THE WORD 'PAKISTAN'
Rahmat Ali first published the word 'PAKSTAN' on January 28, 1933 in the pamphlet
'Now or Never'. By the end of 1933, the word had become common vocabulary through the efforts of Rahmat Ali's Pakistan National Movement. An ''I' was added to ease pronouncement (like Afghan-i-stan). In his book 'Pakistan: the Fatherland of the Pak Nation', Rahmat Ali gives a fuller explanation of the word.|
WORD |
'NOW OR NEVER' |
'FATHERLAND' |
URDU LETTER |
MEANING |
|
P |
Punjab |
Punjab |
Pai |
Pure, clean. Holy, as in Qur'an-pak. |
|
A |
Afghania (NWFP) |
Afghania |
Alif |
|
|
K |
Kashmir |
Kashmir |
Kaf |
|
|
I |
|
Iran |
Vowel 'I' |
|
|
S |
Sindh |
Sindh |
Seen |
Land / land of. |
|
T |
BalochisTAN |
Tukharistan |
Thai |
|
|
A |
Afghanistan |
Alif |
||
|
N |
BalochistaN |
Nun |
EXPLANATION
The originator of the name, Rahmat Ali, says:
" 'Pakistan' is both a Persian and an Urdu word. It is composed of letters taken from the names of all our homelands- 'Indian' and 'Asian'. That is, Panjab, Afghania (North West Frontier Province), Kashmir, Iran, Sindh (including Kach and Kathiawar), Tukharistan, Afghanistan, and Balochistan. It means the land of the Paks- the spiritually pure and clean. It symbolizes the religious beliefs and ethnical stocks of our people; and it stands for all the territorial constituents of our original Fatherland. It has no other origin and no other meaning; and it does not admit of any other interpretation. Those writers who have tried to interpret it in more than way have done so either through the love of casuistry, or through ignorance of its inspiration, origin and composition" (C.R. Ali, 1947, "Pakistan: the Fatherland of the Pak Nation", Cambridge).