From 'Roses in December' by M. C. Chagla
On the Change in Jinnah
"So long as Jinnah remained a nationalist and the Muslim League continued its secular policy, I remained with Jinnah and with the League....
Why did Jinnah change? There could be many possible explanations to this. JInnah's besetting fault was his obsessive egoism. He had to be a leader, and the prime mover in whatever cause he worked. With the emergence of Gandhiji in Indian politics, Jinnah felt his importance would gradually diminish. Jinnah was the complete antithesis of Gandhiji. While Gandhiji believed in religion, in abstract moral values, in non-violence, Jinnah only believed in hard practical politics. Even sartorially it was impossible for Jinnah to subscribe to Gandhi's views.
Unfotunately, Jinnah was also antipathetic to Jawaharlal Nehru. These two were never on the same wave-length. Jawaharlal disliked Jinnah as a man because he thoooought he was all arrogance and pomposity. He also despised Jinnah as someone essentially uncultured, almost illiterate. He thought Jinnah's reading never extended beyond the daily newspaper and that he had never a single intelligent or enlightened idea in his head. Jinnah on the other handlooked upon Jawaharlal as an impracticable visionary who had no conception of what politics meant.
After he was dropped from the Third Round Table Conference, Jinnah became convinced that if he had to have a place under the sun, he would have to stand on a communal platform. Jinnah's transformation really began when he saw that he was beginning to be considered as a man of little consequence--so much so that he could not even find a plae in the Third Round Table Conference. Once he adopted the communal platform he drifted rapidly and came to a stop only when he reached the pinnacle to become the leader of the communal party that the Muslim League ultimately became. Jinnah's dominant characteristic was his tenacity. It is the measure of the man that he succeeded in creating a new country,--Pakistan, with very little following, with no string press to back him, and with little financial assistance. Most of his colleagues in the League were men of poor calibre and it was practically his own personality, will-power and self-confidence that made it impossible for his colleagues to differ from him and mad the partition inevitable. Of course, in the end, he could count on mass-communal fervour, while part of the British bureaucracy also threw in its weight consciously or unconsciously on his side.
I have always taken the view that partition was a tragedy and a calamity, and I also hold the view that it was not unavoidable. Partition has solved no problems; on the contrary it has created many problems and very serious ones too. It is absurd to think of a home for Muslims when as many as 60 million of them were left behind in India. I remember once asking Jinnah: "You are fighting for Pakistan mainly for the Muslim majority states. But what happens to the Muslims in the states where they are in a small minority?" I will never forget the answer he gave me. He looked at me for awhile and said: "They will look after themselves. I am not interested in their fate. "
On the Change in Jinnah
"So long as Jinnah remained a nationalist and the Muslim League continued its secular policy, I remained with Jinnah and with the League....
Why did Jinnah change? There could be many possible explanations to this. JInnah's besetting fault was his obsessive egoism. He had to be a leader, and the prime mover in whatever cause he worked. With the emergence of Gandhiji in Indian politics, Jinnah felt his importance would gradually diminish. Jinnah was the complete antithesis of Gandhiji. While Gandhiji believed in religion, in abstract moral values, in non-violence, Jinnah only believed in hard practical politics. Even sartorially it was impossible for Jinnah to subscribe to Gandhi's views.
Unfotunately, Jinnah was also antipathetic to Jawaharlal Nehru. These two were never on the same wave-length. Jawaharlal disliked Jinnah as a man because he thoooought he was all arrogance and pomposity. He also despised Jinnah as someone essentially uncultured, almost illiterate. He thought Jinnah's reading never extended beyond the daily newspaper and that he had never a single intelligent or enlightened idea in his head. Jinnah on the other handlooked upon Jawaharlal as an impracticable visionary who had no conception of what politics meant.
After he was dropped from the Third Round Table Conference, Jinnah became convinced that if he had to have a place under the sun, he would have to stand on a communal platform. Jinnah's transformation really began when he saw that he was beginning to be considered as a man of little consequence--so much so that he could not even find a plae in the Third Round Table Conference. Once he adopted the communal platform he drifted rapidly and came to a stop only when he reached the pinnacle to become the leader of the communal party that the Muslim League ultimately became. Jinnah's dominant characteristic was his tenacity. It is the measure of the man that he succeeded in creating a new country,--Pakistan, with very little following, with no string press to back him, and with little financial assistance. Most of his colleagues in the League were men of poor calibre and it was practically his own personality, will-power and self-confidence that made it impossible for his colleagues to differ from him and mad the partition inevitable. Of course, in the end, he could count on mass-communal fervour, while part of the British bureaucracy also threw in its weight consciously or unconsciously on his side.
I have always taken the view that partition was a tragedy and a calamity, and I also hold the view that it was not unavoidable. Partition has solved no problems; on the contrary it has created many problems and very serious ones too. It is absurd to think of a home for Muslims when as many as 60 million of them were left behind in India. I remember once asking Jinnah: "You are fighting for Pakistan mainly for the Muslim majority states. But what happens to the Muslims in the states where they are in a small minority?" I will never forget the answer he gave me. He looked at me for awhile and said: "They will look after themselves. I am not interested in their fate. "
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