Two Great Men: A New Great Country

                The all India Muslim League was led by a man named Muhammad Ali Jinnah (aka Quaid-e-Azam, “Great Leader”) who is revered as a Pakistani hero.  Jinnah was popular to both Hindus and Indians for his outstanding leadership. He made it his task to unite the league and give the Muslims in India a position. Jinnah went on to travel India, meeting Muslim leaders and uniting them together. Soon enough, with the overall votes tallied for 23% in the India legislature. (12) This was the highest ever and impressive in itself that the outnumbered Muslims could unite under the work of one man.

However, this was not enough. Until they gained enough support, Muslims in India would always come after the Hindus. They would be treated as second class citizens (13). Muslims felt threatened that their culture and religion was receding. They felt a need for an Islamic India.  What was effectively significant was that the 1946-47 elections showed an almost even divide. The British saw that something had to be done even after their first proposal was denied. The British partitioned India. The movement was a success. (14)

Creating a country does not go to the credit of one man; in fact, it involved many people. Another major contributor was Liaquat Ali Khan, Jinnah’s right hand man. Soon after the formation of Pakistan he became Prime Minister of the new-found land.  (15) He had an enormous job because he and his colleagues had to build up Pakistan. It did not become easier as Jinnah died in 1948. He was later assassinated in 1951. Jinnah admired Khan very much. Once he said, “Gandhi has men who can advise him and whom he can depend on. And he leans on them quite often…I have only Liaqat. ” (16)

Both these honorable men died for Pakistan, and neither in vein. Pakistan would never have been on a map if it not for these two individuals. Pakistan was a country bricked together by unity. The unity of Islamic brotherhood, political envisions, and the brick layer’s themselves; Jinnah and Khan.