Dr. Annie Besant with Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, The founder of Pakistan

QUAID-E-AZAM

Baba-e Qaum, Quaid-e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinah was born in Karachi on December the 25th, 1876, in a
building known as Wazir Mansion. He got his early education at Karachi and Bombay. He did his barristery
from England. He saw the name of Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) on the top of the gate of Lincoln's Inn. So he
decided to study there. After his return, Jinah started his practice in barristery. He joined All India National
Congress in 1906. He attended for the first time a meeting of All India Muslim League in 1912. Later he Joined
All India Muslim League in 1913. The third political party he joined was the Home Rule League. He was
member of both the Congress and Muslim League at the same time. Initially he remained working with the
Hindu leaders of Congress. He was given the title of "Ambassador of Hindu Muslim Unity" by prominent
politicians. With the passage of time he realised that the Hindu leaders of Congress have a different agenda.
He left Congress and became fully involved with Muslim League.

Jinah was a man of principles. He was probably the only person among all the big leaders of the subcontinent,
who never went to jail. His motto was: Unity, Faith and Discipline.

When Muslim League finally decided to have a separate country for Muslims of the subcontinent, it was the
leadership of Jinah which led the nation to achieve this goal. Because of these leadership qualities and his firm
stand on the issue, Britishers found no way to reject the demand of Muslims of the subcontinent for a separate
homeland. He took charge as the first Governor General of Pakistan on 14th of August 1947 in a ceremony at
Karachi. India never took risk of invading Hyderabad or Junagarh in his life. Jinah died on September the 11th,
1948, at Ziarat near Quetta. He was buried in Karachi. His tomb is a beautiful piece of architecture and is
worth visiting.

Jinnnah great leader than Gandhi, Nehru: Wolpert

ISLAMABAD: Terming Quaid-e-Azam great leader than Gandhi and Nehru, renowned American scholar
Professor Stanley Wolpert Sunday said Jinnah stood for justice and fair play.

In a lecture on Quaid-e-Azam, Wolpert said the best way to pay homage to Jinnah is "to act on his words and
turn Pakistan into one of the greatest nations of the world." Wolpert, who currently teaches at the University of
California, Los Angles, is also author of a number of research books on South Asian leaders, freedom
movement and its history, including Quaid-e- Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

"At the time of partition Gandhi told Lord Mountbatten that only Muhammad Ali Jinnah can stop the bloodshed."
He said this speaks volume of the Quaid's qualities. Quaid-e-Azam was for following a policy of promoting,
goodwill, harmony, fairplay and reciprocity, he added. Wolpert said founder of Pakistan was an outstanding
barrister and an honest politician.

Tracing the evolution of the Quaid as a political leader, Professor Wolpert stated that he hated corruption,
nepotism and jobbery. Following principles of the Quaid, the Professor said, Pakistan can be turned into a
great nation by for people. "He believed in working for the well being of the masses and the poor, equal rights
and principles for all and no discriminations between communities."

He said Quaid-e-Azam had urged women to join independence movement and was in favor of giving
opportunities to women to enter into political life.

Answering several questions, Professor Stanley Wolpert said Quaid-e-Azam was for "Pan Islamism" but his
life and health did not permit him to put his ideas into practice after the emergence of Pakistan.

He pointed out that Quaid-e-Azam always stated firmly that Muslims in South Asia are not a minority but a
separate nation. He refuted Khan Abdul Wali Khan's allegations that the Quaid was a British agent, or
Pakistan was British plan. The American scholar said though he did not read Khan Abdul Wali Khan's book
titled "Facts are Facts," in his opinion Quaid-e-Azam was a man of principles and not agent of any one.

Answering another question, Professor Stanley said, "it is in the interest of both Pakistan and India and the
world that the Kashmir issue is solved through peaceful means."

Finance Minister Sartaj Aziz in with remarks draw a balance sheet of Pakistan achievements and failures, and
urged the younger generation to realize their responsibilities of the national and make Pakistan strong.

He said Pakistan achieved progress in industrial and agriculture sectors and its living standard is higher than
countries in South Asia. The country's defense is strong and it can manufacture light aircraft, tank and missiles.
As far the failures, he said, "we have lost half of the country and failed to build up our socio-economic
institutions."

Earlier introducing the guest, Minister for Information Mushahid Hussain Sayed paid glowing tributes to
Professor Stanley for writing comprehensive biography of Quaid-e-Azam.

