Oxford launches Urdu translation of Jinnah's quotes

The photograph shows (from l to r): Sharif al Mujahid, Distinguished National Professor, Higher Education Commission; Ameena Saiyid, Managing Director, Oxford University Press Pakistan; the chief guest, Justice (Retd) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, Chief Election Commissioner; and Liaquat Merchant, President, The Jinnah Society.



The photograph shows (from l to r): Ameena Saiyid, Managing Director, Oxford University Press Pakistan; the chief guest, Justice (Retd) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, Chief Election Commissioner; Liaquat Merchant, President, The Jinnah Society; and Sharif al Mujahid, Distinguished National Professor, Higher Education Commission.

Karachi, 22 Sept.: Oxford University Press (OUP) launched its recently published book Quaid-i-Azam nay Farmaya compiled and edited by Sharif al Mujahid and Liaquat Merchant. The booklet an Urdu translation of Quotes from the Quaid also published by OUP in 2007 is a compilation of the inspiring quotes and maxims of the founder of Pakistan. Put together from various materials available on him, these thought-provoking words are eminently purposive in spelling out Jinnah's vision of Pakistan, thus illuminating his humane brilliance and the wisdom of his remarkable mind. Although Jinnah spoke on a multitude of issues in the course of his long and illustrious career, this compilation includes his words and thoughts on areas relevant to contemporary Pakistan and provides guidance to Pakistanis in various important spheres of public and private life.

Sharif al Mujahid is a renowned scholar of the Pakistan Movement and M.A. Jinnah. His published works include Ideology of Pakistan; Ideological Foundations of Pakistan; Muslim League Documents, Vol. 1: 1900-1908; Quaid-i-Azam and His Times: A Compendium, Vol. I: 1876-1937; Quaid-i-Azam Jinnah: Studies in Interpretation; Indian Secularism: A Case Study of Muslim Minority; and In Quest of Jinnah: Diary, Notes, and Correspondence of Hector Bolitho. He is presently Distinguished National Professor, Higher Education Commission.

Liaquat Merchant is the Administrator, Estate of Quaid-e-Azam; Executive Trustee, Quaid-e-Azam Aligargh Education Trust; Managing Trustee, The Jinnah Foundation; and President, The Jinnah Society. He has written and published several books on Jinnah including Jinnah: A Judicial Verdict and The Jinnah Anthology, and compiled the M.A. Jinnah CD.

The launch ceremony, held at a local hotel, was well-attended by diplomats, corporate heads, academics, students, and the media. Addressing the gathering, the Chief Guest, Justice (Retd) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, and the editors, Professor Sharif al Mujahid and Mr Liaquat Merchant, highlighted the core ideals and principles of Jinnah, and emphasized that the book is essential reading for every Pakistani and all those who seek to understand the vision behind Pakistan's creation. In her welcome speech, Ameena Saiyid, Managing Director, OUP Pakistan, said that the book being launched is a guideline for the Pakistani people, a kind of beam of light coming from their incorruptible and clear-eyed leader. Since the present volume is in Urdu, she hoped that a greater number of Pakistanis will benefit from the quotations in it. She further added that she would like to see the book distributed widely, especially among students, so that everyone gets the chance to read it and gain the insights that comparing Quaid-e-Azam's vision with the direction in which we are headed are bound to bring.