-ul-Haq. I was very impressed that he was sent here by the President and conveyed my thoughts to him. He gloomily said that that he may not be able to meet the goal of his visit.
Zia came to the dinner that evening. No not the President Zia-ul-Haq but Zia Hussain my childhood friend. In our conversation that evening he shared that he was the General Manager of Oxford University Press (Pakistan) - a Publishing house in Karachi. Their parent company in New York had published the biography of the Father of the Nation titled as Jinnah of Pakistan. Though the book was full of unvarnished facts, it was also scholarly honest and unbiased. Most of all; the image of Jinnah that came through the book was of a once in a century hero- much like George Washington of the US.
Amazingly enough the book got banned in Pakistan. President Zia-ul-Haq, on the other hand, not only wanted the book be published, but he also wanted it to be the core of all undergraduate studies in the Universities across Pakistan. In his mind President Zia could not smudge Jinnah Sahib’s image. So the mention of Jinnah Sahib ’s indulgence with whiskey and eating forbidden flesh was unacceptable to him. It had to be excluded from the book. This was Zia Hussain’s mission. He had to convince Mr. Stanley Wolpert to expunge a part of Mr. Jinnah’s Life, in order to make him a “True Hero”.
Zia Hussain’s mission failed. Wolpert didn’t even feel the need to meet Mr. Hussain. His publisher Oxford University Press and Zia Hussain were told firmly and politely (which was his style as I later found out) that the book was written to document the life of a Great Man. A part of President Zia’s message contained the temptation of selling millions of copies in Pakistan as it was proposed to be part of a perpetual curriculum of all the Universities in Pakistan. Mr. Wolpert alluded that having written many books, text and otherwise; and being a Professor at Stanford University (He is now Professor Emeritus there), he was financially more than secure and riches were not his goal.
Years later Mr. Wolpert came to Asia Society in New York City, to introduce his book Zulfi Bhutto of Pakistan. I had the good fortune to meet him. He had flown in from California; and had directly arrived at the Asia Society. It was dinner time. A few friends and I invited him for dinner. He graciously accepted. We instantly arranged for a catered Pakistani meal at Tariq Malik’s place. We spent five unforgettable and precious hours with Mr. Wolpert. In an informal setting one could see that he himself is a great man. No pretensions, but very proper, gentlemanly, polite and firm. We talked about ZAB, Nehru and Gandhi. He has since then written books about all of them. He was respectful talking of his subjects but there was a special respect for the Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. In the conversation, many time he called him Mr. Jinnah. He said that no one suggested to him to write about Jinnah Sahib. It was his own admiration that led him to research and write about this remarkable hero. I was left wondering whether great historians have heroes too? And heroes from far off lands?
About the Author: Salim Chowdhrey M.D. is a Clinical Associate Professor at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and an Attending at St Barnabas Medical Center. He practices Psychiatry in Livingston. NJ
....
Now Mian Masadi can go on lying about the figures, make up lies and try and reinvent ZAB as some sort of a figure her was not... but people of Pakistan are quite clear as to whose memory endures.
#190 Posted by MantoLives on September 11, 2007 11:17:52 am
Masadi,
Yawn. May God help you in your condition.
Yawn. May God help you in your condition.
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