Main Jinnah Ka Waris Hoon- Review by Shoby

Main Jinnah Ka Waris Hoon- Review by Shahbaz Ali Naqvi

“You will have to make up for the smallness of your size by your courage and selfless devotion to duty, for it is not life that matters, but the courage, fortitude and determination you bring to it.”

Hazrat Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah (ra)

Leadership... A distinctive quality that makes one stand outside of the flock. Leaders are those who don’t care for anything not even themselves, when it comes to the betterment of their followers (read the nation). They say, nations make leaders but I am off the view that it is an entirely a wrong statement. Nations can never make a leader, however leaders are born to convert a scattered group of individuals, having mutually conflicting interests into a nation. This is why nations follow a faithful leader blindly because he is the one, who serves as the anatomy of the nation.

To me, MJKWH is all about a loud cry, emerging out of sheer pain. Pain for author's love for the motherland. It speaks out in loud volumes in favour of what our so called political messiahs were supposed to do in the history (or at least now, considering the last chance) and what have been they up to in the last 70 odd years. While reading MJKWH written by Mr. Mahmood Zafar Iqbal Hashmi, one question raised by the author was triggering in my mind after every second minute, we have excellent role models from NABI AKRAM RASOOL ULLAH MUHAMMAD MUSTAFA (saww) to Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah (ra), but even then, we have not been able to find out a single real successor of Quaid... Someone who could have managed to get all of us out of these ever increasing dilemmas... Why???

I feel MJKWH is a fairytale, that emerged from the inner part of writer's heart and that looks like the biggest long lasting wish & desire of not only the writer but all of us. No, it is not a wannabe story of a child, plagued with child labour, who went on to achieve the triumph. I consider this novel to be an epic exploration of most sincere replies against the questions that we have been asking to each other for more than several decades. It is about how Waris, younger child of a poor family, becomes the luck charm of a nation, courtesy his will & desire to take up the challenge to complete the uphill task of rescuing the nation from all the bads, they have been facing for decades.

Now, let’s explore the dynamics of story writing technique used in the narrative by Mr. Mahmood in MJKWH. It is quite interesting to see that two distinctive speeches are used parallel in the novel. A direct speech, where the protagonist is shown addressing to the nation for the last time as PM and simultaneously a story runs in flashback telling the tale of this child becoming the premier. If the overall speech of PM is drawing a beautiful painting of emotions & practices that laid him & his team to achieve what one assumes to be practically impossible, then on the other hand, the episode of Waris, running parallel with the speech, depicts a very sensitive yet loud story of hard work, struggle, sacrifice & devotion. Waris is literally a prime example of the phrase GOD helps those who help themselves.

This novel speaks volumes about the sheer hands-on knowledge & experience that Mr. Mahmood possess. See, how beautifully he has discussed almost each & every problem that we, as a nation are facing right now and the best thing about this book was, not only he highlighted the problem statements but unlike all these on-air political programs, he came up with some real solid solutions to the problems. I loved the way, how he inter-connected different solutions, in order to form each of them a great team player in overall problem solving arena.

From child labour to the extremism and law & order situation, from agriculture to medical, from sports to art & infrastructure, from financial stability to economic reforms, from international relations with other countries to resolving Kashmir dispute, from land reforms to administrative endeavours, Mr. Mahmood has explored almost every problem written on the wall. This is an indeed a fine piece of literature that can definitely serve as a remedy for the issues, we have been facing since decades.

Another beauty of the novel is the writer's take on characters. Considering it being a lengthy novel, Mr. Mahmood has been successful in arranging all the things in best possible proportions, while using minimal characters. In fact, there are only 5 to 6 pertinent characters in the whole novel, who make the story runs smooth.

