Muhammad Ali Jinnah, or Quaid-i-Azam (Great Leader), as he is popularly known in Pakistan is probably the most controversial historical figure in India. Demonized mostly, he sometimes finds unlikely supporters in the right wing BJP. Some hold him single-handedly responsible for the partition of India, some say that his was a case of compulsion brought about by Congress’ missteps. I will not attempt to venture into those waters here. Any figure in contemporary history is bound to have detractors equal in number to supporters. Even Mahatma Gandhi is not lacking in critics, and compared to him the rest are but mere mortals!
What is generally not so well-known is Jinnah’s personal life and private affairs. The creator of what is probably the first modern nation state whose basis was purely religion, was far removed from the picture one tends to have of religious fundamentalists. That is probably because he was never one. His vehement insistence on the necessity of Pakistan probably had other roots. We often forget how much influence personal rivalries or friendships, private insults – intended or otherwise – and compliments, play on the course of history. But I digress.
I came across a good article a while ago on ‘All Things Pakistan‘.
(All Things Pakistan is a brilliant endeavour to present another side of Pakistan which is different from “the dominant discourse on Pakistan that tends to be about various versions of ‘Pakistan – the cardboard cut-out’”. The purpose, as set out on the website is,
To embrace Pakistan in all its dimensions – its politics, its culture, its minutia, its beauty, its warts, its potential, its pitfalls, its facial hair, its turbaned heads, its shuttlecock burqas, its jet-setting supermodels, its high-flying bankers, its rock bands, its qawalls, its poets, its street vendors, its swindling politicians, its scheming bureaucrats, its resolute people – in essence, all things Pakistani.)
The article I am talking about is titled ‘A Look at the Personal Life of Jinnah: Ruttie Jinnah’s last letter to her husband’ and it discusses the love of Jinnah’s life and his second wife, Rattanbai “Ruttie” Petit, The Flower of Bombay (alias Maryam Jinnah). The letter in question is the last letter she wrote to him, a few months before her death at the age of 29. By this time they were almost completely separated as probably the demands on Jinnah’s time were too many and the differences between them were too wide to bridge and the relationship had broken down even though the love between them was still strong. She writes,
“I have suffered much sweetheart because I have loved much. The measure of my agony has been in accord to the measure of my love.”
She writes of life and remembrance,
When one has been as near to the reality of Life (which after all is Death) as I have been dearest, one only remembers the beautiful and tender moments and all the rest becomes a half veiled mist of unrealities. Try and remember me beloved as the flower you plucked and not the flower you tread upon.
The letter is very touching and well-written and gives an insight into the person that she was. And it is hard to reconcile this Jinnah, the man that touched the heart of such a beautiful soul with Jinnah the demon, that he is made out to be. Or maybe it is an ideal case for a study into the myriad and at times, contradictory facets of the human mind.
Delving a bit further, I found out the interesting story of how they met, how they got married in defiance of society and how it all ended so sadly. It is a fairy tale which does not end with the ‘happily ever after’. (ATP has another more in-depth article on this here. It tells the whole story of ‘Jay’ and ‘Ruttie’. Do give it a read.)
Jinnah is reported to have cried in public only twice. Once at Ruttie’s funeral in 1929 and once when he visited her grave in Bombay for the last time before leaving for Pakistan for good in 1947.
As the article concludes,
Jinnah left India in August 1947, never to return again, but he left behind a piece of his heart in a little grave in a cemetery in Bombay.
(© Dr. Ghulam Nabi Kazi‘s flickr photo set Plain Mr. Jinnah)
