Prominent historian Prof. Ayesha Jalal's lecture on Quaid-e-Azam at SMIU

22 January 2017
Prof. Ayesha Jalal, noted historian and Director, Center for South Asian and Indian Ocean Studies Tufts University Medford, Massachusetts, USA, has said that the vision of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah is relevant today in terms of constitutional supremacy, social justice, and peaceful coexistence. She said this while delivering a lecture on "How Relevant is Jinnah's Vision in Today's Pakistan," organized by Sindh Madressatul Islam University (SMIU) at the courtyard of SMIU's Main Building.
Prof. Ayesha Jalal said that Mr. Jinnah was one of the great Muslim leaders in British Era, and was believed in constitution and democracy. "As the nations are needed heroes, likewise Muslims of subcontinent found their hero in the name of Mr. Jinnah," she said and added that Mr. Jinnah made his unique place in the polity of subcontinent despite facing odds. He was anti colonial nationalist. She said this great man must be honored.
Prof. Ayesha Jalal said that since last almost 70 years, there is still a debate in Pakistan that we should have democracy or dictatorship and or secular state or religious state.
She was of the view that Mr. Jinnah was firm believer of constitution, rule of law and federation with legitimate rights to the federating units. Mr. Jinnah expressed his clear vision in his speech delivered in the Constitutional Assembly on 11th August 1947 about the Pakistan's future status. She said that Mr. Jinnah was not in favour of division of Punjab and Bengal, but Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, leaders of Congress like Jawaharlal Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel were in favour of division of Punjab and Bengal.
Prof. Ayesha Jalal said that the equal representation was given to the provinces in Senate in the constitution of 1973, but in later years many changes were made into it, which changed original shape of the constitution. Therefore, today is confused constitutional scenario.
While giving answer to a question asked by a student of SMIU she said that Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a real ambassador of Hindu Muslim unity, but leaders of Congress Party Mr. Nehru and Mr. Patel were against it. Talking about Mr. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi she said that he most actively played his political role up to 1920s.
Earlier, Dr Muhammad Ali Shaikh, Vice Chancellor of SMIU in his welcome speech thanked the guest speaker Prof. Ayesha Jalal and said that she is one of the great historians of our time with reference of her historic work on Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
The lecture program was attended by dignitaries, diplomats, prominent academicians and Deans, chairperson, senior faculty, staff members and students of SMIU. On this occasion Prof. Ayesha Jalal also visited Jinnah Museum along with Dr Muhammad Ali Shaikh and other guests.

[@samiranboruah6759]

Please read Prof.Dr.Ishtiaq Ahmed’s Jinnah, lady !

[@umeshshahane]

so, someone who said m00$1em Khatare me hai in the 1940s, instigated riots, deeply drenched in religious bigotry, communalism is "Constitutional", read Prof.Dr.Ishtiaq Ahmed’s "Jinnah: His Successes, Failures and Role in History".

[@abooswalehmosafeer173]

The Number,huge,of people who died at the partition is a sad legacy of the leader at that time,aquiescing to the Westerners. A myth has been pygmalioned.

[@indianstorm7366]

It was Jinnah who said"We have our Constitution written in the form of Qran" & also"Pakistan was made since the arrival of Bin Qasim r.a."

[@immasavagebro2845]

That is a misinterpretation on your part. Jinnah aimed to reconcile Islamic ideals with inclusivity and pluralism.

[@indianstorm7366]

@@immasavagebro2845 Bin Qasim has nothing to do with Islamic ideals.It may be Salahuddin.Further he was sent by Hajjaz Bin Yusuf & hanged by him too.

[@Ali-mi1hn]

@@indianstorm7366 ,Islam has many heroes unlike Hindus who have many loser Kings who got their ass kicked.Muhammad Bin Qasim was just one of the heroes.

