SEPTEMBER 11 is the 69th death anniversary of the Father of the Nation, Quaid-i-Azam, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the benefactor of tens of millions of Muslims of South Asia.

TheQuaid’s personality was charismatic and dynamic. History has few examples of such great personalities.

Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada, a renowned lawyer of Pakistan, wrote: “Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah had a combination of rare qualities. He had the charisma of Churchill, dignity of de Gaulle, magnetism of Mandela and objectivity of Obama.

Edgar Snow, well-known American author, noted: “Even if one only appraised Jinnah as a barrister, it would be to acknowledge that he had won the most monumental judgement in the history of the Bar. He had realised in the romantic ideal of Pakistan a case that was fought and won.”

Sir Stafford Cripps spoke of him as “a most accomplished lawyer, outstanding amongst Indian lawyers and a fine constitutionalist”.

Iftikhar Mirza

Islamabad

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2017