My Other Jinnah Film
By Dr Akbar Ahmed
American University
Washington, DC

 

I spent a decade creating and completing the Jinnah Quartet, which featured Jinnah, starring Sir Christopher Lee and the documentary Mr Jinnah: The Making of Pakistan, both of which I executive produced; the academic study Jinnah, Pakistan, and Islamic Identity: The Search for Saladin; and a graphic novel, The Quaid: Jinnah and the Story of Pakistan.
My aim, and that of the family and friends supporting me, was to produce the Quartet for the 50th anniversary of Pakistan in 1997 and create projects which would appeal to diverse audiences. The three projects were launched in 1997 and the feature film was completed in 1998.
A special characteristic of the documentary, available on YouTube, is that it relied entirely on people who either knew the Quaid personally or were his contemporaries. In it we have prominent Pakistani, Indian, and British figures and were fortunate to obtain some historic interviews including that of the Quaid’s only child, Dina Wadia.
Now, as the 74th anniversary approaches, it is time to revisit the documentary and remember Jinnah’s vision for Pakistan.
The film opens with perhaps the only known footage of Mr Jinnah in color. Sahabzada Yaqub Khan, Captain of Jinnah’s bodyguard in 1947, is one of the many people we meet:
“He has gone into the Valhalla.... to the pantheon as it were of a transcendental personality who is above reproach.... cast in that extraordinary mold of classical greatness.”
IjlalZaidi, a member of the Muslim Students’ Federation in 1940 and later Establishment Secretary in the Government of Pakistan, then speaks in awe of his hero:
“There was such total faith in his honesty, integrity, intention, and exactly that he meant what he said.”
Supreme Court Justice Javed Iqbal tells us,
“The people of course had many hopes in Jinnah, because he was the only leader which the Muslims had produced for a very long time who could deliver the goods. It was only this so-called Westernized Muslim who ... gave them a state.”
We also hear from Jinnah’s critics like Rafiq Zakaria, a former member of the Indian National Congress party and the father of Fareed Zakaria, the host of CNN’s GPS. Zakaria laments “the most tragic moment in India’s history” as being the moment when, in 1946, Nehru rejected Jinnah’s proposal to explore safeguards for Muslims within India.
Zakaria is not a fan of Jinnah, but he cannot help admiring him, “Because of his brilliance, because of his cleverness, because of his incorruptible style of functioning, he was highly respected. There’s no denying that.”
Dina Wadia reflects on Jinnah’s family life and remembers her mother with great affection, “She was young and beautiful, very, very intelligent, very bright, loved beautiful things, and she was a humorous, fun person” and comments on the unhappy marriage of her parents:“Well what happened was that he was a very, very busy man. He had all of his cases, he had a living to make, and then he had politics. Maybe he wasn’t able to give her the time that she should have had.”
From Piari Rashid, a friend of Jinnah, we learn that Jinnah encouraged her to become politically active and “to form a Muslim League in Baluchistan.” She also fondly tells us about his love for “baked custard. He could have it twice a day at every meal, if it was possible for him to do so.”
The Quaid’s marvelous sense of integrity comes shining through when Zeenat Rashid, the daughter of Haji Abdullah Haroon, Jinnah’s host in Karachi, tells him she and her female friends, dressed in different burkhas each time, had cast fake votes for him:
“I’m very sorry you did that, because I have no intention of getting Pakistan in that way. I want it to be a fair election. And I’m sorry that you did that. And I would like you to go back and remove those three votes from the voter’s list, because you have no right to do it.”
One of the last interviews is that of Mike Wickson, Jinnah’s navigator, who flew the Quaid in 1948 from Quetta to Karachi on his last journey. He leaves us with an endearing image of the Quaid in the final hours of his life:
“He was helped aboard...And it so happens I was looking directly at Jinnah as he was propped up on his pillows. And he obviously saw the concern on my face, because he gave me the most wonderful smile, a smile I shall never forget. And it was a smile that said, don’t be concerned, all is well and all will be well.”
Dina recalls the mass sorrow at her father’s funeral:
“Massive. I’ve never heard so many crying. The mourning and crying. Thousands and thousands. Flocks of people. Remember Pakistan had only been going for a year or something, so it was very emotional.”
Finally, we hear his stirring words to the Constituent Assembly in 1947 which have appeared and disappeared as different governments attempted to create Jinnah in their own image, “You may belong to any religion or caste or creed — that has nothing to do with the business of the State ...”
It is crucial that we remember the Quaid for who he was, which will help us determine how we understand and interpret his vision for Pakistan. This film can help us do that.
(The writer is an author, poet, filmmaker, playwright, and the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies, American University in Washington, DC. He formerly served as the Pakistani High Commissioner to the UK and Ireland. He tweets @AskAkbar)