Sent to Pak,two Jinnah speeches in AIR archives

In the other speech,in June 1947, Jinnah talks about the referendum to decide about the Northwest Fronter Province.

More than a year after Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation approached All India Radio for recordings of two speeches by Muhammad Ali Jinnah,the tapes were mailed to Pakistan last week. This was after protracted discussions on whether the tapes should be sent and also an RTI application asking access to the tapes.

Though one of the speeches was delivered to the Constituent Assembly on the day of Pakistans independence on August 14,1947,the nascent Radio Pakistan did not have recording facilities and the tapes remained with All India Radio. In the other speech,in June 1947, Jinnah talks about the referendum to decide whether the Northwest Fronter Provinc should be in India or Pakistan .

It was in March 2012 that Murtaza Solangi,then director general of PBC,first approached India for access to the two speeches that outline Jinnahs vision of Pakistan. It was more than a year ago that PBC first approached us asking for recordings of two speeches of Muhammad Ali Jinnah that were in our archives. We asked for permission from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,which came through only recently after which we sent the two tapes by mail to Pakistan. They have confirmed that they have received them, AIR director general L D Mandloi told The Indian Express.

In his speech of June 3,Jinnah talks about the need to maintain peace,urging the Muslim League to withdraw its civil disobedience pending the referendum.

In the speech to the Constituent Assembly,he describes Islam as a secular religion: The tolerance and goodwill the great Emperor Akbar allowed to all non-Muslims is not of recent origin. It dates back 13 centuries ago when our Prophet not only by words but by deeds treated the Jews and Christians handsomely after he conquered them. He showed to them utmost tolerance and regard and respect for their faiths and beliefs. The whole history of Muslims where they ruled is replete with those humane and great principles and which should be followed and practised8230;

Another speech to the Constituent Assembly,on August 11,1947 a reference to which had landed BJP leader L K Advani in the RSS8217;s cross-hairs soon after his Pakistan visit in 2005 is not among the tapes in the AIR archives,officials say. In his comments in the visitors book at Jinnahs mausoleum in Karachi,Advani had written: His Jinnahs address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on August 11,1947,is a classic,a forceful espousal of a secular state in which every citizen would be free to practise his own religion but the state shall make no distinction between one citizen and another on the grounds of faith. The storm this generated culminated in Advanis resignation as BJP chief.

Meanwhile,sources in AIR say Solangis request had initially been met with scepticism but after RTI activist Subhash Chandra Aggarwal filed an application seeking copies of the tapes and,when thwarted,took his plea to the Central Information Commission,the latters response set the stage for the final decision. Aggarwal too got access to the tapes.

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Then chief information commissioner Satyananda Mishra had said in his order in June,It is easy for any public authority to take the stand that everything relating to Pakistan or the leaders who went over to Pakistan should be kept secret or confidential and invoke the provisions of Section 81a and not disclose the details. This will be a regressive stand. Soon after,AIR got clearance first from the Iamp;B ministry and then from Prasar Bharti to hand the tapes over.