The founder of a nation is an ideal, a hero, and a personality to whom people look up to and follow in his footsteps in the pursuit of life. The founder of a nation is a person who proves by his courage, conviction, and character how an indomitable purpose can be achieved and then leads a nation to its independence, be it from a foreign power or any local dynastic or authoritarian route.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, stands out singularly amongst all the leadership of united India who single-handedly achieved the ideal of Pakistan against all odds.
He faced great opposition from his own people-Muslims not only in the rank and file of Indian Congress but from religious lot that was still caught in the old ideas was unwilling to adjust to new ideas. He remains the only leader who, in that long struggle against foreign rulers and a predominantly prejudiced Hindu majority, without violating the law of the land but achieved Pakistan.
Jinnah had a clear vision of Pakistan and its political system he was struggling for. He was familiar with the Muslim history, He wanted a polity for Pakistan based upon democratic principles which had the soul of Islamic principles of peace and brotherhood and justice. He had experienced during his struggle for Pakistan that mere rule by majority could cause huge injustice and injury. Europe at the time of World War II was largely democratic but it could not stop inhuman war.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah belonged to a business family from Gujarat. He had the advantage of being brought up in two different cultures of Gujarat and the metropolitan and predominantly Muslim culture of Karachi while enrolled at the-Sind Madrist ul Islam. In his impressionable age, he learned about the universal message of Islam – of peace and brotherhood – that inculcated in his personality great qualities. His lifelong friendship with Abdullah Yousef Ali, who was the first Indian to have translated the Holy Quran into English, helped Jinnah in understanding the message of Islam.
During his stay in England, Jinnah had the firsthand experience of liberal ideas being put into practice and all great writers and politicians who were following these ideas during the late Victorian age he had met or read about them, As a private secretary to Dadabhoy Nooroji he also witnessed that an Indian leader could adjust and put to use these ideas. His legal experience at the Bombay High Court also helped him form a view about the role of religion in private and public life. Unlike Gandhi, Jinnah to counter the argument devised by Gandhian cultural argument came up with idea of Muslim ideals as otherwise majoritarian rule of Hindus would permanently erode Muslim culture and identity. Discovery of India of Nehru reflects this pattern of thinking of Indian Congress’s leadership. Jinnah in his struggle for Pakistan wanted that Muslims of India succeed in saving their thousand years old Islamic identity and do not lose their identity. He had read about the Muslim history of Spain and Iqbal’s poem on Cardova Mosque. Jinnah was thus clear in his vision and with that vision he achieved Pakistan. It was not a lawyer’s legal argument but a reality put to use for a political struggle. Whenever he was challenged on his political struggle and accused of using religion for politics he would come up with a clear answer and refer to those same principles which Jinnah had learned as a young Muslim helped in forming his universal views about the political ideas. He put these into practice while leading the movement for Pakistan. Throughout his life, Jinnah stood by the truth, even at a time when he could have easily veered towards Hindu-Muslim Congress.
A glance at the political life of Jinnah, starting from his membership of the Viceroy's Executive Council in 1911 after the coming into the force of the Government of India Act 1909, reveals his forceful speeches against the colonial policies during the meetings of the Executive Council. His speech about the Rowlatt Act, which allowed arrest without warrant and denied fair trial and due process is still treated one of the best speeches ever made by an Indian leader during the proceedings of the Indian Assemblies.
Contrary to the general impression by some recent writers who have come out publicly to question Jinnah’s decisions, it is clear that there might be some errors of judgment but those could not be made a basis for questioning the sincerity and commitment to the cause of actions. Jinnah never claimed to be infallible. Being a mortal, it was natural for him to base his judgments upon the information reaching him and those decisions might turn wrong with the inaccuracy of the information. But Jinnah’s character could never be questioned.
Jinnah’s vision of Pakistan was clear: the polity he had in mind would be based upon the universal message of peace and brotherhood as taught by the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) without giving it a name or turning Pakistan into a theocracy as practiced in Europe or early Islamic dynasties. The polity he had envisioned for Pakistan would be the liberal democracy blended with Islamic principles where human rights, rule of law, and justice would be ensured through a government solely representative of the will of the people. Jinnah was clear in his vision that it was for the representatives of the people to decide and determine the policy decisions. The bureaucracy and the other arms of the government were bound to follow the command of the civil government.
The Providence did not grant Jinnah the opportunity to lay down the concrete foundation of a civil government. His opponents, however, mischievously allude to some decisions made by him during the most emergent circumstances dictated by the influx of millions of refugees and political turmoil in the aftermath of the partition unleashed by India in the form of an act on Kashmir, Hyderabad, and other states who had the inclination to accede to Pakistan. Jinnah, during his short stint of one year, made it clear that the future of Pakistan was vested in democracy, constitution, rule of law, and justice. Having lost Jinnah so soon, the nation lost forever and never found a leader who could match Jinnah's courage, charisma, character, and incorruptibility – essential qualities of a leader who could retrieve this nation from the brink of a fall.
Jinnah’s vision of Pakistan was clear: the polity he had in mind would be based upon the universal message of peace and brotherhood as taught by the Prophet of Islam Muhammad (PBUH) without giving it a name or turning Pakistan into a theocracy as practiced in Europe or early Islamic dynasties. The polity he had envisioned for Pakistan would be the liberal democracy blended with Islamic principles where human rights, rule of law, and justice would be ensured through a government solely representative of the will of the people
Muhammad Waqar Rana
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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