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Muhammad Ali Jinnah has come to be revered by Pakistanis as the Quaid-i-Azam (Great Leader).
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On August 14, 1947, the modern Islamic nation of Pakistan was created when India was partitioned after gaining independence following a century of British rule. The poet Muhammad Iqbal originally advanced the idea for a separate Muslim nation in 1930, and it became a reality under the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the head of the Muslim League, an organization formed to protect Muslim interests in India in the early 20th century. When Pakistan was created it consisted of two distinct regions, East and West Pakistan, that were 1,000 miles apart with only a shared religion in common. The eastern wing had the larger population, but political and military power rested in the western wing. Border issues still had to be resolved after partition -- namely, how the provinces of Punjab and Bengal, which had substantial Muslim and Hindu populations, would be split, and which princely states would vote to join India or Pakistan. The announcement of the Punjab and Bengal boundaries a few days after partition resulted in one of the largest migrations of people in modern history -- roughly six million Hindus and Sikhs fled to India while eight million Muslims fled to Pakistan. The chaotic population transfer was accompanied by unprecedented communal violence that left some 500,000 to 1 million people dead.
In Kashmir, where Muslims were the majority, the Hindu ruler wanted the state to become independent, but when armed Pathan insurgents infiltrated, he ceded Kashmir to India in October 1947. India and Pakistan went to war over control of the state, which only ended when a UN brokered cease-fire agreement was implemented in January 1949. A line of control divided Kashmir between the two nations, and although it was supposed to be a temporary solution, it is still in effect today.
Jinnah became the first governor general of an independent Pakistan, with Liaquat Ali Khan as the nation's first prime minister. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the country's founder and guiding force, died on September 11, 1948.
photo: Hulton Archive
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