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December 6, 2002
“Jinnah & Pakistan” - a Worthwhile Book
The latest work of Qutubuddin Aziz, a veteran journalist, media manager and diplomat, makes a valuable addition to the plethora of literature on Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. This 150-page book carries some material dug up by the author, particularly during his seven-year stint with Pakistan embassy in London as a senior diplomatic representative of his country.
It sheds light on certain interesting aspects of the Quaid’s life. It also counters convincingly some rumors set afloat by quarters inimical to the great leader to disparage his impeccable personal conduct, particularly as a Muslim.
Such rumors have, unfortunately, crept into the works of distinguished biographers such as Prof. Stanley Wolpert. Without naming anyone, Mr. Aziz has negated the incorrect reports, as could be seen in the following extracts from his chapter on ‘Jinnah & Islam’.
“Jinnah’s chauffeur during his London years (1930-35) Bradbury, told me in London in 1984 that Jinnah went to a mosque in East London for Eid prayers and many Muslims visited him in his Hampstead home to greet him on Eid. He asked his sister, Fatima, to teach her niece, Dina (Jinnah’s only daughter) about Islam and the holy Quran. … According to Bradbury, pork and ham were not served in the Jinnah home in Hampstead.”
“Jinnah was prim and proper in his personal behavior and did not fall for any English damsel. He politely refused a suggestion from his landlady’s daughter in London that he could kiss her under the mistletoe on Christmas night in line with an English custom, saying that such intimacy with a female was contrary to his upbringing and morals. There is no doubt that Jinnah avoided pork and ham and alcoholic drinks, preferring fruit juices.”
Mr. Aziz has dilated on the rumors and baseless allegations in his preface to the book and has briefly pointed out the fallacies of these. He has countered them, directly or indirectly, in the text of his book by mentioning the well-known facts or introducing the evidence found through his own research.
For instance, Sardar Shaukat Hayat, a prominent political figure of Pakistan, had contended that if Mountbatten had been accepted as the Joint Governor General of both India and Pakistan, as was his deep desire, Pakistan would have probably received a better treatment from him.
Mr. Aziz exposes the fallacy of this argument by mentioning the assurance given by Mountbatten to Prime Minister Attlee that he would run the two Dominions in such a way that in a reasonably short time Pakistan would merge with India. Mr. Jinnah could not entrust his creation, the infant state of Pakistan, to Mountbatten for infanticide, points out the author.
An entire chapter has been allotted in the book to the description of the pressure of Mountbatten on the Quaid to give up the demand of Pakistan. A mention has been made of the maneuvers of Gandhi and Nehru to have Lord Wavell replaced by Mounbatten as Viceroy since the latter was found to be more pliable for the Congress.
British authors are quoted to mention the love affair between Nehru and Edwina, wife of Mountbaten. The pressures exercised by Edwina over the Viceroy in favor of Nehru are also mentioned in this very context.
Indian writers often contend that Pakistan was a reward of the British to Mr. Jinnah for the role he played in the British game of divide and rule. The book is replete with descriptions of events portraying the anxiety of the British to leave behind India as a sold entity. The British defense department’s strategic interest in an undivided defense command in India has also been dealt with in the book. Then, the British distaste for Mr. Jinnah and for his party’s demand of Pakistan are narrated, with documentation wherever possible, to expose the fallacy of this argument.
In this context, the antipathy of Lord Willington, Governor of Bombay who later on became the Viceroy of India, towards Mr. Jinnah are dealt with in some detail. The author has researched through the papers of Lord Willington to follow the course of this animosity, lasting for a decade, that was more political than personal. He has quoted extensively from the secret despatches of Willington to London that document this animus.
In the 150 pages of the book, Mr. Aziz has tried to pack a whole lot of material portraying the greatness of Mr. Jinnah and the aspersions on his private and public life cast by his rivals to derogate his greatness and their miserable failure in such efforts. A lie does not last long.
The book is dedicated to the overseas Pakistanis who “have maintained strong ties with the mother country - Pakistan - and support it most devotedly.” Perhaps Mr. Aziz had them in mind while composing the script. The book is therefore concise (I finished it from page to page in two sittings) and it makes piquant reading. It arms the Pakistanis abroad with the requisite material to counter malicious allegations against their leader and country by quarters inimical to him and his achievement. In the words of Stanley Wolpert in his monumental work Jinnah of Pakistan: “Few individuals significantly alter the course of history. Fewer still modify the map of the world. Hardly anyone can be credited with creating a nation-state. Mohammad Ali Jinnah did all the three.”
I found the 40 pages of annexes very valuable particularly for a Pakistani living abroad. He can in the shortest possible time reach the information that he may be looking for.
Annexure 5 “A Synopsis of Pakistan’s History, 1947-2001” is remarkable in that it covers the salient features of the 54 years in just five pages. At the end of the book is give a 12-page chronology of the life of the Quaid which is highly useful for laymen and researchers for locating the relevant development and chapter in the life of the Quaid.
The book is priced at $6 and has been published by Islamic Media Corporation, 9/4 Rafiq Centre, Abdullah Haroon Rd., Karachi 74400, Pakistan. The author may be reached at: Qutubuddin786@netscape.net
(Arifhussaini@hotmail.com )
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