This section has been taken from Pakistan News Service. Please visit their site at www.paknews.org.pk

Early Years....
Quaid-e-Azam, Muhammad Ali Jinnah was born on 25th December 1876 at Vazeer
Mansion Karachi, was the first of seven children of Jinnahbhai, a prosperous merchant. After
being taught at home, Jinnah was sent to the Sindh Madrasasah High School in 1887. Later
he attended the Mission High School, where, at the age of 16, he passed the matriculation
examination of the University of Bombay. On the advice of an English friend, his father decided
to send him to England to acquire business experience. Jinnah, however, had made up his mind
to become a barrister. In keeping with the custom of the time, his parents arranged for an early
marriage for him before he left for England.

In London he joined Lincoln's Inn, one of the legal societies that
prepared students for the bar. In 1895, at the age of 19, he was
called to the bar. While in London Jinnah suffered two severe
bereavements--the deaths of his wife and his mother.
Nevertheless, he completed his formal studies and also made a study of the British political
system, frequently visiting the House of Commons. He was greatly influenced by the liberalism of
William E. Gladstone, who had become prime minister for the fourth time in 1892, the year of
Jinnah's arrival in London. Jinnah also took a keen interest in the affairs of India and in Indian
students. When the Parsi leader Dadabhai Naoroji, a leading Indian nationalist, ran for the
English Parliament, Jinnah and other Indian students worked day and night for him. Their efforts were crowned with success,
and Naoroji became the first Indian to sit in the House of Commons.

When Jinnah returned to Karachi in 1896, he found that his father's
business had suffered losses and that he now had to depend on
himself. He decided to start his legal practice in Bombay, but it took
him years of work to establish himself as a lawyer.

It was nearly 10 years later that he turned toward active politics. A
man without hobbies, his interest became divided between law and
politics. Nor was he a religious zealot: he was a Muslim in a broad
sense and had little to do with sects. His interest in women was also
limited to Ruttenbai--the daughter of Sir Dinshaw Petit, a Bombay
Parsi millionaire--whom he married over tremendous opposition from
her parents and others. The marriage proved an unhappy one. It was
his sister Fatima who gave him solace and company.

Entry Into Politics....
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
organiser in Bombay and was elected president of the Bombay branch.

"Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity." Jinnah's endeavours to bring about
thepolitical union of Hindus and Muslims earned him the title of "the best
ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity," an epithet coined by Gokhale. It was
largely through his efforts that the Congress and the Muslim League began to
hold their annual sessions jointly, to facilitate mutual consultation and
participation. In 1915 the two organisations held their meetings in Bombay
and in 1916 in Lucknow, where the Lucknow Pact was concluded. Under
the terms of the pact, the two organisations put their seal to a scheme of
constitutional reform that became their joint demand vis-à-vis the British
government. There was a good deal of give and take, but the Muslims
obtained one important concession in the shape of separate electorates,
already conceded to them by the government in 1909 but hitherto resisted by
the Congress.

Meanwhile, a new force in Indian politics had appeared in the person of Mohandas K. Gandhi. Both the Home Rule League
and the Indian National Congress had come under his sway. Opposed to Gandhi's Non-co-operation Movement and his
essentially Hindu approach to politics, Jinnah left both the League and the Congress in 1920. For a few years he kept himself
aloof from the main political movements. He continued to be a firm believer in Hindu-Muslim unity and constitutional methods
for the achievement of political ends. After his withdrawal from the Congress, he used the Muslim League platform for the
propagation of his views. But during the 1920s the Muslim League, and with it Jinnah, had been overshadowed by the
Congress and the religiously oriented Muslim Khilafat committee.

When the failure of the Non-co-operation Movement and the emergence of Hindu revivalist movements led to antagonism and
riots between the Hindus and Muslims, the league gradually began to come into its own. Jinnah's problem during the following
years was to convert the league into an enlightenedpolitical body prepared to co-operate with other organisations working for
the good of India. In addition, he had to convince the Congress, as a prerequisite for political progress, of the necessity of
settling the Hindu-Muslim conflict.

To bring about such a rapprochement was Jinnah's chief purpose during the late 1920s and early 1930s. He worked toward
this end within the legislative assembly, at the Round Table Conferences in London (1930-32), and through his 14 points,
which included proposals for a federal form of government, greater rights for minorities, one-third representation for Muslims
in the central legislature, separation of the predominantly Muslim Sindh region from the rest of the Bombay province, and the
introduction of reforms in the north-west Frontier Province. But he failed. His failure to bring about even minor amendments in
the Nehru Committee proposals (1928) over the question of separate electorates and reservation of seats for Muslims in the
legislatures frustrated him. He found himself in a peculiar position at this time; many Muslims thought that he was too
nationalistic in his policy and that Muslim interests were not safe in his hands, while the Indian National Congress would not
even meet the moderate Muslim demands halfway. Indeed, the Muslim League was a house divided against itself. The Punjab
Muslim League repudiated Jinnah's leadership and organised itself separately. In disgust, Jinnah decided to settle in England.
From 1930 to 1935 he remained in London, devoting himself to practice before the Privy Council. But when constitutional
changes were in the offing, he was persuaded to return home to head a reconstituted Muslim League.

