The life of Muhammad Ali Jinnah makes fascinating reading. There are many facets of his brilliant career: Lawyer, constitutionalist, parliamentarian, politician, ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity, the Quaid-i-Azam, architect and creator of the miracle of the twentieth century and so on. He simply excelled in all these fields.
He was a man of the highest standard of probity, honour and principle. However, he was supremely a man of pride. Some people mistook his ‘pride’ as arrogance, but in reality he was far from it. It is true that he kept his distance, but there were reasons for it.
History bears testimony to the fact that Mr Jinnah single-handedly battled for the rights of his people, that is, the Muslims of the subcontinent. The environment around him was adverse with His Majesty’s government, Viceroy-Nehru rapport with Edwina Mountbatten in-between, the Indian National Congress and most of the clerics opposing him. In spite of these circumstances, he gave the Muslim minority a separate entity in 1935. In 1937, he elevated them to a third party status and, in 1940, to nationhood. Finally, within seven years he was able to carve out a nationwide state - Pakistan. And Mr Jinnah did it all by himself.
So, the question is: Can a man ‘of his age’ and poor health, battling alone with the distressing environment around, spare any time for all the niceties that Jinnah’s detractors talk about? Surely, he was a busy man and had no time for such frivolities. However, it goes to his credit that he was never rude or abrupt and could always get his point across effectively, while observing all etiquettes to the point of perfection.
Mr Jinnah’s critics, who called him cold, rigid, stubborn and arrogant, have ignored the facts and have forgotten about his commitments to the Muslim community and the efforts that he made to fulfil them. Thus, it has created a lot of curiosity in the minds of the people, who want to know about the truth. And I believe that there could be no one better persons to throw light on this aspect of Quaid-i-Azam’s attitude than members of his personal staff. The question often asked from me, for instance, in private conversations, TV interviews and in public, is: “What was Quaid’s attitude towards his personal staff
The answer is simple: “He was ‘reserved’ in nature.” There may be many reasons for this specific attitude: Maybe he was born as such, or, most probably, it was his childhood environment that was responsible; maybe his early struggle for success in his profession and later single-handed struggle in his political life where he guided the rudderless ship of the Muslims in the stormy waters of Indian politics, had made him serious and sober.
Also, in intellect and political acumen, he was head and shoulders above his colleagues in the Muslim League. Remember, Quaid-i-Azam once said: “All coins in my pocket are base coins.” Hence, all the thinking and political planning for the betterment of Muslims was done by one man and that was no other than Mr Jinnah.
Anyway, reverting to the specific query about “Jinnah’s attitude towards his staff”, I would like to put it on record that he was “formal with us, but very correct.” He always addressed us as “Mr so and so.” He showed a lot of understanding and overlooked many of our shortcomings, and was tolerant and forgiving. I do not recollect any incidence when he showed his displeasure with our antics as asides. There was, however, one exception - Major McCoy, who was the comptroller of the household. Mr Jinnah would get upset at the very sight of Mr McCoy, as he preferred to address him. Maybe that his manners, his bearings, his handling of the decor of the house or may it be his very face that irritated the Governor-General. We called McCoy ‘Quaid’s punching bag’. He, obviously, did not last for long and was soon relieved.
But this is only one side of the story. When we look at Mr Jinnah’s humanitarian side, we find him forgiving, kind and the one who understood the sentiments of the people. It was not that, we were all the time standing in attention in the Quaid’s presence. We had our hour of relaxation when the Governor-General had time to spare and relax hims elf. Occasionally, he used to play with us on the lawns of his house where we had contrived to make a sort of bowling alley. This was his only relaxation that was, of course, rare. Incidentally, in the absence of Ms Jinnah, the Quaid played that game daily with me or Gul, whoever was on duty as his ADC.
Usually, Quaid-i-Azam relaxed after a quiet dinner with us, while sipping coffee. He would narrate to us anecdotes of his madrassa days in Karachi and his time in Lincolns Inn, where in his spare time he used to visit the British Parliament and listen to the debates. He would talk to us about everything, but politics, about himself or his achievements.
I may narrate here, one of my personal interactions with the Quaid showing his ‘formal’ attitude, and also of his understanding of my emotions and feelings of affection towards him. I served the Quaid as his aide for seven months, but during this time I never had the privilege of shaking hands with him even once. But March 19, 1948, was the nostalgic date for me when I went to him to take leave. I took along one of Mr Jinnah’s much published photographed to be autographed by him as memento. However, he took out one of the six complimentary copies of his photograph presented to him by the Time and Life magazines. These magazines had copyrights of this photograph of the Quaid and refused Pakistan government's official request to use it as ‘official photograph’. To me, surely it was a great gesture. Above all, when I finally begged leave of him, he extended his hand; I caught hold of it and looked into his eyes. He read my emotions and gave me a nod. I kissed his hand and without looking into his eyes again, saluted and left. I was overwhelmed, as it was unexpected because he always abhorred such actions.
n The writer is a witness to history as the former ADC to Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
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