The Creative Process of Founding a State

 

 

I

This paper suggests that the creation of a State by its very nature is not the work of one man. It is a joint product of a number of historical forces. The great man –the Quaid-i-Azam – who played a dominant role was himself conditioned by certain historical forces. There was not one Jinnah but at least two. There was the Jinnah of the early phase, which lasted until late thirties or even very early forties. The Jinnah of this phase was almost entirely constitutional or the rational or the westernized and aloof Jinnah. Jinnah in his second phase has been transformed by the current of Muslim mass support for the idea of a separate Muslim state.

The other major conceptual component of this paper is the idea of the founder of a state as distinct (analytically) from a leader of a nationalist movement like Gandhi or a visionary or a dreamer or a philosopher like Iqbal. These qualities of combining values and institutions are demonstrated in the personality of the founder of a state like the Quaid-i-Azam. Finally, we should try to distinguish between creating a new state on the structures of old or existing institutions, and creating a revolutionary state. In the former certain new values are grafted on the old or existing institutions. The result is dialectical struggle between the power of entrenched institutions in absorbing or subverting new values and the capacity and vigour of new values in transforming old or existing institutions. In the case of a revolutionary state, new values create new institutions.

Why The Quaid-e-Azam Left Congress

In 1913 the Quaid-i-Azam joined the All India Muslim League without abandoning the membership of the Congress of which he had been an active member for some years. But this membership of the two organizations ended in December 1920. On the occasion of the special session at Nagpur the Congress adopted a new creed which permitted the use of unconstitutional means and decided to resort to non-violent non-co-operation for the attainment of self-government. The new policy and programme in essence envisaged withdrawal of the students from schools and colleges, boycott of law-courts by lawyers and litigants as well as the impending elections to the legislatures under the Government of India act 1919 either as voters or as candidates.1 The new philosophy of the Congress had been shaped almost entirely under the influence of Gandhi who had, by then, emerged as a commanding figure in Congress politics. Although there were many prominent Congressmen such as C.R. Das and Lala Lajpat Rai who did not subscribe to the programme of non-co-operation2, Jinnah was the only one in a crowd of several thousand people who openly expressed serious disagreement.

Quaid-e-Azam Par Buhtaan Laganay Walay [Urdu article]

!!!قائد اعظم پر بہتان لگانے والے

The Quaid: A Brilliant Statesman

Pakistan, the beacon of hope for the Muslims of South Asia and beyond, was created under the leadership of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. He was not a traditional politician but a great leader, brilliant statesman and a master strategist, who fought the case for Pakistan so well that he did not only frustrate the designs of the British that wished to see the subcontinent united at one form or another till the last moment, but also made the brute Hindu majority believe that division of the subcontinent had saved it from some bigger catastrophe. He had united the Muslims of the subcontinent and waged struggle for a separate homeland for Muslims to rid them of brute majority’s exploitation and repression and also to enable them to lead their lives according to their faith and culture. This twin-objective is, in fact, is the ideology of Pakistan.

Our leaders should emulate Quaid-i-Azam who had united the people who were earlier divided on the basis of sects and ideologies. The Muslims of the subcontinent had reposed full confidence in him and accepted his concept and perception of the new state – Pakistan. Today, the myriad political and religious parties, intellectuals and pseudo-intellectuals have variegated views and perceptions, and there is ongoing debate for the last 62 years about the purpose and rationale behind the creation of Pakistan. Different schools of thought interpret Quaid-i-Azam’s speeches to serve their ends, but Quaid-i-Azam had envisioned Pakistan to be a modern progressive state, rooted in the eternal values of Islam, and at the same time responsive to the imperatives of constant change.

Moments of joy with Jinnah

By S Khalid Husain

‘Packard’! the cry would go up, and we would rush to the roadside as Jinnah’s yellow Packard glided by with him, immaculately turned out as always, in the backseat.

This was New Delhi in early 1947, and the place: the India Gate grounds – where we played cricket every evening. We, Hindu, Sikh, Muslim schoolboys from St Columbus, would prance and frolic, as Jinnah watched with half-amused smile. His finger would then rise to his lips and the prancing and frolicking would immediately cease.

