But the truth, to me, is that first and foremost he was a sharp politician. And like all good politicians, Jinnah was a pragmatist, adjusting his words according to his immediate surroundings. For example, in multicultural Karachi he would insist that the state of Pakistan was to be progressive and democratic. In Lahore, the scene of vicious Hindu-Muslim riots, and where many clerics had accused him of being a ‘fake Muslim leader’ in 1946, he would take a moderate view, suggesting that the South Asian Muslims had a rich cultural and political history that Pakistan ought to match. In Peshawar, where Jinnah’s Muslim League had struggled to remain afloat in the face of the challenge posed by the left-leaning Pashtun nationalists, Jinnah appealed to the sensibilities of the conservative tribes and clerics, opposed to the nationalists. While talking to the Western press he reminded the world that Pakistan was not to be a theological state, but a democratic Muslim-majority state where all citizens, no matter what their religion or ethnicity, would be given equal rights.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 07:03:08 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015