Aslam Jinnah’s claim of being Quaid’s family disputed

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Amar

By Amar Guriro

KARACHI: Liaquat Merchant, who is the grandson of Maryam Bai, one of Quaid-e-Azam’s sisters, has said that Aslam Jinnah, who claims to be the great grandson of the founder of Pakistan, is not from the Jinnah family.

“He might belong to Nathoo Poonja’s family, who is Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s father’s brother, but he does not directly belong to Quaid’s family and I say this firmly on the basis of my personal knowledge,” said Merchant. Just a day ago, the federal government announced that Aslam Jinnah would be given a house, car and Rs 50, 000 monthly. “I do not object to the government giving him (Aslam Jinnah) anything, but he must stop introducing himself as Quiad-e-Azam’s family member,” he further said. In an exclusive interview with this scribe, when he was asked about his reaction to the government’s decision, he reiterated that he has no objection at all. “All I am concerned with is the fact that Aslam Jinnah is not from Quiad-e-Azam’s family and nothing else,” he said, adding that if Aslam Jinnah wants to meet him, he would certainly meet Aslam. He said that he was recently invited to present Jinnah’s Anthology, which has been published recently. Answering a question, he said that he was not invited for official programmes, especially those held to honour the Father of the Nation while adding that if given a choice he would love to attend the programmes. “It is not important to take flowers to Quaid’s mausoleum, but in fact it is more important to follow the teachings, principles and guidelines that Muhammad Ali Jinnah has left for our guidance,” said Merchant.

Talking about the family tree, Merchant said that Quaid’s father was Jina Poonja and his (Quaid’s) uncles were Walji Poonja and Nathoo Poonja. “Only Walji Poonja’s son is alive and lives in Khaaradar,” he said. Talking about Quaid’s sisters, Merchant said that Jinnah had four sisters, including Rehmat bai, Mariam bai, Ahmed Shirinbai and Fatima Jinnah. He said that Nasli Wadia, the son of Quaid’s daughter Dina Wadia still lives in Mumbai with his two sons Jay Wadia and Ness Wadia. Merchant, 68, is the grandchild of Quaid’s sister Mariam Bai and his last name comes from the fact that his father, Habib Hussain, was a businessman in Mumbai. Merchant was also awarded the Sitara-e-Imtiaz for his outstanding public services for the education and health sectors in the country during Pervez Musharraf’s regime. Merchant is a reputed lawyer in Karachi and his daughter Fouzia and son Akbar, are also lawyers, which is now sort of a family profession. His other daughter, Faiza, is a teacher.

As a young lawyer, Merchant first visited Karachi in 1964 and met Fatima Jinnah while she was living in Mohatta Palace. She insisted that he migrate from India. He returned to India but moved to Karachi in December 1967 after getting married in October and since than he is practicing law in Karachi.

Today he runs Liaquat Merchant Associates, one of the most respected law firms in the country, in addition to being the administrator of Quaid-e-Azam’s estate established under the Aligarh Education Trust, Jinnah Foundation and tending to several other charities. He said that till date Aligarh Education Trust has provided educational scholarships to 5,000 students in 15 different fields including law, architecture, civil engineering, dairy farming and so on.

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Daily Times

Posted in Anthropology, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Environmental awareness made fun!

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Amar

By Amar Guriro

KARACHI – Around 25,000 schoolchildren and their parents visited about 150 stalls set up by schools, universities and commercial entities of the city at the annual Travelling Nature Carnival, organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature–Pakistan (WWF-P), in partnership with the Indus Motor Company, at the PAF Museum on Sunday. The objective of the event was to motivate and involve youth and general public in valuing the rich natural heritage of Pakistan, and supporting conservation initiatives. At the stalls, students had set up models and described how to recycle, reuse and reduce waste to keep the environment clean, healthy and human-friendly.

On the occasion, WWF–P’s Regional Director Rab Nawaz pointed out that through the carnival, the message to protect the environment can be conveyed to a large audience. “Children are the stewards for change; they should be equipped with conservation practices,” he said.  “Since the past 10 years, WWF-P’s Nature Carnival has been playing its role as a unique endeavour that brings together thousands of visitors, including students, families, the corporate sector, the media, government organisations, conservation organisations and the general public. It provides a collective platform for building knowledge and interest in responsible action, ecologically conscious development and sustainable living.”