[@rocky78016]

@@Ali-mi1hn tera Baap bhi toh Hindu tha jisne baad mein Islam kabool liye ,dande padne ke baad

[@tellme8140]

@@Ali-mi1hn of Arab not Punjab and sindh

[@najeebullah9624]

Nice information

[@highpeaks3598]

Most of the audience seems like they were there for show. Not to actually care regarding the subject. Also, she is trying to whitewash Jinnah. He was a Muslim nationalist above a Gujarati/Sindhi or Indian nationalist. He wanted a Muslim state, the only positive might of Jinnah is, he wanted a Federal government, a unitary system will not work for India. Even today it doesn't.

[@dr.shiddalingeshwarayyavas198]

Nice madam thank you

[@T2mukesh]

her thesis has been demolished by well documented book by Prof Ahmed

[@swapandas9433]

She is the wife of a Netaji relative sugata bose.

[@DipakBose-bq1vv]

Ayesha Jalals PhD degree should be withdrawn as she could not prove the main proposition of his thesis that Jinnah never wanted Partition and also the secondary proposition that Jinnah was a secularist.

[@KhawjaAziz]

Excellent review of historical record. Her statement are validated and very well collaborated in well recognized work by Jaswant Singh, Menon, Winston Churchill (archival record) and original biography by Lord Mount Baton of Burma.

[@mystictilopa2812]

🔔

[@openmind651]

History should be written by facts and evidences not by bias emotions as by Ayesha Jalal

[@caesar848]

As a hindu indian, I thank jinnah everyday. Gandhi was a delusional liar. he expected hindus to be secular while he himself supported khilafat and Muslim jihadists in india. Jinnah on the other hand was pragmatic, he knew islam cannot coexist with hindus and both are antithetical. Had partition happened fullly, India would be developed country by now. Muslims of india (majority) have same mindset of ghazwa e hind. Recently Deboband's darul uloom isssuing fatwa of ghazwa e hind. all so called secular parties are silent and hence compilcit.

[@ramkrishnamukerjee3942]

This is no more than rhetoric as Jinnah was hungry for power and nothing else. An astute barrister he got a place for himself and he could not care less about the Muslims in Pakistan or elsewhere. On a reconiliztory note we in hindustan thank him profusely for being honest to sepeate the land as islam and any other religion cannot co exist as is being played out the world over now. Clash of Civilizations is a real thing in the west now. In India we are less likely to be as susceptible as the reason history is playing out.

[@Hujjathullah-fz7qh]

A plausible presentation by the Madam Dr. ; in short, Hindus should love Jinnah for allowing them to live the way they want and Muslims could hate Jinnah for standing in the way of how they wanted to live. The only thing going for Jinnah was he was a truely professional constitutionalist and a sincerely committed pragmatist. But the bottomline is like Hindu leaders he too was an Anglophile who had to play along as commited nationalists simply to etch their legacy into the respective national psyche/s.😅

[@iracture]

Same problem that Indian audience today must be facing in understanding this video, exact same problem was faced by Nehru and others politicians when dear Jinahji postulated his theories that the lady in the video goes on and on about. Jinnah must have been an educated British lawyer and knew in detail about various types of governments possible as taught by British education. But local politicians did not follow all fancy stuff that Jinnahji was lecturing. These are sons of the soils educated if at all In India, how will they understand big big words. In the end emotions took over..they said what we understand is muslims want separation so let it be. Separate nation /province /state uniraty binary federal- these technicalities did not matter..All Indians at that time heard & understood was - separate. Same thing till date is taught in Indian history. And now again a resident of USA is saying big words. All this parliamentary western invented thing is anyways not working for 1.4 billion population. With time Indians will invent better democratic ways to govern 1.4+ billion people. Keep ur federal and all that jazz to urself.

[@rupendra79]

Jinnah 'a devil incarnate' created a hell. What power sharing is she talking of, can you have such talks before a constitution is even discussed. Such talks could have been only possible after Aug.1947.

[@ashibrataghosh9392]

We fought with British and aftr Jinnah without creditinal he divided India .. Pakistan for Muslim and Hindus for India..than why he kept these cocraoches here..Jinnah is one mc

[@umertufail9833]

Umer

[@tellme8140]

Punjabi aunty