The Father of Pakistan
Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Pakistan's founder and Quaid-i-Azam, or great leader, was the exact opposite of Gandhi. Cosmopolitan, a successful and wealthy barrister, a fastidious dresser, alone and aloof, speaking mostly English, Jinnah dismissed his great rival as "that Hindu revivalist." He was appalled by Gandhi's mass agitation campaigns because they were illegal and unconstitutional, appealed to popular emotion and, in Jinnah's eyes, led only to chaos and division. His personality demanded a cool, cerebral response, working through legal and constitutional channels to bring about an end to British rule.
His icy determination galvanized a community into following him toward his goal, Pakistan. It was the same determination, seen this time as obduracy, that so infuriated Gandhi, Nehru and Louis Mountbatten, Viceroy of India, who eventually accepted the division of Britain's greatest imperial possession into two sovereign countries--Pakistan and India. "Failure is a word unknown to me," Jinnah once commented.
Quaid-e-Azam's advice to students
Quaid-e-Azam addressing a group of students |
2. Develop a sound sence of dicipline,Character,Initiative and a solid Academic Background.You must devote yourself whole-heartedly to your studies, for that is your first obligation to yourselves, your parents and to the State.You must learn to obey for only then you can learn to command. (Islamic College, Peshawar - 12th April, 1948)
3. Pakistan is proud of her youth, particularly the students, who are nation builders of tomorrow. They must fully equip themselves by discipline, education, and training for the arduous task lying ahead of them.
Quaid-e-Azam Related philatelic Material
LIST OF COUNTRIES WITH YEARS.
Burkina Faso
1988 – Famous Persons
Indonesia
1990– Indonesia Pakistan Economic and Cultural Co-operation Organization (IPECC)
Iran
1976 – 12th Anniversary of Regional Co-operation for Development (RCD)
1976 – Birth Centenary of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Ivory Coast
1976 – Birth Centenary of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Jordan
1976 – Birth Centenary of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah
Jinnah as a fashion icon
Quaid-e-Azam, Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s achievement as the founder of Pakistan has dominated his reputation in a public life spanning 42 years. But his multidimensional personality led him to play several roles with distinction: one of the brightest legal luminaries India, an ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity, a distinguished parliamentarian and constitutionalist, an indefatigable freedom-fighter, a dynamic Muslim leader, a political strategist and, of course, one of the great nation-builders of modern times.
Little wonder then that so much less has been written about his personal life which is interesting in its own right. His taste and sense of style made him one of the most well-dressed and sophisticated men in the world.
A Barrister - Not an Actor
A judge asked Quaid-e-Azam to speak a little louder. Quaid-e-Azam retorted;
“I am a barrister, not an actor.”
Jawaharlal Nehru with Quaid-e-Azam in Simla, 1946
Quaid-e-Azam described Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru as “the impetuous Pandit who never unlearns or learns anything and never grows old”. He summed up his observations “Pandit Nehru is nothing but Peter Pan.”
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Audio Files (Speeches & Statements of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah)
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Jinnah --- The Artistic Jeweller
In February 1938, Quaid-i-Azam observed that primary branches of the Muslim League had been established in every district, in every town, and every village, and they were gathering the precious stones rubies, sapphires and diamonds, the scattered energies and talents of the Muslim community. He added: “When you have got an artistic jeweler to set them it will be a jewel which you will be proud of.” Verily Quaid-e-Azm was the artistic jeweler, and he produced the jewel --- Pakistan
The Youth Speaks
THE PAKISTAN MENIFESTO
That we are one nation.
With the Hindus and the rest.
Nothing unites us save arbitrary geographical boundary and temporary shackles of slavery.
Nationality based on either of these must in its very nature be unnatural. It cannot, it will not last.
That we have any idea of exploiting or dominating others
We are self-respecting people. We respect others rights as well respect our own. We want to live and let live. None need fear PAKISTAN!
