General Zia-ul-Haq: Was it recited before the speech of the former military ruler in the UN General Assembly or not?
The incident took place at 8 pm on October 1, 1980, when countless Pakistanis sitting in front of TV screens were taken by surprise.
Sitting in front of the television screens, these people were waiting for the speech of the then military ruler General Zia-ul-Haq, but at the same time the recitation of the Qur'an started and they too with the information and impression that these verses of God are a unique and It is echoing the UN General Assembly as a memorable event.
As soon as the recitation was over, General Zia started his passionate speech by saying in his typical tone, "Nahmada wa Nasli Ali Rasoolullah Kareem".
Like the recitation incident at the UN General Assembly, General Zia-ul-Haq's speech was a new tradition. It is not that no military ruler or martial law administrator has ever had the opportunity to address this forum before. But for the first time in the history of this international body, the ruler of a country had the opportunity to represent about 50 countries with one faith, so the meeting and the speech became memorable.
How and why was the recitation possible before General Zia's address to the UN General Assembly? The details are quite interesting, but when one becomes aware of the media strategy adopted in selecting General Zia as the representative of the Islamic world and his speech, the interest in these events increases even more.
And this knowledge of strategy reveals the tactics that individual governments use to gain popularity in public opinion.
Honors for General Zia-ul-Haq and OIC Spokesperson
General Zia-ul-Haq received the honor of being the Spokesperson of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) under the circumstances under which Raja Zia-ul-Haq, a close associate of General Zia-ul-Haq, who later became the Federal Minister of Information, spoke on the occasion. "Actually, there was a time when the Muslim world was facing many problems, but fortunately there was a lot of consensus on these issues and very little disagreement," he said. That is what led the Muslim Ummah to this decision. "
He said that in fact "this was a proposal from three member countries" including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Papua New Guinea.
Senior journalist and columnist Mahmood Sham used to do political reporting in those days, so his knowledge of the opposition of that time, especially the Pakistan People's Party and its leadership, was wider than his contemporaries. Was They point to a different aspect of the issue:
"In fact, it was not a simple matter, it was driven by some other global stimulus, especially in Libya and Syria."
"These countries were angry with the Pakistani government over the execution of former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and used to express frustration whenever the opportunity arose," he said. Therefore, there was a need to adopt a strategy that would make them sympathetic or at least keep them neutral or silent.
He says that when General Zia's personality emerged as a representative and leader of the Islamic world, "I think this strategy has been largely successful."
General Zia-ul-Haq had also visited Iran, Iraq and Paris before arriving in New York for his address. Pakistani newspapers enthusiastically covered General Zia-ul-Haq's visit abroad, making headlines before he arrived in New York. A news item was published in the above seven column box: "President Zia-ul-Haq will address the General Assembly today as the representative of the Islamic world."
It seems that this news was more important than the headline.
The headlines and text details of the news said that the whole Islamic world is anxiously awaiting this speech, the reason being that General Zia in his speech regarding his peace mission, especially the end of Iran-Iraq war. I will present a report on my activities, which the United Nations is anxiously awaiting.
This extraordinary arrangement to keep the readers informed of what would happen in the future, one day later, further highlighted the General's mission, as the two stories in the seven and eight columns above and below anyway created such a feeling in the reader of the newspaper. Maybe it's more than usual.
The news article says that the writer penned it with care so that no trivial matter would be left out. For example, the newspaper wrote that according to the radio, after long negotiations, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein took President General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq on a tour of Baghdad in his car.
In the last 24 hours after these talks, the intensity of the war has decreased. Kuwait's Al-Siyasah newspaper has written that the results of the visit of the ruler of Kuwait Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad General Zia are ... Etc. Such news created a situation like ball-to-ball commentary. The situation was similar in other Pakistani newspapers in those days.
Some other contents of the newspaper also played a role in shaping this atmosphere. In this regard, a cartoon published in Nawa-e-Waqt is particularly noteworthy in which cartoonist Javed Iqbal showed a globe in the form of a listener in front of General Zia-ul-Haq who was standing on the rostrum for a speech in which millions of ears of the United Nations were fixed. Seemed anxious to hear.
Thus, the impression was formed that the whole world was waiting to hear General Zia-ul-Haq on global issues. In the same way, the importance of his speech was highlighted in the eyes of the Pakistani people, which can be gauged from the news of Nawa-e-Waqt the next day:
"The whole nation was listening, even though the speech was in English. Whenever Islam was mentioned, people's faces shone with emotion. It seems that every Pakistani is happy to have the honor of representing the Islamic world.
After General Zia's speech, the process of congratulating him on his effective representation of the Islamic world began. For the next several days, the news of which continued to be published in the newspapers, was issued by the Associated Press of Pakistan. Here is a news story that was published in the entire Pakistani press on October 2, 1980:
The ambassadors of Islamic countries termed the speech of the President of Pakistan as a masterpiece of literature, history and diplomacy and congratulated him for presenting the position of the Islamic world in the best possible way.
According to the text of the news, the statement was made by the ambassadors of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bangladesh but the details of the statements of the ambassadors which were included in the beginning of the news by APP are not found.
This series of congratulations and applause was also seen in the editorials and columns of the newspapers. The daily Jang wrote in its editorial:
"General Zia's speech is commendable in all respects. We are happy that the representatives of Islamic countries in the General Assembly, like us, have described it as encouraging and exciting, and in the opinion of the people of Pakistan and other Islamic countries There is harmony.
