Jinnah consistently remained wedded to the idea of peace and friendship between India and Pakistan. His commitment to the policy was unshaken during the horrendous communal riots and the differences between the two countries after the Partition. He firmly believed that to develop and prosper, there was no other choice for India and Pakistan than to live amicably together.
The issue of relations between the two countries came under focus in 1946 when it became clear that the subcontinent was going to be divided. It was a period when communal tensions culminated in the horrible riots in Calcutta and Bihar. A lunatic fringe on both sides was spreading hatred, as it would continue to do after the creation of the two independent states.
The riots of such magnitude worried many about the shape of relations between Bharat and Pakistan. Undeterred by the reports of large scale killing, looting and burning, Jinnah continued to stick to his principled position. He knew the two countries could develop and prosper only through peace and amity and wars were unacceptable as these would be disastrous. He even hinted at some sort of a common defence understanding between the two countries.
Speaking at a press conference on 21 December, 1946, Jinnah said, “My own opinion is that the only solution for India’s problems is Pakistan, which will finally enable us to establish stable and independent governments of Pakistan and Hindustan, and I am confident that we shall then obtain conditions which will enable us to live as good friendly neighbours. I think we shall be able then not only to say farewell to the British as quickly as possible but we shall be in a position to tell any aggressor whoever it may be ‘hands off India’ That has been my view and is so today”
Jinnah’s stand remained unaltered on the eve of the Partition also. On 21 May, 1947 when the situation in united India was highly tense, Reuters’ Doon Campbell asked him, “What sort of relationship do you envisage between Pakistan and Hindustan?” Without mincing words or predicating his response with ifs and buts, pat came the answer: “Friendly and reciprocal in the mutual interest of both. That is why I have been urging that let us separate in a friendly way and remain friends thereafter.”
While departing for Karachi from New Delhi on 7 August 1947 when train loads were killed and injured from both sides were shuffling across Wahga, Jinnah displayed no rancour as his eyes were fixed on the future of the region. In his message he said, “I bid farewell to the citizens of Delhi, amongst whom I have many friends of all communities and I earnestly appeal to everyone to live in this great and historic city with peace. The past must be buried and let us start afresh as two independent, sovereign states of Hindustan and Pakistan. I wish Hindustan prosperity and peace.”
A number of disputes emerged soon after the Partition. There was the repatriation of hundreds of women left behind by refugees belonging to the Muslim, Hindu and Sikh communities. There was also the issue of the division of assets. And the wounds caused by communal riots were yet to heal. Jinnah however firmly held the view that the two countries had no option but to have friendly ties in order to develop and prosper.
Two months after independence, he told Duncan Hooper in an interview on 22 October 1947. “I have repeatedly said that now that the division of India has been brought about by solemn agreement between the two Dominions, we should bury the past and resolve that despite all that has happened we shall remain friends.
There are many things that we need from each other as neighbours and we can help each other in diverse ways morally, materially and politically and thereby raise the prestige and status of both Dominions.”
Soon, a new issue emerged which was to continue to cast a shadow on relations between the two countries. Kashmir was claimed by both Pakistan and India leading to a war that started in October 1947 and lasted well into 1948. Jinnah maintained his calm and declined to use the issue for propaganda or for gaining political mileage. Speaking to Robert Simson of BBC on 19 December 1947, he said it was a grave issue and he would refrain from making any statement at this stage as talks were going on between the Prime Minister of India and the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
Undeterred by the lunatic fringe that was itching for the continuation of fighting in Kashmir, Jinnah remained wedded to the idea of peace and friendly relations between the two countries till the end. On 4 May 1948, barely four months before his death, Jinnah congratulated Rajgopal Achari on his appointment as Governor General of India saying, “Under your guidance I hope will come real friendship between the two Dominions. It is no less essential to India than to Pakistan.”
The writer is a former academic and a political analyst.
Mr. Jinnah’s ideological orientation was a mixed bag. At one end he was the divider while at the other he was compromiser. More I read about Mr. Jinnah more contradiction I came across. He did not inflame the hatredness but he set the tone.
A visionary thinks in the long-run and not to achieve short-term goals. Hindu, Muslims, and Sikhs had lived together for centuries. Yes! There were frictions but almost insignificant.
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