Jinnah, << JIHN nuh >>, Mohammad Ali (1876-1948), was an Indian Muslim leader who became known as the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah was a key figure in India’s struggle for independence from the United Kingdom in the first half of the 1900’s.
Jinnah supported political unity between Hindus and Muslims and was a member of the Indian National Congress, an organization that sought greater self-government and, later, Indian independence. By the 1920’s, however, differences had arisen between Jinnah and the Hindu-dominated Congress. Jinnah continued to work for Indian independence, but he increasingly emphasized the need to guarantee a share of power for Muslims. He twice served as president of a political organization called the All-India Muslim League. In 1940, he began calling for a separate independence for mainly-Muslim areas in northwestern and northeastern India, because he feared that the Hindu majority would dominate an independent India.
Pakistan was created as an independent Muslim-majority nation on Aug. 14, 1947, and Jinnah became its first head of state. India gained independence the next day. Jinnah led Pakistan in the early stages of its conflict with India over the disputed region of Kashmir.
Jinnah was born on Dec. 25, 1876, to a wealthy family in Karachi, India (now part of Pakistan). He studied law in England and became well known as a lawyer in Bombay (now Mumbai). He died on Sept. 11, 1948.
See also India ; Muslim League; Pakistan (Independence) (The nationalist movement).
