Letters and Complaints Regarding Quaid‑i‑Azam’s Mazar and Related Issues

Sub title : Miss Jinnah’s Letter on the Mazar Passage Controversy

Subject: Fatima Jinnah | Quaid‑i‑Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah | Jail protest | Anti‑Pakistan propaganda

Date of publication: 1948

Language: English

Page: 85 p.

Source: National Archives of Pakistan

Serial no: 29092

Keyword: Muhammad Ali Jinnah -- Mausoleum -- Administration -- Pakistan | Mazar-e-Quaid -- Management -- Public access -- Controversies | Fatima Jinnah -- Correspondence | Monuments -- Conservation and restoration -- Pakistan | Public monuments -- Political aspects -- Pakistan

Abstract: A set of four documents relating to Quaid‑i‑Azam’s mausoleum in Karachi. Pir Syed Asmat Ali Shah claims a dream (17 November 1948) in which Quaid‑i‑Azam instructed him to establish a “Fatiha Khwani Darbar” and requests to be the caretaker (khadim) at the mazar, while also complaining about anti‑Pakistan jail officials. A contractor submits a sketch for improving the mazar grounds with green pedestal lights. The “Three ‘R’ League” protests the rebuilding of a partition wall between Quaid‑i‑Azam’s and Liaquat Ali Khan’s tombs. Miss Fatima Jinnah writes to Dr. Malik objecting to the mazar being used as a passage to Liaquat’s tomb and criticising the government’s inaction after APWA members broke the wall.

Description: A letter from Pir Syed Asmat Ali Shah, self‑styled “Chief Dictator of Poor Muslim League of World,” recounting a dream of Quaid‑i‑Azam instructing him to start a prayer gathering. He claims to have been jailed and harassed, and requests permission to stay at the mazar as a caretaker. A 25 July 1951 letter from contractor M. Noorthoy encloses a sketch for levelling the mazar plot and installing green pedestal lights for Id prayers and evening strolls. A short letter from “Three ‘R’ League” objects to a partition wall built between the mazars of Quaid‑i‑Azam and Liaquat Ali Khan, urging that both remain in one compound. Finally, Miss Fatima Jinnah’s letter (undated) to Dr. Malik states that the mazar was being used as a passage to Liaquat’s tomb, which she found disrespectful; she notes that a wall was rebuilt, then broken by APWA ladies, and demands government action. These documents illustrate public and personal concerns over the sanctity and maintenance of Pakistan’s founding father’s resting place. SCANNED BY: NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF PAKISTAN.

Total Views: 45        Favorites : 0

Download Citation: BibTeX | RIS | Chicago Manual of Style | Harvard | APA | MLA