MUHAMMAD ALI JINNAH 

Muhammad Ali Jinnah, (also spelled Mohammad) (25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948 in Karachi, Present day Pakistan) is the founder of Pakistan. After the partition of India, he became the Governor General of Pakistan. As a mark of respect, Pakistanis call him as Quaid-e-Azam.[1] Quaid-e-Azam is a phrase which, in the Urdu language, means "the great leader". People also called him Baba-I-Quam, another phrase in the Urdu language which means "the father of the nation". The day of his birth is a national holiday in Pakistan.

Early Life

Jinnah’s birth name was Mahomedali Jinnahbhai. He later changed it to the much simpler 'Muhammad Ali Jinnah' or M.A. Jinnah. He was born in Karachi (Sindh, now in Pakistan). The earliest record of his school register gives his date of birth as 20 October 1875, the author of Jinnah’s first biography gives another date of his birth, namely, the 25 December 1876.

His father’s name was Jinnah Poonja (born 1857-died 1901) and his mother’s name was Mithibai. Jinnah was the eldest of the seven children of Jinnah Poonja and Mithibai. His family had migrated to Sindh from the Kathiawar area of Gujarat, India.

Jinnah read in many schools. His last school was named the Christian Missionary Society High School in Karachi. At home, his family talked in Gujarati language. But, the family members also knew Kutchi language, Sindhi language, and English language, but widely understood although did not speak in Urdu.

Early working years

In 1891(when he was fifteen), Jinnah went to London and worked for few years for a company. Before going to London, he was married to Emibai. She was his distant relative. At the time of her marriage, Emibai was around 14 or 16 years old. But, Emibai died shortly after Jinnah had gone to London. At around the same time, his mother also died.

In 1894, Jinnah quit his job to study law. He joined the course at Lincoln's Inn and graduated in 1896. While still in London, he also started to participate in politics. He greatly admired Indian political leaders Dadabhai Naoroji and Sir Pherozeshah Mehta. Gradually Jinnah was developing his own political outlook. He was thinking on the line that India should have a constitutional self-government.

Around this time, his father lost his business. This put Jinnah under great difficulty. In the meantime, he had started to practice as a lawyer in Mumbai. He also built a house in Mumbai’s Malabar Hill area. The house is now known as Jinnah House.

He became a successful lawyer. Bal Gangadhar Tilak, a famous leader of India, once used Jinnah to work as a lawyer. Tilak was facing charges of sedition against the British Raj. Jinnah pleaded the case beautifully. But, Tilak was sent to prison.

Early years as a politician

Jinnah had already joined the Indian National Congress in 1906 The Congress was the largest political organization in India. Many members and leaders of the Indian National Congress favored a limited self-government for India. Jinnah also held the same view. At that time, his role model was Gopal Krishna Gokhale.

On 25 January 1910, Jinnah became a member on the sixty-member Imperial Legislative Council. He was an active member of the Council. Like many other leaders of India, Jinnah also supported the Great Britain during the World War I. The leaders had supported the Great Britain thinking that after the war, Great Britain shall grant Indians political freedom.

At the beginning Jinnah had avoided to join the All India Muslim League, another political organization of India. Muslims had formed the League in 1906. In 1913, Jinnah became a member of the Muslim League. In 1916, he became the president of the Muslim League. He helped in making an agreement between the Congress and the Muslim League. The agreement tried to present a united front to the British for giving India self-government dominion status in the British Empire. This was similar to the dominion status which Canada, New Zealand and Australia had at that time.

In 1918, Jinnah married again. His second wife was Rattanbai Petit. She was twenty-four years younger to him. She was the daughter of Jinnah’s personal friend sir Dinshaw Petit. Petit belonged to Parsi Zoroastrian community. Many Parsis and Muslims did not like this marriage between persons of two religions. The Jinnah couple resided in Bombay (now Mumbai) and frequently traveled to Europe. In 1919, his wife bore a daughter. The daughter was named Dina.

As the founder of Pakistan

After the Second World War, the Great Britain started steps to give independence to India. On 16 May 1946, the British announced plan for a united India. One month after, on 16 June 1946, the British announced another plan to partition the British Raj into two countries, one for the Hindus and one for the Muslims.

The Congress Party accepted the plan of the 16 May 1946. The Muslim League under Jinnah’s leadership accepted both the plans. But, on 16 August 1946, Jinnah also announced the Direct Action to achieve independence for Pakistan, a separate country of Muslims of the former British Raj. After several rounds of discussion, the British Raj was partitioned (in August 1947) into two countries, India and Pakistan. In 1971, Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan.