Pakistani National Song Kasam Us Waqt Ki

Hum Zinda Qaum Hain - Tehseen Jawed- Amjad Hussain - Benjamin Sisters - Fatima Jaffery

Humara Parcham Pakistani National Song

Pakistani song

Pakistani national song

aye watan pak watan

Munawwar Sultana - Ae Quaid e Azam Tera Ehsan Hai Ehsan

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Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah - Aug 15, 1947

Mazar of Quaid-E-Azam

Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Early Years
Entry into Politics
Creator of Pakistan.

Early years.

Quaid-e-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah was born on 25th December 1876 at Vazeer Mansion Karachi, was the first of seven children of Jinnahbhai, a prosperous merchant. After being taught at home, Jinnah was sent to the Sindh Madrasasah High School in 1887. Later he attended the Mission High School, where, at the age of 16, he passed the matriculation examination of the University of Bombay. On the advice of an English friend, his father decided to send him to England to acquire business experience. Jinnah, however, had made up his mind to become a barrister. In keeping with the custom of the time, his parents arranged for an early marriage for him before he left for England.

In London he joined Lincoln's Inn, one of the legal societies that prepared students for the bar. In 1895, at the age of 19, he was called to the bar. While in London Jinnah suffered two severe bereavements--the deaths of his wife and his mother. Nevertheless, he completed his formal studies and also made a study of the British political system, frequently visiting the House of Commons. He was greatly influenced by the liberalism of William E. Gladstone, who had become prime minister for the fourth time in 1892, the year of Jinnah's arrival in London. Jinnah also took a keen interest in the affairs of India and in Indian students. When the Parsi leader Dadabhai Naoroji, a leading Indian nationalist, ran for the English Parliament, Jinnah and other Indian students worked day and night for him. Their efforts were crowned with success, and Naoroji became the first Indian to sit in the House of Commons.

When Jinnah returned to Karachi in 1896, he found that his father's business had suffered losses and that he now had to depend on himself. He decided to start his legal practice in Bombay, but it took him years of work to establish himself as a lawyer.

It was nearly 10 years later that he turned toward active politics. A man without hobbies, his interest became divided between law and politics. Nor was he a religious zealot: he was a Muslim in a broad sense and had little to do with sects. His interest in women was also limited to Ruttenbai--the daughter of Sir Dinshaw Petit, a Bombay Parsi millionaire--whom he married over tremendous opposition from her parents and others. The marriage proved an unhappy one. It was his sister Fatima who gave him solace and company.

Entry into politics.

Jinnah first entered politics by participating in the 1906 Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress, the party that called for dominion status and later for independence for India. Four years later he was elected to the Imperial Legislative Council--the beginning of a long and distinguished parliamentary career. In Bombay he came to know, among other important Congress personalities, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, the eminent Maratha leader. Greatly influenced by these nationalist politicians, Jinnah aspired during the early part of his political life to become "a Muslim Gokhale." Admiration for British political institutions and an eagerness to raise the status of India in the international community and to develop a sense of Indian nationhood among the peoples of India were the chief elements of his politics. At that time, he still looked upon Muslim interests in the context of Indian nationalism.

But, by the beginning of the 20th century, the conviction had been growing among the Muslims that their interests demanded the preservation of their separate identity rather than amalgamation in the Indian nation that would for all practical purposes be Hindu. Largely to safeguard Muslim interests, the All-India Muslim League was founded in 1906. But Jinnah remained aloof from it. Only in 1913, when authoritatively assured that the league was as devoted as the Congress to the political emancipation of India, did Jinnah join the league. When the Indian Home Rule League was formed, he became its chief organiser in Bombay and was elected president of the Bombay branch.

"Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity." Jinnah's endeavours to bring about thepolitical union of Hindus and Muslims earned him the title of "the best ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity," an epithet coined by Gokhale. It was largely through his efforts that the Congress and the Muslim League began to hold their annual sessions jointly, to facilitate mutual consultation and participation. In 1915 the two organisations held their meetings in Bombay and in 1916 in Lucknow, where the Lucknow Pact was concluded. Under the terms of the pact, the two organisations put their seal to a scheme of constitutional reform that became their joint demand vis-à-vis the British government. There was a good deal of give and take, but the Muslims obtained one important concession in the shape of separate electorates, already conceded to them by the government in 1909 but hitherto resisted by the Congress.

Meanwhile, a new force in Indian politics had appeared in the person of Mohandas K. Gandhi. Both the Home Rule League and the Indian National Congress had come under his sway. Opposed to Gandhi's Non-co-operation Movement and his essentially Hindu approach to politics, Jinnah left both the League and the Congress in 1920. For a few years he kept himself aloof from the main political movements. He continued to be a firm believer in Hindu-Muslim unity and constitutional methods for the achievement of political ends. After his withdrawal from the Congress, he used the Muslim League platform for the propagation of his views. But during the 1920s the Muslim League, and with it Jinnah, had been overshadowed by the Congress and the religiously oriented Muslim Khilafat committee.

When the failure of the Non-co-operation Movement and the emergence of Hindu revivalist movements led to antagonism and riots between the Hindus and Muslims, the league gradually began to come into its own. Jinnah's problem during the following years was to convert the league into an enlightenedpolitical body prepared to co-operate with other organisations working for the good of India. In addition, he had to convince the Congress, as a prerequisite for political progress, of the necessity of settling the Hindu-Muslim conflict.

To bring about such a rapprochement was Jinnah's chief purpose during the late 1920s and early 1930s. He worked toward this end within the legislative assembly, at the Round Table Conferences in London (1930-32), and through his 14 points, which included proposals for a federal form of government, greater rights for minorities, one-third representation for Muslims in the central legislature, separation of the predominantly Muslim Sindh region from the rest of the Bombay province, and the introduction of reforms in the north-west Frontier Province. But he failed. His failure to bring about even minor amendments in the Nehru Committee proposals (1928) over the question of separate electorates and reservation of seats for Muslims in the legislatures frustrated him. He found himself in a peculiar position at this time; many Muslims thought that he was too nationalistic in his policy and that Muslim interests were not safe in his hands, while the Indian National Congress would not even meet the moderate Muslim demands halfway. Indeed, the Muslim League was a house divided against itself. The Punjab Muslim League repudiated Jinnah's leadership and organised itself separately. In disgust, Jinnah decided to settle in England. From 1930 to 1935 he remained in London, devoting himself to practice before the Privy Council. But when constitutional changes were in the offing, he was persuaded to return home to head a reconstituted Muslim League.

Soon preparations started for the elections under the Government of India Act of 1935. Jinnah was still thinking in terms of co-operation between the Muslim League and the Hindu Congress and with coalition governments in the provinces. But the elections of 1937 proved to be a turning point in the relations between the two organisations. The Congress obtained an absolute majority in six provinces, and the league did not do particularly well. The Congress decided not to include the league in the formation of provincial governments, and exclusive all-Congress governments were.

Creator of Pakistan.

Jinnah had originally been dubious about the practicability of Pakistan, an idea that Sir Muhammad Iqbal had propounded to the Muslim League conference of 1930; but before long he became convinced that a Muslim homeland on the Indian subcontinent was the only way of safeguarding Muslim interests and the Muslim way of life. It was not religious persecution that he feared so much as the future exclusion of Muslims from all prospects of advancement within India as soon as power became vested in the close-knit structure of Hindu social organisation. To guard against this danger he carried on a nation-wide campaign to warn his coreligionists of the perils of their position, and he converted the Muslim League into a powerful instrument for unifying the Muslims into a nation.



Muhammad Ali Jinnah, addressing a procession on 23rd March, 1940

At this point, Jinnah emerged as the leader of a renascent Muslim nation. Events began to move fast. On March 22-23, 1940, in Lahore, the league adopted a resolution to form a separate Muslim state, Pakistan. The Pakistan idea was first ridiculed and then tenaciously opposed by the Congress. But it captured the imagination of the Muslims. Pitted against Jinnah were men of the stature of Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. And the British government seemed to be intent on maintaining the political unity of the Indian subcontinent. But Jinnah led his movement with such skill and tenacity that ultimately both the Congress and the British government had no option but to agree to the partitioning of India. Pakistan thus emerged as an independent state in 14th August, 1947.

-----------------------------------------

Jinnah became the first head of the new state i.e. Pakistan. He took oath as the first governor general on August 15, 1947. Faced with the serious problems of a young nation, he tackled Pakistan's problems with authority. He was not regarded as merely the governor-general; he was revered as the father of the nation. He worked hard until overpowered by age and disease in Karachi. He died on 11th September, 1948 at Karachi

Founder Of Pakistan Quaid e Azam Muhammed Ali Jinnah’s 61st Death Anniversary Today

ISLAMABAD: The nation would observe 61st death anniversary of Founding Father of Pakistan Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, with a pledge to make the country a progressive, modern and moderate Islamic state in utter accord to the wishes of Father of the Nation.

Special prayers would be offered for Quaid’s soul and prosperity, solidarity and integrity of the country in mosques, churches, holy places and gatherings arranged to mark the day.

The government, various political, social, cultural and literary organizations would organize different programmes to pay tributes to Quaid-i-Azam for creating a separate homeland for the Muslims of the sub-continent.

In this connection, Nazriya Pakistan Council will organize Quran Khawani on Quaid’s death anniversary Jinnah at Faisal Mosque on September 11.

Federal ministers, senior government functionaries, parliamentarians, ambassadors of the Muslim countries and workers of Pakistan Movement would participate in the Quran Khawani.

The council has requested the people of twin cities to participate in the congregation and pay homage to the departed soul of the Founder of Pakistan.

Jinnah’s goal was well defined and crystal clear, based on his historic Two-Nation Theory. In-spite of heavy odds against him, Jinnah won, without leading a single protest rally on the roads, without giving a single protest call or shutter down or wheel jamming as is the order of the day.

Against the political and religious environment at that time which was sweeping Indo-Pak sub continent, the young barrister Jinnah, emerged as the sole representative of the Muslims of India forcing an eminent British writer Beverly Nicholas in 1945 to proclaim him as one of the greatest world leaders of the 20th century.

Jinnah was acclaimed as Quaid-i-Azam by no less a person than Mahatma Gandhi, the undisputed bapu (father) of Hindu India.

Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah

QUAID-E-AZAM MOHAMMAD ALl JINNAH

On December 25, 1876 a child was born in a prominent mercantile family of Karachi who was destined to change the course of history in South Asia and to carve out a homeland for the Muslims of India where they could pursue their destiny according to their faith and ideology.

From his very childhood, young Jinnah developed the habit of stem independence and self-reliance. In 1892, he was called to the Bar at the very early age of 16. He stayed for four year in England and on his return, started his practice in Bombay. The early period was spent in hard and constant labour. However, he soon came to be looked upon not only as a brilliant lawyer, but also as a man of great integrity and character. He was soon elected to the Imperial Legislative Council where he moved the famous Muslim Waqf Bill-the first instance of a Bill passing into legislation on the motion of a private Member.

A lover of freedom and a great patriot, Mr. Jinnah began by accommodating the Congress point of view; and was called the, Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity' when he brought about a rapprochement between the Congress and the Muslim League in 1916. He soon felt, however, that the Congress was merely a camouflage for consolidating Hindu India at the expense of Muslim, and it was at the London Meetings of the Round Table Conference during 1930-32 that he received the shock of his life. "In the face of danger" he said, "the Hindu sentiment, the Hindu mind, the Hindu attitude led me to the conclusion that there was no hope of unity".

Mr. Jinnah returned from England in 1934, and set out to galvanise the Muslim League into a most dynamic organisation. "We are a Nation" he asserted, "with our own distinctive culture and civilisation, language and literature, art and architecture, names and nomenclature, sense of value and proportion, legal/ laws and moral code, custom and calendar, history and tradition, aptitude and ambitions; in short, we have our own distinctive outlook on life and of life. By all canons of international law we are a Nation."

In subsequent years, Mr. Jinnah, popularly known by the title 'Quaid-e- Azam' (the Great Leader), came to symbolise the Muslim aspirations for a separate independent homeland, and in 1940 the Muslim League, under his inspiring leadership, demanded that India should be partitioned and the Muslim majority areas should constitute the sovereign, independent State of Pakistan. It was his ardent advocacy and unbending character, his unshakable determination and his 'Power of persuasion that brought about the successful fruition of the Muslim struggle in the shape of Pakistan.

The Quaid was seventy-one when Pakistan was born. He was spared by Almighty only for one year to set the ship of the new State on its keel. Even during the brief period of his Governor Generalship he strove hard to lay down correct precedents for the growth of a democratic tradition in Pakistan.

He died on September 11, 1948 deeply mourned by a grateful Nation but as one of the great immortals of history .

Quaid-e-Azam ( Muhammad Ali Jinnah ) Quotes & Sayings.

“I am an Indian first second and last.”
Advice to young Raja of Mahmudabad
Circa 1925

"I have nothing to do with this pseudo-religious approach that Gandhi is advocating"
Jinnah speaking to Durga Das in London

“Come forward as servants of Islam, organise the people economically, socially, educationally and politically and I am sure that you will be a power that will be accepted by everybody.”
Presidential Address at the All India Muslim League, Lahore
March 23, 1940

"I have always maintained that no nation can ever be worthy of its existence that cannot take its women along with the men. No struggle can ever succeed without women participating side by side with men. There are two powers in the world; one is the sword and the other is the pen. There is a great competition and rivalry between the two. There is a third power stronger than both, that of the women."
Speech at Islamia College for women
March 25, 1940

“The prosperity and advancement of a nation depend upon its intelligentsia, and Muslim India is looking forward to her young generation and education classes to give a bold lead for our guidance and a brilliant record of histrorical achievements and traditions. Islam expect every Muslim to do this duty, and if we realise our responsibility time will come soon when we shall justify ourselves worthy of a glorious past.”
December 24, 1940

“The vital contest in which we are engaged is not only for the material gain but also the very existence of the soul of Muslim nation, Hence I have said often that it is a matter of life and death to the Musalmans and is not a counter for bargaining.”
Predisential Address devlivered at the Special Pakistan Session of the Punjab Muslim Students Federation
March 2, 1941

“I particularly appeal to our intelligentsia and Muslim students to come forward and rise to the occasion. You have performed wonders in the past. You are still capable of repeating the history. You are not lacking in the great qualities and virtues in comparison with the other nations. Only you have to be fully conscious of that fact and to act with courage, faith and unity.”
Message to Pakistan Day, issued from Delhi
March 23, 1943

"No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your women are side by side with you. We are victims of evil customs. It is a crime against humanity that our women are shut up within the four walls of the houses as prisoners. There is no sanction anywhere for the deplorable condition in which our women have to live.”
Speech at a meeting of the Muslim University Union, Aligarh
March 10, 1944

“Pakistan not only means freedom and independce but the Muslim Ideology which has to be preserved, which has come to us as a precious gift and treasure and which, we hope other will share with us”
Message to Frontier Muslim Students Federation
June 18, 1945

“If we want to make this great State of Pakistan happy and prosperous we should wholly and solely concentrate on the well-being of the people, and especially of the masses and the poor... you are free- you are free to go to your temples mosques or any other place of worship in this state of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion, caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the state... in due course of time Hindus will cease to be Hindus and Muslims will cease to Muslims- not in a religious sense for that is the personal faith of an individual- but in a political sense as citizens of one state”
Address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, Karachi
August 11, 1947

"Our object should be peace within, and peace without. We want to live peacefully and maintain cordial friendly relations with our immediate neighbours and with the world at large."
Lahore
August 15th, 1947

“My message to you all is of hope, courage and confidence. Let us mobilize all our resources in a systematic and organized way and tackle the grave issues that confront us with grim determination and discipline worthy of a great nation.”
Eid-ul-Azha Message to the Nation
October 24, 1947

“You have to stand guard over the development and maintenance of Islamic democracy, Islamic social justice and the equality of manhood in your own native soil. With faith, discipline and selfless devotion to duty, there is nothing worthwhile that you cannot achieve.”
Address to the officers and men of the 5th Heavy Ack Ack and 6th Light Ack Ack Regiments in Malir, Karachi
February 21, 1948

“That freedom can never be attained by a nation without suffering and sacrifice has been amply borne out by the recent tragic happenings in this subcontinent. We are in the midst of unparalleled difficulties and untold sufferings; we have been through dark days of apprehension and anguish; but I can say with confidence that with courage and self-reliance and by the Grace of God we shall emerge triumphant.”
Speech at a Mammoth Rally at the University Stadium, Lahore
October 30, 1947

“We should have a State in which we could live and breathe as free men and which we could develop according to our own lights and culture and where principles of Islamic social justice could find free play.”
Address to Civil, Naval, Military and Air Force Officers of Pakistan Government, Karachi
October 11, 1947

“We must work our destiny in our own way and present to the world an economic system based on true Islamic concept of equality of manhood and social justice. We will thereby be fulfilling our mission as Muslims and giving to humanity the message of peace which alone can save it and secure the welfare, happiness and prosperity of mankind”
Speech at the opening ceremony of State Bank of Pakistan, Karachi
July 1, 1948

QUAID-E-AZAM muhammad ali jinnah

Baba-e Qaum, Quaid-e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinah was born in Karachi on December the 25th, 1876, in a
building known as Wazir Mansion. He got his early education at Karachi and Bombay. He did his barristery
from England. He saw the name of Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) on the top of the gate of Lincoln's Inn. So he
decided to study there. After his return, Jinah started his practice in barristery. He joined All India National
Congress in 1906. He attended for the first time a meeting of All India Muslim League in 1912. Later he Joined
All India Muslim League in 1913. The third political party he joined was the Home Rule League. He was
member of both the Congress and Muslim League at the same time. Initially he remained working with the
Hindu leaders of Congress. He was given the title of "Ambassador of Hindu Muslim Unity" by prominent
politicians. With the passage of time he realised that the Hindu leaders of Congress have a different agenda.
He left Congress and became fully involved with Muslim League.

