Written by: Waseem Abbas
Posted on: September 11, 2023 | 
| 中文
A view of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah
On the death anniversary of the Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Youlin has compiled some of the quotes about this statesman who shaped and cast his shadow over the 20th century, creating and giving birth to one of the most important and powerful Muslim countries. The great historian of South Asia, Stanley Wolpert, astutely summed up the greatness of Jinnah by declaring, “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.” The collection of quotes about Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah that follow are both of admirers and adversaries, who were dazzled by the sheer genius, integrity and focus of the man to give his people a better future and a homeland.
US historian and author of 'Jinnah of Pakistan', Stanley Wolpert
Sarojini Naidu, an Indian politician who succeeded Mahatama Gandhi as the President of All India National Congress, and whose poetry against colonialism earned her the title of 'the nightingale of India', eulogized Jinnah in her book "Muhammad Jinnah: An Ambassador of Unity", published in 1919, in the following words: “(Jinnah has) a sincerity of purpose and the lasting charm of a character animated by a brave conception of duty and an austere and lovely code of private honor and public integrity… Tall and stately… languid and luxurious of habit, Mohammad Ali Jinnah's attenuated form is a deceptive sheath of a spirit of exceptional vitality and endurance. Somewhat formal and fastidious, and a little aloof and imperious of manner, the calm hauteur of his accustomed reserve but masks, for those who know him, a naive and eager humanity, an intuition quick and tender as a woman's, a humour gay and winning as a child's. Pre-eminently rational and practical, discreet and dispassionate in his estimate and acceptance of life, the obvious sanity and serenity of his worldly wisdom effectually disguise a shy and splendid idealism which is of the very essence of the man.”
Sarojini Naidu,'The Nightangle of India'
Mr. M.C Chagla, who knew Jinnah, and later became Chief Justice of Bombay High Court and the Foreign Minister of India, praised Jinnah's powers of persuasion and argument as a lawyer in 1927: “Jinnah was a pure artist in the manner and method of his presentation. Even the most complex facts became simple and obvious when he waved his wand over them. He could be ferociously aggressive and almost boyishly persuasive as and when the occasion arose, and what particularly helped him in his advocacy, was the absolute clear head that he possessed, and on which he justly prided himself. He had common sense, that most uncommon of qualities in an uncommon degree.”
Edwin Montagu, who served as the Secretary of State of India between 1917 and 1922, wrote in his memoir of 1930, "Edwin S. Montagu, An Indian Diary", that among all the leaders he interacted with in India, Jinnah impressed him the most: “Young, perfectly mannered, impressive-looking, armed to the teeth with dialectics, and insistent upon the whole of his scheme…… (Viceroy) Chelmsford tried to argue with him, and he was tied up into knots. Jinnah is a very clever man, and it is, of course, an outrage that such a man should have no chance of running the affairs of his own country.”
Edwin Montagu, who served as the Secratery of State of India between 1917 and 1922
Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal, poet and philosopher who envisioned the need for a homeland for the Muslims of India, persuaded Jinnah to come back from England and lead the All India Muslim League. He said about Jinnah in 1934: “There is only one option. Muslims must strengthen Jinnah and join Muslim League. This is the only way to successfully win the freedom struggle of India. He is, undoubtedly, incorruptible and unpurchaseable.”
Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal
In his book "Verdict on India", published in 1944, Beverley Nichols, English playwright, journalist, novelist, and public speaker wrote about Jinnah's complete sway over the Muslim populace in these words: “He can sway the battle this way or that as he chooses. His 100 million Muslims will march to the left, to the right, to the front, to the rear at his bidding, and at nobody else's, that is the point. It is not the same in the Hindu ranks. If Gandhi goes, there is always Nehru, or Rajagopalachari or Patel or dozen others. But if Jinnah goes, who is there?”
Beverley Nichols
On 11 September 1948, after Jinnah's death, Sarat Chandra Bose, famous Indian independence activist, barrister, and the elder brother of Subash Chandra Bose, paid tribute to him in the following words, “Mr. Jinnah, was great as a lawyer, once great as a Congressman, great as a leader of Muslims, great as a world politician and diplomat, and greatest of all as a man of action. By Mr. Jinnah's passing away, the world has lost one of the greatest statesmen and Pakistan its life-giver, philosopher, and guide.”
Harry S. Truman, who was President of the USA from April 1945 to January 1953, in his congratulatory message on Pakistan's Independence Day, said: “[He was] the originator of the dream that became Pakistan, architect of the State and father of the world's largest Muslim nation. Mr. Jinnah was the recipient of a devotion and loyalty seldom accorded to any man.” Jinnah's qualities inspired many outside the subcontinent as well. On his visit to Pakistan in 1955, Nelson Mandela insisted on visiting Jinnah's tomb and called him, “a constant source of inspiration for all those who are fighting against racial or group discrimination.”
Harry S. Truman
Conservative member of the Parliament in the UK, John Biggs-Davison said, in 1955, that Pakistan would have been a distant dream had there been no Jinnah. “Although without Gandhi, Hindustan would still have gained independence and without Lenin and Mao, Russia and China would still have endured Communist revolution, without Jinnah there would have been no Pakistan in 1947.”
H.V. Hudson, British economist, and author commented on Jinnah's sense of integrity in his book "The Great Divide: Britain-India-Pakistan", published in 1969, “Not even his political enemies ever accused Jinnah of corruption or self-seeking. He could be bought by no one, and for no price. Nor was he in the least degree weathercock, swinging in the wind of popularity or changing the times. He was a steadfast idealist as well as a man of scrupulous honor.”
British Economist and Editor H. V. Hodson
Quaid's legacy was one of an inclusive, enlightened, tolerant, constitutional and democratically governed Pakistan. Despite the needs of a security state, it is imperative that Pakistan should stay the course according to the principles and ideals of the Quaid, in order to face and overcome the challenges of the modern world.
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