Daily Times

No nation can even determine its destination without a visionary and a leader. A nation cannot achieve its goal in the absence of a true leader. It is a blessing of Allah Almighty for any nation to have a sincere leader who will guide the people to the path of progress. Those nations are very much blessed who get a sincere leader and ultimately reach their destination. Pakistan too was blessed with a leader like Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He was the man who changed the map of the world and history witnessed the division of the sub-continent based on an ideology.

Jinnah gave a purpose to the life of Muslims in the sub-continent. Just imagine the calibre of Jinnah that he gave us a separate homeland in the shortest time and also set the principles that would govern this country. Jinnah was very much clear in the constitution of this country as he also set rules and laws to govern it. There is no doubt in it that Jinnah had a great vision and therefore, he had foresighted a century earlier that the Muslims of the sub-continent cannot live with Hindus. The contemporary history of India depicts that Jinnah was 100 per cent right in his decision as the Muslims living in today’s India are facing the worst persecution. We are living in a free country just because of the tireless efforts of Muhammad Ali Jinnah who bravely fought with the British and Congress. Jinnah was repeatedly asked what would be the constitution of a new country. He always replied that there is nothing to worry about it as the constitution of Pakistan was very much clear even 1400 years ago in the form of the Quran and Hadith. He also made it clear that the people of Pakistan will live their lives according to the golden principles set in Islam. Unfortunately, critics level baseless allegations when they claim that Jinnah was secular. He had said on many occasions that there is only one binding force which keeps the Muslims united and it is the Holy book and the life of the Prophet.

Jinnah’s stature and vision must be applauded today keeping in view the sad incidents being taken place in Modi’s India.

It was a great achievement of Jinnah that he gave the Muslims of the sub-continent a separate homeland and also provided the basic principles to govern the newly established country. His leadership skills and broad vision differentiate him from other leaders of the world. It was just due to the visionary leadership of Jinnah that he laid the foundation of Pakistan on the two-nation theory. He made it clear to everyone that the two nations are living in the sub-continent and Muslims are very much different from Hindus. There is a huge difference in the eating habits, dressing and culture of both Hindus and Muslims. That was the basic point which forced the British to go for the division of the sub-continent. Jinnah’s stature and vision must be applauded today keeping in view the sad incidents being taken place in Modi’s India. We can build mosques in Pakistan and can offer prayers freely. We are living in a free country that has its constitution. It is just because of Jinnah’s foresightedness and vision. The Muslims living in India cannot offer prayers freely as they face the wrath of fanatics in the guise of BJP’s goons. The extremism in India is at its peak as Muslims are being persecuted just because of their names. A Muslim living in India cannot eat cow meat as some incidents were reported where the shopkeepers were punished for selling cow meat. The extremism in today’s India is rampant even in the film industry and in sports. It is really sad that the Muslims working in the film industry of India are not treated the way their fellow Hindu colleagues are treated. It is very difficult for any Muslim actor to buy a property in Bombay because BJP-led India is fast becoming a Hindu state. Similarly, the Muslim players in the Indian Cricket Team also face persecution most of the time. The whole country blames the Muslim players whenever Pakistan defeats India during a cricket match. India is no more a country for minorities to live freely. Modi has made India a bigotry state where there is no place for Muslims.

The current state of India further increases the stature of Jinnah as he had foresighted it a century ago. It doesn’t mean that Jinnah used to hate the Hindus but the reality is that he started his politics from the united platform of Hindus and Muslims. It was just due to the efforts of Jinnah that the session of Congress and the Muslim League was held on the same ground in Bombay in December 1915. Jinnah started thinking of a separate country when Congress didn’t agree on the points of the Lucknow pact and there was a perception among the leaders of Congress that Hindus are superior to Muslims. The Nehru Report of 1928 proved to be the last nail in the coffin of Hindu-Muslim unity and then came the famous 14-points of Jinnah which ultimately changed the map of the sub-continent. In the shortest span of time, Jinnah created a separate country for a nation in 1947. It is really unfortunate that Pakistan couldn’t get any leader having the stature of Jinnah after his demise and therefore, we are facing many problems.

The writer is an old Aitchisonian who believes in freedom of expression, a freelance columnist, entrepreneur and social activist.