Jinnah never ignored the general will

Gopal Krishna Gokhle (1866-1915), the foremost Hindu leader before Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948), said of Jinnah: “He has true stuff in him and that freedom from all sectarian prejudices which will make him the best ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity.”

As such, he became the architect of the Hindu-Muslim unity. He was responsible for the Congress-Muslim League Pact of 1916. And by 1917 Jinnah came to be recognized among both Hindus and Muslims as one of India’s most outstanding political leaders.

Hindu-Muslim unity reached its climax during the Khilafat and Noncooperation Movements. The Muslims of South Asia led by Ali brothers, Maulana Mohammad Ali and Maulana Shaukat, launched the historic Khilafat Movement after World War I to save the Ottoman Empire from dismemberment.

Gandhi linked the issue of self-governance with the Khilafat issue to associate Hindus with the movement. The collapse of the Khilafat Movement was followed by a period of bitter Hindu-Muslim antagonism. Several Hindu-Muslim conferences were held to remove the cause of conflict but they were not fruitful. Jinnah’s disillusionment from politics in the subcontinent prompted him to settle down in London in the early thirties.

He, however, returned to India in early 1934 on persuasion of his co-religionists and thinkers, and assumed their leadership.

By the close of 1946, the communal riots flared up to dangerous heights, engulfing almost the entire subcontinent. The two peoples seemed engaged in a fight to the finish. Realizing the gravity of the situation, the British government sent down to India a new viceroy, Lord Mountbatten. His protracted negotiations with various political leaders resulted in the June 3, 1947, plan by which the British decided to partition the subcontinent and hand over power to two successor states.

The three Indian parties in the dispute duly accepted the plan: the Congress, the League and the Akali Dal, representing the Sikhs. The new state of Pakistan was born in virtual chaos, with very limited resources and in more treacherous circumstances. It inherited no central government, no capital, no administrative corps, nor an organized defence force.

Its socio-economic resources were poor. Many had thought “the babe” would die from dehydration, but that proved untrue as Jinnah’s untiring leadership generated the spirit of fraternity among Pakistanis in these unexpected circumstances.

The period of 1940-47 was very significant in Jinnah’s political life. He became a mass leader and he could not be bypassed by the British. He commanded a position that was almost synonymous with the Muslim voice. Yet the Quaid was not a dictator. He never ignored the general will. Instead, he sought the sanction of the All-India Muslim League and the Muslim masses.

Most of the speeches of the League president remained imbued with the message of unity. Presiding over the historic session of the Muslim League on March 23 in Lahore, he said: “It has been my constant endeavour to try to bring about unity among the Muslims and I hope that in the great task of reconstruction and building a great and glorious Pakistan, that is ahead of us, you realize that solidarity is now more essential than it ever was... we Muslims believe in one God, one Book and one prophet.

— zasarwar@hotmail.com