Afia Ambreen
“A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent”.
(Douglas Arthur)
Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jannah was architect of Pakistan. He was born on 25th December, 1876 in a noble family of Karachi. On his return to India in 1896, the then 20-year-old Jinnah started to practice Law in Bombay (present-day Mumbai). He consciously began to cultivate an image of being a highly rational man who valued veracity and integrity. Shamim Ahmed, a senior journalist, wrote that these traits that Jinnah proudly exhibited were initially informed by his admiration for late 19th century British Liberalism that he encountered in England; but they not only remained being an important part of Jinnah’s make-up for the rest of his life, they actually became stronger with age. Ahmed was not just blindly eulogising the founder of his country. The idea of a young Jinnah striving to nurture an upright image for himself is reflected in many of his utterings and manoeuvres (as a young lawyer) in the courts of Bombay. Senior lawyer and author, Shariffuddin Pirzada, in his 1978 essay, “Some Aspects of Quaid-i-Azam’s Life”, narrates an incident in the court of Chief Justice Davis. Finding the courtroom packed to capacity, Justice Davis ordered that the doors of the room be closed. Not agreeing with the order, Jinnah, the young lawyer, quickly retorted, ‘My Lord, the doors of justice should be kept open ..!’
Jinnah first entered politics by participating in the 1906 Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress, the party that called for dominion status and later for independence for India. Four years later he was elected to the Imperial Legislative Council–the beginning of a long and distinguished parliamentary career. In Bombay he came to know, among other important Congress personalities, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, the eminent Maratha leader. Greatly influenced by these nationalist politicians, Jinnah aspired during the early part of his political life to become “a Muslim Gokhale.” Admiration for British political institutions and an eagerness to raise the status of India in the international community and to develop a sense of Indian nationhood among the peoples of India were the chief elements of his politics. At that time, he still looked upon Muslim interests in the context of Indian nationalism.
But, by the beginning of the 20th century, the conviction had been growing among the Muslims that their interests demanded the preservation of their separate identity rather than amalgamation in the Indian nation that would for all practical purposes be Hindu. Largely to safeguard Muslim interests, the All-India Muslim League was founded in 1906. But Jinnah remained aloof from it. Only in 1913, when authoritatively assured that the league was as devoted as the Congress to the political emancipation of India, did Jinnah join the league. When the Indian Home Rule League was formed, he became its chief organizer in Bombay and was elected president of the Bombay branch. “Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity,” Jinnah’s endeavours to bring about the political union of Hindus and Muslims earned him the title of “the best ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity,” an epithet coined by Gokhale. The Muslim League held its annual session at Lahore in March 1940. This was presided over by Quaid-i-Azam. The demand for Pakistan was formally put forward here. This goal was realized on August 14, 1947. Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was appointed as its first Governor General.
It was Quaid’s dream that, this separate state, for which a lot of struggle has been done, should emerge as a sovereign democratic state. The state where the law would have the supreme authority, where politicians would work with dedication and would remain honest with the state, where every man and woman would work for the development of country. The Pakistan that he dreamed of was the one in which the rights of every citizen would be protected. Poverty would be eradicated in the minimum possible time. Illiteracy would be eradicated. Justice would be in the reach of everyone. Non-Muslims would be protected and respected. Quaid-e-Azam gave us the principles of Unity, Faith and Discipline to make Pakistan great nation in the world. Quaid’s motto, “work, work and work” is a call to wake us from slumber and work hard to achieve national goals. Quaid once said “I have no doubt that with unity, faith and discipline we will compare with any nation of the world. You must make up your minds now. We must sink individualism and petty jealousies and make up our minds to serve the people with honesty and faithfulness.”
