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Mohammed Ali Jinnah (1876-1948)

M. A. Jinnah was born on December 25th, 1876 in Karachi. He came from a family of Gujarati Khoja Muslims. His father was a small businessman, but he managed to go to England to study and was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn. By the turn of the century he was a successful lawyer and built a lucrative practice in Bombay. An early member of the Congress Party and "Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity," he later parted ways with Gandhi and Nehru and worked for an independent homeland for the Muslims of British India.
Jinnah served as President of the All-India Muslim League from 1934 onwards. At midnight between August 14th and 15th, 1947 he led Pakistan into simultaneous freedom with India from the British Empire. Pakistan then included an eastern half which became the independent nation of Bangladesh in 1971. In Pakistan, Jinnah is known as "Quaid-e-Azam," or Father of the Nation. He served as the nation's first Governor-General until he died in September, 1948.
On August 15th, 1947 he addressed a country a few hours old over the radio from Lahore:
"The creation of the new state has placed a tremendous responsibility on the the citizens of Pakistan. It gives them an opportunity to demonstrate to the world how a nation containing many elements can live in peace and amity and and work for the betterment of all its citizens irrespective of caste or creed. Our object should be peace within, and peace without. We want to live peacefully and maintain cordial friendly relations with our immediate neighbours and with the world at large."


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