| Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan, was driven by an array of motivations for pressing the Pakistan demand. As venerated in Pakistan as he is despised in India today, Jinnah was often mischaracterized and misunderstood. This paper seeks to identify his changing rationale and readjusting motivations, which may be traced throughout the decades long struggle of Indian independence in the earlier twentieth century to the eventual emergence of two separate and distinct nation states in 1947. The inception of Pakistan remains relevant as a case study in state formation, an example of the denouement from a political thrust which trumped natural, progressive development of national self identity. This study makes use of primary sources such as personal letters, speeches, statements and legislative records, in addition to secondary sources pertaining to Indian and British politics within the former Indian subcontinent region. |
