Pakistan to honour two Mumbai doctors who kept Jinnah illness secret

Islamabad,UPDATED: Aug 19, 2026 18:18 IST

Pakistan will confer its highest civilian award, the Nishan-e-Imtiaz, on two Mumbai doctors from the Parsi community for keeping Muhammad Ali Jinnah's terminal illness secret, according to a federal minister. The two doctors, identified only as a physician and a radiologist, have been recognised for maintaining professional confidentiality at a time Pakistan says was crucial to its creation.

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal disclosed this in a post on X after nominations for this year's civilian and military honours were announced on August 14. He said: "I feel honoured to have had the privilege, as Chairman of the Awards Committee, of nominating for the Nishan-e-Imtiaz two remarkable doctors, a physician and a radiologist, both members of Bombay's Parsi community, who faithfully guarded the secret of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah's terminal illness."

Explaining why he considered their role important, Iqbal said any disclosure about Jinnah's frail health could have affected the creation of Pakistan in 1947. "Many historians regard this as one of the most consequential secrets of the twentieth century. Lord Mountbatten later acknowledged that, had he known how seriously ill Jinnah was, he might have delayed Partition -- potentially altering the course of history and perhaps even jeopardising the creation of Pakistan," he said.

Iqbal added: "By maintaining absolute professional confidentiality at such a critical moment, these doctors performed a quiet but extraordinary service. Their fidelity to their professional oath inadvertently became a significant contribution to the circumstances that made the creation of Pakistan possible." He did not reveal the names of the doctors or say who would receive the awards on their behalf.

Pakistan's national civil and military awards are traditionally announced on Independence Day on August 14 and are formally conferred at a presidential investiture ceremony on Pakistan Day on March 23. Jinnah, regarded as the father of the nation, was suffering from tuberculosis, which was incurable at the time, and died a year after Partition. In 1998, Pakistan had conferred the Nishan-e-Imtiaz on actor Dilip Kumar.

The announcement links a historic moment in Pakistan's founding to the professional silence of two Mumbai doctors, whom the government now plans to honour with the country's highest civilian award.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends