An examination of how Jinnah’s deep understanding of global politics and law shaped the formation of Pakistan.

Political leaders in the modern world carry significant responsibilities. They not only lead their political parties by shaping their vision and ideals to serve the nation but also engage with opposing leaders through debate, dialogue, and persuasion to advance in a democratic and tolerant manner. This role can only be effectively fulfilled by leaders who possess vast knowledge, experience, and wisdom—not only to guide the nation toward a prosperous future but also to elevate its standing within the global community. A leader well-versed in the latest trends in knowledge, history, and strategic vision is essential for making the nation influential among the world's nations.

He leveraged his experience as a leader of the Muslim League with his rich background of working in Congress to unite the different segments of Muslims in the vast Indo-Pak subcontinent.

Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, possessed a clear and well-defined vision, shaped by his early political experience with the Indian National Congress (INC). Drawing on this background and his extensive world knowledge, Jinnah was fully equipped to lead the Muslim nation of the Indo-Pak subcontinent toward a future envisioned by the poet-philosopher Allama Mohammad Iqbal. He played a pivotal role in carving out a new state for the Muslim majority areas of the subcontinent. This is how Pakistan came into existence on August 14, 1947, through Jinnah's unwavering commitment to dialogue and persuasion, engaging with the British, Congress, and other leaders. This article examines how Jinnah effectively utilized his vision, global understanding, and political experience to achieve this historic milestone.
Expertise in Law
Constitutional Law. His legal background enabled him to draft significant documents such as the Pakistan Resolution of March 23, 1940, the Fourteen Points of March 1929, and the Lucknow Pact of December 1916, which became renowned historical milestones.
International Law. He utilized his knowledge of international law to negotiate with the British government, INC leaders, and other prominent figures, ultimately achieving the goal of creating Pakistan.
Political Wisdom
Nationalism and Self-Determination. He studied the national movements in Europe and applied those to the creation of Pakistan.
Party Politics. He leveraged his experience as a leader of the Muslim League with his rich background of working in Congress to unite the different segments of Muslims in the vast Indo-Pak subcontinent.
Historical Background
Islamic History. Quaid-i-Azam drew inspiration from Islamic history, particularly the Holy Prophet's (PBUH) migration from Mecca to Madina, advocating for a separate Muslim homeland. He was also well-versed in various phases of Islamic history.
British Colonial. He closely studied the British Colonial system and its various shades and weaknesses, using this knowledge to negotiate with the British Government to create Pakistan.
Political Strategy
Vision for a Separate Homeland. Quaid-i-Azam's thinking pattern enabled him to plan and pave the way for Pakistan through rigorous struggle and negotiations.
Dialogue and Compromise. Quaid-i-Azam demonstrated strategic flexibility by negotiating and compromising with other parties. For this, the most outstanding example of his intensive negotiations with Lord Mountbatten and his team was to convince them to create Pakistan during March-June 1947.¹
These aspects are discussed in detail in this article so that we can understand the pattern of Quaid-i-Azam with particular reference to the above matters.
After earning his Bar-at-Law degree from London's Lincoln's Inn in 1896, during the height of the British Empire, Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah equipped himself with extensive knowledge of global affairs, including the British colonies, Arab countries, the Ottoman Empire, and the rising power of America. To stay informed about world events, he traveled annually during court vacations to London and other parts of Europe in the early years of his political career, returning to British India around October. Upon completing his education in London, he enrolled as an advocate at the Bombay High Court in August 1896.
In 1897, he joined the Indian National Congress (INC) with a strong commitment to serving the Muslim nation from the platform of a predominantly Hindu organization. He remained with the Congress until the end of 1920, during which time he achieved significant milestones in promoting Muslim interests. For example, at the 1906 Congress session, he advocated for issues such as ‘Wakf alal Aulad,’ the equality of the Muslim nation with the Hindu nation, and other matters. In 1916, during the sessions of both the Congress and the All-India Muslim League (AIML), he successfully facilitated the approval of a joint draft of political demands by Muslims and Hindus, known as the Lucknow Pact.
However, Jinnah encountered setbacks, the most notable of which was his inability to prevent M. K. Gandhi from steering the country toward the Non-Cooperation Movement—a course Jinnah believed would be detrimental to Muslim interests. By the end of 1920, he concluded that the Congress platform was no longer capable of effectively representing or advancing Muslim interests. As a result, he left the Congress permanently and devoted himself entirely to championing Muslim politics through the AIML.
Following the Khilafat Movement (1918–1924), the political climate for Muslim politics became unfavorable, culminating in the extreme Hindu stance reflected in the Nehru Report of 1928. The Congress and other Hindu organizations made it evident that there was little room for Muslim political aspirations. Congress leaders began pressuring the British government to disregard Muslim concerns in national matters, particularly after December 1929, when Mahatma Gandhi initiated the Non-Cooperation Movement to achieve Hindu domination.
In this context, the British government organized a series of Round Table Conferences in London between 1930 and 1932 to engage Indian leaders in discussions. Quaid-i-Azam traveled to England in October 1930 to participate in these conferences. However, before his departure, as the President of the AIML, he nominated Allama Mohammad Iqbal, the Poet-Philosopher of Islam and Pakistan, to preside over the AIML session. It was at the Allahabad Session on December 29, 1930, that Iqbal presented the visionary idea of a separate Muslim state in the Indo-Pak subcontinent.

Jinnah's strong argument was that he wanted the British rulers to make their decision based on the election results of 1945-1946, which clearly showed that the All India Muslim League (AIML) and Jinnah had received the overwhelming support of more than 90 percent of the Muslim masses for the cause of Pakistan, as confirmed by the ballot box.

As the proceedings of the Round Table Conference remained inconclusive and prolonged, Quaid-i-Azam decided to extend his stay in London. He remained there until the British Parliamentary Committee completed the draft of the Government of India Act, 1935. Once the draft was ready to be presented to the British Parliament, he decided to return to British India in December 1934.
Meanwhile, Allama Iqbal's idea of a Muslim state had been articulated at the Allahabad Session in December 1930. In 1933, Chaudhry Rehmat Ali, a student at Cambridge University, named this envisioned Muslim state "Pakistan."
In 1935, Jinnah began planning and executing steps to create Pakistan, and the draft of the 1935 Act paved the way for Muslim politics. However, before discussing Jinnah's strategy for focusing on Pakistan, it is important to consider his presentation of the Fourteen-Point Formula in March 1929 to all the major Muslim political parties. Why did Jinnah refer to it as the 14-Point Formula? American President Woodrow Wilson presented his 14 Points during World War I (1914-1918) to address the issues of 11 Eastern European nations that emerged after the war. For Jinnah, the Indo-Pak subcontinent was analogous to the European continent and required the same level of global treatment and importance. Thus, to emphasize his perspective, Jinnah framed his 14-Point Formula as a matter of global significance, both internally and externally. From March to June 1947, there were marathon discussions between Quaid-i-Azam, Lord Mountbatten and his team, as well as debates with Congress leaders.
The creation of 11 national states in Eastern Europe, as American President Woodrow Wilson suggested, also came to the forefront. Sir T. Shone, Member of Mountbatten's negotiation team, met Jinnah and afterwards submitted his note to the Viceroy on April 16, 1947, in which he reported that Jinnah was "unbending in his insistence on Pakistan".² Jinnah considered “unified India as an artificial creation.”³ He compared the Indian problem with the "Austro-Hungarian Empire" because its various peoples desired independence.⁴
The Austro-Hungarian Empire existed from 1867 to 1918. During this 51-year period, the Dual Monarchy ruled, with its capital in Vienna. Geographically, it was the second-largest country in Europe after the Russian Empire and the third most populous after Russia and Germany. The empire was home to eleven nationalities: Croatian, Czech, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Romanian, Serbian, Slovakian, Slovene, Slovak, and Ukrainian.⁵ Towards the close of World War I, in his address to the U.S. Congress on January 8, 1918, Woodrow Wilson, the U.S. President, declared his 14-point peace plan for the world.⁶ Under point 10, he professed that various peoples of the Austro-Hungarian Empire should be given “the freest opportunity to autonomous development”.⁷
This plan was accepted by the world leaders of the Allied Powers, who emerged victorious after the war and implemented this plan under the Treaty of Versailles of 1919, by which the defeated Austro-Hungarian Empire was divided amongst different nationalities, each given the status of a separate nation and separate country. By this Treaty, Austria, and Hungary were separated and reduced to a small size. Poland and Czechoslovakia were created as two new countries out of the former territories of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The size of these countries was reduced to Romania, Bulgaria, and others.⁸
Jinnah was aware of all these developments at the international level. He also knew how the new states were created from the ashes of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, which had sided with Germany. For punishment, this Empire was not revived; instead, it was divided into different countries based on Woodrow Wilson's concept of nation-states. Moreover, this was done without referencing the people of the respective nationalities or nations. Thus, no elections were arranged. Decision taken at the world forum was implemented by force without getting the consent of the concerned nations. Jinnah derived a sound argument from this international fact of world history. He wanted this methodology to be applied to British India so that all the majority Muslim areas should be carved out into a separate nation-state of Pakistan. This demand was reinforced after the elections of 1946. But in British India, things went differently. 
In the case of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, all the Big Four (George Lloyd from the UK, Woodrow Wilson from the USA, Raymond Poincaré, President of France, and Friedrich Ebert, President of Germany) were unanimous in dismantling the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany. In British India, however, Lord Mountbatten and the Congress Caucus were not ready to establish Pakistan. Instead, they sought ways to avoid supporting Jinnah and the All-India Muslim League (AIML), attempting to divert them from their path to Pakistan by raising various questions. Jinnah and his party strongly opposed their numerous pretexts. Ultimately, they were able to win Pakistan, though much reduced to the original size of their demand and planning.⁹ Jinnah, by his strong arguments, forced the Viceroy and the Congress leaders to determine if the aforementioned ¹¹ countries could be established in Europe without holding an election and how they can block the way for Pakistan when the verdict in its favor has already been obtained in the elections of 1946.
Quaid-i-Azam delivered his broadcast speech on Radio India, Delhi, on June 3, 1947, on the Partition Plan of Lord Mountbatten. In this speech, he termed this Partition Plan “as a compromise or settlement” between the British Government, Congress and other Indian leaders. Considering the world scenario, Quaid expressed: “We must remember that we have to take momentous decisions and handle grave issues facing us in the solution of the complex political problems of this great sub-continent inhabited by 400 million people. The world has no parallel for the most onerous and difficult task which we have to perform”.¹⁰ On August 11, 1947, Quaid-i-Azam was elected President of the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan. In his presidential address, also he surveyed the creation of Pakistan in the world scenario in these words: "You know really that not only we ourselves are wondering but I think, the whole world is wondering at this unfrequented cyclonic revolution which has brought about the plan of creating and establishing two independent sovereign Dominions in this subcontinent. As it is, it has been unprecedented; there is no parallel in the history of the world. This mighty subcontinent with all kinds of inhabitants has been brought under a plan which is titanic, unknown, and unparallel. And what is very important with regard to it is that we have achieved it peacefully and by means of an evolution of the greatest possible character.”11 The Transfer of Power to Pakistan took place on August 14, 1947. On this occasion, Lord Mountbatten, in his address to the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, cited the example of King Jalaluddin Akbar, the great Mughal Emperor (1556–1605), as a model of tolerance by any Muslim ruler in the Indo-Pak subcontinent. Following Lord Mountbatten's speech on August 14, 1947, and speaking on the floor of the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, the Quaid responded with emphatic words: “The tolerance and goodwill that great Emperor Akbar showed to all the non-Muslims is not of recent origin. It dates back thirteen centuries ago when our Prophet (PBUH) not only by words but by deeds treated the Jews and Christians, after he had conquered them, with the utmost tolerance and regard and respect for their faith and beliefs. The whole history of Muslims, wherever they ruled, is replete with those humane and great principles which should be followed and practiced”.¹² This also indicates Quaid-i-Azam’s full knowledge of not only world politics but of the whole history of Islam.
Lord Mountbatten discussed the issue of Partition with Jinnah after April 6, 1947. In his meeting with Jinnah on April 10, the debate was very hot, and Mountbatten and his team stressed that Jinnah should accept the Cabinet Mission Plan with a weak Centre, but Jinnah was not ready to take this. Jinnah was very hard to point out certain realities of the world. Jinnah even quoted the example of the partition of Poland after World War I (1914-1918) based on the Treaty of Versailles of June 1919. Jinnah "quoted the partition of Poland as not having been made based on counting heads or taking into account the will of the people".¹³ Jinnah's strong argument was that he wanted the British rulers to make their decision based on the election results of 1945-1946, which clearly showed that the All India Muslim League (AIML) and Jinnah had received the overwhelming support of more than 90 percent of the Muslim masses for the cause of Pakistan, as confirmed by the ballot box. He expected the British Viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, to adhere to the traditions of British justice and to decide to transform the six Muslim-majority provinces into Pakistan. However, Mountbatten flatly told him that he "was not prepared to proceed on this basis.”¹⁴
In his address to the Lahore session of the AIML on March 22, 1940, Quaid-i-Azam surveyed the history of Europe and the history of the Indo-Pak subcontinent: 

“History has presented to us many examples, such as the Union of Great Britain and Ireland, of Czechoslovakia and Poland. History has also shown to us many geographical tracts, much smaller than the Subcontinent of India, which otherwise might have been called one country, but which have been divided into as many states as there are nations inhabit in them. The Balkan Peninsula and the Spanish stand divided in the Iberian Peninsula. Whereas under the plea of the unity of India and one nation, which does not exist, it is sought to pursue here the line of one Central Government, when we know that the history of the last 12 hundred years has failed to achieve unity and has witnessed, during the ages, India always divided into Hindu India and Muslim India. The present artificial unity of India dates back only to the British conquest and is maintained by the recent declaration of His Majesty’s Government, will be the herald of an entire break up, with worse disaster than has ever taken place during the last one thousand years under the Muslims. Surely that is not the legacy which would bequeath to India after 150 years of her rule, nor would the Hindu and Muslim India risk such a sure catastrophe”.¹⁵

The writer is a former Director of the National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research and a Professor at the Quaid-i-Azam Chair (NIPS), Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. 
E-mail: [email protected].

1.   For detailed knowledge of these dialogues, see Alan Campbell-Johnson, Mission with Mountbatten, London, Robert Hale, 1972.
2.  Alan Campbell-Johnson, Mission with Mountbatten, London, Robert Hale, 1972, p. 279.
3.  Ibid.
4.  Ibid., p. 280.
5.  Riaz Ahmad, Pakistan Movement: New Dimensions 1935-1948, Islamabad, Alvi Publishers, 2017, p. 332.
6.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria
7.  Ibid.
8.   Ibid.
9.    Riaz Ahmad, Pakistan Movement: New Dimensions 1935 – 1948, Islamabad, Alvi Publishers, 2017, pp. 331-332.
10.  Quaid-i-Azam's Broadcast speech on Radio India, New Delhi, June 3, 1947.
11.  Quaid-i-Azam's President Address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, August 11, 1947.
12  Quaid-i-Azam's Address to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, August 14 1947.
13.  Nicholas Mansergh and Penderel Moon, The Transfer of Power 1942-1947, vol. X, London, Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1981, p. 186
14.  Ibid.
 15. S. S. Pirzada, Foundtions of Pakistan, Vol. II, Islamabad, NIHCR, Quaid-i-Azam University, 2007, p. 309.