Muhammad Ali Jinnah Urdu ???? ??? ????&_160;
(help·info) (
December 25,
1876 –
September 11,
1948) was a Pakistani politician and leader of the
All India Muslim League who founded
Pakistan and served as its first
Governor-General. He is officially known in Pakistan as
Quaid-e-Azam (
Urdu ???? ???? — "Great Leader") and
Baba-e-Qaum ("
Father of the Nation"). His birthday is a
national holiday in Pakistan.
Jinnah rose to prominence in the Indian National Congress expounding ideas of Hindu-Muslim unity and helping shape the 1916 Lucknow Pact with the Muslim League; he also became a key leader in the All India Home Rule League. He proposed a fourteen-point constitutional reform plan to safeguard the political rights of Muslims in a self-governing India. His proposals failed amid the League's disunity, driving a disillusioned Jinnah to live in London for many years. The Hindu centric policies of Mahatama Gandhi forced Jinnah to leave Congress and settle in London. Allama Muhammad Iqbal visited Jinnah in London and convinced him to return and lead Muslim League. Then Jinnah joined the Muslim League and became a prominent leader.
Several Muslim leaders persuaded Jinnah to return in 1934 and re-organise the Muslim League. Jinnah embraced the goal of creating a separate state for Muslims as per the Lahore Resolution. The League won most Muslim seats in the elections of 1946, and Jinnah launched the Direct Action campaign movement to achieve independence of Pakistan, the strong reaction of Congress supporters resulted in communal violence across South Asia. The failure of the Congress-League coalition to govern the country prompted both parties and the British to agree to independence of Pakistan and India. As the Governor-General of Pakistan, Jinnah led efforts to rehabilitate millions of refugees, and to frame national policies on foreign affairs, security and economic development.
Jinnah was born as Mahomedali Jinnahbhai[3] in Wazir Mansion, Karachi,[4] - then a province of the Bombay Presidency of British India. Although his earliest school records were to state that he was born on October 20, 1875, he himself later in life[5] would give December 25, 1876 as his official date of birth.[citation needed] Jinnah was the eldest of seven children born to Mithibai and Jinnahbhai Poonja. His father, Jinnahbhai (1857–1901), was a prosperous Gujarati merchant who had moved to Sindh from Kathiawar, Gujarat shortly before Jinnah's birth.[4][6] His grandfather was Poonja Meghji,[7] a Bhatia from Paneli village in Gondal state in Kathiawar. The family had moved there from Sahiwal near Multan. Some sources speculated that the Jinnah's ancestors were Hindu Rajputs from Sahiwal, Punjab that converted to Islam. [6]