Soon preparations started for the elections under the Government of India Act of 1935. Jinnah was still thinking in terms of
co-operation between the Muslim League and the Hindu Congress and with coalition governments in the provinces. But the
elections of 1937 proved to be a turning point in the relations between the two organisations. The Congress obtained an
absolute majority in six provinces, and the league did not do particularly well. The Congress decided not to include the league
in the formation of provincial governments, and exclusive all-Congress governments were.

Founder of Nation

Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah was born at Karachi on December 25, 1876. He was a lawyer and politician who fought for the cause of India’s independence from Britain, then moved on to found a Muslim state in Pakistan in 1947. Jinnah entered politics in India in 1905 and by 1917 his charisma and diplomacy had made him a national leader and the most visible supporter of Hindu-Muslim unity. His strong belief in gradual and peaceful change was in contrast to the civil disobedience strategies of Mohandas Gandhi, and in the ’30s Jinnah broke from the Indian National Congress to focus on an independent Muslim state. In 1940 he demanded a separate nation in Pakistan and by 1947 he managed to get it from the British and India. Through civil wars, a rotten economy and millions of displaced refugees, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah (“the great leader”) pretty much built a country from scratch

Quaid-e-Azam’s Speech at the Opening Ceremony of The State Bank of Pakistan

“Mr. Governor, Directors of State Bank, Ladies and Gentlemen.

The opening of the State Bank of Pakistan symbolises the sovereignty of our State in the financial sphere and I am very glad to be here today to perform the opening ceremony. It was not considered feasible to start a Bank of our own simultaneously with the coming into being of Pakistan in August last year. A good deal of preparatory work must precede the inauguration of an institution responsible for such technical and delicate work as note issue and banking. To allow for this preparation, it was provided, under the Pakistan Monetary System and Reserve Bank Order, 1947, that the Reserve Bank of India should continue to be the currency and banking authority of Pakistan till the 30th September, 1948. Later on it was felt that it would be in the best interests of our State if the Reserve Bank of India were relieved of its functions in Pakistan, as early as possible. The State of transfer of these functions to a Pakistan agency was consequently advanced by three months in agreement with the Government of India and the Reserve Bank. It was at the same time decided to establish a Central Bank of Pakistan in preference to any other agency for managing our currency and banking. This decision left very little time for the small band of trained personnel in this field in Pakistan to complete the preliminaries and they have by their untiring effort and hard work completed their task by the due date which is very creditable to them, and I wish to record a note of our appreciation of their labours.

As you have observed, Mr. Governor in undivided India banking was kept a close preserve of non-Muslims and their migration from Western Pakistan has caused a good deal of dislocation in the economic life of our young State. In order that the wheels of commerce and industry should run smoothly, it is imperative that the vacuum caused by the exodus of non-Muslims should be filled without delay. I am glad to note that schemes for training Pakistan nationals in banking are in hand. I will watch their progress with interest and I am confident that the State Bank will receive the co-operation of all concerned including the banks and Universities in pushing them forward. Banking will provide a new and wide field in which the genius of our young men can find full play. I am sure that they will come forward in large numbers to take advantage of the training facilities which are proposed to be provided. While doing so, they will not only be benefiting themselves but also contributing to the well-being of our State.

I need hardly dilate on the important role that the State Bank will have to play in regulating the economic life of our country. The monetary policy of the bank will have a direct bearing on our trade and commerce, both inside Pakistan as well as with the outside world and it is only to be desired that your policy should encourage maximum production and a free flow of trade. The monetary policy pursued during the war years contributed, in no small measure, to our present day economic problems. The abnormal rise in the cost of living has hit the poorer sections of society including those with fixed incomes very hard indeed and is responsible to a great extent for the prevailing unrest in the country. The policy of the Pakistan Government is to stabilise prices at a level that would be fair to the producer, as well as the consumer. I hope your efforts will be directed in the same direction in order to tackle this crucial problem with success.

I shall watch with keenness the work of your Research Organization in evolving banking practices compatible with Islamic ideas of social and economic life. The economic system of the West has created almost insoluble problems for humanity and to many of us it appears that only a miracle can save it from disaster that is not facing the world. It has failed to do justice between man and man and to eradicate friction from the international field. On the contrary, it was largely responsible for the two world wars in the last half century. The Western world, in spite of its advantages, of mechanization and industrial efficiency is today in a worse mess than ever before in history. The adoption of Western economic theory and practice will not help us in achieving our goal of creating a happy and contended people. We must work our destiny in our own way and present to the world an economic system based on true Islamic concept of equality of manhood and social justice. We will thereby be fulfilling our mission as Muslims and giving to humanity the message of peace which alone can save it and secure the welfare, happiness and prosperity of mankind.

