Gandhi and Jinnah:Which was greater?
January 12, 2007 24 Comments
Well this is a never ending discussion .Indians will always say Gandhi and Pakistani’s Jinnah, but these comments are not based on logic but on patriotism.
For West whenever name of any Subcontinent leader is mentioned Gandhi always surpasses Jinnah thus many Pakistani’s consider such rankings as biased or based on hatred towards Muslims. Well I for one think that both leaders were great in there own right but Gandhi was Unique from Jinnah, based on the following reasons.
- First Gandhi started his struggle many years before Jinnah, Jinnah came to scene arou8nd 1915 whereas Gandhi was there from almost start of the century.
- Secondly Jinnah fought only for Muslims (20-30%) of total population, whereas Gandhi was fighting for whole India, Hindus and Muslims and if you take Gandhi out of the equation there would have been no independence.
- Thirdly, the life style, visual appearance and actions are what make Gandhi unique. What he did had never been done before. He was a leader of everyone. Even a poor farmer could relate himself to Gandhi. His clothing ,simple life style and tactics like hunger strikes was what rallied the masses against the British, Gandhi showed that power of masses is greater than any power, Jinnah on the other hand was quiet a Gentleman, he was one who could relate himself to British culture that’s why the general popular support of Jinnah was less then Gandhi among masses(Hindu and Muslims both).
Apart from all this discussions it is needless to say that we should be proud to get 2 great leaders in a same era. Jinnah and Gandhi are the never diminishing stars in the history of subcontinent. So comparing or not we should give equal respect to both leaders as it was due to effort of both these leader that we have an independent and a free country.
Abdul Azeem is an MS Graduate from LUMS. He is an Experienced IT Engineer,Technology Consultant and an Entrepreneur.
I am afraid your knowledge of history leaves a lot to be desired. Consider: your claim that jinnah came into politics after gandhi is absolutely the opposite of the truth. Jinnah joined Congress in 1906 while Gandhi came back to India in 1916. Jinnah, then known as best Ambassador of Hindu Muslim Unity, actually helped Gandhi settle into Politics. There is no question that Jinnah was held to be the most incorruptible politician in Indian history and was a secular indian nationalist till age 66. The reason why Jinnah moved to Muslim separatism had more to do with Gandhi’s appeal to religion than anything else. I am not going to debate who is greater … Except say that these are not popularity contests …. What is important is that Pakistan follows JInnah’s secularism soon because right now Pakistan is a source of discredit to the great Quaid.
His creation, the nation of Pakistan stands out as his biggest contribution to the rest of the world and hence determines his greatness. Do I need to say anything more?
…and if you take Gandhi out of the equation there would have been no independence!!!!!!
Mate, you need to take some history lessons! Now obviously you wont accept what I will say. So why not offer proofs from people who were great journalists and historians.
1)”Few individuals significantly alter the course of history. Fewer still modify the map of the world. Hardly anyone can be credited with creating a nation-state. Mohammad Ali Jinnah did all three.”
Stanley Wolpert. Jinnah of Pakistan.
2) In the words of John Biggs-Davison, ” Although without Ghandi, Hindustan would still have gained independence and without Lenin and Mao, Russia and China would still have endured Communist revolution, WITHOUT JINNAH, THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN NO Pakistan in 1947.”
3)Lord Lothian had said that though Jinnah’s scheme of partition was good, it would take at least 25 years to take shape. But great wars and great men shorten history, and Jinnah was such a man who could alter the history of a nation.
4) Beverley Nichols, the author of `Verdict on India’, called him “THE MOST IMPORTANT MAN IN ASIA”
P.S. (Please dont write anything until you have done some research)
Few days back Ms. Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit – Indian political leader and diplomat, one of the world’s leading women in public life in the 20th century, first Indian woman to hold a cabinet post, sister of Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru – stated “If Muslim League had 100 Gandhi + 200 Abu Al-Kalam, and Congress only had one MA Jinnah, then India would have never got independence.”
from the book: “Deda-e-Beena-e-Qoum”
BTW, what made you to think like that?