Jinah was a man of principles. He was probably the only person among all the big leaders of the subcontinent,
who never went to jail. His motto was: Unity, Faith and Discipline.

When Muslim League finally decided to have a separate country for Muslims of the subcontinent, it was the
leadership of Jinah which led the nation to achieve this goal. Because of these leadership qualities and his firm
stand on the issue, Britishers found no way to reject the demand of Muslims of the subcontinent for a separate
homeland. He took charge as the first Governor General of Pakistan on 14th of August 1947 in a ceremony at
Karachi. India never took risk of invading Hyderabad or Junagarh in his life. Jinah died on September the 11th,
1948, at Ziarat near Quetta. He was buried in Karachi. His tomb is a beautiful piece of architecture and is
worth visiting.


Jinnnah great leader than Gandhi, Nehru: Wolpert

ISLAMABAD: Terming Quaid-e-Azam great leader than Gandhi and Nehru, renowned American scholar
Professor Stanley Wolpert Sunday said Jinnah stood for justice and fair play.

In a lecture on Quaid-e-Azam, Wolpert said the best way to pay homage to Jinnah is "to act on his words and
turn Pakistan into one of the greatest nations of the world." Wolpert, who currently teaches at the University of
California, Los Angles, is also author of a number of research books on South Asian leaders, freedom
movement and its history, including Quaid-e- Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

"At the time of partition Gandhi told Lord Mountbatten that only Muhammad Ali Jinnah can stop the bloodshed."
He said this speaks volume of the Quaid's qualities. Quaid-e-Azam was for following a policy of promoting,
goodwill, harmony, fairplay and reciprocity, he added. Wolpert said founder of Pakistan was an outstanding
barrister and an honest politician.

Tracing the evolution of the Quaid as a political leader, Professor Wolpert stated that he hated corruption,
nepotism and jobbery. Following principles of the Quaid, the Professor said, Pakistan can be turned into a
great nation by for people. "He believed in working for the well being of the masses and the poor, equal rights
and principles for all and no discriminations between communities."

He said Quaid-e-Azam had urged women to join independence movement and was in favor of giving
opportunities to women to enter into political life.

Answering several questions, Professor Stanley Wolpert said Quaid-e-Azam was for "Pan Islamism" but his
life and health did not permit him to put his ideas into practice after the emergence of Pakistan.

He pointed out that Quaid-e-Azam always stated firmly that Muslims in South Asia are not a minority but a
separate nation. He refuted Khan Abdul Wali Khan's allegations that the Quaid was a British agent, or
Pakistan was British plan. The American scholar said though he did not read Khan Abdul Wali Khan's book
titled "Facts are Facts," in his opinion Quaid-e-Azam was a man of principles and not agent of any one.

Answering another question, Professor Stanley said, "it is in the interest of both Pakistan and India and the
world that the Kashmir issue is solved through peaceful means."

Finance Minister Sartaj Aziz in with remarks draw a balance sheet of Pakistan achievements and failures, and
urged the younger generation to realize their responsibilities of the national and make Pakistan strong.

He said Pakistan achieved progress in industrial and agriculture sectors and its living standard is higher than
countries in South Asia. The country's defense is strong and it can manufacture light aircraft, tank and missiles.
As far the failures, he said, "we have lost half of the country and failed to build up our socio-economic
institutions."

Earlier introducing the guest, Minister for Information Mushahid Hussain Sayed paid glowing tributes to
Professor Stanley for writing comprehensive biography of Quaid-e-Azam.

This section has been taken from Pakistan News Service. Please visit their site at www.paknews.org.pk
==========================================================================================================================================================================================
Early Years....
Quaid-e-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah was born on 25th December 1876 at Vazeer
Mansion Karachi, was the first of seven children of Jinnahbhai, a prosperous merchant. After
being taught at home, Jinnah was sent to the Sindh Madrasasah High School in 1887. Later
he attended the Mission High School, where, at the age of 16, he passed the matriculation
examination of the University of Bombay. On the advice of an English friend, his father decided
to send him to England to acquire business experience. Jinnah, however, had made up his mind
to become a barrister. In keeping with the custom of the time, his parents arranged for an early
marriage for him before he left for England.

In London he joined Lincoln's Inn, one of the legal societies that
prepared students for the bar. In 1895, at the age of 19, he was
called to the bar. While in London Jinnah suffered two severe
bereavements--the deaths of his wife and his mother.
Nevertheless, he completed his formal studies and also made a study of the British political
system, frequently visiting the House of Commons. He was greatly influenced by the liberalism of
William E. Gladstone, who had become prime minister for the fourth time in 1892, the year of
Jinnah's arrival in London. Jinnah also took a keen interest in the affairs of India and in Indian
students. When the Parsi leader Dadabhai Naoroji, a leading Indian nationalist, ran for the
English Parliament, Jinnah and other Indian students worked day and night for him. Their efforts were crowned with success,
and Naoroji became the first Indian to sit in the House of Commons.

When Jinnah returned to Karachi in 1896, he found that his father's
business had suffered losses and that he now had to depend on
himself. He decided to start his legal practice in Bombay, but it took
him years of work to establish himself as a lawyer.

It was nearly 10 years later that he turned toward active politics. A
man without hobbies, his interest became divided between law and
politics. Nor was he a religious zealot: he was a Muslim in a broad
sense and had little to do with sects. His interest in women was also
limited to Ruttenbai--the daughter of Sir Dinshaw Petit, a Bombay
Parsi millionaire--whom he married over tremendous opposition from
her parents and others. The marriage proved an unhappy one. It was
his sister Fatima who gave him solace and company.

Entry Into Politics....
Jinnah first entered politics by participating in the 1906 Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress, the party that
called for dominion status and later for independence for India. Four years later he was elected to the Imperial Legislative
Council--the beginning of a long and distinguished parliamentary career. In Bombay he came to know, among other important
Congress personalities, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, the eminent Maratha leader. Greatly influenced by these nationalist politicians,
Jinnah aspired during the early part of his political life to become "a Muslim Gokhale." Admiration for British political
institutions and an eagerness to raise the status of India in the international community and to develop a sense of Indian
nationhood among the peoples of India were the chief elements of his politics. At that time, he still looked upon Muslim
interests in the context of Indian nationalism.

But, by the beginning of the 20th century, the conviction had been growing among the Muslims that their interests demanded
the preservation of their separate identity rather than amalgamation in the Indian nation that would for all practical purposes be
Hindu. Largely to safeguard Muslim interests, the All-India Muslim League was founded in 1906. But Jinnah remained aloof
from it. Only in 1913, when authoritatively assured that the league was as devoted as the Congress to the political
emancipation of India, did Jinnah join the league. When the Indian Home Rule League was formed, he became its chief
organiser in Bombay and was elected president of the Bombay branch.

"Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity." Jinnah's endeavours to bring about
thepolitical union of Hindus and Muslims earned him the title of "the best
ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity," an epithet coined by Gokhale. It was
largely through his efforts that the Congress and the Muslim League began to
hold their annual sessions jointly, to facilitate mutual consultation and
participation. In 1915 the two organisations held their meetings in Bombay
and in 1916 in Lucknow, where the Lucknow Pact was concluded. Under
the terms of the pact, the two organisations put their seal to a scheme of
constitutional reform that became their joint demand vis-à-vis the British
government. There was a good deal of give and take, but the Muslims
obtained one important concession in the shape of separate electorates,
already conceded to them by the government in 1909 but hitherto resisted by
the Congress.

Meanwhile, a new force in Indian politics had appeared in the person of Mohandas K. Gandhi. Both the Home Rule League
and the Indian National Congress had come under his sway. Opposed to Gandhi's Non-co-operation Movement and his
essentially Hindu approach to politics, Jinnah left both the League and the Congress in 1920. For a few years he kept himself
aloof from the main political movements. He continued to be a firm believer in Hindu-Muslim unity and constitutional methods
for the achievement of political ends. After his withdrawal from the Congress, he used the Muslim League platform for the
propagation of his views. But during the 1920s the Muslim League, and with it Jinnah, had been overshadowed by the
Congress and the religiously oriented Muslim Khilafat committee.

When the failure of the Non-co-operation Movement and the emergence of Hindu revivalist movements led to antagonism and
riots between the Hindus and Muslims, the league gradually began to come into its own. Jinnah's problem during the following
years was to convert the league into an enlightenedpolitical body prepared to co-operate with other organisations working for
the good of India. In addition, he had to convince the Congress, as a prerequisite for political progress, of the necessity of
settling the Hindu-Muslim conflict.

