Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah

The man who piloted the ship of Muslim freedom movement and ultimately brought it to the shores of independence was not destined to live long after the realization of his age long dream. His contributions as a creator of Pakistan are numerous. His sagacious decisions during the struggle for independence are uncountable.

Building a Government

Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah held the post of Governor General, who was be a figurehead acting as an inspiration to the nation. However, he also took the role of Chief Executive. He chaired cabinet meetings and was the president of constituent Assembly. Karachi was selected as the capital.  Under the leadership of Liaqat Ali Khan, a loyal lieutenant of Jinnah, was established the first Pakistan Cabinet. This newly formed cabinet aimed at the construction of administrative structure and rehabilitation of refugees. Moreover, the civil services were organized as well as Civil Service rules were also drafted to run the administration smoothly. He also induced the spirit of workmanship in his officials to work as the servants of people, not as their rulers, which was important as they had to begin with a scratch.

Building a Nation

Quaid-e-Azam soon realized that the morale of the public was at the lowest ebb. He therefore decided to rehabilitate and restore the confidence and morale of the people. He delivered inspiring speeches which filled people with enthusiasm. He stressed the need for unity, since Pakistan presented a diversified nation, he emphasized that neither should different people think of themselves as Punjabi, Sindhi or Pakhtuns nor should the non-Muslims should feel insecure in the new country, but they should work together to build a prosperous nation while burying their past and differences. He also called himself the Protector General and also set up a Relief fund to rehabilitate the refugees. His words revived the drooping spirits of the people.

Membership of UNO

Jinnah was a firm believer of peaceful existence and fully realized the importance of UN membership for Pakistan. It could help Pakistan establish friendly relations with other member states. Therefore Pakistan became the member of UNO on 30^th September 1948. He not only wanted the International States to recognize the new country, but also wanted to draw their attention to the issues that young state was facing, mainly towards the Kashmir issue, the unjust accession of Hyderabad and Junagadh, the division of military assets but also towards the Canal water dispute, on which the state depended for its survival.

Building an economy

 Since Pakistan was suffering from economic distress due to the unjust division of military assets as well as it had to accommodate millions of shelterless, penniless and dispirited refugees. Therefore, in order to counter these problems Quaid-e-Azam established Sate Bank of Pakistan 1^st July 1948, to help to develop the economy. In 1948 his industrial statement also laid emphasis on the industrial development for the young state. He also tried to reach a compromise on the Canal Water Dispute to ensure that Pakistan was not deprived of its precious water to drive it agro-based economy. He also persuaded India to handover the due share of Pakistan from the agreed financial assets.

Establishing National Security

Though, Pakistan was given poor military equipment and it lacked senior cadre officers for the army, the Quaid worked to ensure that the new country was able to defend itself. Pakistan needed 4,000 military officers to lead the 150,000 army men, however, only 2500 officers migrated to Pakistan. Therefore Quaid-e-Azam appointed 500 British officers to fill the space. Moreover, Pakistan army saw its first action in Kashmir. Despite being outnumbered and shabbily equipped, Quaid-e-Azam was not afraid to use it. 

Failures

Quaid-e-Azam was unable to resolve the Kashmir Crisis. Kashmir was a Muslim-majority princely state, however it was ruled by a Hindu maharaja. First, he was bent upon achieving independence, though when he saw that there was no third option; he had to join either Pakistan or India, he began to unleash a campaign to drive the Muslims out who later took refuge in Pakistan. Therefore, Pakistan sent troops to help the Kashmiris.  But soon, he turned to India for help, who only accepted the demand on the condition that he will join India. Therefore , a war was fought between the two countries, but neither side was too strong to continue, so the matter was referred to UNO. The only possible solution was to held a referendum, which would be held according to Nehru, ‘’once the situation normalized’’.  Hence, the referendum was never held, and it still remain a bitter episode in the diplomatic relations of Pakistan with India.

Secondly, Quaid-e-Azam was also unable to reach a permanent solution to the canal water dispute. Though, India temporarily agreed to let the water flow through the headworks of ferozpur and madhopur into Ruver Ravi and Chenab, but only if Pakistan looked forward to the development of alternative Water supplies. However, to this date, despite the signing if Indus Water Treaty in 1960, India, comes into clash with Pakistan over the issue of the flow of water through these headworks.

Thirdly, Quaid-e-Azam was unable to address the problem of accommodation of refugees to a full extent. Despite, the call of Congress and Muslim League for a peace migration, millions of people were swept in the huge tide of communal violence. Estimatedly, 20 million people were made shelterless.  Even till this day, people are suffering due to the atrocities they faced by the hands of Sikhs or Hindus. Even after his death, the mass migration continued, which marred long term effects on the economy of Pakistan as they had to be provided with food and shelter by an already burdened economy.

Fourthly, Quaid-e-Azam was suffering from tuberculosis. The freedom movement drained even the last ounce of the energy out of him. The Lord gave him slightly more than a year to look after the newly created state. Due to precautious health he could not dedicate all his time to build the fabric of infant state. Pakistan already lacked a leader of the capabilities needed to run a state that was plagued with numerous problems and issues. Jinnah was the last string of hope for the survival of the young state, but he too did not have enough time to put the infant state on the lines of stability and progress. 

Consequently, he left Pakistanis as orphan on 11^th  September 1948 in amidst of the internal disputes and political crisis.