Pervaiz Ghias, managing director of the Toyota Indus Motors Company, was the guest of honour at the carnival. Speaking on the occasion, Ghias said the Toyota Environmental Programme launched in 2011, in partnership with WWF-P, is being implemented in 100 schools, 15 colleges and 10 universities and is a great success. “The Indus Motors Company is proud to be part of the carnival and hopes to make the young generation of Pakistan an environmentally sensitive generation and a guardian of our natural resources,” he added.

Nasir Ali Panhwar, coordinator for the Indus for All Programme, stressed on the unique nature of carnival in terms of establishing diverse level of participation and an integrated approach towards nature conservation. He highlighted need of creating awareness about environmental issues with support of media.

Among its several engaging activities, the most innovative was the 3D display model competition. Hundreds of students participated in live presentations to the judges and guests, featuring themes such as habitat conservation of endangered species (snow leopard, green turtle, Indus dolphin), water conservation, a green idea, solid waste management (recycle, reuse, reduce), global warming and climate change, ecotourism, energy conservation, and green architecture. The winning institutes were presented with shields and certificates.

An environment puppet show, a live musical performance, a magic show, environment games and a quiz, a nature art exhibition, a theatre and an environment debate competition were also arranged at the carnival.

WWF–P’s upcoming event is the Earth Hour observation in March 2012. Pakistan’s pride in tennis, Aisamul Haq, is the official spokesperson for the event.

Pakistan Today

Posted in Environment, Nature | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Forget scarves and dupattas, ajrak is ‘in’ at girls’ schools

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Amar

By Amar Guriro

KARACHI – Instead of the conventional dupattas or scarves, the girl students in the schools and colleges of the province may soon be wearing ajraks – a trademark of the Indus Valley Civilisation – as districts governments have decided to make the traditional chaddar a part of uniform.

The district administration of Larkana – the native district of slain Pakistan People’s Party leader Benazir Bhutto – made the traditional shawl a part of school uniform for the students of ninth and tenth grades on Saturday after Larkana Deputy Commissioner Abdul Aleem Lashari distributed 4,000 ajraks among students of the Government Girls High School Lahori Mohalla, Larkana in a ceremony.

“To promote the centuries-old cultural heritage of Sindh, the ajrak has been made a part of the uniform at all the government girls’ schools of the district,” he said, hoping that the other district administrations will soon follow the move.

Speaking on the occasion, Larkana education director Syed Rasool Bux Shah announced that ajraks will be distributed among all the girl students of ninth and tenth grades.

Followed by Larkana, the district administrations of Sanghar, Mirpurkhas and Umerkot also announced making the traditional chaddar a compulsory part of the school uniform for girl students.

The ajrak is considered a sacred and prestigious piece of cloth in the Sindhi culture. The colourful shawl is worn by men and women alike on almost all occasions in the Sindhi society ranging from weddings to even deaths – when the relatives cover the dead body with ajrak.

Besides being worn by people, ajraks are also used as bed sheets, decoration pieces and also table covers. Sindhi people offer the traditional shawls to their sisters and guests as token of respect.

The evidence of the use of ajrak dates back to almost 5,000 years. In 1927, archaeologists digging at the site of Moenjodaro or the ‘City of the Dead’ located in Larkana, found the remains of ajrak wrapped around the shoulders of the Priest King statue.

Due to its eye-catching colours and designs, many garment factories have started printing the ajraks, but the original shawls are a product of pure hard work.

Using around 3 metres of pure cotton cloth, the artisans bleach the fabric in a very primeval manner, where camel dung is also used. The cloth is later dyed navy blue and maroon through naturally extracted colours and block printed onto the shawl by patterns carved under wooden stamps.

The original ajrak is characteristically warm during the winter season and cold in summers and can last for several years.

For the past many years, the civil society, educationists and nationalists were demanding the Sindh government to make the traditional ajrak a compulsory part of the school uniform in the province.

