THIS IS MY STORY—63
MY JOURNEY THROUGH THE ERA OF AYUB KHAN TO THE TIMES OF IMRAN KHAN.
GHULAM AKBAR…………..
The Issue Of Female Candidacy
Manzoor Malik’s scoop in a way created history. The issue of Daily Kohistan the next day carried no other story on the front page except the six points of Sheikh Majeeb ur Rahman. Each of these points made a separate headline and a separate story.
The impact was sensational. The most remarkable consequence of this major newsbreak was that Sheikh did not muster enough courage to present his formula before the COP delegates. His six-points were quite hard to digest for the purists of the ideology of Pakistan. The COP-mix was composed of regionalists and ‘nationalists’ as well as diehard flag-bearers of the two-nation theory. I found out later that Sheikh Mujeeb ur Rahman had been reprimanded by Maulana Maudoodi and Maulana Bhashani as well. But he had the assured support of Khan Wali Khan.
I have quite clear memories of the day when the candidacy of Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah was announced.
I went to Aali Rizvi’s room to ask him to write a befitting leader welcoming the advent into politics of the venerated sister of the Founder of the Country.
But his response was far from fervent. In a sullen and sedate voice he replied:
“This is Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and there is no room for a woman to vy for the top slot in the country.”
“What the hell you mean?” I asked perplexedly.
“I received a call from Nasim Sahib early morning in this respect. He practically has ordered me to write a firm rebuttal to the COP, condemning its move to drag Madar-i-Millat into politics.”
“Oh no!” I gasped in despair. “How can we afford not to support the Mother of the Nation against a despotic regime? I am sure Nawai Waqt will crucify us — and we will fall further behind Mashriq.”
“Nasim Sahib is flying to Lahore in the afternoon,” Aali Rizvi informed me. “If you can persuade him to change his policy, I’ll gladly write what you want me to write.”
“That is a great news,” I said in a semi-excited tone of voice. “I am going to use all my persuasive powers Aali Sahib—And you need not wait. Write as great a piece in her support as she is worthy of.”
Some hours later I was at the airport— receiving Mamoon Jaan. As we drove out of the airport area, he himself began the conversation.
