Muhammed Jinnah

Muhammed Jinnah

Jinnah, along with Ghandi and Nehru, played a fundamental role in India's history in the Twentieth Century. Jinnah was born in 1876 and died in 1948.

Jinnah is considered to be the founding father of Pakistan. His followers called him Quaid -e-Azam which translates as Great Leader.

Jinnah joined the Indian National Congress but resented the fact that it was dominated by Hindus. He also failed to support Gandhi's belief in the use of civil disobedience. In 1934, he left the INC and organised a rival to it - the Muslim League. The Muslim League had been founded in 1906 and it had originally been a cultural and religious organisation. Jinnah turned it into a more dynamic political organisation and in 1935, those Muslims who had remained in the INC joined Jinnah's Muslim League.



!937 witnessed provincial elections in India. The split between the Muslim League and Congress became apparent when Congress refused to join coalition administrations with the Muslim League in areas with mixed religion. The political scene was set that was to lead to post-1945 violence in India.



In 1940 at Lahore, Jinnah called for the creation of an independent state to be called Pakistan in which Muslim could live away from Hindus. This, he argued, would bring stability to the nation and end any potential for religious violence. Jinnah supported the British in World War Two whereas Congress failed to form any form of collaboration.



The end of the war witnessed elections in India. The Muslim League won nearly all the seats in Muslim areas while Congress did the same in predominantly Hindu areas. Polarisation was now obvious. Jinnah demanded a six-province Pakistan - essentially those provinces that had supported the Muslim League. Congress rejected the break-up of India and Jinnah called on Muslims to engage in "direct action" - the opposite of Gandhi's passive resistance. In riots between Muslims and Hindus in Calcutta, nearly 4000 people were killed. Between 1945 and he end of 1947, many millions of Indians were killed in the violence that occurred as Muslims moved to the new Pakistan, with Hindus moving away from what was the designated land for Pakistan to Hindu dominated India.



Jinnah's dream of a Muslim state became a reality in August 1947 when Pakistan was created. Jinnah became its first Governor-General. However, he was in poor health and he died of tuberculosis in 1948.

Annie Besant,

A great woman, patriot and a true fighter, Annie Besant, was born in London on October 1, 1847. She was the daughter of an Irish businessman, William Press Wood and an Irish woman, Emily Mary Ruche. Annie was given private education and later in 1867 got married to an Anglican clergyman, named Frank Besant. At the age of 23, Annie had two children but the marriage proved to be a failure and they got divorced in 1873. In 1870, Besant along with Charles Bradlaugh edited the weekly National Refomer. This weekly was dedicated to spread the ideas of birth control, trade unions, women’s right and national education. In 1888, she organized a strike for female workers in a London based company who were working more than they were paid and were highly affected by the factory fumes. The strike proved to be successful and she became more dedicated to women’s sufferings and rights. In 1875, Annie joined the religious movement, Theosophy that was based on Hindu ideas of karma and reincarnation. Completely involved in the Hindu beliefs, she widespread the ideas around the world. India was one country with maximum Hindus and so she visited the country in 1983 to spread the ideas and principles of Theosophy. Later on, she settled down in India with her girl child whom she brought along with her during divorce. During her stay in India she was actively involved in the Indian Nationalist Movement and Home Rule League. Like Gandhiji she was not fully satisfied with non violence, so being a good orator she tried to put influence on Indians by her speeches and write ups. Fighting for a noble cause she expired in India on September 20, 1933.

Sucheta Kriplani,

Sucheta Kriplani, a great freedom fighter, was born in June 1908 in Ambala. She took her education from Indraprastha College and Stephen College in Delhi. Soon after her studies she started her career as a lecturer in Banaras Hindu University. Sucheta was greatly inspired by the works of Mahatma Gandhi and in 1946 she joined the Kasturba Gandhi Memorial Trust as Organizing Secretary. In her later years, she started working with Gandhi Ji. She was actively involved in Quit India Movement and the partition riots. She also worked to combat the sufferings of Indian people. In 1946, she went with Gandhi to Noakhali and there she became the real mother of the victims of atrocities. She also got elected to the Constituent Assembly and sang the national song in the Independence session of Constituent Assembly on August 15, 1947. Even after independence she had not stopped working for the weaker sections of the society and was greatly involved in the upliftment of Indians. In 1952 and 1957, she was elected as the member of Lok Sabha and had also served as the Minister of State. She was the first woman who was appointed as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1963. Due to ill health Sucheta took retirement in 1971 and on December 1, 1974 she died of a massive heart attack.

Dr. Rajendra Prasad,

Dr. Rajendra Prasad, first President of independent India, was born on December 3, 1884 in Ziradevi village in Bihar’s Siwan district. He was the youngest son of Mahadev Sahay and Kamleshwari Devi. As per their custom, he was put under a Maulavi to learn Persian at the age of 5. Later on, he also learnt Hindi and arithmetic. He got married to Rajvanshi Devi at the age of 12. After marriage, he gave the entrance examination for Calcutta University and got scholarship there. He was a brilliant student and earned Masters Degree in Law. In 1905, Dr Rajendra Prasad plunged a headlong into the Swadeshi Movement and later on joined the Dawn Society run by Satish Chandra Mukherjee and Sister Nivedita. A new awareness was dawning into him under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi. Highly impressed by Gandhi Ji’s dedication, courage and conviction, he joined him in the freedom struggle. He was actively involved in the Non Cooperation Movement, Salt Stayagraha and Champaran Agrarian Agitation. In 1934, while Prasad was in jail, a devastating earthquake struck Bihar. Prasad was soon released after that and he completely dedicated himself to raise funds for the victims of earthquake. He was successful in doing so and further to it in 1935 during the Quetta earthquake he had set up relief committees. In 1934, he was elected as the President of Indian National Congress and in 1950 as President of independent India. As a President, he served the country for twelve years and was retired in 1962. In the subsequent year he was honored with the Bharat Ratna Award, the nation’s highest civilian award. He lived for almost a year after that and then left for his heavenly abode on February 28, 1963.