History does not begin from 1947 when India and Pakistan were split into two. Jinnah and Mohandas Gandhi were among the leading hundreds of Muslim and Hindu leaders who worked shoulder to shoulder to free the undivided India from the humiliating and exploitative colonial rule.

Interestingly, both came from Gujarat and spoke the same language.

While Pakistanis swear by Jinnah’s name, he has been effectively consigned to the dustbin of history. The Indians, too, have consigned Gandhi to a similar bin.

Both were giants among the pygmies that have flourished in India and Pakistan. It is a shameful and criminal act that Pakistani and Indian leaders display these two leaders’ photographs in their offices and build memorials/institutions in their names, but do exactly the opposite of what these two great visionaries and souls wanted their countries to be.

I will not give a lecture but quote from the Wikipedia to set some records straight:

“Jinnah’s problems with the Congress began with the ascent of Mohandas Gandhi in 1918, who espoused non-violent civil disobedience and Hindu values as the best means to obtain Swaraj (independence, or self-rule) for all South Asians.

“Jinnah differed, saying that only constitutional struggle could lead to independence. Unlike most Congress leaders, Gandhi did not wear western-style clothes, did his best to use an Indian language instead of English, and was deeply (Hindu) religious. Gandhi’s Hindu style of leadership gained great popularity with the Indian people. Jinnah criticised Gandhi’s support of the Khilafat Movement, which he saw as an endorsement of religious zealotry.

“By 1920, Jinnah resigned from the Congress, with prophetic warning that Gandhi’s method of mass struggle would lead to divisions between Hindus and Muslims and within the two communities. Becoming president of the Muslim League, Jinnah was drawn into a conflict between a pro-Congress faction and a pro-British faction. In 1927, Jinnah entered negotiations with Muslim and Hindu leaders on the issue of a future constitution, during the struggle against the all-British Simon Commission.

“The League wanted separate electorates while the Nehru Report favoured joint electorates. Jinnah personally opposed separate electorates, but then drafted compromises and put forth demands that he thought would satisfy both.”

This clearly shows that Jinnah wanted Hindus and Muslims to live in peace as they had done for centuries, and not exploited by politicians and religious zealots. He was an intellectual of a high order and a highly cosmopolitan man, far removed from the feudal way of thinking. He was admired by a majority of Congress leaders for his forthright behaviour.

Gandhi also believed in Hindu-Muslim brotherhood and earned the enmity of Hindu extremists, who ultimately killed him when he sought fair monetary deal for Pakistan after the partition of the country in 1947. (Jinnah’s forecast?)

What was Jinnah’s vision of Pakistan? “Jinnah envisioned a secular state for Pakistan, a theme he repeatedly touched upon in his speeches. Nevertheless, this aspect of his ideology never materialised, possibly due to his death during the months immediately following Pakistan’s achievement of independence.

“Speaking to Constituent Assembly of Pakistan (Karachi August 11, 1947), he (Jinnah) said: ‘If we want to make this great State of Pakistan happy and prosperous we should wholly and solely concentrate on the well-being of the people, and especially of the masses and the poor…

“You are free - you are free - to go to your temples or mosques or any other place of worship in this state of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion, caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the state… in due course of time Hindus will cease to be Hindus and Muslims will cease to Muslims - not in a religious sense for that is the personal faith of an individual - but in a political sense as citizens of one state’.”

Among a majority of “thinking” people, whether in urban or far-flung rural areas in Pakistan and India, Jinnah and Gandhi remain iconic figures of the 20th century who contributed a great deal to give us freedom and honour.

It does not really matter what the brainwashed extremists on both sides of the border have to shout from the rooftops. Unfortunately, the myopic leaders now seem hell bent to throw us at the mercy of neo-colonial powers.

To read more from Wikipedia please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ali_Jinnah

And about Gandhi here… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi

Same can be said of your claim that Islam is a religion of peace. As we see events in Pakistan that does not appear to be correct.

Jinnah was man of his words. He did what he said. He was one of the greatest leader of Indo-Pakistan region. May Allah bless his soul.

Don’t forget Chaudhry Rahmat Ali put more scold o9n Quid-e-Azam then all of Congress and Mullahs put together. Eventually he had to be deported to England where he spent rest of his life. Another portion of history not taught to us.