The novel overall focuses on Waris, a working child, who went on to become PM. Nabeela, a sister plus adviser, whose task is to provide Waris with much needed guidance & motivation, whenever he needed them. Barrister Shamsa, a lady with golden heart, who helps Waris by every possible means, to polish this deteriorating gem. Barrister Samiullah, a successful lawyer, a practical person, who doesn't look like a warm-hearted person but in actual, he was all heart. Professor Asif, a die-hard overseas Pakistani, a true lover of Allama Iqbal, Adeena, the love interest of Waris, with a slightly different perspective, unlike the so-called female leads of our novels. Story also saw a few other characters like mother of Waris, Rahul, a uni-fellow & best buddy of Waris and Ustad Dilshad. Talking about the character sketches of all of them, I must say that writer did full justice to each & every one of these characters. I loved the way, how Mr. Mahmood has shown the coming of age, as far as Undeena's character is concerned. It was such a breather to see that writer has shown the primary objective of Waris, as the first love and NOT the girl. Hats Off...

There is no debate if I say that Mr. Mahmood has come up with a very strong concept of a character, who is inspired by two grandest personalities of our historical legacy. Waris, truly inspired from Quaid e Azam and Allama Iqbal was just at its prime best, whenever he was shown talking with respect to these real super heroes. But I feel, writer should have focused a bit more on the sayings & practices of Quaid e Azam and similarly discussed some more revolutionary poetry of Allama Iqbal, in order to further enlighten our generation with the true image of what one has to do, in order to become a real Shaheen of Iqbal, a real successor of Quaid e Azam.

Mr. Mahmood was at his writing best, when he gave a comparative analysis of two very diverse societies. Western world and Pakistan. He also gave us a picture of old & new Pakistan, which was revamped after a struggle of 15 plus years. I feel, prime objective of Mr. Mahmood was to deliver a top-notch presentation about the winning qualities of a leader. He, obviously highlighted many issues, from child labor to terrorism, but he was also pointing us the best possible ways to get out of these issues. Writer. being an OD professional, used his vast experience & understanding, to give us an insight about how to discover a leader within us. Now, it is up to us, whether we can find one or not.

Although I truly believe that this novel is written with all the heart & warmth that one feels for the dear country but still at times, I felt, things were a bit exaggerated in the proceedings. For instance, some issues that writer has depicted to be resolved so easily within 15 years are literally not a cup of tea for anyone. I am not one of those who think one should not even try to touch "impossibles". Yes, I am one of those who are strong believers of the saying that IMPOSSIBLE itself says, I M Possible but still certain elements like land reforms, Kashmir dispute, relations with India & Afghanistan, Kala-Bagh Dam and others are some real tough asks. If someone like Waris appears from anywhere in our country, who can break all the barriers to achieve whatever is necessary to make Pakistan one of the biggest economies and an Islamic welfare state, I would be more than delighted. But, who, when, and how are the big Qs.

Somewhere in the read, it is pertinent that you find your eyes moist and in my case, it was the curtain part of this novel. One line that gave me sheer goose bumps from the whole was, Is Pak Sar'zameen ko KARBALA mein dhalney waley or usey us ke basiyon ke lahoo se tarr kerney waley zeyada ter yazeed or shimr isi mulk ke baasi hain...

You may put a point that few of the things mentioned in the novel are completely out of question, especially when we talk about the dreams coming true in the form of economic stability, Kashmir dispute resolution, and others but believe me, this writing is a clear evidence of how optimistic is the writer, when it comes to the future of Pakistan. We should not focus on what we have not been able to do till date and what can never be achieved in the life. This novel gives a lifetime learning of one man can literally change the course of history and we have seen such persons in the real time historical arena. The only thing required is the will & passion to achieve, what everyone expects to be not achievable at any cost.

I believe these few lines are not at all sufficient to explain all the aspects of the novel and a complete book or at least a research article can be written, where we can discuss all the 10 chapters of MJKWH. But still leaving you with a hope that we all learn from what Mr. Mahmood was trying to say, without being preachy at all. Don't wait for someone to come & rescue us. Stay strong and stand up on your feet, if you really have the will to do something for the country. And believe what I always say. You are born to fly and believe sky is never a limit.

In the end, I would request Mr. Mahmood to come up with a sequel to MJKWH, in order to further explain the unanswered phenomena with respect to the development plan, he has presented in the 10 chapters. I am a firm supporter of the concept that epics should neither be re-made nor should be their sequels or prequels are written. But in this case, I feel, we all need further motivation and in terms of practical steps to be taken, further guidance to really become a true successor of Quaid e Azam (ra).

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