Jinnah of Pakistan

Canadian hospital to name room after the Quaid-e-Azam

A room in a leading hospital in Toronto is to be named after Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in acknowledgment of a donation made by a group of Pakistani-Canadians. The effort mounted by the Society of Pakistani Canadian Professionals and Academics through a recent fund-raising dinner will result in a room at the Credit View hospital, Mississauga, a Toronto suburb, to be named the Jinnah Room with a commemorative plaque acknowledging the contribution of the Pakistani-Canadian community. The dinner meeting was addressed by historian Stanley Wolpert who some years ago wrote a much-admired biography of the Quaid-e-Azam. Wolpert said it was Jinnah's dream to make Pakistan a state in which everyone was equal regardless of race, religion, creed, or caste. He felt that those who followed him lost sight of that dream. Wolpert, also discussed the role played by Nehru and recalled a conversation between Mountbatten and Gandhi, in which the Viceroy asked Gandhi what could be done to stop communal killing. Gandhi replied, "Make Jinnah Prime Minister." However, when Mountbatten told Nehru what Gandhi had said, he dismissed it by insisting that the "old man had lost it". Wolpert said Jinnah and Gandhi were the only two leaders with enough stature to solve the communal problem.