That we are a NATION not a "minority"
A NATION of a hundred million, greater than Germans in Greater Germany and what is more, we are a NATION with our own distinctive culture and civilization, language and literature, art and architecture, names and nomenclature, sense of value and proportion, legal laws and moral codes, customs and calendar, history and traditions, aptitudes and ambitions, in short, we have our own distinctive outlook on life and of life. By all cannons of International Law we are a NATION.
Statue of Qaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah in York University Toronto
The 1.5-metre-high bronze casting on stone plinth was created by David Mcdougall, a graduate student in York’s Faculty of Fine Arts, who was selected by the PSA on the recommendation of his supervisor, Brandon Vickerd, professor in York’s Department of Visual Arts. Mcdougall, who specializes in figurative sculpture, said he enjoyed the unveiling of his first public commission. “It was a great feeling,” he said. “I was very excited to see my work on campus. It was a great day.”
The Founder’s Vision and Ideology
Solidarity of Pakistan
The Historic Group Photograph of Quaid E Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah at his Last Visit to Islamia College, Peshawar, Pakistan (12.04.1948 CE) (Courtesy of Prof. Dr. Taskeen Ahmad Khan, Associate Dean, Associate Faculty of Urology, Khyber Medical University, Peshawar (nb: From the Personal Library File of Maj. Gen (Retd.) Anwar Sher Khan, Peshawar).
“Remember we are building up a State which is going to play its full part in the destinies of the whole Islamic World. We, therefore, need a wider look, an outlook which transcends the boundaries of provinces, limited nationalism, and racialism. We must develop a sense of patriotism which should galvanize us all into one united and strong nation. That is the only way in which we can achieve our goal, the goal of our struggle, the goal for which millions of Mussalmans have lost their lives.”
Islamia College, Peshawar,
12 April, 1948
Quaid-e-Azam’s Interview with Beverly Nichols, 1943
“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.
You must remember that Islam is not merely a religious doctrine but a realistic and practical code of conduct. I am thinking in terms of life, of everything important in life. I am thinking in terms of our history, our heroes, our art, our architecture, our music, our laws, our jurisprudence……. In all things our outlook is not only fundamentally different but often radically antagonistic to the Hindus. We are different beings. There is nothing in life which links us together. Our names, our clothes, our foods — they are all different; our economic life, our educational ideas, our treatment of women, our attitude to animals… …. we challenge each other at every point of the compass.
To yoke together two such nations under a single state, one as a numerical minority and the other as majority, must lead to growing discontent and final destruction of any fabric that may be so built up for the government of such a state.”
Still Heroes
Quaid-e-Azam being received at Lahore Airport by a PAF Officer
Jinnah was not Secular
They quote this speech in support of their view but are guilty of misinterpreting the same. According to their perception and perhaps according to the agenda given to them, ‘they do not quote any other speech and are thus again guilty of omission and commission. Unfortunately, since its very inception, Pakistan is faced with a cultural invasion particularly from its Eastern neighbour and undoubtedly, this invasion has influenced some people and a feeling is growing that the nation’s commitment to its Islamic ideals set by our elders is getting diluted thereby eroding our ideology.
Four Stages of Jinnah’s Political Philosophy
For many decades now, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s vision of Pakistan has been a point of contention, yet also a great source of inspiration. A careful examination of his long distinguished public service, spanning some 44 years (1904-48), can aid in defining how he perceived the future of Pakistan.
The Quaid’s political philosophy evolved in four distinct yet continuous stages. In the first stage of his public life (1904-20), his political credo was influenced by three main factors:
19th century British liberalism, first encountered during his legal studies in England from 1892 to 1896; the metropolitan flavour and mercantile milieu of Mumbai where he worked as a successful and respected member of the legal community; his close professional and personal contact with the Parsis, who taught him how a small religious group could - with the help of an entrepreneurial spirit, hard work and social cohesion - defeat racial prejudice and communal discrimination.