Early 1947 was the period Mountbatten had just become viceroy, and was ‘waging’ negotiations with Congress and Muslim League leaders at a hectic pace. Jinnah’s Packard would often be seen driving to, or from, the Vice Regal lodge, the viceroy’s residence, as would also Liaquat Ali Khan’s black Mercury, or Nehru’s limousine. We would rush to the roadside every time any one of these cars was spotted and, frankly, not too respectfully, prance and frolic. Jinnah raising his finger to his lips would silence us, Liaquat Ali Khan gave us what clearly was a ‘not amused’ stare, Nehru would put on his famous faraway look, as if we were not there.

Iqbal & Jinnah on Palestine

In 712 A.D. Hajjaj bin Yusuf Saqafi despatched Muhammad bin Qasim at the head of an expeditionary force to punish Dahir of Sind. That Hindu Raja had shown recalcitrance and behaved with impunity when warned not to neglect the safe passage of Hajis along the coastal strip of his territories. The young arab general won the first Muslim foothold on the Subcontinent. But it was a long time before torrent after torrent of Muslim conquerors from Afghanistan and Central Asia swept down the passes of the North-West Frontier. Thus, established Muslim rule in the Subcontinent continued in varying power and glory for about a thousand years. For in 1707 A.D. when Aurangzeb died, almost all India was under Muslim sway.

Early in the seventeenth century the British came to the Subcontinent by sea, appearing as merchants, and, favoured by Mughal generosity, they established trading posts mostly on and near the western coasts. A century and a half later they were in the thick of the power struggle going on the replace the declining Mughal authority. Through conspiracy, force and fraud, they grabbed, annexed and transacted Muslim principalities and Muslim territories wherever they lay, in Bengal in the east, in Oudh in the north, in Mysore in the sourth and in Sind in the west. The first big blow came 50 years after Aurangzeb, in 1757, when Nawab Sirajuddaulah lost the day against the English at Plassey in Bengal, and the last one 150 years after Aurangzeb, in 1857, when the last Mughal emperor, Sirajuddin Bahadurshah Zafar, lay prostrate at Delhi, watching helplessly the massacre of his children and appearing as a rare-show in the bazaars of his capital before being exiled to Rangoon in Burma where he died and was buried.

The British rise to power in the Subcontinent was marked by two perennial factors: first, their inveterate hostility to Islam and the Muslim which they shared with the other Christian countries of Europe since their defeat at the hands of Sultan Salahuddin in 1187 A.D. and, secondly, the ready and steady cooperation which the Hindu, having been ruled by the Muslim for a thousand years, extended to the British. Thus while the British built up and boosted the Hindu in every field and by every means, they put down and ruined the Muslim everywhere and in alt possible ways; and the Hindu, paying off old scores, has often on the side of the British and pitted against the Muslim. The most heinous outrage that this British-Hindu combine perpetrated was the sale-deed of Kashmir. In 1946 the British struck a deal with Gulab Singh, a Dogra Hindu of Jammu, to give him possession of that beautiful land, with its 80% Muslim population (now about 6,500,000) and its area well over 180,000 sq. km., for a cash payment of 15,000,000 rupees. A people and their homeland transacted as a common piece of landed property. It was an enormity, a most monstrous crime against humanity; Allama Muhammad Iqbal, himself of Kashmiri stock, cried out some eighty years[1]

Wood and stream and field and ploughman, And a nation into the bargain,

Without o’er a scruple or shudder,

All they sold for filthy lucre,

Is the dark, long night about to end?

“Few individuals significantly alter the course of history,” wrote Stanley Wolpert in the preface to his book on Mr Jinnah. “Fewer still modify the map of the world. Hardly anyone can be credited with creating a nation-state. Mohammad Ali Jinnah did all three.” By 1940, the mystical bond linking Jinnah and the people was so profound that nobody could challenge Jinnah’s leadership of the Muslims of India. He was their sole spokesman.

Beverly Nichols, who first met Mr Jinnah on December 18, 1943, called him a giant, the most important man in Asia. “India is likely to be the world’s greatest problem for some years to come, and Mr Jinnah is in a position of unique strategic importance. He can sway the battle this way or that as he chooses. His 100 million Muslims will march to the left, to the right, to the front, to the rear at his bidding and at nobody else’s… that is the point.” Without Jinnah, it is safe to say, there would have been no Pakistan. Rarely, in the history of human endeavour, have so many owed so much to one, single, solitary person.