To bring about such a rapprochement was Jinnah's chief purpose during the late 1920s and early 1930s. He worked toward
this end within the legislative assembly, at the Round Table Conferences in London (1930-32), and through his 14 points,
which included proposals for a federal form of government, greater rights for minorities, one-third representation for Muslims
in the central legislature, separation of the predominantly Muslim Sindh region from the rest of the Bombay province, and the
introduction of reforms in the north-west Frontier Province. But he failed. His failure to bring about even minor amendments in
the Nehru Committee proposals (1928) over the question of separate electorates and reservation of seats for Muslims in the
legislatures frustrated him. He found himself in a peculiar position at this time; many Muslims thought that he was too
nationalistic in his policy and that Muslim interests were not safe in his hands, while the Indian National Congress would not
even meet the moderate Muslim demands halfway. Indeed, the Muslim League was a house divided against itself. The Punjab
Muslim League repudiated Jinnah's leadership and organised itself separately. In disgust, Jinnah decided to settle in England.
From 1930 to 1935 he remained in London, devoting himself to practice before the Privy Council. But when constitutional
changes were in the offing, he was persuaded to return home to head a reconstituted Muslim League.

Soon preparations started for the elections under the Government of India Act of 1935. Jinnah was still thinking in terms of
co-operation between the Muslim League and the Hindu Congress and with coalition governments in the provinces. But the
elections of 1937 proved to be a turning point in the relations between the two organisations. The Congress obtained an
absolute majority in six provinces, and the league did not do particularly well. The Congress decided not to include the league
in the formation of provincial governments, and exclusive all-Congress governments were.


CREATOR OF PAKISTAN....
Jinnah had originally been dubious about the practicability of Pakistan, an idea that
Sir Muhammad Iqbal had propounded to the Muslim League confer

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QUAID-E-AZAM muhammad ali jinnah

Baba-e Qaum, Quaid-e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinah was born in Karachi on December the 25th, 1876, in a
building known as Wazir Mansion. He got his early education at Karachi and Bombay. He did his barristery
from England. He saw the name of Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) on the top of the gate of Lincoln's Inn. So he
decided to study there. After his return, Jinah started his practice in barristery. He joined All India National
Congress in 1906. He attended for the first time a meeting of All India Muslim League in 1912. Later he Joined
All India Muslim League in 1913. The third political party he joined was the Home Rule League. He was
member of both the Congress and Muslim League at the same time. Initially he remained working with the
Hindu leaders of Congress. He was given the title of "Ambassador of Hindu Muslim Unity" by prominent
politicians. With the passage of time he realised that the Hindu leaders of Congress have a different agenda.
He left Congress and became fully involved with Muslim League.

Jinah was a man of principles. He was probably the only person among all the big leaders of the subcontinent,
who never went to jail. His motto was: Unity, Faith and Discipline.

When Muslim League finally decided to have a separate country for Muslims of the subcontinent, it was the
leadership of Jinah which led the nation to achieve this goal. Because of these leadership qualities and his firm
stand on the issue, Britishers found no way to reject the demand of Muslims of the subcontinent for a separate
homeland. He took charge as the first Governor General of Pakistan on 14th of August 1947 in a ceremony at
Karachi. India never took risk of invading Hyderabad or Junagarh in his life. Jinah died on September the 11th,
1948, at Ziarat near Quetta. He was buried in Karachi. His tomb is a beautiful piece of architecture and is
worth visiting.


Jinnnah great leader than Gandhi, Nehru: Wolpert

ISLAMABAD: Terming Quaid-e-Azam great leader than Gandhi and Nehru, renowned American scholar
Professor Stanley Wolpert Sunday said Jinnah stood for justice and fair play.

In a lecture on Quaid-e-Azam, Wolpert said the best way to pay homage to Jinnah is "to act on his words and
turn Pakistan into one of the greatest nations of the world." Wolpert, who currently teaches at the University of
California, Los Angles, is also author of a number of research books on South Asian leaders, freedom
movement and its history, including Quaid-e- Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

"At the time of partition Gandhi told Lord Mountbatten that only Muhammad Ali Jinnah can stop the bloodshed."
He said this speaks volume of the Quaid's qualities. Quaid-e-Azam was for following a policy of promoting,
goodwill, harmony, fairplay and reciprocity, he added. Wolpert said founder of Pakistan was an outstanding
barrister and an honest politician.

Tracing the evolution of the Quaid as a political leader, Professor Wolpert stated that he hated corruption,
nepotism and jobbery. Following principles of the Quaid, the Professor said, Pakistan can be turned into a
great nation by for people. "He believed in working for the well being of the masses and the poor, equal rights
and principles for all and no discriminations between communities."

He said Quaid-e-Azam had urged women to join independence movement and was in favor of giving
opportunities to women to enter into political life.

Answering several questions, Professor Stanley Wolpert said Quaid-e-Azam was for "Pan Islamism" but his
life and health did not permit him to put his ideas into practice after the emergence of Pakistan.

He pointed out that Quaid-e-Azam always stated firmly that Muslims in South Asia are not a minority but a
separate nation. He refuted Khan Abdul Wali Khan's allegations that the Quaid was a British agent, or
Pakistan was British plan. The American scholar said though he did not read Khan Abdul Wali Khan's book
titled "Facts are Facts," in his opinion Quaid-e-Azam was a man of principles and not agent of any one.

Answering another question, Professor Stanley said, "it is in the interest of both Pakistan and India and the
world that the Kashmir issue is solved through peaceful means."

Finance Minister Sartaj Aziz in with remarks draw a balance sheet of Pakistan achievements and failures, and
urged the younger generation to realize their responsibilities of the national and make Pakistan strong.

He said Pakistan achieved progress in industrial and agriculture sectors and its living standard is higher than
countries in South Asia. The country's defense is strong and it can manufacture light aircraft, tank and missiles.
As far the failures, he said, "we have lost half of the country and failed to build up our socio-economic
institutions."

Earlier introducing the guest, Minister for Information Mushahid Hussain Sayed paid glowing tributes to
Professor Stanley for writing comprehensive biography of Quaid-e-Azam.

This section has been taken from Pakistan News Service. Please visit their site at www.paknews.org.pk
==========================================================================================================================================================================================
Early Years....
Quaid-e-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah was born on 25th December 1876 at Vazeer
Mansion Karachi, was the first of seven children of Jinnahbhai, a prosperous merchant. After
being taught at home, Jinnah was sent to the Sindh Madrasasah High School in 1887. Later
he attended the Mission High School, where, at the age of 16, he passed the matriculation
examination of the University of Bombay. On the advice of an English friend, his father decided
to send him to England to acquire business experience. Jinnah, however, had made up his mind
to become a barrister. In keeping with the custom of the time, his parents arranged for an early
marriage for him before he left for England.

In London he joined Lincoln's Inn, one of the legal societies that
prepared students for the bar. In 1895, at the age of 19, he was
called to the bar. While in London Jinnah suffered two severe
bereavements--the deaths of his wife and his mother.
Nevertheless, he completed his formal studies and also made a study of the British political
system, frequently visiting the House of Commons. He was greatly influenced by the liberalism of
William E. Gladstone, who had become prime minister for the fourth time in 1892, the year of
Jinnah's arrival in London. Jinnah also took a keen interest in the affairs of India and in Indian
students. When the Parsi leader Dadabhai Naoroji, a leading Indian nationalist, ran for the
English Parliament, Jinnah and other Indian students worked day and night for him. Their efforts were crowned with success,
and Naoroji became the first Indian to sit in the House of Commons.

When Jinnah returned to Karachi in 1896, he found that his father's
business had suffered losses and that he now had to depend on
himself. He decided to start his legal practice in Bombay, but it took
him years of work to establish himself as a lawyer.

It was nearly 10 years later that he turned toward active politics. A
man without hobbies, his interest became divided between law and
politics. Nor was he a religious zealot: he was a Muslim in a broad
sense and had little to do with sects. His interest in women was also
limited to Ruttenbai--the daughter of Sir Dinshaw Petit, a Bombay
Parsi millionaire--whom he married over tremendous opposition from
her parents and others. The marriage proved an unhappy one. It was
his sister Fatima who gave him solace and company.

Entry Into Politics....
Jinnah first entered politics by participating in the 1906 Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress, the party that
called for dominion status and later for independence for India. Four years later he was elected to the Imperial Legislative
Council--the beginning of a long and distinguished parliamentary career. In Bombay he came to know, among other important
Congress personalities, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, the eminent Maratha leader. Greatly influenced by these nationalist politicians,
Jinnah aspired during the early part of his political life to become "a Muslim Gokhale." Admiration for British political
institutions and an eagerness to raise the status of India in the international community and to develop a sense of Indian
nationhood among the peoples of India were the chief elements of his politics. At that time, he still looked upon Muslim
interests in the context of Indian nationalism.