These three formative experiences led the Quaid to join the Indian National Congress. Modelled after European liberal parties, the Congress was at that time planning to take India on the difficult road to self-government through constitutional means. The Quaid’s evident human and professional qualities made him an ideal candidate for a leadership role in the Congress. He became its spokesman for its representation on the reform of the India Council in May 1914. During those days, he advocated gradual progress, evolutionary democratic politics and, not to forget, strict constitutionalism. When the Congress began to move away from these liberal principles in 1920 and favoured revolution and extra-constitutional methods, the Quaid left the party without ever looking back.
Impressions of Quaid-e-Azam
I am going to term the great man, whom we have come here to commemorate Mr. Jinnah, because that is what he was mostly known as, throughout the time I had glimpses of him. Glimpses, I say, I had not much more, certainly I do not claim I knew him at all well. However, on occasions I did see him and, on some, meet and talk with him; and this, too, which was lucky for me, over a span of about seventeen history-shaping years, unique in South Asian affairs, between 1931 and 1948. Furthermore, my memories of these occasions, or some of them, still seem vivid – which I hope means, as well, that they are largely true – a supporting practical reason for that being, of course, a fact realized I suppose by everyone here: that he was a very exceptional person, in body and mind.
My first sighting was brief, but remains perhaps the clearest. I was young and impressionable, in my twenties only; I had been in India little more than a year. But though I am now well into my seventies, and it happened so long ago, that brief incident still seems fresh.
Jinnah: The Burden of Leadership
Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s capacity to overwhelm his staunchest adversaries is observed in the comments of Ved Mehta, a perceptive contemporary writer on the South Asian scene. Mahatama Gandhi, according to Mehta, was presented with his greatest challenge by Muhammad Ali Jinnah. None of the other personalities that sought to test his resolve, whether British, Boer or Indian, either deflected him from his purpose or threatened his will. Jinnah, however, caused Gandhi to search his innermost thoughts, to make himself “potent – physically, mentally and spiritually” so as to be able ‘to vanquish Muhammad Ali Jinnah” and foil his plans for partition and a free Pakistan state.1 Gandhi, of course, failed to either blunt Jinnah’s popularity or dim his determination. Hundreds of millions of human beings would be drawn to Gandhi, tens of millions would dedicate their lives to him, and thousands would die for him, but Jinnah was singularly unimpressed. And Gandhi knew it. Indeed, he understood that in Jinnah he had faced his ultimate test and had lost. Mehta sums up this decisive confrontation as follows:-
Pakistan was inevitable
The Muslims were a political power in India for more than one thousand years. Muhammad Bin Qasim conquered Sindh in 712 AD and since then Sindh became the Gateway to Islam in India. Shahabuddin Muhammad Ghauri was the first Muslim warrior who was responsible for the establishment of Muslim rule in India. After the defeat of Pirthvi Raj in the second battle of Tarain in 1192, Sultan Mohammad Ghauri appointed Qutbuddin Aibak as his Viceroy to consolidate his empire. The last Muslim dynasty, which ruled in India was the Mughul dynasty. In 1857, the Muslims lost the War of Independence and last Mughul Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was deposed and made prisoner, hence, the Muslims became subjects of British India. Thus, Hindus got new masters and the British needed for their support, against the Muslims, who favoured them in every walk of life. For about a century Indians remained under the British rule, who were not only deprived of their majority provinces in all respects but at the same time the Muslims were treated as second grade citizens. At the time of partition of India, Pakistan inherited only 34 Industrial units out of 921. This shows that when Pakistan was established, these areas were extremely backward economically and we had to work very hard to develop the country.
Gandhi and Jinnah - a study in contrasts
An extract from the book that riled India's Bharatiya Janata Party and led to the expulsion of its author Jaswant Singh, one of the foun...
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Reply to the Civic Address presented by the Quetta Municipality on I5th June, 1948. I thank you for your address of welcome and for the ki...
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Speech on the Inauguration of the Pakistan Constituent Assembly on 14th August, 1947 Your Excellency, I thank His Majesty the King on behalf...