Jinnah — lessons for our politicians

By Mohammad Rai

Jinnah has left an enduring legacy in the shape of Pakistan. However, if his vision and aspirations for Pakistan are to be attained, a lot still reckons to be accomplished. And today our politicians, instead of just giving statements praising Jinnah, need to emulate him in words and actions.

Right from his childhood, Jinnah was head and shoulders from the crowd. His childhood friend Nanji Jafar remembers, “once Jinnah, only fourteen, came to me and said don’t play in the dust; it spoils your clothes and dirties hands. We must stand up and play cricket.” It was this sense of personal dignity and self-confidence that defines Jinnah right from his early life. Sadly, stateliness and honour have long been lost in our political elite.

Mr Jinnah, as I knew him

By Sameen Khan

I saw Mr Jinnah for the first time when he came to speak on the invitation of the Muslim University Union in the famous Strachey Hall. My class fellow and close friend Fasihuddin Ahmed, who was also a nephew of Dr Ziauddln Ahmed, the Vice Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University, asked me if I was going or wanted to go to hear Mr Jinnah speak. I said: “The hall will be full with students, how shall we get in?” But Fasih took me there and we entered the hall from the backside. We sat near the dice where students were piling up their autograph books to be signed by Jinnah. I think the Vice President of the University Union (the President was always a professor) was perhaps Shamsul Hoda/Haq from Bengal, who delivered an eloquent speech and prepared the audience for Jinnah’s speech. When his name was announced, there was complete silence in the hall. He delivered an eloquent speech and, perhaps, in this speech said: “Aligarh is the arsenal of Muslim India.” But the only sentence that I remember till now is “build your character”, and since then I have tried to do just that. That was my first encounter with Mr Jinnah.

Quaid-i-Azam: Kashmir The “Jugular Vein of Pakistan.”

By Dr Raja Muhammad Khan

Quaid-e-Azam in Kashmir

Quaid-i-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah is among the few leaders of the 20th century, who are recipients of the greatest tributes. While, Sir Aga Khan considered him “the greatest man he ever met”, Mr. Nichols, the author of `Verdict on India’, called him “the most important man in Asia.” Other gauged him as “an outstanding figure of 20th century not only in India, but in the whole world.” Since a lot has been said, and written about the Quaid’s unparallel commitment with people of Kashmir and Kashmiri cause, the fact remains that, the first ever Muslim Political party of sub-continent the; “All India Muslim League” was formed in 1906, at the residence of a Kashmiri of Bengal, Sir Salimullah Khan. Above all, the greatest Philosopher, poet and Scholar Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal, a Kashmiri himself, initially sponsored the idea of a separate homeland for the Muslims of Sub-continent in 1930. He also made it clear that, the dream of Muslim India would be incomplete without the freedom of the Islamic State of Kashmir. In a way, it was the formal announcement of Kashmir as an inalienable part of the new ideological Muslim State in Sub-continent, Pakistan.

Quaid-e-Azam, Fatima Jinnah and the Liaquats in Kashmir

As revealed through the available archives, Quaid-i-Azam, visited Kashmir at least four times. First time, Quaid visited Kashmir 1926. Apparently, it was a private visit to spend few holidays in Kashmir, but, practically, this visionary leader had used the visit to assess the socio-economic condition of the people of Kashmir, under the cruel rule of Maharaja Hari Singh. Indeed, there was no political awakening in the State, nor Kashmiris could form political parties. Earlier, once some noted Kashmiris dared to submit a memorandum to the Viceroy of India, demanding reforms in the educational and economic sectors, and to redress the grievances of Kashmiri masses, the Dogra Government in Kashmir victimized and tortured them. The Quaid uneasily watched this situation and later, got a special resolution passed in the All India Muslim League Working Committee session held in Lahore in 1926. The unanimously passed resolution drew the attention of the Maharajah’s Government towards the educational and economic backwardness of the Muslims of Kashmir and requested him to improve the living standard of the Muslim masses, forming bulk of the population. Quaid again visited Kashmir in 1929, and met with some salient leaders of the state. Both these visits remained low profile and to watch the situation there.

