2 Mumbai Doctors Who Kept Jinnah's Illness A Secret To Get Pakistan's Highest Civilian Award
Pakistan is set to posthumously award its highest civilian honor, the Nishan-e-Imtiaz, to two Indian Parsi doctors who kept Muhammad Ali Jinnah's terminal tuberculosis diagnosis secret in 1947. The award recognizes their professional confidentiality during a pivotal moment in the history of the subcontinent.
Why it matters
This historical recognition highlights the intersection of medical ethics and geopolitical history, acknowledging the impact of individual actions on the formation of nations.
Two Indian Parsi doctors based in Bombay (now Mumbai) are set to receive Pakistan's highest civilian award for keeping Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah's terminal illness diagnosis a secret during the crucial period before Partition in 1947. Islamabad has nominated physician Dr Jal Ratanji Patel and radiologist Dr Jal Dhaybho-Koo for the Nishan-e-Imtiaz award for their "quiet but extraordinary service" in ensuring that knowledge of Jinnah's terminal illness remained limited to just the members of his inner circle, announced Ahsan Iqbal, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives and head of the Awards Committee. In a post on X, Ahsan Iqbal noted that Dr Patel and Dr Dhaybho-Koo had examined Jinnah's X-ray in 1946 and concluded that his tuberculosis had reached an advanced stage and he had only a year or two to live.
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