Jinnah and Partition: The Real Facts

Jinnah was neither a prophet nor a grass root Muslim leader. However, he was indeed a brilliant barrister and an elite constitutionalist. In fact, till 30's he was very much comfortable in the company of Hindus and Parsis and used to enjoy pork and cigars. Dadabhai Nauroji and Gopal Krishan Gokhle influenced him. In fact it was Gokhle who said that Jinnah was the ambassador of Hindu Muslim unity, which he indeed was at that point of time. He (Jinnah) never wanted a big confrontation with the Britishers and was quite agreeable with the congress being an elitist organisation, fighting for a home rule, succeeded by a dominion status. We have to see all this with a neutral perspective. This should not be an issue of hatred between Hindus and Muslims as some Pakistanis really think that Indians Hate Jinnah as well as Pakistan. Jinnah was a nationalist in pre-thirties and did what he could to unite Hindus and Muslims. His role model was Kamal Ataturk (who is in fact the role model of Musharraf as well) and lots of his colleagues in the Muslim League resented it, which is evident in lots of documents. Everything changed when Gandhi entered the Indian independence polity. His simplicity impressed the rural and urban folk alike and appealed to both Hindus and muslins. Like Jinnah, he too was committed to Hindu Muslim unity but his ways and means were completely different. Gandhi's formula was of civil disobedience, boycott, and strike but through non-violent means while Jinnah's formula was to be critical of the rulers to the extent that it doesn't hurt anybody. Jinnah was more inclined towards home rule or a dominion status for a united India while Gandhi's call was for complete independence. Jinnah opposed the government on lot of issues in the central legislature and argued brilliantly for the cause of India and of his own community, although he was never comfortable to be with the downtrodden section of Muslims. He was weak in Urdu and exceptionally good in English. With the influence of Gandhi, Jinnah had to change his strategy. He demanded the inclusion of 14 points in the future Indian constitution that included 33% reservation for Muslims in the legislature and also in the ministries and simultaneously there were other issues but the congress and particularly Nehru ignored it all together. This fumigated Jinnah and the last effort from his side (as per his perception) to unite the two communities went futile. Jinnah wanted a big role for himself. Before the entry of Gandhi, he was slowly becoming one of the important leaders of India. When Congress humiliated him, his mission became the division of India and he did everything, which was contrary to his earlier belief. He worked hard to preserve Hindu Muslim unity before but now his mission was to tear that apart. When he started mobilizing the Muslims in his favour, Gandhi was worried. Unfortunately, Nehru and his followers in the congress were not taking this seriously but the damage was already done. Jinnah was so adamant on Pakistan that he didn't mind people being killed all across India by his direct action call. This is not a sectarian issue because people of both communities were killed and the partition itself was responsible for death/destruction/displacement of over 2 million people. Hence, Jinnah is solely and completely responsible for this genocide and he cannot be a "Qaid-e-azam" or a great leader. He was never into namaaz and Quran and he created an Islamic State. However, when Pakistan was created, Jinnah's vision was of a south Asian "TURKEY", on Ataturk's model, which is reflected from his famous constituent assembly speech. He never wanted Shariat to be imposed in Pakistan and he also got the first national anthem written by Jagannath Azad, a Hindu. For all these actions, fundamentalists dubbed him the "Protector General" of Hindus. Gandhi was facing the similar wrath from Hindu fundamentalists, which resulted in his assassination. Jinnah was so engrossed in his ego that he didn't even attend the funeral of Gandhi. Hence, we can conclude and say that everything was circumstantial and it was an ego clash of Jinnah with Congress, a party he nurtured and was fond of at one point of time. If we read the memoirs of the first High Commissioner of India in Pakistan, Jinnah even wanted to come to Bombay and stay in his lavish mansion. He wanted Nehru to make sure that Jinnah House in Bombay be maintained at all times. He wanted a secular Pakistan, but everyone knows what happened after his death. Incapable presidents, innumerable army coups have destroyed the vision of Jinnah. No doubt he was westernized but he was pragmatic and modern in his thinking although he used fundamentalism in reaching his goals. Gandhi was a Mahatma indeed but Jinnah has been the most unique person in world history to achieve a separate country out of sheer determination, hatred and selfish modus operandi. He is responsible for the brutal murder of a United India and the blood is still flowing out of the wounds.