In an article published in Nawa-e-Waqt, journalist Arif Nizami wrote: “This speech of General Zia is leading to an end to the war between two important Muslim countries. This achievement of Pakistan is a historic milestone that will be remembered in history.
"Were the newspapers doing all this automatically?"
Nasir Beg Chughtai was in the early years of his journalistic career at the time and was watching such events with great interest.
In later years, when he took up important responsibilities in Jang newspaper Karachi and became close to the editor-in-chief and owner of the newspaper, Mir Khalil-ur-Rehman, he had the opportunity to ask such questions.
In response to a question about the atmosphere created before and after General Zia's address to the UN General Assembly, the late Mir told him that for this purpose, General Zia's trusted colleague and Information Secretary General Mujeeb-ur-Rehman had sent a Developed a comprehensive strategy that was effective.
In response to this question, Nasir Beg Chughtai mentions the information provided by Mir Sahib and also mentions his observations and some information.
He says that there is no word in the effective strategy of General Mujeeb but the fact that a large number of newspaper owners of that time also voluntarily opposed General Bhutto and his government is important. The role of this class of journalists in making the environment 'conducive' cannot be ignored.
The atmosphere created by the newspapers in connection with the speech resulted in people closing their businesses and going home in the evening on October 1, the day of the speech, or going to the radio, television shops and teahouses in the city. I gathered. In the words of the daily Jang:
Today, due to the speech of the President of Pakistan General Zia-ul-Haq, most of the people in Rawalpindi and Islamabad closed their shops in the evening and sat in front of the television and radio in their or their loved ones' homes. The boom in the markets ended suddenly. During the President's speech, people gathered in front of hotels and other TV shops and listened to and watched the President's speech for about an hour and a half.
On October 2, the day the news of General Zia's address to the General Assembly was published, the daily Jang published long highlights of the speech and its atmosphere, one of the points of which was not only to change the whole scenario but to make history. :
When the President of Pakistan General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (according to Pakistani time) came to the rostrum at 8:04 pm, the hall of the General Assembly suddenly started resounding with the recitation of the Holy Quran. The President stood up with respectful hands. This recitation was done by Qari Shakir Qasmi but he did not appear in the hall of the General Assembly. President Zia-ul-Haq, who was wearing the national dress of black sherwani, shalwar karta, took off his spectacles after the recitation and put them on his file. He started his speech with Bismillah-ur-Rehman-ur-Rehman and wore spectacles. From the beginning to the end, President Zia-ul-Haq addressed the General Assembly in a thunderous voice with full faith.
Although all the details included in these highlights played an important role in creating the atmosphere that helped General Zia to solidify his religious face in the years to come, the point of the text spread like wildfire 40 years later. This is the only aspect of this incident that is safe in the memory of the Pakistani people.
According to Jang, "Before General Zia's recitation, the hall of the General Assembly resounded with recitation."
This statement is true to the extent that the viewers of Pakistan Television, while sitting in front of the television, saw the same scene on their television, but shortly after the incident, various stories about the incident came to light. One of them was that Qari Sahib did not recite in the General Assembly but a recording of the recitation was broadcast. Raja Zafar-ul-Haq also agrees with the recorded story.
In these cases, the important question is where did the suggestion of recitation on the occasion of General Zia's speech come from? Raja Zafar-ul-Haq says that when it was decided that General Zia would represent the world of Islam, on this occasion General Zia said that I always like the recitation before I speak, so there should be recitation even before this speech. ۔
It was decided to hold the recitation but there was a practical hurdle that according to the protocol of the General Assembly, no one else could come on the rostrum during the address of the heads of state and nothing else could be said outside the agenda. How was this problem solved?
This was stated by Akhtar Waqar Azeem, former Managing Director, Pakistan Television Corporation. He also details it in his memoir, "We Were There."
He wrote that PTV, like other television channels in the world, had booked a suite book attached to the General Assembly Hall on this occasion, which contained all the broadcasting equipment and staff to telecast the speech live. Was necessary for
There were also two other people in the suite, one of them was Azhar Lodhi, a well-known newscaster of the country and the other was Qari Sahib. Shortly before General Zia's speech, it was announced to Azhar Lodhi that the President of Pakistan was going to address the gathering shortly before that. As soon as he finished the proclamation, the recitation began.
During the recitation, the assembly hall and its participants were shown which made them feel that they were also listening to the recitation.
Akhtar Waqar Azeem writes that the fact was that the speaker was speaking in the assembly hall before General Zia at that time but the viewers of Pakistan Television were watching, listening and understanding the recitation as a historical event. What is happening inside the House is becoming history.
The incident is as fresh as yesterday in the memory of Azhar Lodhi, who announced General Zia-ul-Haq's address from the General Assembly Suite in New York. they say:
Like me, Qari Shakir Qasmi was also present in the General Assembly but the recitation was recorded first. As soon as General Zia-ul-Haq reached the rostrum, he took a small tape recorder out of his pocket and turned it on and placed it on the rostrum. Then they stood respectfully with their hands tied. As soon as the recitation was over, he began his speech.
What really happened to me that day, maybe the real story is lost somewhere in between.
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