Quaid ka Pakistan!

Muhammad Ali Jinnah as a Barrister

  





By Syed Muhammad Mamoon Rashid Advocate High Court

Excerpts from the sayings of Quaid-e-Azam

Spiritual Dimensions of Quaid-e-Azam's Life!!

Quaid-e-Azam: A Man of Character

Quaid-e-Azam as a Role Model

By Mian Muhammad Javed

Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah the most revered leader of the Muslims of the Subcontinent was a man having inter alia a strong moral character unmatched by any other contemporary leader of those days. He is quoted as an example of impeccable integrity on which he never compromised. He is a role model for those who believe that in a Muslim nation personal character of leadership is as important as other necessary inherent qualities of leadership which get radiated to inspire people at large. This is in variation from the secular world concept that leadership may have personal weaknesses but should excel in political or military acumen merely. It is rather strange and beyond understanding that most of the subsequent political leadership in Pakistan instead of looking at and emulating the most successful and adored personality of Mohammad Ali Jinnah and his traits never tire of eulogizing the services and examples of foreign leaders, many of whom considered personal conduct not a matter of public scrutiny and took pride in their adventures which were frequently based on unaccepted social norms. An ideological state having been created it would be only right that politicians clamoring to play a leadership role in such a state should follow a proper role model of which the shining example is that of trend setter Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan who was an embodiment of qualities of head and heart. In the context of prevailing political situation in Pakistan where there are serious problems of internal security and country is facing foreign pressures it is all the more important that inspiration should be drawn from examples set by the Quaid in dealing with internal dissidents and outsiders.

He took firm stand on principles, remained adamant in face of unruly opponents and ported a strong sense of self-respect. Even with colonial masters of the day he would neither put up with improper behavior nor would tolerate a slight. It would be opportune to recall some of the incidents to elaborate on his conduct. One incident dates back to the period in his life when he started legal practice as a young lawyer. He always pleaded cases with solid arguments without involving an iota of imploration. In the course of hearing in a court of law the English magistrate due to some reason or other reminded Jinnah that he was in the court of a 1st class magistrate. Prompt came the reply by Jinnah that the advocate in him was of no lesser class. Jinnah carried his sense of self- respect every where in dealing with Indian leaders of the day including those belonging to Indian Congress. He never allowed himself to be brow beaten. Jinnah was endowed with an impressive personality by nature, and on top of it he would dress himself immaculately and maintain a posture and facial expression which commanded respect from all who were in company. It is narrated that on visit to London for political parleys he stayed in hotel. In the morning he descended from his hotel suite into the breakfast hall, using stairs. When the people present in the restaurant noticed him they all rose involuntary and stood up as a gesture of respect to him. Another interesting story about Quaid also relates to his appearance in a court of law as pleader of a client. While making arguments, monocle which Jinnah was using for reading from his notes slipped from his eye and dropped on the floor. The magistrate mischievously grinned and felt delighted, anticipating that Jinnah would have to bend in his court to pick up the monocle. He was disappointed when Jinnah put his hand in his pocket, brought out another monocle and applied it to his eye while continuing the arguments.

What Mohammad Ali Jinnah was not?

Mowahid Hussain Shah

A Muslim visitor returning from India feels instinctively a sense of gratitude to Jinnah for founding Pakistan, which, with all its warts and imperfections, is a place free from the spectre of Muslims at the receiving end of communal fury.

This is not to denigrate India, a country difficult to match in the range of its cultural diversity. But no honest Indian would contend that India is a safe haven for Muslims. But no lofty claims are made here for a secular order. Yet, some Pakistanis would still like to reassess the utility of the creation of Pakistan and the wisdom behind the founding. The debate would be conclusively answered by asking the single question: Are the Muslims of India better off than the Muslims of Pakistan?