But, by the beginning of the 20th century, the conviction had been growing among the Muslims that their interests demanded
the preservation of their separate identity rather than amalgamation in the Indian nation that would for all practical purposes be
Hindu. Largely to safeguard Muslim interests, the All-India Muslim League was founded in 1906. But Jinnah remained aloof
from it. Only in 1913, when authoritatively assured that the league was as devoted as the Congress to the political
emancipation of India, did Jinnah join the league. When the Indian Home Rule League was formed, he became its chief
organiser in Bombay and was elected president of the Bombay branch.

"Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity." Jinnah's endeavours to bring about
thepolitical union of Hindus and Muslims earned him the title of "the best
ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity," an epithet coined by Gokhale. It was
largely through his efforts that the Congress and the Muslim League began to
hold their annual sessions jointly, to facilitate mutual consultation and
participation. In 1915 the two organisations held their meetings in Bombay
and in 1916 in Lucknow, where the Lucknow Pact was concluded. Under
the terms of the pact, the two organisations put their seal to a scheme of
constitutional reform that became their joint demand vis-à-vis the British
government. There was a good deal of give and take, but the Muslims
obtained one important concession in the shape of separate electorates,
already conceded to them by the government in 1909 but hitherto resisted by
the Congress.

Meanwhile, a new force in Indian politics had appeared in the person of Mohandas K. Gandhi. Both the Home Rule League
and the Indian National Congress had come under his sway. Opposed to Gandhi's Non-co-operation Movement and his
essentially Hindu approach to politics, Jinnah left both the League and the Congress in 1920. For a few years he kept himself
aloof from the main political movements. He continued to be a firm believer in Hindu-Muslim unity and constitutional methods
for the achievement of political ends. After his withdrawal from the Congress, he used the Muslim League platform for the
propagation of his views. But during the 1920s the Muslim League, and with it Jinnah, had been overshadowed by the
Congress and the religiously oriented Muslim Khilafat committee.

When the failure of the Non-co-operation Movement and the emergence of Hindu revivalist movements led to antagonism and
riots between the Hindus and Muslims, the league gradually began to come into its own. Jinnah's problem during the following
years was to convert the league into an enlightenedpolitical body prepared to co-operate with other organisations working for
the good of India. In addition, he had to convince the Congress, as a prerequisite for political progress, of the necessity of
settling the Hindu-Muslim conflict.

To bring about such a rapprochement was Jinnah's chief purpose during the late 1920s and early 1930s. He worked toward
this end within the legislative assembly, at the Round Table Conferences in London (1930-32), and through his 14 points,
which included proposals for a federal form of government, greater rights for minorities, one-third representation for Muslims
in the central legislature, separation of the predominantly Muslim Sindh region from the rest of the Bombay province, and the
introduction of reforms in the north-west Frontier Province. But he failed. His failure to bring about even minor amendments in
the Nehru Committee proposals (1928) over the question of separate electorates and reservation of seats for Muslims in the
legislatures frustrated him. He found himself in a peculiar position at this time; many Muslims thought that he was too
nationalistic in his policy and that Muslim interests were not safe in his hands, while the Indian National Congress would not
even meet the moderate Muslim demands halfway. Indeed, the Muslim League was a house divided against itself. The Punjab
Muslim League repudiated Jinnah's leadership and organised itself separately. In disgust, Jinnah decided to settle in England.
From 1930 to 1935 he remained in London, devoting himself to practice before the Privy Council. But when constitutional
changes were in the offing, he was persuaded to return home to head a reconstituted Muslim League.

Soon preparations started for the elections under the Government of India Act of 1935. Jinnah was still thinking in terms of
co-operation between the Muslim League and the Hindu Congress and with coalition governments in the provinces. But the
elections of 1937 proved to be a turning point in the relations between the two organisations. The Congress obtained an
absolute majority in six provinces, and the league did not do particularly well. The Congress decided not to include the league
in the formation of provincial governments, and exclusive all-Congress governments were.


CREATOR OF PAKISTAN....
Jinnah had originally been dubious about the practicability of Pakistan, an idea that
Sir Muhammad Iqbal had propounded to the Muslim League confer

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Mohammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948)

Jinnah was an Indian politician who successfully campaigned for an independent Pakistan and became its first leader. He is known there as 'Quaid-I Azam' or 'Great Leader'.
Mohammed Ali Jinnah was born on 25 December 1876 in Karachi, now in Pakistan, but then part of British-controlled India. His father was a prosperous Muslim merchant.
Jinnah studied at Bombay University and at Lincoln's Inn in London. He then ran a successful legal practice in Bombay. He was already a member of the Indian National Congress, which was working for autonomy from British rule, when he joined the Muslim League in 1913. The league had formed a few years earlier to represent the interests of Indian Muslims in a predominantly Hindu country, and by 1916 he was elected its president.
In 1920, the Indian National Congress launched a movement of non-cooperation to boycott all aspects of British rule. Jinnah opposed this policy and resigned from the congress. There were by now profound differences between the congress and the Muslim League.
After provincial elections in 1937, the congress refused to form coalition administrations with the Muslim League in mixed areas. Relations between Hindus and Muslims began to deteriorate. In 1940, at a Muslim League session in Lahore, the first official demand was made for the partition of India and the creation of a Muslim state of Pakistan. Jinnah had always believed that Hindu-Muslim unity was possible, but reluctantly came to the view that partition was necessary to safeguard the rights of Indian Muslims.
His insistence on this issue through negotiations with the British government resulted in the partition of India and the formation of the state of Pakistan on 14 August 1947. This occurred against a backdrop of widespread violence between Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs, and a vast movement of populations between the new states of Pakistan and India in which hundreds of thousands died.
Jinnah became the first governor general of Pakistan, but died of tuberculosis on 11 September 1948.abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz«More Historic FiguresSee also

Quaid-e-Azam's Biography

Jinnah was born as Mahomedali Jinnahbhai in Wazir Mansion, Karachi, then a province of the Bombay Presidency of British India. Although his earliest school records state that he was born on October 20, 1875, (but Sarojini Naidu, the author of Jinnah's first biography gives the date ”December 25, 1876”). Jinnah belonged to the Ismaili branch of Shi’a Islam. He was not an observing Muslim, dressed mostly throughout his life in European-style clothes, and spoke in English more than his mother tongue, Gujarati. Contrary to his subsequent image as founder of an Islamic Pakistan, Jinnah was fond of the good life of a typical wealthy Bombay socialite, enjoying his Scotch in the evenings and relishing a breakfast of 'ham and egg' sandwich which his Parsee wife lovingly made for him each morning. Jinnah was the eldest of seven children born to Mithibai and Jinnahbhai Poonja. His father, Jinnahbhai (1857–1901), was a prosperous Gujarati merchant who had moved to Sindh from Kathiawar, Gujarat before Jinnah's birth. His grandfather was Poonja Gokuldas Meghji, a Bhatia from Paneli village in Gondal state in Kathiawar and Jinnah's ancestors were Hindu Rajputs that converted to Islam.The firstborn Jinnah was soon joined by six siblings, brothers Ahmad Ali, Bunde Ali, and Rahmat Ali, and sisters Maryam, Fatima and Shireen. Jinnah's family belonged to the Ismaili Khoja branch of Shi'a Islam, though Jinnah later converted to Twelver Shi'a Islam. Their mother tongue was Gujarati, however, in time they also came to speak Kutchi, Sindhi, Urdu and English.The young Jinnah, a restless student, studied at several schools: at the Sindh-Madrasa-tul-Islam in Karachi; briefly at the Gokal Das Tej Primary School in Mumbai; and finally at the Christian Missionary Society High School in Karachi, where, at age sixteen, he passed the matriculation examination of the University of Bombay.The same year, 1892, Jinnah was offered an apprenticeship at the London office of Graham's Shipping and Trading Company, a business that had extensive dealings with Jinnahbhai Poonja's firm in Karachi. However, before he left for England, he married his distant cousin, at his mother's urging, Emibai Jinnah who was two years junior. The marriage was not to last long: a few months later, Emibai died. Later, during his sojourn in England, his mother too would pass away. In London, Jinnah soon left the apprenticeship to study law instead, by joining Lincoln's Inn. The welcome board of the Lincoln's Inn had the names of the world's all time top ten magistrates. This list was led by the name of Muhammad, which was the sole reason of Jinnah's joining of Lincoln's Inn. He In three years, at age 19, he became the youngest Indian to be called to the bar in England. Around this time, Jinnah also became interested in politics. An admirer of the Indian political leaders Dadabhai Naoroji and Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, he worked, with other Indian students, on the former's successful campaign for a seat in the British Parliament. Although, by now, Jinnah had developed largely constitutionalist views on Indian self-government, he nevertheless condemned both the arrogance of British officials in India and the discrimination practised by them against Indians.
Jinnah House in Mumbai, India.During the final period of his stay in England, Jinnah came under considerable pressure when his father's business was ruined. Settling in Mumbai, he became a successful lawyer—gaining particular fame for his skilled handling of the "Caucus Case". Jinnah built a house in Malabar Hill, later known as Jinnah House. His reputation as a skilled lawyer prompted Indian leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak to hire him as defence counsel for his sedition trial in 1905. Jinnah argued that it was not sedition for an Indian to demand freedom and self-government in his own country, but Tilak received a rigorous term of imprisonment test.

