Muhammad Ali Jinnah biography

As a member of Congress, Jinnah at first collaborated with Hindu leaders as their Ambassador of Hindu Muslim Unity, while working with the Muslim League simultaneously. Gradually, Jinnah realized that the Hindu leaders of Congress held a political agenda that was incongruent with his own. Earlier he had been aligned with their opposition to separate electorates meant to guarantee a fixed percentage of legislative representation for Muslims and Hindus. But in 1926,

Jinnah shifted to the opposite view and began supporting separate electorates. Still, overall, he retained the belief that the rights of Muslims could be protected in a united India. At that stage of his political career, Jinnah left Congress and dedicated himself more fully to the Muslim League.

By 1928 Jinnah’s busy political career had taken a toll on his marriage. He and his second wife separated. Rutti lived as a recluse at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay for the next year, until she died on her 29th birthday.

During the 1930s Jinnah attended the Anglo-Indian Round Table Conferences in London, and led the reorganization of the All India Muslim League.

Independent Pakistan

By 1939 Jinnah came to believe in a Muslim homeland on the Indian subcontinent. He was convinced that this was the only way to preserve Muslims’ traditions and protect their political interests. His former vision of Hindu-Muslim unity no longer seemed realistic to him at this time.

During a 1940 meeting of the Muslim League at Lahore, Jinnah proposed the partition of India and the creation of Pakistan, in the area where Muslims constitute a majority. At this juncture, Jinnah was both displeased with Mohandas Gandhi's stance at the London Round Table Conference in 1939, and frustrated with the Muslim League. Much to Jinnah’s chagrin, the Muslim League was on the verge of merging with the National League, with the goal of participating in provincial elections and potentially conceding to the establishment of a united India with majority Hindu rule.

To Jinnah’s relief, in 1942 the Muslim League adopted the Pakistan Resolution to partition India into states. Four years later, Britain sent a cabinet mission to India to outline a constitution for transfer of power to India. India was then divided into three territories. The first was a Hindu majority, which makes up present-day India. The second was a Muslim area in the northwest, to be designated as Pakistan. The third was made up of Bengal and Assam, with a narrow Muslim majority. After a decade, the provinces would have the choice of opting out on the formation of a new federation. But when the Congress president expressed objections to implementing the plan, Jinnah also voted against it. The independent state of Pakistan that Jinnah had envisioned came to be on August 14, 1947. The following day, Jinnah was sworn in as Pakistan’s first governor-general. He was also made president of Pakistan's constituent assembly shortly before his death.

Death and Legacy

On September 11, 1948, just a little over a year after he became governor-general, Jinnah died of tuberculosis near Karachi, Pakistan—the place where he was born.