Well Qamar i am not starting a comparison and have categorical stated
“we should give equal respect to both leaders as it was due to effort of both these leader that we have an independent and a free country”
I am just putting down some observations.I am not in any way saying Gandhi was better but just saying he was unique.
And for many people who have commented i never said that Without Jinnah there would have been Pakistan in fact it was only and only because of Jinnah that Pakistan came into existence.
i think all the above discussion is wrong. infact both the leaders just wanted to be ruler. they did not wanted the welfare of the people. infact india was better managed before independence than the present leaders. it mean that if it was ruled by british, at least we could enjoy some justice and could have better economy and we might have been supper power by now. who cares about the ruler, as long as the basic requirements of the public are properly met and there is supermacy of law which was there when british used to rule us, as practically told by our elders. independence was totally a wrong decesion
salute your thinking…you are probably right if the british rule had we might had better economy and what so ever but you wuld never had the most precious things of all and we call it FREEDOM
I think your discussion is flawed in many cases.
No one wanted more Hindu-Muslim unity than Jinnah did. He wanted Pakistan’s government to treat Muslims, and Hindu’s the same way.
And when you say people supported Gandhi more, I say they were equally supported by people of their own religion.
Sorry to say but Gandhi was a drama and Jinnah wasn’t…lol…
You know world is Facing so much problem only due to Jinnah. He creates Pakistan a haven for terrorist. Only due to him 9/11 and Taliban came into existence. He made Pakistan a country to d-stabilize the whole world. He made himself the Governor General of Pakistan means he was power thirsty and see mahatma he was in favor of dissolving congress and refuse to take any Post.
On the other hand Mahatma only spread love for all irrespective of religion.
My dear frnd, plz get ur facts straight… Quaid-e-Azam is the one coz of whom I and 18 crore Pakistani Muslims can live/breathe freely, do u even know the history of Talibans, they first started their organization in Afghanistan and Kandahar is considered the birthplace of the Taliban, my frnd this world knows the reality of 9/11, it was an inside job just to make Muslims look bad around the world in which unfortunately americans succeeded… Muhammad Ali Jinnah made himself the first Governor General of Pakistan not coz he was power thirsty but bcz he was the only one who at that time could run a new country… now abut Mahatma Gandhi not taking any posts, bro do u even know that at the time of partition major industries established in India were cotton textiles, jute, sugar, iron and steel, cement, paper, and glass… at the time of partition India had a total of 921 factories. out of these only 34 came to Pakistan, In other words, Pakistan which consisted to be the 20% of the total indian population, had only 4% of share in her industrial assets(n i think u know how industries play an important role in the development of a country) … i think that pretty much explains why Gandhi didnt want a post, u know now a days Indians sitting on facebook and youtube compare India with Pakistan n how Indian industries r better then Pakistan’s, they really shd knw that if it wasn’t for Britishers, Indian industries wouldn’t have gone far ahead of Pakistan’s… no doubt that Gandhi was a good man but so was Jinnah, both were born to achieve a goal n i think they have fulfilled their purpose on 14 n 15 august 1947…
I think the time itself speaks for the greatness of two great Indian legends of history.Now both the legends are no more but see how the two nations are following the two.On this comparision Jinnah lags behind as his fellow nationals hardly follow the spirit of Jinnah which he clearly spelt out in his first address to the constituent assembly of Pakistan.Compare this state of affairs in the two contries and then decide yourself who was great.Am I right?
Its not at all a matter of debate. it could be merely solved by results we see in 1947. Congress tried its best to evade India’s division. Nehru On demand of Pakistan said ” Mountains, The rivers, the Vast deserts and nature has made india a unique unified piece of land and can never be divided by a communal demand’. Quaid
“We are a nation with our own distinctive culture and civilization, language and literature, art and architecture, names and nomenclature, sense of values and proportion, legal laws and moral code, customs and calendar, history and tradition, aptitudes and ambitions; in short, we have our own distinctive outlook on life and of life. By all canons of international law, we are a nation”
Jinnah achieved what he struggled for and Congress could not stop him. Jinnah is surely far much greater leader than any of his counter parts or i would say greatest of all.