By some accounts, India has more Muslims than Pakistan. But that fact, apart from tokenism, is not reflected at the helm of affairs. Sikhs, for all the agitation, were (and still are) far better represented than Muslims despite their significantly smaller size. Secularism is intellectually attractive but, in effect, fraudulent. The obvious needs to be restated. But for Pakistan, there would not have been too many generals, business moguls, sport superstars and bureaucrats of the Islamic faith. Having said that, it does not necessarily follow that the experiment of a Muslim homeland has been an unqualified success.

The picture on the wall

By Mahreen Khan

It is the faded, framed print on the wall, sometimes hanging slightly lopsided, the paper mottled by a combination of humidity and apathy. Flanked by newer, glossier, airbrushed portraits of less worthy incumbents, most passersby scarcely notice the iconic image of a leader who altered the course of world history and put Pakistan on the map. Quaid- i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, has been confined within the plastic portrait that adorns every government institution, his life seldom examined, its wisdom untapped and the principles of his politics unapplied.

Perhaps this is due to the depersonalised, unimaginative way in which youngsters are taught the history of this nation. My own knowledge of Quaid-i-Azam centred on the respectful epithet “father of the nation”— a routine fact of general knowledge, devoid of any personal resonance or understanding until Stanley Wolpert’s Jinnah of Pakistan captured my attention. Ironically, it took an American professor to first pen such an authoritative, captivating and incisively written biography which, for me and millions of others, transformed a distant, dutiful respect for the “portrait Quaid” into genuinely heartfelt admiration for the real life Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

Quaid-e-Azam’s 134th Birth Anniversary (25th December 2010)

Great people celebrate birthdays or observe death anniversaries of the Fathers of their nations not merely by pompous display of festivities but by strictly following the precepts and guidelines left by their founding fathers in letter and spirit.

Quaid-e-Azam cutting his Birthday cake on 25 December,1947 in Karachi

25 Dec. 1947: Quaid reading about the felicitations on his birthday in the 'Dawn'. The headline says '71 today'

The Nation will celebrate the 134th birth anniversary of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah on Saturday, renewing the pledge to follow his guiding principle of Unity, Faith and Disciple, thus promoting prosperity, peace and harmony and consolidating democratic process in the country.





Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah whose word was law for his followers. But he never acted like a dictator. He derived his power from the people to whom he always considered himself accountable. At a time he was offered life presidentship of the All India Muslim League. He refused by saying that he would like to come before the Muslim League Council every year and get himself elected its president on the strength of his performance.

Prof Stanley Wolpret in his book ‘Jinnah of Pakistan’ says:

‘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.’

Jinnah had a firm faith in the democratic system of Government and throughout his life he continued to adhere scrupulousy to the democratic norms. Muslim League activist had assembled at a Muslim League General Council meeting under his presidentship. He invited participants to express their views. The councillors said “You are our leaders, you order and we-will follow.” The Quaid said what was fun of assembling people from every nook and comer of the country. If he was to order, he would have issued a statement in the press.

Feelings About the Father of the Nation

By G.C. Contreras

At the beginning of this Congress I would like to greet its authorities and all the delegates gathered here. As with colleagues who come from every corner of Pakistan, the delegates who have come from all corners of the world are here to pay homage to the Quaid-i-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Father of the Nation, on the first hundredth anniversary of his birth. I want to make this homage extensive, as undoubtedly he would have deserved it, to the people of Pakistan, who endowed with an unbreakable will have achieved the greatness of their nation, thirty years after her beginning.

We know by experience that young nations like my own, Mexico, or like Pakistan, when they relinquish a colonial past, go through difficult and hazarduous moments for the first years of their independent life, moments full of weaknesses and dangers which test the reserves and potential energy of their human material.

Not only the culminating moment when the new nation, product of a long ideological and political struggle, has begun her life is decisive, but the daily process of maintaining her alive ensuring that she prevails against all contingencies. Notwithstanding, when a community has the will for becoming a nation, armed with its high ideals and the wish of an independent life, her place among the free peoples is assured. Of you, I can say, in the very words of Jinnah, “Pakistan has come to stay and no power on earth can destroy it.”

Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a man of great wisdom, strong ideals, an enemy of injustice who fought so that his community could exercise its due rights. His strong determination through a long and difficult struggle for the Independence of the Indian Subcontinent led him inevitably, within the historical circumstances, to the ideal of the creation of Pakistan as a free and sovereign nation.