LAHORE: (APP) Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was not the leader of Pakistan only. In fact, he was the leader of the Muslim Ummah. He joined the All India Muslim League in 1913, his political career came under the influence of the Britain where he studied. In 1892, the London Office of Graham's Shipping and Trading Company offered him an apprenticeship.
During his academic years, he came across the British leaders like William Gladstone and John Morley in the United Kingdom. Also, he came to know the political viewpoints of the Indian leaders, Sir Feroz Shah Mehta and Dadabhai Naoroji, and appreciated their moderate visions.
However, he became a well-known figure by the episode of Lucknow Pact (1916) when he was termed an ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity, though he had already started his political career as a Congress member.
The Quaid realized the political designs of Hindus and reality of Hindu-Muslim unity slogan. The failure of Khilafat Movement and the Nehru Report made the Muslims revisit the idea of Hindu-Muslim unity.
In his book on Quaid-i-Azam, Dr Riaz Ahmad has made it clear that the Quaid used to say that there were four powers in the Subcontinent and they were: the British government, the Hindu Congress, the Muslim League and the native (independent) states.
This was the Quaid's reply to the leaders of the Hindu Congress, which used to claim that there were only two powers in the Subcontinent, the British and the Congress.
But Jinnah, who established his position as a political leader by the dint of his initiative and courage, became successful in defending the Muslim cause so gallantly that all evil designs of Hindus were foiled. His Fourteen Points (1929) saved the Muslims from nefarious designs of the Congress.
Prominent worker of Pakistan Movement and a close aide of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Col (Retd) Raja Sultan Zahoor Akhtar Kiani told APP that the Quaid and his team of dedicated workers had given enormous sacrifices for achieving their cherished goal.
"Pakistan had not come into being by mere a chance or fluke. It was the result of innumberable sacrifices of all sorts by the Muslims, who stood firm and united under the dynamic leadership of the Quaid-i-Azam," he said.
The most critical phase of the Muslim struggle in the Subcontinent was witnessed during the period 1937-1947, when the Quaid-i-Azam proved himself to be the real Founder of Pakistan.
"He worked extraordinarily hard for the cause of the Muslims and the reward of the continued struggle came in the form of the creation of Pakistan on August 14, 1947," he added.
Pir Sayyed Muhammad Kabir Ali Shah, another prominent worker of the Pakistan Movement, gave APP a detailed description of the Quaid's struggle for Pakistan.
He said it was Jinnah who reorganised the Muslim League during the crucial period of Indian history (1936-1939).
Sayyed Kabir Ali said that the League had not only lost 1937elections but also its morale. Jinnah, at this critical juncture, helped the Muslim League rise like a phoenix from the ashes. Had there been no such reorganisational skills of the Quaid, the League would have met the same fate in 1945-46 general elections, he added.
While expressing immense love for his country, heurged the new generation to follow in the footsteps of the Quaid to regain the past glory so that the country could be put on the path to progress and prosperity.
Paying tribute to the Founder of Pakistan, Kabir Ali said the political insight of the Quaid had defeated the British and Hindu efforts on ideological basis.
He said the cherished dream of a separate homeland for the Muslims of the Subcontinent was fulfilled under his inspiring leadership and due to his epoch struggle.
Unfortunately, he said,"we have not been able to serve the country with the same spirit with which it had come into being. We have not been able to do justice to our nation yet. Still there's time that we all wake up from our deep slumber.
We can still make a difference by having the same spirit with which the country was created."