By Qundeel Aymen

RIYADH — Members of the Ladies Chapter of Pakistan Writers Club Riyadh (PWC-LC) commemorated Muhammad Ali Jinnah and paid homage to Quaid-e-Azam (Great Leader) on his 142nd birth anniversary, on Dec. 25. The Quaid was born in 1876 in Karachi.

A multifaceted person with great leadership quality, Jinnah is credited wholly for the creation a new a country — Pakistan. Although he died long time ago but his legacy still lives on. The nation and its leaders are bound to follow his golden principles of Unity – Faith – Discipline.

Madiha Malik, convener of PWC-LC, hosted a sitting to reminisce and pay homage to the father of the nation. Madiha paid rich tributes to the Quaid and said the nation is deeply indebted to him. “Today’s gathering is about the Quaid’s empowerment of women of that time and encouraging them to take the lead in the struggle for the creation of Pakistan,” she added.

Shumaila Malik, deputy convener, focused on the Quaid’s role in making sure there’s active participation of women in the independence movement. “All-India Muslim Women’s Subcommittee was the harbinger of active involvement of women into the fold of the political struggle for creation of Pakistan,” Shumaila said.

Qundeel Aymen, PRO, said men and women were complementary in the struggle, however, it has been observed that in the struggle towards creation of Pakistan, women had made a great difference. “At that time of extreme uncertainty, the Quaid had acknowledged and valued the contribution of women,” she said.

Madiha Noman. event coordinator, said Pakistan today remains poor without our dear and respected Quaid. “Quaid was of the viewpoint that no society can flourish unless its women are treated equally. On one occasion, he stated there were two powers in the world — one was sword and the other pen, but there was a third power stronger than both, and that was women,” she added.

Ambreen Faiz, senior member, remarked that it was the Quaid who had chosen to break away from the accepted traditional view of the role of Muslim women in the society and had brought a transformation in them. “It was because of his sheer vision and conviction that had brought a social reform among the women of that time. This also forms and remains a part of the golden legacy of Quaid,” Ambreen said.

Irum Amir stressed that development process would cease if the contribution of women were limited or stopped. “It was only Quaid’s vision and direction that the women became proactive in the movement for creation of Pakistan,” she added.

Dr. Farah Nadia paid glowing tribute to the Quaid’s trust on women’s abilities and that’s one reason why he involved his younger sister Fatima in day to day activities in the movement for the creation of Pakistan. “The Quaid had also relied on other leading ladies of that time namely: Begum Ra’ana Liaqat Ali Khan, Lady Abdullah Haroon, Lady Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah and many others. Fatima Jinnah later was bestowed with the coveted honor of the title of the Mother of the Nation,” Dr. Farah said.

Tahira Kashif, Dr. Naghma Rehan and Shaheen Javed too had words of praise for the Quaid. All of them mentioned that the Quaid in his various speeches, his writings and his actions had shown trust and confidence on the abilities of the Pakistani women and that it was because of this trust that the women in Pakistan are seen today to be contributing in all spheres of life.

In her concluding remarks, Madiha Malik said that Pakistan was a gift from the Quaid. “He had considered the role of women in the development of society as important as that of men. He had often spoken about the responsibilities, which he envisioned for women, and believed that women’s participation in politics and social welfare work was not only beneficial but also essential for the wellbeing of the community.