(2 October 2000)
Jinnah: Making a myth
by Mubarak Ali
Quaid-I-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had all peculiarities and characteristics
in his personality to make a myth of himself. He was reticent, reserved,
kept his personal matter in secrecy, behaved coolly and arrogantly and not
friendly with anybody. Perhaps he wanted to create a halo of awe and fear
around him. Sri Prakash, the first Indian High Commissioner, in his book '
Pakistan: Birth and early years' narrates about a reception which was given
by the Governor General of Pakistan, just after the independence to the
diplomats .It was also attended by the party leaders and bureaucrats.
According to his version, Mr.Jinnah was sitting at a distance alone on a
sofa and called one by one to those whom he wanted to talk. He exchanged
notes with each one of them just for 5 minutes. To the High Commissioner,
he appeared a lonely man, averse to people. His serious and somber
expression made all those who interacted him uneasy in his company.
This attitude gave the impression that he was the end all and all in every
matter. The Muslim League and its leaders were just rubber stamps. His
image of being a sole spokesman of his party and people created a number of
myths. For example, one myth about his serious illness which is narrated by
Larry Collins and Dominique Lappierre in their book" Freedom at Midnight"
fascinates everybody and they are compelled to take it seriously. The
version of their story is:
"if Louis Mountbatten, Jawahrlal Nehru or Mahatma Gandhi had been aware in
April 1947 of one extraordinary secret, the division threatening India
might have been avoided. The secret was sealed onto the gray surface piece
of a film, a film that could have upset the Indian political equation and
would almost certainly have changed the course of Asian history. Yet, so
precious was the secret that that film harbored that even the British
C.I.D., one of the most effective investigative agencies in the world, was
ignorant of its existence."
These were the X rays of Jinnah diagnosed as a T.B. patient. The authors,
after creating a suspense, further write that: "The damage was so extensive
that the man whose lungs were on the film had barely two or three years to
live. Sealed in an unmarked envelope, those X rays were locked in the
office safe of Dr.J.A.L.Patel, a Bombay physician."
On the basis of the story, Jinnah emerged as the one on whom depended the
whole movement of Pakistan. The story further becomes interesting when a
Hindu doctor kept the secret at the cost of Indian unity. His political
inclinations were more important than his professional integrity.
In 1997, on the occasion of the 5oth celebration of India-Pakistan
independence, Patrick French published a book"Liberty or Death'. He, after
his own investigation, refutes the whole story narrated by Collins and
lappierre .According to him: "The idea that Jinnah's poor state of health
was a closely guarded secret is absurd: it was referred to in the press at
that time, and it is obvious from photographs taken in the mid 1940s that
Jinnah was unwell. Moreover, the reduction of the Muslim league's wide
popular backing to the whim of one man's 'rigid and inflexible' attitude is
indicative of the way that Pakistan history has been traduced. A second
problem with Collins and Lappierre's story is that it is not correct.
Jinnah did not go to Bombay in May or June 1946, since he was busy in
negotiating with Cripps in Simla and New Delhi. Nor did he have a doctor by
the name J.A.I.PatelSAlthough it is possible that Jinnah had tuberculosis
in 1946, there is no evidence among his archive papers to support the theory."
However, Jinnah himself on many occasions expressed that he was the sole
creator of Pakistan. In one of his famous sayings he said that he and his
typewriter made Pakistan. The statement disregarded the efforts of his
colleagues and the leader of Muslim League in matter of politics. It is
also a denial of people's participation in the struggle for the separate
homeland. There are evidence that he did not like the leaders of Muslim
League.To him all of them were mediocre and incapable to lead the nation.
Perhaps, that was the reason that Jinnah, knowing his fatal illness,
accepted 'the moth eaten and truncated Pakistan'. The later history of
Pakistan confirms Jinnah's assessment about the Muslim League's leaders who
miserably failed to solve the problems of a nascent nation. The failure of
these leaders has transformed Jinnah's image as a superman. He overshadowed
every body. The nation also paid respect to its Great Leader in naming
universities, colleges, airports, roads, hospitals, and institutions of
different kinds with the result that a citizen of Pakistan feels his
presence every where in the country wherever he goes. Moreover, his image
as a Great Quaid is presented in the textbooks to mould the mind of the
young generation encouraging him to follow in his footsteps. Scholars are
writing continuously on different aspect of his life. Recently, a film is
screened to counter the film Gandhi in which Attenborough distorts the
image of Jinnah These efforts made him holy and sacred. Any criticism to
his person is regarded a treason. He has become a paragon of virtues,
beyond all weaknesses of a humanbeing.
There is such a reverence and high regard for him that mere association
with him catapults a person from a humble position to the rank of freedom
fighter. There are a number of people who claim to have shaken hands with
him (though he avoided to shake hands with people), seen him, talked to
him, or merely attended his public meeting. The rulers of Pakistan,
realizing the effects of his association, create myths of their links with
him. Z.A.Bhutto claimed that as a student he wrote him a letter (it is not
known whether he replied to that letter or not), Zia's sycophant
bureaucrats discovered a diary of Jinnah (that was the time when Hitler's
diaries were discovered and later on proved false) which disappeared along
with him. Nawaz Sharif, assuming to follow his footsteps, called himself as
'Quaid-I-sani (The second leader). One such similar example is found in the
history of France when Napoleon iii made an attempt to revive the image of
Napoleon I in order to legitimize his authority. Marx jokingly comments in
' The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte,' that "Hegel remarks
somewhere that all facts and personages of great importance in world
history occur, as it were, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as
tragedy, the second as farce." Nawaz Sharif's self- given title proves it.
Jinnah has become such a symbol of wisdom in the Pakistani society that
people visualize Pakistan with his reference. His vision, his agenda, his
dream and his ideals, all.remained unaccomplished because he died soon
after the independence. It is commonly believed that had he lived some more
years, history of Pakistan would have been different. There are few nations
who rely so heavily on one individual.
No doubt, Jinnah was a great leader of his people. He was a man of
integrity and honesty, but to make him an idol and not allow anybody to
emerge out of his shadow is pathetic. Every generation has its own dreams
and vision which it wants to accomplish without interference. Not imitation
but freedom is required to build a new world. Therefore, attempt should not
be made to repeat but to make a new history. People should be liberated
from the shadow and allow them to flourish in a free atmosphere. Great
leaders should be respected but not worshiped.
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