Muhammad Ali Jinnah was head and shoulders above his peers in the National Congress, including M. K. Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He was a political leader and strategist of indomitable will. He remained undaunted by the odds thrown in his way by the British imperialists, Congress leaders, and Indian Muslim nationalists.

He never wavered in his commitment to foil the dream of Hindu majoritarian rule by a shared constitutional scheme of governance or the division of the Subcontinent into states where the Muslims were in a majority. His demand was considered tantamount to living in a fool’s paradise. But the Quaid believed in himself and the legitimacy of his cause.

“Few individuals significantly alter the course of history. Fewer still modify the map of the world. Hardly anyone can be credited with creating a nation-state. Muhammad Ali Jinnah did all three.” This is how Professor Stanley Wolpert summed up the leadership qualities of Jinnah and his relentless struggle for his dreamland, Pakistan. He did not indulge in the politics of agitation, confrontation and violence. Constitutionalism was the symbol of his political campaign. He mobilised Muslims and reoriented the All-India Muslim League to a mass public campaign. The sheer force of his political strategy, eloquence, advocacy, determination and commitment helped him, in the words of his biographer, alter the course of history significantly.

The Quaid was very clear about the future of Pakistan. He wanted a democratic, representative and parliamentary form of governance and a secular polity. He outlined the future constitutional delineations, along with the foreign and security policy of his Pakistan, in his various talks and particularly in his famous address to........

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