And mate u surely have to correct ur self. Jinnah was a established Congressmen far much earlier than anyone could have known of Ghandi Ji or Mr. Nehru. He was on” Imperial Council of Viceroy” for the formulation of a constitution for India way back in 1910 when Ghandi Ji was providing some sort of legal assistance to some Indian firm in South Africa. He was a leader of far much greater credibility in congress even before any of congress legends jumped into indian politics.
As a student studying for an IB history exam tomorrow, I believe it is my duty to let you know that reading this blog was a waste of time.
Jinnah was not a educated and hence was not a fundamentalist initially. He defended Mr. Tilak in court.
He tuned into a fundamentalist because of GANDI. So in a way Mr. Gandhi is father of Pakistam and not Jinna
Freinds, Comparing both this personalities is not relevant.Gandhi was a unique human being and is incomparable with any Human being in this World.If you People want to compare Mr. Jinnah you can compare with Mr. Nehru. Coz Both these persons enjoyed superior post in there respective countries. Whereas Gandhi was still struggling and fighting for poor people and social reforms after independance.
Gandhi was a chracterless person, a drama, a fraud & an illiterate. After analysing history we come to know that he raised voice on bases of geographical area ie ONE INDIA for hindus only & not on bases of nationhood while Jinnah struggled for the rights of Muslims as they were beaten by both british & hindus.
And for “my FRIENDS” who say independence was wrong, i invite you to look & analyse the history & situation of muslims at that time. india does not leave even a single point to blame pakistan. Everyday there are riots which kill many muslims. how can you guarantee that without indepandence we would be living in a better condition as we are now in Pakistan????
PAKISTAN IS A MIRACLE OF ALLAH & DESTINED TO LEAD THIS WORLD. NO ONE CAN COME IN ITS WAY.
Pakistan- a hell for poor and unprivileged people, a heaven for military officers and their families (plus terrorists).
You know world is facing so much problem only due to Jinnah. He creates Pakistan a haven for terrorist. Only due to him 9/11 and Taliban came into existence. He made Pakistan a country to d-stabilize the whole world. He made himself the Governor General of Pakistan means he was power thirsty and see mahatma he was in favor of dissolving congress and refuse to take any Post.
On the other hand Mahatma only spread love for all irrespective of religion.
Mahatma and Jinnah can not be compared because Jinnah believe in violence and he applied this during the partition where millions of Hindu killed.
See the difference of Mahatma India here all religions are living together. In Jinnah Pakistan other than Muslims are not allowed to live.
Why r u only seeing millions of hindus getting killed, what abt millions of Muslims getting killed, what abt m,illions of Muslim women getting molested n raped by Hindus, at the time of partiton u hindus were scared and had them tails b/w those legs, u guys cunningly played Sikhs to do your dirty work, showed them that u can live in peace with them, but after the partition u guys showed ur real faces, the 1984 anti-sikh riots killed hundreds of sikhs in Gujrat in 2002 by killing hundreds n thousands of Muslims, this world knows how minorities in india suffer…
A US congressional body has put India on a list of countries which have failed to protect its religious minorities adequately. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom says India was added to the list because of a “disturbing increase” in religious violence. The US Commission on International Religious Freedom has been criticised by Christians in India about this list. It mentioned the anti-Christian and anti-Muslim riots in Orissa and Gujarat in 2008 and 2002 respectively…
yup that pretty much explains the last line of ur senseless comment…
I just would like to code one reference here
Vijay Laxmi Pandit: If Muslim League Has 100 Gandhis and 200 Abdul Kalam Azad and Congress has only one Jinnah than India would have never divided.
Gandhi the great………….Jinnah the greedy………..
Quideazam Muhammad Ali jinnah is in all ways the best leader of the world go to history read it and dont make yr own histories…whoever is saying the problems in the world is due to jinnah then its wrong he was a peace lover and a muslim.Gandhi never wanted a seprate state because the british r treating them properly but the right of muslims are neglected.by making pakistan a seprate state defeating britishers and hindus he proves he is a great leader We Pakistanis salute u..u will get a very high place in Jannah Ameen…