PAKISTANIS all over the world recently celebrated the birth anniversary of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of their nation. Several prominent figures, including Saudis and members of the Pakistani community, attended a seminar organized by the Pakistan Repatriation Council (PRC) in Jeddah to mark Quaid-e-Azam Day. The dignitaries spoke at length about the great leader's heroic struggle that eventually brought to Pakistanis a nation of their own. There was the recitation of poems which glorified Jinnah's great efforts and commended his political acumen, extraordinary capability in legal matters and expertise in negotiations that impressed his friends and frustrated his opponents and made him a hero and champion of Muslim causes. The Muslim masses pinned their hopes on him, reposed their confidence in him and accepted him as their leader. The renowned American writer and historian Prof. Stanley Wolpert's comments about Jinnah were recalled on the occasion: “Few individuals significantly alter the course of history. Fewer still modify the map of the world. Hardly anyone can be credited with creating a nation-state. Muhammad Ali Jinnah did all three”. This is the best description of this great man who made a heroic struggle and succeeded in establishing a state for Muslims in the Indian subcontinent. As a prominent leader of the Indian National Congress, Jinnah was one of the staunch advocates of Hindu-Muslim unity. But later, he came to realize that the rights of Muslims, the largest minority in the subcontinent, would not be guaranteed and that their words would not be heard as long as the majority Hindus continued to be unfair to them. Even then, he continued serving the Congress party and the Muslim League at the same time. Jinnah made both parties reach an agreement called the “Lucknow Pact” at the joint session of the parties, held in Lucknow in 1916. The main objective of the pact was unifying the efforts of the two parties to secure India's independence after ending British colonial rule and giving more guarantees to both parties in order to protect their rights. Jinnah was the mastermind and architect of the pact. He demanded constitutional reforms and more guarantees for Muslims. Subsequently, he proposed "Fourteen Points" as a constitutional reform plan to safeguard the political rights of Muslims in a self-governing India. All these points covered almost all the interests of Muslims. One of the important points was the reservation of one-third of parliamentary seats for Muslims. During the First World War, Jinnah joined moderate Hindu leaders in supporting the British war effort with a hope that Indians would be rewarded with political freedom by the British government at the end of the war. But Britain was not ready to give any concessions that would lead to the country's independence. With the passage of time, Jinnah came to believe that Hindu-Muslim unity would be impossible and that Indian Muslims should have their own nation. During the year 1940, the Muslim League, led by Jinnah, passed the Lahore Resolution or the Pakistan Resolution, demanding a separate nation. Jinnah's call for an independent Pakistan was met with an overwhelming response from Muslims and they voted en masse in favor of the Muslim League in the provincial elections held in 1946 and subsequently the British rulers found that they must agree to the partition of the country. In 1947, Jinnah announced the birth of the new nation of Pakistan and he became the first governor general of the country. Liaquat Ali Khan took over as the first prime minister of Pakistan. As governor general, Jinnah worked to establish the new nation's government and policies, as well as to help the millions of Muslim migrants who had emigrated from India to the new nation of Pakistan after the partition. He personally supervised the establishment of refugee camps. Quaid-e-Azam died on 11 September 1948 after a life full of hard work, tough struggle and remarkable achievements. The people of Pakistan as well as the people of the entire Muslim world mourned the death of the great leader. On the occasion of organizing functions to mark the 138th birth anniversary of Jinnah, we may pray to Almighty Allah to forgive him and reward him for the outstanding contributions rendered by him to Islam and the Muslim Ummah. I also take this opportunity to make another appeal to the rulers of Pakistan to find a quick solution to the problem of the stranded Pakistanis who have been leading a miserable life in their squalid camps in Bangladesh for about 43 years. Nearly a quarter of a million people are being deprived of even basic human rights and are fighting against poverty, illiteracy and disease. They left all of their property behind in India and migrated to Pakistan with full confidence that they would be protected. They never thought that they would be subjected to such a plight because of their sacrifices and because of supporting the Pakistan Army in its efforts to ensure the country's unity at any cost during the Liberation War that resulted in the creation of Bangladesh.
— Dr. Ali Al-Ghamdi is a former Saudi diplomat who specializes in Southeast Asian affairs. He can be reached at [email protected]