The decision to include ajrak in the school uniform may prove to be a blessing in disguise for the poor people of Sindh who find it difficult to even afford uniform for their school going kids and the uniform is a kind of protection to hide their status.

Pakistan Today

Posted in Anthropology, Children, Culture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

For elections, PPP and Dalits don’t go together

Posted on January 17, 2012 by Amar

Amar Guriro

KARACHI - Despite comprising 92 percent of the total Hindu population in Pakistan, the Hindus’ scheduled caste (referred to as Dalits or “Untouchables”) is again expected to be ignored by the leadership of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) for the upcoming senate elections, as it did in the national and provincial assembly elections previously.

A tough competition has already started among the candidates of religious minorities for the first senate election following the 18th Constitutional Amendment, according to which four senate seats – one from each province – has been reserved for minorities.

Due to the majority it enjoys in the Sindh Assembly, the PPP is expected to win most of the senate seats, including the minority seat, in the upcoming elections and most minorities’ candidates in Sindh are approaching the PPP to get nominations for the elections.

Insiders in the PPP told Pakistan Today that the party has received 12 applications from candidates for nomination to the senate on minority seats from Sindh
The candidates include Surendar Valasai, who has served in the media teams of slain PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto and President Asif Ali Zardari for over 12 years; Hari Ram Kishori Lal, considered a close friend of Zardari; Engineer Gianchand Meghwar, who contested in general election on PPP ticket against former Sindh chief minister Arbab Rahim; Hameer Singh Sodha, son of late Hindu leader Rana Chandar Singh; MNA Dr Mahesh Kumar Malani, president of PPP Tharparkar district and also the PPP Sindh minority wing; Sindh Forests Minister Dayaram Essrani; Engineer Pesumal Ukrani and Engineer Jai Parkash, both cousins of Sindh Minority Affairs Minister Dr Mohan Lal Kohistani; Dr Jaipal Chabbria; Amarnath Advocate; and Meher Chand.

According to official records, of the total 30 reserved seats for minorities in the National Assembly and the four provincial assemblies, 29 of the assembly members currently are either Christians or upper caste Hindus. The PPP had given a senate seat to one lower caste Hindu candidate, Dr Khatoo Mal Jeevan, but later on when the party leadership decided to bring now Federal Petroleum and Natural Resources Minister Dr Asim Hussain in the senate, Jeevan was asked to resign from his position and given a reserved minority seat in the National Assembly.

In the Sindh cabinet, all three Hindu ministers, including Dr Daya Ram Essrani, Mukesh Chawla and Dr Mohan Lal Kohistani, and two other MPAs are from the upper castes of Hindus. For the senate elections to be held on March 2, all four provincial assemblies will become the electoral colleges for electing one minority senator.
Judging by the strength of political parties in provincial assemblies, the PPP may win two senate seats for minorities – one each from Sindh and Balochistan – while the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz is likely to fetch the Punjab’s minority seat with the seat in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa possibly going to the Awami National Party.
A recent research study reveals that there are several forms and manifestations of “untouchability” for the Hindu Dalits living in Pakistan, including caste discrimination and human inequality, which are still faced by the scheduled castes, mainly in Sindh and southern Punjab.

The study states that 74 percent Dalit population – over two million – is illiterate with 68 percent of them having no access to health, drinking water or other amenities, while 79 percent of them face different discrimination. Almost 90 percent of Dalits are reportedly served food and tea in separate crockery at hotels and restaurants; 77 percent of them are denied barber services; 59 percent are discriminated over wage payments; 83 percent have no land holding; and 95 percent do not benefit from local government system.

In such conditions, these poor and most vulnerable communities need representation in prestigious institutions like the senate, but it seems that once again, the PPP leadership will ignore the lower caste Hindus and the upper caste Hindus, which comprise only 8 percent of the total Hindu population, who will get the party tickets for the upcoming elections. Some reports suggest that most of the upper caste Hindus bribe the leadership of political parties to get elected for the assembly and even senate seats.

Pakistan Today

Posted in Politics, Religious Minorities | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment