QUAID-I-AZAM MUHAMMAD ALI JINNAH AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH ASIA

Abstract

Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan led the freedom movement for the socio-economic development of the Muslims in South Asia. Although Jinnah and his socio-economic thought was the product of his time and it was in continuity with emancipatory thinking within Muslim political and scholarly circles which events after 1857 imposed upon them; yet his vision, commitment and perseverance make him one of the few statesmen world ever produced. The development of Jinnah’s socio-economic vision paralles his studies, visits and stays in England where he came across liberal and welfare ideas. Throughout his career he advocated nondiscriminatory socio-economic development of Indian masses, particularly the Muslims. From the text of Waqf-e-Alal-Aulad bill (1913) to the Muslim League’s resolution (1937) for an economic, social and cultural program; to establishing Federation of Muslim Chamber of Commerce and appointment of Economic Planning Committee (1943) dealing with diverse areas of social and economic welfare of masses and to his speech of August 11, 1947 where minorities’ rights and their equal inclusion in the development process is stressed, Jinnah stands prominent as a leader struggling to establishing a modern Muslim welfare state.