Sunday, March 05, 2006

Mohammad Ali Jinnah

"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 three."

-Stanley Wolpert in his book "Jinnah of Pakistan"


A must read for anyone interested in Pakistan and its origins. It's amazing to see how little we know about such a great man.

5 comments:

Ali Nawab said...

Agreed, but then there is no one throughout history without critics.

My own perspective on Jinnah changed a few times through the course of this book.

Also, Jinnah is solely blamed by many for the violence that followed the partition, my two cents are that it would have happened anyway, and wouldve been the case even if there was a united india. It was mostly a by-product of the uncertain future that lay ahead of the multi-ethnic subcontinent, which wasnt ready for self-government at the time.

The important thing to note however, is that we are unable to appreciate Jinnah or his motivations unless we delve deeper into his life.

It is a remarkable journey of a man from an Indian Nationalist to the founder of a Nation State, with an assortment of stakeholders that shaped the destiny of the region.


- "If youre not part of the solution, then you must be part of the problem" -anonymous

Abbas Halai said...

i wonder if i'd be able to beat him in snooker.

Ali Nawab said...

SA, well said.. and this point is validated by his numerous attempts to reconcile with the I N Congress, while protecting the interests of the mussalmaans of India.

On a side note, I'm of opinion that the term 'flawless leader' is an oxymoron in itself, but he did have both positives and negatives to him as well.

P.S I'm quite elated at all the comments/feedback, and the whole point of the blog is to engage everyone in some sort of a discussion, regardless of how pointless it may seem.

Ali Nawab said...

For those of you that want to read the book, here is a really good website about M.A.Jinnah

http://www.majinnah.com.pk/html_files/quaid_vision.htm

Ali Nawab said...

Amna, I must clarify..this friend of mine is the king of one-word comments, which I appreciate (It may seem immature to everyone else, but I can definitely understand).

Thanks for your concern.

'Aaap Beeti', it wont hurt to write a little detail once in a while.