Muhammad Ali Jinnah (25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a prominent British Indian leader and President of the Muslim League. Jinnah was born to a wealthy businessman in Karachi and was the eldest son. Later Muhammad Ali Jinnah shortened his name to ‘Jinnah’. Jinnah’s father recruited Jinnah as an apprentice in a trading company in London. Shortly after arriving in London, Muhammad Ali Jinnah left business to study law.
entry into politics
After completing his law studies, Muhammad Ali Jinnah thought of trying his luck as a young barrister in Bombay (now Mumbai). Later, his barrister business started doing well in Bombay. After becoming a lawyer, Jinnah took active interest in politics. He entered Indian politics as a follower of liberal Congress leaders like Dadabhai Naoroji and Gopalkrishna Gokhale. It was an irony that he became a member of the Hindu-dominated Indian National Congress party in 1906. He was also a strong supporter of Hindu-Muslim unity.
Lucknow Pact
In 1910 and 1913, he was elected member of the Central Legislative Council from the Muslim constituency of Bombay. Joined Muslim League in 1916. Meen became its president. In this capacity he initiated the United Congress League plan for constitutional reforms. Under this plan, the Congress League agreement provided for separate constituencies for Muslims and unequal representation in provinces where they were in the minority. This agreement is called ‘Lucknow Agreement’.
Misunderstanding
Jinnah used to say that if both the communities came together then more pressure could be put on the whites to leave India. Jinnah was a supporter of the Indian National Congress, but he strongly opposed Gandhiji’s non-cooperation movement and separated from the Congress on this issue. Since then he was haunted by the ghost of establishing a Hindu state. He had the misconception that Muslims would never get proper representation in Hindu-dominated India. Therefore, he became a staunch supporter and propagator of the establishment of a new nation, Pakistan. He said that whenever the British transferred power, it should not be handed over to Hindus, even if they were in majority. By doing this, Indian Muslims will have to remain under the subjugation of Hindus. Jinnah now started emphasizing the rights of Muslims rather than the right of Indians to independence. He continued to receive general diplomatic support from the British and as a result eventually emerged as the leader of Indian Muslims in the country’s politics.
Kashmir issue and death
Muhammad Ali Jinnah reorganized the League and became known as ‘Quaid-e-Azam’ (Great Leader). In 1940, he demanded the partition of India on religious lines and the merger of Muslim-majority provinces to form Pakistan. As a result of this, in 1947 AD. India was divided and Pakistan was formed. He made Pakistan an Islamic nation by becoming the first Governor-General of Pakistan. During his lifetime, there were riots in Punjab and large-scale migration of people from one state to another. He also raised the issue of Kashmir between India and Pakistan. He died on September 11, 1948 in Karachi.
