Jinnah: no secular

Ata Rabani
Barrister Muhammad All Jinnah after financially securing himself entered the political field in 1905 at the age of 30 years as a staunch nationalist from the platform of the Indian National Congress. He was soon reckoned as an aggressive, bold and a forthright speaker for the cause of the Indian independence.
In his speech in December 1906 in an annual open session of the Indian National Congress in Calcutta he created a stir by challenging the British government to hasten the grant of ‘home-rule’ to India. He said: “If the British do not give ‘home-rule’ to India and soon, then it will not be Boston tea chests that will be thrown in to the sea, but truck loads of Britishers that will be thrown into the Indian ocean.” The speech not only shook the Vice-regal Lodge, but also created ripples amongst the Congress ranks as well, who were not prepared to go that far and were only hypocritically agitating against the Raj.
In his pursuit for ‘home rule’ for India, Jinnah firmly believed in Hindu-Muslim unity as a prerequisite and therefore came to be known as the ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity. But the Hindu bigots in the Congress put many obstacles in the way of this unity. Jinnah saw through their nefarious designs to perpetually dominate the Muslims. For almost 20 years he tried to convince them of the need of this unity and proper safeguards for the minorities, particularly the Muslims. His views were always sidelined but he remained firm in his convictions. And in spite of separating from the Congress in 1920, he continued to attend various ‘unity’ conferences. He advanced many proposals that were not accepted, and finally came up with his Fourteen Points which later became the combined voice of all the Muslim organisations.
As president of the Muslim League in 1916, and at the same time a front rank leader of the Indian Congress, he was in a unique position and negotiated a unity agreement between the two political parties in a pact known as the Lucknow Pact. It was a personal triumph for Mr Jinnah. This pact conceded the right of the Muslims to a separate electorate. Was Mr Jinnah secular? Some of Mr Jinnah’s detractors call him secular.
Who is a secular? Webster’s Pocket Dictionary defines secular as one who “is not concerned with religion; and not living in a religious community.”
Let us see Mr Jinnah in the light of this definition. In this context, nothing could be more authentic than Jinnah’s own confession about his faith. On August 6, 1939, he said: “I was born Muslim; I am a Muslim and shall die a Muslim.” At another time he said: “I am no Maulana or a Maulvi but I also know a little of my faith.” Muhammad Ali Jinnah was brought up in a Muslim family, adhered to the tenants of Islam, was repeatedly elected to the Indian Council/Legislative Assembly on a seat reserved for a Muslim, succeeded in getting a number of bills concerning the Muslims passed from the Legislative Assembly, advocated Hindu-Muslim unity, always stressed for safeguards for the Muslims including their demand for a federal form of government as envisaged by the Nehru Report. In his negotiations with the government and parlays with the Indian Congress, he always stoutly advocated the Muslim cause.