Biography on Quaid-e-Azam

Quaid-e-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah was born on 25th December 1876 at Vazeer Mansion Karachi, was the first of seven children of Jinnahbhai, a prosperous merchant. After being taught at home, Jinnah was sent to the Sindh Madrasasah High School in 1887. Later he attended the Mission High School, where, at the age of 16, he passed the matriculation examination of the University of Bombay. On the advice of an English friend, his father decided to send him to England to acquire business experience. Jinnah, however, had made up his mind to become a barrister. In keeping with the custom of the time, his parents arranged for an early marriage for him before he left for England.
In London he joined Lincoln's Inn, one of the legal societies that prepared students for the bar. In 1895, at the age of 19, he was called to the bar. While in London Jinnah suffered two severe bereavements--the deaths of his wife and his mother. Nevertheless, he completed his formal studies and also made a study of the British political system, frequently visiting the House of Commons. He was greatly influenced by the liberalism of William E. Gladstone, who had become prime minister for the fourth time in 1892, the year of Jinnah's arrival in London. Jinnah also took a keen interest in the affairs of India and in Indian students. When the Parsi leader Dadabhai Naoroji, a leading Indian nationalist, ran for the English Parliament, Jinnah and other Indian students worked day and night for him. Their efforts were crowned with success, and Naoroji became the first Indian to sit in the House of Commons.
When Jinnah returned to Karachi in 1896, he found that his father's business had suffered losses and that he now had to depend on himself. He decided to start his legal practice in Bombay, but it took him years of work to establish himself as a lawyer.
Jinnah first entered politics by participating in the 1906 Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress, the party that called for dominion status and later for independence for India. Four years later he was elected to the Imperial Legislative Council--the beginning of a long and distinguished parliamentary career. In Bombay he came to know, among other important Congress personalities, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, the eminent Maratha leader. Greatly influenced by these nationalist politicians, Jinnah aspired during the early part of his political life to become "a Muslim Gokhale." Admiration for British political institutions and an eagerness to raise the status of India in the international community and to develop a sense of Indian nationhood among the peoples of India were the chief elements of his politics. At that time, he still looked upon Muslim interests in the context of Indian nationalism.
Jinnah had originally been dubious about the practicability of Pakistan, an idea that Sir Muhammad Iqbal had propounded to the Muslim League conference of 1930; but before long he became convinced that a Muslim homeland on the Indian subcontinent was the only way of safeguarding Muslim interests and the Muslim way of life. It was not religious persecution that he feared so much as the future exclusion of Muslims from all prospects of advancement within India as soon as power became vested in the close-knit structure of Hindu social organisation. To guard against this danger he carried on a nation-wide campaign to warn his coreligionists of the perils of their position, and he converted the Muslim League into a powerful instrument for unifying the Muslims into a nation.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, addressing a procession on 23rd March, 1940
At this point, Jinnah emerged as the leader of a renascent Muslim nation. Events began to move fast. On March 22-23, 1940, in Lahore, the league adopted a resolution to form a separate Muslim state, Pakistan. The Pakistan idea was first ridiculed and then tenaciously opposed by the Congress. But it captured the imagination of the Muslims. Pitted against Jinnah were men of the stature of Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. And the British government seemed to be intent on maintaining the political unity of the Indian subcontinent. But Jinnah led his movement with such skill and tenacity that ultimately both the Congress and the British government had no option but to agree to the partitioning of India. Pakistan thus emerged as an independent state in 14th August, 1947.
Jinnah became the first head of the new state i.e. Pakistan. He took oath as the first governor general on August 15, 1947. Faced with the serious problems of a young nation, he tackled Pakistan's problems with authority. He was not regarded as merely the governor-general; he was revered as the father of the nation. He worked hard until overpowered by age and disease in Karachi. He died on 11th September, 1948 at Karachi

