Shehzad Nawaz Sparks Debate Over Quaid-e-Azam’s Image on Currency Notes

English Translation

If the decision were in my hands, I would remove Quaid-e-Azam’s image from currency notes, because people use those notes while taking bribes, giving bribes, committing fraud, and engaging in financial corruption in front of the image of the very person who created Pakistan.

Renowned Pakistani drama actor Shehzad Nawaz has once again drawn public attention for his outspoken views. Known for his performances in popular drama serials including Parizaad, Badshah Begum, Mein, Ghulam Bashah Sundari, and Shanas, Nawaz is currently seen speaking openly on podcasts about social issues, moral decline, and corruption in Pakistani society.

During a recent podcast, host Ali Safina discussed changing political, social, and cultural priorities in Pakistan. He said that with every new system or government, attitudes toward national figures also appear to change. At times, Quaid-e-Azam and Allama Iqbal are prominently presented as national heroes, while at other times their images or symbols are altered or pushed into the background.

Ali Safina expressed regret that nations sometimes change the symbols of their founders and ideological leaders so easily, even though such figures represent national identity and ideological foundations.

In response, Shehzad Nawaz said that if the decision were in his hands, he would remove the image of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah from Pakistani currency notes. He clarified that his position was not political but moral and social in nature.

According to Nawaz, bribery, fraud, and financial corruption have become common in Pakistani society, and it pains him that such acts are carried out using notes bearing Quaid-e-Azam’s image. He described it as a moral contradiction that the image of a leader associated with principles, honesty, and struggle is present on notes used in unethical activities.

During the discussion, he also referred to a phrase once printed on currency notes. Nawaz said that during General Zia-ul-Haq’s era, the message Halal earning is worship was printed prominently on notes, but its size was later reduced during General Pervez Musharraf’s period. In a sarcastic tone, he remarked that considering the current situation, perhaps it should now be removed entirely.

Shehzad Nawaz’s statement is circulating widely on social media. Some users are describing it as a symbolic protest against corruption in society, while others argue that Quaid-e-Azam’s image is a symbol of national identity and respect, and that suggesting its removal from currency notes is inappropriate.

The statement has sparked a new debate over whether the issue lies in the use of national figures’ images or in society’s distance from the principles those figures represented.