Quaid’s 395 days

He was dying and he knew it but that was least of his concerns. What mattered to him was the task before him: freedom and the establishment of a separate homeland for the Muslim majority areas of the Indian Subcontinent. Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah achieved this objective on August 14, 1947, when Pakistan appeared on the world’s map as a separate entity. He became its first Governor-General. For the next 395 days, he worked day in and day out to transform the idea of the nation into a reality. With each passing day his health deteriorated, until it could no longer last. He was brought back to Karachi from a trip to Ziyaraat in Balochistan on September 11. On his way to the Governor-General House, the ambulance carrying him broke down. Even in his dying moments, his worry was dedicated to the state of affairs of the country. According to Fatima Jinnah, who was accompanying him, in his delirious state he was saying: “Kashmir...give them...the right to decide...constitution...I will complete it...refugees...give them all assistance...Pakistan.” After lying there for an hour or so in scorching heat, another ambulance arrived, and he was finally brought to the Governor-General House. According to several accounts, he slept for a couple of hours before waking up one last time to bid farewell to his sister: “Fati, khuda hafiz...la ilaha ila lah...Muhammad...rasul... allah” were his last words.

He struggled and overcame all odds to make Pakistan a reality. At the end he was given a moth-eaten nation. According to several historians and accounts, it was Mountbatten who tempered with the partition plan in India’s favour. This resulted in innumerable tragedies between India and Pakistan. Pakistan inherited insecure borders. India, its proverbial twin, refused to accept its existence and many top leaders of the Indian National Congress openly stated that Jinnah and the Muslim League would soon revert back to India as Pakistan is not a viable project. They took every measure possible to ensure that this happens sooner than later. Pakistan’s share of the assets, both monetary and in material, was held. Moreover, there was a huge refugee influx coupled, with post-partition violence in the now divided Punjab and Bengal. The Kashmir problem further added to it. On the western side, Kabul contested Pakistan’s sovereignty and claimed Pakistani territory up till Attock as its own.

Domestically, Pakistan lacked industrial, financial and administrative infrastructure. Another challenge was transforming the people of the newly formed state into a nation. Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, along with his deputies, embarked on meeting these challenges. In keeping with the fact that Muhammad Ali Jinnah was Pakistan and Pakistan was Muhammad Ali Jinnah, he had to lead the effort from the forefront. What kind of Pakistan he wanted to establish is a debate that is still ongoing. Most historians use his speeches and statements during the Pakistan movement to support their position - I am of the opinion that there are two speeches that he gave that are the most important sources in this regard. One: his speech on August 11, after being elected as the president of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan and two: his speech on August 14.

As the president of the first Constituent Assembly, he stated: “...we should wholly and solely concentrate on the well-being of the people, and especially of the masses and the poor. If you will work in co-operation, forgetting the past, burying the hatchet, you are bound to succeed. If you change your past and work together in a spirit that every one of you, no matter to what community he belongs, no matter to what community he belongs, no matter what relations he had with you in the past, no matter what is his colour, caste or creed, is first, second and last a citizen of this State with equal rights, privileges and obligations there will be no end to the progress you will make.”

“I cannot emphasise it too much. We should begin to work in that spirit and in course of time all these angularities of the majority and minority communities - the Hindu community and the Muslim community - because even as regards Muslims you have Pathans, Punjabis, Shias, Sunnis and so on and among the Hindus you have Brahmins, Vashnavas, Khatris, also Bengalese, Madrasis and so on - will vanish. Indeed if you ask me this has been the biggest hindrance in the way of India to attain its freedom and independence and but for this we would have been free peoples long, long[SA1] ago.”

Later in this very speech he stated: “You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this state of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed - that has nothing to do with the business of the state...we are starting in the days when there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another. We are starting with this fundamental principle that we are all citizens and equal citizens of one state.”

In the second speech, responding to the mention of Mughal emperor Akbar as a role model for Pakistan by Lord Mountbatten, Jinnah mentioned the messenger of Islam, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) as the role model for Pakistan.

These speeches are indication of what objective he set for himself after the creation of Pakistan. He was aspiring to build an inclusive, tolerant, modern and progressive Muslim state. And this is the agenda on which he worked on for his remaining days. Moreso, when he embarked on this task, he was seriously ill and knew very well that he had very little time left. He publicly stated that he would act as the Protector General of the Hindu minority in Pakistan and spent the Christmas of 1948 as the guest of the Christian community.

He worked hard on minimising the plight of refugees. He personally got involved and requested the people of Pakistan to help their brethren. Later, he acknowledged this when he stated “... the courage with which the people, as well as the government, faced the almost overwhelming difficulties created by catastrophe unparallelled in the history of the world, the entire structure of the state might well have crumbled down.”

With India, he wanted to have a decent working relationship. Reportedly, he even offered it a joint defence pact. Unfortunately, he found no takers in New Delhi, which under Nehru had grand aspirations for itself. Akbar. S. Ahmed aptly stated: “Had Jinnah’s vision prevailed-and found an echo in India, we would have seen a very different South Asia.”

Apart from his political thinking, he set great personal standards; he never breached any law or regulation. For instance, once he refused to give into sifarish (commendation) in favour of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan’s great-grandson. Or when he struck a line through the “brother of Quaid-i-Azam, Governor-General of Pakistan” on his brother’s card. When he was informed that a few girls in burkas, in their enthusiasm voted more than once in favour of Pakistan, he furiously interjected: “I will not have Pakistan on this basis.”

Fast forward 75 years: Pakistan is not even close to what Jinnah wanted it to be. The saffron regime in India might have proven Jinnah correct. However, we, the Pakistanis, have yet to follow his footsteps and built the Pakistan he wanted to build. Today’s Pakistan is anything but Jinnah’s Pakistan.

Every year, especially on September 11 and December 25 when we remember Jinnah and his role and contribution in sub-continental history, how he passed away is a regular topic of discussion. What we don’t discuss is how he lived and the values he held dear. It is time that we, the Pakistani nation, focus more on how he lived and the values he followed. Only by doing this, will we be able to build Quaid-i-Azam wala Pakistan.

-The author is a political scientist based in Karachi and lectures on Strategic and International Affairs