May the Sate Bank of Pakistan prosper and fulfil the high ideals which have been set as its goal.

In the end I thank you, Mr. Governor, for the warm welcome given to me by you and your colleagues, and the distinguished guests who have graced this occasion as a mark of their good wishes and the honour your have done me in inviting me to perform this historic opening ceremony of the State Bank which I feel will develop into one of our greatest national institutions and play its part fully throughout the world.”

Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah
1st July, 1948

Quaid-e-Azam and SMI

Quaid-e- Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah and Sindh Madressah

The most Illustrious student

Quaid-e-Azam studied at Sindh Madressatul Islam for about four and a half years, which constitutes the longest spell of his life spent at any educational institution.

He was admitted to the SMI for first time in July 1887. According to the old record of Sindh Madressah, “Muhammadali Jinnahbhaoy” was first admitted to standard I on 14 July 1887. “Khoja” was mentioned as his sect. In the column under ‘previous instructions’, he had been shown to have passed Standard IV Gujrati. The date of birth had not been mentioned, but his age had been put as “14 years.”

While still studying in Standard I, he left for Bombay (Mumbai), presumably to see his aunt. After few months, on 23rd December 1887, he came back to seek admission again. This time he brought with him a certificate from Anjuman-e-Islam School Bombay, stating that he had passed Standard I from there.

This entitled him to admission in Standard II. The old record reveals that his date of birth was mentioned this time as 20th October 1875 and age as 12 years, two months and four days. Afterwards, he studied continuously at Sindh Madressah for more than three years. But again on 5th January 1891, while studying in Standard IV, “Muhammadali Jinnahbhaoy” left the school, perhaps to go to some place out of Karachi. He returned back after about one month and was admitted for the third time on 9th February 1891. This time the date of birth was mentioned same as earlier. The remaining particulars were also same.

Finally, after about four and a half year of his association with the institution, while studying in Standard V, he left Sindh Madressah on 30th January 1892, with these remarks in the General Register: “Left for Cutch on marriage.”

He had developed deep love with his alma mater, which is evident from his address delivered on 21st June 1943, when he came to inaugurate the college classes at the SMI. On that occasion he was overcome by his sentiments, which was very unusual of Mr. Jinnah. He, speaking in a reminiscent mood, declared that he knew every inch of the splendid grounds of the institution where he had studied and played as a schoolboy fifty five years earlier. The news account of the event as published in next day Daily Morning News and Daily Star of India was as under:

“Karachi June 21: Mr. M.A. Jinnah, President of the All India Muslim League, today opened Sindh’s first Muslim College. “The college is situated in the premises of the Sindh Madressah, a premier Muslim educational institution in Sindh. Mr. Jinnah was born in Karachi and himself passed out of this school 55 years’ ago. Recalling this fact, Mr. Jinnah said: ‘I know every inch in the splendid grounds of this institution and it is no wonder if I am a bit sentimental in opening a college here although after 55 years’. Mr. Jinnah added that after the death of the founder of the Madressah, there was nobody to look after his creation with the care it deserved. That must not happen. There must always be continuity of the programme of work of any institution. Continuity must be maintained not only in educational but in all departments of life of Mussalmans, he said. Speaking in a reminiscent mood, Mr. Jinnah said he was overcome by sentiment to be present at the development into a college of his Alma Mater where 55 years ago he had played and studied as a schoolboy. ‘Every inch of these splendid grounds where I took part in various games, I know,’ said Mr. Jinnah. He particularly stressed the importance of building up a strong endowment fund for the college and he hoped that patrons of education would come forward to provide funds not merely for the new college but for many more colleges of its kind. Mr. Jinnah himself led with a donation of Rs. 5,000 and a total of Rs. 62,000 was promised on the spot by other donors”.

Another occasion when he showed his love and affection for his alma mater was at the time of writing his last will, wherein he bequeathed one third of his entire property to Sindh Madressah. At paragraph number 12 of his Will dated 30th May 1939, he wrote and declared: “Subject to above, all my residuary estate including the corpus that may fall after the lapse of life interest or otherwise to be divided into three parts – and I bequeath one part to Aligarh University, one part to Islamia College, Peshawar and one part to Sindh Madressah of Karachi”.

(Excerpts taken with permission from Dr. Mohammad Ali Shaikh’s book “Sindh Madressah: the Institution and the Alumni”)

Quaid-e-Azam's Diary