JINNAH
"The best showman of them all. Quick, exceedingly clever, sarcastic and colorful. His greatest delight was to confound the opposing lawyer by confidential asides and to outwit the presiding judge in repartee." Time Magazine Name Mohammad Ali Jinnah
Birth December 25, 1876
Death September 11, 1948
Place of Birth Karachi
Official Title Governor-general
Term 1947-1948
Known for leading the fight to create Pakistan as an independent state for Indian Muslims.
1876–1948, founder of Pakistan, born in Karachi. Took his early education in different educational institutions of Karachi and then afterwards went to England to study law. Jinnah studied law in England, and after his return to India in 1896 as an advocate for the Bombay High Court, the slender, well-dressed and well-spoken attorney quickly made a name for himself.
Support of Congress
Early in his career he was a fervent supporter of the Indian National Congress and an advocate of Hindu-Muslim unity. Jinnah was a member of the legislative council of the viceroy from 1910 to 1919.
Muslim League
He joined the Muslim League in 1913 and was elected its president in 1916 and 1920. He played a major role in negotiating the so-called Lucknow Pact (1916) between the League and the Congress, in which the latter conceded that Muslims should have a separate communal electorate to ensure them adequate legislative representation. Hindu-Muslim cooperation soon broke down, however, and the Congress reversed this position.
Resignation from Congress
Finally totally disillusioned with the Congress, Jinnah resigned from it 1919. By the late 1930s, Jinnah, who had become leader of the Muslim League, was convinced that a partition of India along religious lines was the only way to preserve Muslim political power.
From 1934 until his death he headed the Muslim League and guided its struggle for an independent Pakistan, a state that would include the predominantly Muslim areas of India. His support of the British during World War II increased his influence.
1946 Elections
Jinnah's claim that the Muslim League represented the Muslims of India was substantiated in 1946, when in the elections for the Indian constituent assembly, the League won all the seats assigned to the Muslim electorate. Jinnah's firm stand and widespread Hindu-Muslim riots forced the Congress to accept establishment of the separate state of Pakistan, and in Aug., 1947, India was partitioned. Jinnah was appointed the first governor-general of the dominion of Pakistan and was elected president of its constituent assembly.
Milestones
| 1896 Was admitted to the bar in Bombay after completing legal studies in London |
| 1906 Served as a private secretary to Dadabhai Naoroji, president of the Indian National Congress, the party which led the independence drive for India |
| 1916 Became president of the Muslim League, and negotiated the Lucknow Pact with the Indian National Congress, providing safeguards for India's Muslim minority |
| 1919 Resigned from the Indian National Congress after Mohandas Gandhi began his campaign of noncooperation, which Jinnah thought to be too radical |
| 1931-1934 Practiced law in London and withdrew from Indian politics |
| 1934 Returned to India to resume presidency of the Muslim League, fearing that Indian Muslims would be mistreated by a Hindu-dominated government after India became independent |
| 1940 Adopted the goal of creating a separate nation of Pakistan for Indian Muslims as the official policy of the Muslim League |
| 1947 Forced Hindu and British colonial leaders to agree to the creation of Pakistan by refusing to soften his demands as riots between Hindus and Muslims occurred throughout India |
Did You Know
| Jinnah was gravely ill during the final negotiations for the creation of Pakistan; he died just over a year after it achieved independence. |
| Tensions between Hindus and Muslims and Jinnah's own disagreement with India's Hindu leaders led him to abandon his lifelong goal of Hindu-Muslim unity for India. |
| Jinnah spent much of his youth in Britain, and did not learn to speak Urdu, the language of most Indian Muslims. |
| Unlike the other leaders of the independence movement in India, Jinnah preferred tailored suits to traditional rough cotton attire. |
However history may judge him, his own contribution to history cannot be doubted. As his biographer, Stanley Wolpert, wrote:
'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. Mohammad Ali Jinnah did all three.'