FATHER OF THE NATION

Early Life Political Career Constitutional Struggle Muslim League Reorganised The New Awakening Demand for Pakistan Cripps Scheme The Quaid's last Message
Father of the Nation Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah's achievement as the founder of Pakistan, dominates everything else he did in his long and crowded public life spanning some 42 years. Yet, by any standard, his was an eventful life, his personality multidimensional and his achievements in other fields were many, if not equally great. Indeed, several were the roles he had played with distinction: at one time or another, he was one of the greatest legal luminaries India had produced during the first half of the century, an `ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity, a great constitutionalist, a distinguished parliamentarian, a top-notch politician, an indefatigable freedom-fighter, a dynamic Muslim leader, a political strategist and, above all one of the great nation-builders of modern times. What, however, makes him so remarkable is the fact that while similar other leaders assumed the leadership of traditionally well-defined nations and espoused their cause, or led them to freedom, he created a nation out of an inchoate and down-trodeen minority and established a cultural and national home for it. And all that within a decase. For over three decades before the successful culmination in 1947, of the Muslim struggle for freedom in the South-Asian subcontinent, Jinnah had provided political leadership to the Indian Muslims: initially as one of the leaders, but later, since 1947, as the only prominent leader- the Quaid-i-Azam. For over thirty years, he had guided their affairs; he had given expression, coherence and direction to their ligitimate aspirations and cherished dreams; he had formulated these into concerete demands; and, above all, he had striven all the while to get them conceded by both the ruling British and the numerous Hindus the dominant segment of India's population. And for over thirty years he had fought, relentlessly and inexorably, for the inherent rights of the Muslims for an honourable existence in the subcontinent. Indeed, his life story constitutes, as it were, the story of the rebirth of the Muslims of the subcontinent and their spectacular rise to nationhood, phoenixlike. Early Life Born on December 25, 1876, in a prominent mercantile family in Karachi and educated at the Sindh Madrassat-ul-Islam and the Christian Mission School at his birth place,Jinnah joined the Lincoln's Inn in 1893 to become the youngest Indian to be called to the Bar, three years later. Starting out in the legal profession withknothing to fall back upon except his native ability and determination, young Jinnah rose to prominence and became Bombay's most successful lawyer, as few did, within a few years. Once he was firmly established in the legal profession, Jinnah formally entered politics in 1905 from the platform of the Indian National Congress. He went to England in that year alongwith Gopal Krishna Gokhale (1866-1915), as a member of a Congress delegation to plead the cause of Indian self-governemnt during the British elections. A year later, he served as Secretary to Dadabhai Noaroji (1825-1917), the then Indian National Congress President, which was considered a great honour for a budding politician. Here, at the Calcutta Congress session (December 1906), he also made his first political speech in support of the resolution on self-government. Political Career Three years later, in January 1910, Jinnah was elected to the newly-constituted Imperial Legislative Council. All through his parliamentary career, which spanned some four decades, he was probably the most powerful voice in the cause of Indian freedom and Indian rights. Jinnah, who was also the first Indian to pilot a private member's Bill through the Council, soon became a leader of a group inside the legislature. Mr. Montagu (1879-1924), Secretary of State for India, at the close of the First World War, considered Jinnah "perfect mannered, impressive-looking, armed to the teeth with dialecties..."Jinnah, he felt, "is a very clever man, and it is, of course, an outrage that such a man should have no chance of running the affairs of his own country."
For about three decades since his entry into politics in 1906, Jinnah passionately believed in and assiduously worked for Hindu-Muslim unity. Gokhale, the foremost Hindu leader before Gandhi, had once said of him, "He has the true stuff in him and that freedom from all sectarian prejudice which will make him the best ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity: And, to be sure, he did become the architect of Hindu-Muslim Unity: he was responsible for the Congress-League Pact of 1916, known popularly as Lucknow Pact- the only pact ever signed between the two political organisations, the Congress and the All-India Muslim League, representing, as they did, the two major communities in the subcontinent."
The Congress-League scheme embodied in this pact was to become the basis for the Montagu-Chemlsford Reforms, also known as the Act of 1919. In retrospect, the Lucknow Pact represented a milestone in the evolution of Indian politics. For one thing, it conceded Muslims the right to separate electorate, reservation of seats in the legislatures and weightage in representation both at the Centre and the minority provinces. Thus, their retention was ensured in the next phase of reforms. For another, it represented a tacit recognition of the All-India Muslim League as the representative organisation of the Muslims, thus strengthening the trend towards Muslim individuality in Indian politics. And to Jinnah goes the credit for all this. Thus, by 1917, Jinnah came to be recognised among both Hindus and Muslims as one of India's most outstanding political leaders. Not only was he prominent in the Congress and the Imperial Legislative Council, he was also the President of the All-India Muslim and that of lthe Bombay Branch of the Home Rule League. More important, because of his key-role in the Congress-League entente at Lucknow, he was hailed as the ambassador, as well as the embodiment, of Hindu-Muslim unity.
Constitutional Struggle In subsequent years, however, he felt dismayed at the injection of violence into politics. Since Jinnah stood for "ordered progress", moderation, gradualism and constitutionalism, he felt that political terrorism was not the pathway to national liberation but, the dark alley to disaster and destruction. Hence, the constitutionalist Jinnah could not possibly, countenance Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi's novel methods of Satyagrah (civil disobedience) and the triple boycott of government-aided schools and colleges, courts and councils and British textiles. Earlier, in October 1920, when Gandhi, having been elected President of the Home Rule League, sought to change its constitution as well as its nomenclature, Jinnah had resigned from the Home Rule League, saying: "Your extreme programme has for the moment struck the imagination mostly of the inexperienced youth and the ignorant and the illiterate. All this means disorganisation and choas". Jinnah did not believe that ends justified the means.
In the ever-growing frustration among the masses caused by colonial rule, there was ample cause for extremism. But, Gandhi's doctrine of non-cooperation, Jinnah felt, even as Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) did also feel, was at best one of negation and despair: it might lead to the building up of resentment, but nothing constructive. Hence, he opposed tooth and nail the tactics adopted by Gandhi to exploit the Khilafat and wrongful tactics in the Punjab in the early twenties. On the eve of its adoption of the Gandhian programme, Jinnah warned the Nagpur Congress Session (1920): "you are making a declaration (of Swaraj within a year) and committing the Indian National Congress to a programme, which you will not be able to carry out". He felt that there was no short-cut to independence and that Gandhi's extra-constitutional methods could only lead to political terrorism, lawlessness and chaos, without bringing India nearer to the threshold of freedom.
The future course of events was not only to confirm Jinnah's worst fears, but also to prove him right. Although Jinnah left the Congress soon thereafter, he continued his efforts towards bringing about a Hindu-Muslim entente, which he rightly considered "the most vital condition of Swaraj". However, because of the deep distrust between the two communities as evidenced by the country-wide communal riots, and because the Hindus failed to meet the genuine demands of the Muslims, his efforts came to naught. One such effort was the formulation of the Delhi Muslim Proposals in March, 1927. In order to bridge Hindu-Muslim differences on the constitutional plan, these proposals even waived the Muslim right to separate electorate, the most basic Muslim demand since 1906, which though recognised by the congress in the Lucknow Pact, had again become a source of friction between the two communities. surprisingly though, the Nehru Report (1928), which represented the Congress-sponsored proposals for the future constitution of India, negated the minimum Muslim demands embodied in the Delhi Muslim Proposals.
In vain did Jinnah argue at the National convention (1928): "What we want is that Hindus and Mussalmans should march together until our object is achieved...These two communities have got to be reconciled and united and made to feel that their interests are common". The Convention's blank refusal to accept Muslim demands represented the most devastating setback to Jinnah's life-long efforts to bring about Hindu-Muslim unity, it meant "the last straw" for the Muslims, and "the parting of the ways" for him, as he confessed to a Parsee friend at that time. Jinnah's disillusionment at the course of politics in the subcontinent prompted him to migrate and settle down in London in the early thirties. He was, however, to return to India in 1934, at the pleadings of his co-religionists, and assume their leadership. But, the Muslims presented a sad spectacle at that time. They were a mass of disgruntled and demoralised men and women, politically disorganised and destitute of a clear-cut political programme. Muslim League Reorganized Thus, the task that awaited Jinnah was anything but easy. The Muslim League was dormant: primary branches it had none; even its provincial organizations were, for the most part, ineffective and only nominally under the control of the central organization. Nor did the central body have any coherent policy of its own till the Bombay session (1936), which Jinnah organized. To make matters worse, the provincial scene presented a sort of a jigsaw puzzle: in the Punjab, Bengal, Sindh, the North West Frontier, Assam, Bihar and the United Provinces, various Muslim leaders had set up their own provincial parties to serve their personal ends. Extremely frustrating as the situation was, the only consultation Jinnah had at this juncture was in Allama Iqbal (1877-1938), the poet-philosopher, who stood steadfast by him and helped to charter the course of Indian politics from behind the scene.
Undismayed by this bleak situation, Jinnah devoted himself with singleness of purpose to organizing the Muslims on one platform. He embarked upon country-wide tours. He pleaded with provincial Muslim leaders to sink their differences and make common cause with the League. He exhorted the Muslim masses to organize themselves and join the League. He gave coherence and direction to Muslim sentiments on the Government of India Act, 1935. He advocated that the Federal Scheme should be scrapped as it was subversive of India's cherished goal of complete responsible Government, while the provincial scheme, which conceded provincial autonomy for the first time, should be worked for what it was worth, despite its certain objectionable features. He also formulated a viable League manifesto for the election scheduled for early 1937. He was, it seemed, struggling against time to make Muslim India a power to be reckoned with.
Despite all the manifold odds stacked against it, the Muslim League won some 108 (about 23 per cent) seats out of a total of 485 Muslim seats in the various legislature. Though not very impressive in itself, the League's partial success assumed added significance in view of the fact that the League won the largest number of Muslim seats and that it was the only all-India party of the Muslims in the country. Thus, the elections represented the first milestone on the long road to putting Muslim India on the map of the subcontinent. Congress in Power With the year 1937 opened the most mementoes decade in modern Indian history. In that year came into force the provincial part of the Government of India Act, 1935, granting autonomy to Indians for the first time, in the provinces.
