KARACHI, April 20 The Jinnah Award for 2007 was conferred posthumously upon Mr Ahmad Ali Khan, former Chief Editor of Dawn, for his “outstanding services to Pakistan” while the 2006 award was conferred upon former Pakistan Air Force chief and politician, retired Air Marshall M. Asghar Khan, for his “outstanding services for the cause of democracy and human rights in Pakistan”, at a ceremony held in a local hotel on Monday.

The awards were presented by The Jinnah Society, while the second edition of the Jinnah Anthology - first published in 1999 - was also launched at the event.

Batool Mehmood gave a brief biographical sketch of Khan Sahib while reading out his citation, mentioning the fact that the seasoned journalist, born in Bhopal in pre-partition India, spent 42 years with Dawn. She said Khan Sahib maintained the highest degree of professionalism and integrity and never compromised on principles.

Ms Mehmood also highlighted the fact that Ahmad Ali Khan piloted Dawn through some touch financial straits, especially after the fall of Dhaka in 1971. “He was a man of keen intellect and a mentor. He served his readers well”.

Mrs Hajra Ahmad Ali Khan received Khan Sahib's award. His daughter Prof Naveed Ahmad Tahir was also present at the ceremony.

Air Marshall Asghar Khan's citation was read out by Spenta Kandawalla.

In his acceptance speech, after thanking the organisers of the ceremony for bestowing the award upon him, the veteran politician mentioned all that had gone wrong with Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah's Pakistan.

“What we have done since 1948 is not the vision of the Quaid. It has rapidly led us to civil war. The Unites States and (General) Zia played a major role in mobilising the youths of the NWFP against the Soviets. The results can be seen today,” he said. “Pakistan has been led at different times by acknowledged criminals,” added the former Tehrik-i-Istiqlal chief without mincing words.

He also called for a reduction in the national defence budget. “The criminal misuse of Pakistan's natural resources has cost Pakistan dearly. We must have a close look at our defence expenditure.”Asghar Khan, who also formerly headed Pakistan International Airlines, was critical of the nation's nuclear programme, saying it had “endangered Pakistan's very survival”.

Interestingly, Major-Gen Athar Abbas, director-general of Inter Services Public Relations, was present in the audience.

Najam Sethi, senior journalist and editor-in-chief of several Urdu and English newspapers, in his keynote address spoke on much of the same themes retired Air Marshall Asghar Khan had touched upon, focussing specifically on the fast-deteriorating situation in Swat and the rest of the country.

Referring to the recent headlines in the national press, in which the Swat militants had termed the constitution, democracy and the Supreme Court 'un-Islamic,' Mr Sethi said all these things were very dear to Mr Jinnah.

He observed that “two surrender documents” were probably making the Quaid turn in his grave the fall of Dhaka and 2009's “surrender” in Swat. “Don't believe that what has been done (Swat peace deal) has been done in the national interest. It is the most gross form of political opportunism. It is abject surrender”.

With regard to Mr Jinnah's comparison with Kemal Ataturk - founder of modern Turkey - which had been made earlier, he said the “mixing of religion and politics (starting with 1948's Objectives Resolution) was a great betrayal”.

'Who divided India?'

Referring to a book by late Indian politician Rafiq Zakaria in which he alleged that the Quaid was responsible for the break-up of India as he feared Islam was under threat in a Hindu-majority nation, Najam Sethi rubbished this thesis as being historically untrue.

“Islam was not in danger in India. The Muslim community - politically and economically - was under threat. Jinnah was considered the apostle of Hindu-Muslim unity in the 1930s. It was not the Quaid that divided India Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel divided India. Jinnah created Pakistan because he had no choice. (However), we have done all we can to erode it.”

Mr Sethi added that one of the reasons there was so much insecurity in the country presently was that no one was willing to take ownership of the “war on terror”, which he said had gone from being “America's war to our war.”

He was all praise for the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, referring to MQM chief Altaf Hussain's recent speech in which he pilloried the enforcement of so-called Sharia in Swat. Mr Sethi said the MQM was saying “something every Pakistani should be saying”.

Talking about the growing fanaticism in society he said that “keep the purity of religion out of the dirt of politics”.

“The ghost Musharraf buried is back. The American media is talking about various nightmare scenarios. India is poking its dirty nose in Balochistan. We must go back to the Quaid's dream of a secular Pakistan”, Najam Sethi observed. He added that “Karachi today was the conscience of Pakistan”.

Liaquat Merchant, founder and president of the Jinnah Society, gave the background of the society and discussed the new additions made to the Jinnah Anthology. He said the book would be launched in five different locations in Pakistan, including the National Assembly, while it would also be launched at the Pakistan high commission in London.

“Jinnah was understood differently by different people. The world is still reassessing Jinnah's stature he will be judged by the totality of his achievements. It is by no means an easy task to understand Jinnah. He won the most monumental (case) in the history of the bar. The result was Pakistan, which is being shaken by its roots”, said Mr Merchant.

He added that nations which move away from the vision of their founding fathers become failed states.

Ameena Saiyid, head of Oxford University Press, publishers of the Jinnah Anthology, and noted historian Prof Sharif al Mujahid also spoke.