Iqbal’s poetry, Sikander’s prose, Jinnah’s struggle

Sir Dr Muhammad Allama Iqbal is buried in the Hazoori Bagh compound on the left side of the staircase leading to the main entrance of the magnificent Badshahi Mosque while Khan Bahadur Major Sir Sikander Hayat Khan (retd)) KBE (Knight Commander of the British Empire) the former Prime Minster of Punjab is on the right. It was Iqbal’s poetry that motivated the nation to struggle for freedom. Pakistan was Iqbal’s dream that Jinnah fulfilled.

There is a famous Punjabi saying, ‘Khabi vakha kay sajji marna’ (To show left and hit with the right). We the Muslims of the Indian Sub-continent pursued the dream of the Poet of the East under the untiring leadership of Qauid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. In pursuit of freedom, lives were lost, families destroyed. On August 14, 1947, Pakistan emerged on the world map with Jinnah as its first head of state, but no one ever thought despite the so-called freedom Sikanders will continue to rule over us.

So powerful was the influence of the Unionist Party that Jinnah had to sign the famous Lucknow Pact in 1937 to seek the support of Muslims in Punjab. Finally, in 1940 All India Muslim League (AIML), the founding party of Pakistan, decided to pass the resolution for the creation of Pakistan in 1940 at the Minto Park, which is located across the road from the mosque.

Jinnah arrived a day before. There was tension in Lahore. The Khaksar Tehreek, Jamaat-e-Islami, and Unionist Party were all opposed to the partition of India. He spent a night at the Mamdot Villa located on Habibullah Road off Davis Road close to Shimla Pahari. Muslim Students Federation (MSF) provided protection for their leader.

There was an all-night vigil by the students. Finally, the resolution was passed on March 23, 1940, and Jinnah safely travelled back to Bombay (now Mumbai), where he lived and practiced law.

A lot has been written about the loss of freedom that was painfully achieved after years of struggle. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (ZAB) in his book titled ‘The Myth of Independence’ has discussed in detail about the importance of being independent. Shaukat Hayat Khan’s memoirs are titled as ‘The nation that lost its soul’. Madr-e-Millat Fatima’s Jinnah’s book ‘My Brother’ was banned. ‘We have learnt nothing from history’ is the title of Air Marshal Asghar Khan’s book, the person who built the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). Even Field Marshal-l after he was dumped by his foreign masters wrote his autobiography titled ‘Friends not Masters’, but it proved to be too little too late. Real freedom eluded us.

I remember my mother sharing the slogan of her student days: “Sir Sikander pura kanjar” (Sir Sikander totally unscrupulous). Sir Sikander after his death in 1942 was replaced with Sir Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana, who served in this position till 1947 to finally perish in 1975. After Partition and so-called freedom on August 14, 1947, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the father of the nation, wanted a fast transition to people’s power to break the colonial moulds. He addressed the officers at the Military Staff College in Quetta. His famous words were, “I want you not to forget that the Armed forces are servants to the people.

You cannot make national policy; it is the job of us civilians, the common people, to take decisions to solve problems. And you should only carry out the tasks that have been assigned to you, that is your duty.” (Muhammad Ali Jinnah, June 14, 1948). To the civil servants he said, “Do your work with impartiality, honesty and integrity, your duty is to serve the people. He urged them to transition from a ruling class to that of servants to the people”. The Quaid did not live long enough to establish the democratic order in the new land.

My late father Nazir Ahmed Malik participated in the freedom movement. For his services, he was awarded the prestigious ‘Tehreek e Pakistan’ gold medal in the year 1990. While the medal was donated to the Museum located in Pakistan Monument in Islamabad, the Certificate hangs on my study wall. Every day when I come back home battered by the ‘Sikanders’ of our times who continue to rule over us, I am reminded of the ‘Azadi’ which could not be sustained for long. In the words of a grassroot worker of AIML from Ichara called Muhammad Hussain who earned the title of ‘Bombas’ as he detonated small bombs to disrupt the anti-Pakistan meetings of Jamaat and Khaksar organized in his neighbourhood; “We did gain freedom on August 14, 1947, but on the very next day the SHO Ichara came to arrest me”. He used the Punjabi words; “Khouti Rahe Boor Thalay” (female donkey remained in the dark). For countless millions nothing changed; in fact, over time the situation has turned from bad to worse.

On November 09, 2025, the 148th birthday of Iqbal was celebrated with great fanfare. There was a guard of honour in his memory. His poetry was recited, which sounded well, but there was no prose to move forward.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025