Jinnah was not Secular

In the wake of frequent cultural and political exchanges between the two countries the supporters of secular Pakistan have increased their propaganda, have geared up their efforts and have created some forums to spread this notion. All those who subscribe to the secularistic view are bending backward to prove the Quaid as secular. They base their arguments on 11 August 1947 speech of the Quaid which he delivered in the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan.

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 According to their perception and perhaps according to the agenda given to them, ‘they do not quote any other speech and are thus again guilty of omission and commission.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

By Prof. Dr. S. K. Alqama

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

By Ian Stephens *

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

by Lawrence Ziring

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

By Prof Dr M Yakub Mughul

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.

Jinnah and the Muslim press

By Aqeel-uz-zafar Khan

Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah with the Editorial Staff of Dawn

The Press in India had played a pivotal role in the emancipation of the Sub-continent from the foreign yoke. It became the most effective instrument utilised for publicity by the authorities as well as by the private agencies to achieve their objectives. It played a vital role for the politicians to project and propagate their views, the newspapers courageously taught and trained thousands of young men to realise their responsibilities and participate in the struggle for independence.

Direct Action Plan: The most critical phase

By Professor Sharif al Mujahid
"We want peace. But if war is forced upon us, we accept it." With this telling couplet from the immoral Firdausi did the Quaid closehis memorable speech to the Muslim League Council meeting in Bombay on July 29,1946. And, to be sure, this couplet represented the bitter Muslim mood at the British acquiescence at the Congress's distortion of the Cabinet Mission plan (1946).

Muslim bitterness at Congress "duplicity" and British "perfidy" led to revoke of their earlier decision to accept the Plan, revert to their original demand and reaffirm their faith in a sovereign, independent Pakistan. Earlier that evening, the League Council had taken a bold decision: it said good-bye to constitutionalism and sanctioned Direct Action for the first time in all its annals, and this to wrest Pakistan. "...Now the time has come" so ran the League resolution, "for the Muslim nation to resort to Direct Action, to achieve Pakistan, to assert their just rights, to vindicate their honour and get rid of the British slavery and contemplated future caste-Hindu domination."

Rare Photographs of The Founder of Pakistan - Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah

 

• The Portraits
• The Family
• The Private Life
•  The Barrister
•  The Statesman
•  The Pakistan Movement
•  The Governor General of Pakistan
•  The Last Journey
• Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous

  

The Last Journey

The Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah , who changed the destiny of the Muslims of the South-Asia Subcontinent, breathed his last on 11 September, 1948

Liaquat Ali Khan stands beside the Janaza of the Quaid-e-Azam. The huge crowd of mourners can be seen in the background

Fatima Jinnah and Quaid's daughter Dina (extreme left) weep as the body of the Quaid is being lowered in the grave

Rose petals are being  showered on the Quaid's grave