Written on 1:48 PM by CommuniKation
MUHAMMAD ALI JINNAH (1876-1948)
When Muhammad Ali Jinnah joined the Indian National Congress as a young man, the congress represented both Hindu and Moslem aspirations for self-determination. At first Jinnah was an ardent supporter of Hindu-Moslem unity, but he became disillusioned with Mohandas Gandhi's leadership of the Congress, and in 1930- he left for England. By the time he returned in 1934, he had abandoned the idea of Hindu-Moslem unity and was stridently advocating a separate home for India's Moslems.
Jinnah campaigned for an independent Pakistan, which means "the land of the pure" in Urdu. The big problem was how to determine which parts of India would become Pakistan. "I don't care how little you give me," Jinnah said to the British, completely."
When Jinnah's Pakistan emerged into history in 1947, it was unique, consisting of two parts separated by 1,000 miles of Indian territory. In the northwest, Sindh, Punjab, the North -West Frontier Province, and Balochistan became West Pakistan, and in the northeast, Bengal became East Pakistan. The Bengalis shared the Moslem religion with the West Pakistanis, but had little in common culturally and economically. Even their language was different. The two sections were a thousand miles apart in more ways than one.
Jinnah was the first governor-general of the new country and president of its Assembly, but his success was short-lived. He died on September 11, 1948.
