Jinnah: A Charisma Built for Disrupture

Mohammad Ali Jinnah has remained an enigma in popular imagination, even as we near the 60th anniversary of his death. The founding father of Pakistan, he created a state in the name of Islam, yet was a non-practicing Muslim by most accounts. A Shiite Muslim for the majority of his life, he gained wide acceptance - even devout following - among India's 300 million, mostly Sunni, Muslims. Unlike his political foe Mohandas Gandhi, Jinnah was a "dandy" who reputedly owned over 200 hand-tailored British suits and rarely wore a silk tie twice.

Yet Jinnah was a hero to poverty-stricken masses he could not relate to. His public speeches were delivered in crisp British English, while thousands of Indian Muslims who understood none of it came from afar and listened respectfully. This charisma is both unique and unaccounted for. Max Weber states charisma as one of three sources of authority. Jinnah lacked the other two: he lacked traditional authority as he was a lawyer by profession - neither a religious man nor a landowner, and he had little legal authority as he became the head of the Muslim League only late in the Raj. Charisma, then, was a key element to his success.

Jinnah became a Muslim hero by default. In the negotiations with the British towards the end of the Raj, Jinnah's legal acumen made him a formidable opponent for Jawaharlal Nehru. Jinnah considered politics a "gentleman's game," and became disillusioned with Gandhi's populism. A staunch member of Nehru's Congress Party, Gandhi's rise in the 1920's led him to believe that Congress wanted a Hindu nation, not a secular one. His arguments for a decentralized government with special rights for minorities were met with significant resistance. Jinnah left the Congress Party for the Muslim League - his sense of British discrimination was now coupled with a suspicion of Hindu hegemony.

There is some debate among academic circles as to whether Jinnah actually wanted a separate state for Muslims or he just used the threat as leverage for increased minority rights. After all, he left behind as many Muslims in India as he took in creating Pakistan - all the while claiming to speak for all Indian Muslims. It was his conviction in arguing for Muslim rights, coupled with his legal skills, that defined his charisma.

Jinnah is today celebrated and reviled for his staunch conviction. Like Otto von Bismarck and Woodrow Wilson, Jinnah was rarely in doubt of his own opinion. His unwillingness to compromise now underlies most