The Congress, having become the dominant party in Indian politics, came to power in seven provinces exclusively, spurning the League's offer of cooperation, turning its back finally on the coalition idea and excluding Muslims as a political entity from the portals of power. In that year, also, the Muslim League, under Jinnah's dynamic leadership, was reorganized de novo, transformed into a mass organization, and made the spokesman of Indian Muslims as never before. Above all, in that momentous year were initiated certain trends in Indian politics, the crystallization of which in subsequent years made the partition of the subcontinent inevitable. The practical manifestation of the policy of the Congress which took office in July, 1937, in seven out of eleven provinces, convinced Muslims that, in the Congress scheme of things, they could live only on sufferance of Hindus and as "second class" citizens. The Congress provincial governments, it may be remembered, had embarked upon a policy and launched a PROGRAMME in which Muslims felt that their religion, language and culture were not safe. This blatantly aggressive Congress policy was seized upon by Jinnah to awaken the Muslims to a new consciousness, organize them on all-India platform, and make them a power to be reckoned with. He also gave coherence, direction and articulation to their innermost, yet vague, urges and aspirations. Above all, the filled them with his indomitable will, his own unflinching faith in their destiny. The New Awakening As a result of Jinnah's ceaseless efforts, the Muslims awakened from what Professor Baker calls (their) "unreflective silence" (in which they had so complacently basked for long decades), and to "the spiritual essence of nationality" that had existed among them for a pretty long time. Roused by the impact of successive Congress hammerings, the Muslims, as Ambedkar (principal author of independent India's Constitution) says, "searched their social consciousness in a desperate attempt to find coherent and meaningful articulation to their cherished yearnings. To their great relief, they discovered that their sentiments of nationality had flamed into nationalism". In addition, not only had they developed" the will to live as a "nation", had also endowed them with a territory which they could occupy and make a State as well as a cultural home for the newly discovered nation. These two pre-requisites, as laid down by Renan, provided the Muslims with the intellectual justification for claiming a distinct nationalism (apart from Indian or Hindu nationalism) for themselves. So that when, after their long pause, the Muslims gave expression to their innermost yearnings, these turned out to be in favor of a separate Muslim nationhood and of a separate Muslim state. Demand for Pakistan "We are a nation", they claimed in the ever eloquent words of the Quaid-i-Azam- "We are a nation with our own distinctive culture and civilization, language and literature, art and architecture, names and nomenclature, sense of values and proportion, legal laws and moral code, customs and calendar, history and tradition, aptitudes and ambitions; in short, we have our own distinctive outlook on life and of life. By all canons of international law, we are a nation". The formulation of the Muslim demand for Pakistan in 1940 had a tremendous impact on the nature and course of Indian politics. On the one hand, it shattered for ever the Hindu dreams of a pseudo-Indian, in fact, Hindu empire on British exit from India: on the other, it heralded an era of Islamic renaissance and creativity in which the Indian Muslims were to be active participants. The Hindu reaction was quick, bitter, malicious.
Equally hostile were the British to the Muslim demand, their hostility having stemmed from their belief that the unity of India was their main achievement and their foremost contribution. The irony was that both the Hindus and the British had not anticipated the astonishingly tremendous response that the Pakistan demand had elicited from the Muslim masses. Above all, they failed to realize how a hundred million people had suddenly become supremely conscious of their distinct nationhood and their high destiny. In channelling the course of Muslim politics towards Pakistan, no less than in directing it towards its consummation in the establishment of Pakistan in 1947, non played a more decisive role than did Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. It was his powerful advocacy of the case of Pakistan and his remarkable strategy in the delicate negotiations, that followed the formulation of the Pakistan demand, particularly in the post-war period, that made Pakistan inevitable. Cripps Scheme While the British reaction to the Pakistan demand came in the form of the Cripps offer of April, 1942, which conceded the principle of self-determination to provinces on a territorial basis, the Rajaji Formula (called after the eminent Congress leader C.Rajagopalacharia, which became the basis of prolonged Jinnah-Gandhi talks in September, 1944), represented the Congress alternative to Pakistan. The Cripps offer was rejected because it did not concede the Muslim demand the whole way, while the Rajaji Formula was found unacceptable since it offered a "moth-eaten, mutilated" Pakistan and the too appended with a plethora of pre-conditions which made its emergence in any shape remote, if not altogether impossible. Cabinet Mission The most delicate as well as the most tortuous negotiations, however, took place during 1946-47, after the elections which showed that the country was sharply and somewhat evenly divided between two parties- the Congress and the League- and that the central issue in Indian politics was Pakistan.
These negotiations began with the arrival, in March 1946, of a three-member British Cabinet Mission. The crucial task with which the Cabinet Mission was entrusted was that of devising in consultation with the various political parties, a constitution-making machinery, and of setting up a popular interim government. But, because the Congress-League gulf could not be bridged, despite the Mission's (and the Viceroy's) prolonged efforts, the Mission had to make its own proposals in May, 1946. Known as the Cabinet Mission Plan, these proposals stipulated a limited centre, supreme only in foreign affairs, defense and communications and three autonomous groups of provinces. Two of these groups were to have Muslim majorities in the north-west and the north-east of the subcontinent, while the third one, comprising the Indian mainland, was to have a Hindu majority. A consummate statesman that he was, Jinnah saw his chance. He interpreted the clauses relating to a limited centre and the grouping as "the foundation of Pakistan", and induced the Muslim League Council to accept the Plan in June 1946; and this he did much against the calculations of the Congress and to its utter dismay.
Tragically though, the League's acceptance was put down to its supposed weakness and the Congress put up a posture of defiance, designed to swamp the League into submitting to its dictates and its interpretations of the plan. Faced thus, what alternative had Jinnah and the League but to rescind their earlier acceptance, reiterate and reaffirm their original stance, and decide to launch direct action (if need be) to wrest Pakistan. The way Jinnah maneuvered to turn the tide of events at a time when all seemed lost indicated, above all, his masterly grasp of the situation and his adeptness at making strategic and tactical moves. Partition Plan By the close of 1946, the communal riots had flared up to murderous heights, engulfing almost the entire subcontinent. The two peoples, it seemed, were engaged in a fight to the finish. The time for a peaceful transfer of power was fast running out. Realizing the gravity of the situation. His Majesty's Government sent down to India a new Viceroy- Lord Mountbatten. His protracted negotiations with the various political leaders resulted in 3 June.(1947) Plan by which the British decided to partition the subcontinent, and hand over power to two successor States on 15 August, 1947. The plan was duly accepted by the three Indian parties to the dispute- the Congress the League and the Akali Dal (representing the Sikhs).
Leader of a Free Nation In recognition of his singular contribution, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah was nominated by the Muslim League as the Governor-General of Pakistan, while the Congress appointed Mountbatten as India's first Governor-General. Pakistan, it has been truly said, was born in virtual chaos. Indeed, few nations in the world have started on their career with less resources and in more treacherous circumstances. The new nation did not inherit a central government, a capital, an administrative core, or an organized defense force. Its social and administrative resources were poor; there was little equipment and still less statistics. The Punjab holocaust had left vast areas in a shambles with communications disrupted. This, along with the en masse migration of the Hindu and Sikh business and managerial classes, left the economy almost shattered.
The treasury was empty, India having denied Pakistan the major share of its cash balances. On top of all this, the still unorganized nation was called upon to feed some eight million refugees who had fled the insecurities and barbarities of the north Indian plains that long, hot summer. If all this was symptomatic of Pakistan's administrative and economic weakness, the Indian annexation, through military action in November 1947, of Junagadh (which had originally acceded to Pakistan) and the Kashmir war over the State's accession (October 1947-December 1948) exposed her military weakness. In the circumstances, therefore, it was nothing short of a miracle that Pakistan survived at all. That it survived and forged ahead was mainly due to one man-Mohammad Ali Jinnah. The nation desperately needed in the person of a charismatic leader at that critical juncture in the nation's history, and he fulfilled that need profoundly. After all, he was more than a mere Governor-General: he was the Quaid-i-Azam who had brought the State into being.
In the ultimate analysis, his very presence at the helm of affairs was responsible for enabling the newly born nation to overcome the terrible crisis on the morrow of its cataclysmic birth. He mustered up the immense prestige and the unquestioning loyalty he commanded among the people to energize them, to raise their morale, land directed the profound feelings of patriotism that the freedom had generated, along constructive channels. Though tired and in poor health, Jinnah yet carried the heaviest part of the burden in that first crucial year. He laid down the policies of the new state, called attention to the immediate problems confronting the nation and told the members of the Constituent Assembly, the civil servants and the Armed Forces what to do and what the nation expected of them. He saw to it that law and order was maintained at all costs, despite the provocation that the large-scale riots in north India had provided. He moved from Karachi to Lahore for a while and supervised the immediate refugee problem in the Punjab. In a time of fierce excitement, he remained sober, cool and steady. He advised his excited audience in Lahore to concentrate on helping the refugees, to avoid retaliation, exercise restraint and protect the minorities. He assured the minorities of a fair deal, assuaged their inured sentiments, and gave them hope and comfort. He toured the various provinces, attended to their particular problems and instilled in the people a sense of belonging. He reversed the British policy in the North-West Frontier and ordered the withdrawal of the troops from the tribal territory of Waziristan, thereby making the Pathans feel themselves an integral part of Pakistan's body-politics. He created a new Ministry of States and Frontier Regions, and assumed responsibility for ushering in a new era in Balochistan. He settled the controversial question of the states of Karachi, secured the accession of States, especially of Kalat which seemed problematical and carried on negotiations with Lord Mountbatten for the settlement of the Kashmir Issue. The Quaid's last Message It was, therefore, with a sense of supreme satisfaction at the fulfillment of his mission that Jinnah told the nation in his last message on 14 August, 1948: "The foundations of your State have been laid and it is now for you to build and build as quickly and as well as you can". In accomplishing the task he had taken upon himself on the morrow of Pakistan's birth, Jinnah had worked himself to death, but he had, to quote richard Symons, "contributed more than any other man to Pakistan's survivial". He died on 11 September, 1948. How true was Lord Pethick Lawrence, the former Secretary of State for India, when he said, "Gandhi died by the hands of an assassin; Jinnah died by his devotion to Pakistan".
A man such as Jinnah, who had fought for the inherent rights of his people all through his life and who had taken up the somewhat unconventional and the largely misinterpreted cause of Pakistan, was bound to generate violent opposition and excite implacable hostility and was likely to be largely misunderstood. But what is most remarkable about Jinnah is that he was the recipient of some of the greatest tributes paid to any one in modern times, some of them even from those who held a diametrically opposed viewpoint.
The Aga Khan considered him "the greatest man he ever met", Beverley Nichols, the author of `Verdict on India', called him "the most important man in Asia", and Dr. Kailashnath Katju, the West Bengal Governor in 1948, thought of him as "an outstanding figure of this century not only in India, but in the whole world". While Abdul Rahman Azzam Pasha, Secretary General of the Arab League, called him "one of the greatest leaders in the Muslim world", the Grand Mufti of Palestine considered his death as a "great loss" to the entire world of Islam. It was, however, given to Surat Chandra Bose, leader of the Forward Bloc wing of the Indian National Congress, to sum up succinctly his personal and political achievements. "Mr Jinnah", he said on his death in 1948, "was great as a lawyer, once great as a Congressman, great as a leader of Muslims, great as a world politician and diplomat, and greatest of all as a man of action, By Mr. Jinnah's passing away, the world has lost one of the greatest statesmen and Pakistan its life-giver, philosopher and guide". Such was Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the man and his mission, such the range of his accomplishments and achievements. +Pioneers of Freedom +History of Pakistan +Tourist Guide of Pakistan
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