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<h1 class="gmail-single-head-title">Why Bangladeshis hate Jinnah</h1>
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THE ASIAN AGE. | <a href="http://www.asianage.com/byline/vivek-shukla">VIVEK SHUKLA</a>
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<strong>Published : </strong> May 10, 2018, 5:26 am IST
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<strong>Updated : </strong> May 10, 2018, 5:27 am IST
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<p class="gmail-content gmail-strap">Jinnah’s attitude completely shocked all those who supported his two-nation theory on the basis of religion.</p>
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<img src="http://images.asianage.com/images/aa-Cover-n3h7jn8phes8b7l6binsgdbk94-20180510052412.Medi.jpeg" alt="Mohammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948)" title="Mohammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948)">
<div class="gmail-sDetailCapt"><i class="gmail-fa gmail-fa-camera"></i> Mohammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948)</div>
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<p>As Mohammad Ali Jinnah is in news currently, it is time to
discuss his pivotal role in the making of Bangladesh. The seed of
division of Pakistan was sown by none other than Jinnah himself on March
21, 1948 in the then Dacca (now Dhaka). Less than one year after he
managed to carve out a separate nation for Muslims of India, he
consciously or unconsciously divided Pakistan in the name of his flawed
language policy. It took around 25 years for actual division of Pakistan
though.</p>
<p>In the height of civic unrest in East Pakistan against the imposition
of Urdu on Bengali-speaking people, Jinnah arrived in Dhaka on March
19, 1948. On March 21, at a civic reception at city’s Race Course
ground, he declared that “Urdu, and only Urdu” embodied the spirit of
Muslim nation and would remain as the state language, labelling those
who disagreed with his views as “enemies of Pakistan”. Jinnah delivered a
similar speech at Curzon Hall of the University of Dhaka on March 24.</p>
<p>As it was not enough, before Jinnah left Dhaka on March 28, he
delivered a speech on radio reasserting his “Urdu-only” policy. Jinnah’s
attitude completely shocked all those who supported his two-nation
theory on the basis of religion.</p>
<p>It is no secret that entire East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) was very
annoyed after Jinnah declared that Urdu would be the mother tongue of
newly-created Pakistan. This was absolutely unacceptable to people of
East Pakistan. While they supported the cause of Jinnah and his
All-India Muslim League for separate nation, they were not ready to
compromise on their culture and language.</p>
<p>Widespread protests started after Jinnah made this announcement.
Importantly, supporters of Bengali opposed Urdu even before the creation
of Pakistan, when delegates from Bengal rejected the idea of making
Urdu the lingua franca of Muslim India in the 1937 Lucknow session of
the Muslim League, they were assured by both Jinnah and his deputy in
the All-India Muslim League Liaquat Ali Khan that there interests would
be protected as and when they attain separate nation for Muslims.</p>
<p>And after Jinnah’s announcement, unending protests against imposition
of Urdu became part of East Pakistan life. Dhaka University campus was
the bastion of pro-Bangla protestors. Like any other day, they were
protesting peacefully on February 21, 1952. And then suddenly, Pakistani
rangers started firing on those young guys, killing many students and
political activists. They were demanding equal status to their native
tongue, Bangla. The massacre occurred near Dhaka Medical College and
Ramna Park. Despite very tense moments, a makeshift monument was erected
on February 23, 1952 by Dhaka university students and other educational
institutions.</p>
<p>To commemorate the die-hard lovers of Bangla, the Shaheed Minar was
designed and built. The monument stood until the Bangladesh Liberation
war in 1971, when it was demolished completely by Pakistani forces
during Operation Searchlight.</p>
<p>The columns were destroyed during the fighting. The Pakistani Army
crushed the minar and placed over the rubble a signboard reading
“Mosque”. After Bangladesh came into existence, Shaheed Minar was
rebuilt.</p>
<p>One must remember that the overwhelming number of Muslim population
in Bengal had supported the Muslim League’s demand for Pakistan, the
central leadership of All-India Muslim League was disproportionately
skewed in favour of non-Bengali leaders of different provinces. Jinnah
had effectively used most of the popular leaders of Bengal for the
purpose of mobilising support in favour of his “two-nation theory” and
the demand for separate homeland for Muslims of India. Yet, Jinnah had
preferred to promote and project the non-Bengali loyalists in his party.
In East Pakistan, A.K. Fazlul Huq was the most charismatic leader, even
more than Jinnah himself. Although his support for Pakistan movement
was genuine, he did not tolerate Jinnah’s unfair interference in Bengal
politics. While he was one of the key movers of the 1940 Lahore
Resolution for Muslim homeland, he was expelled from the All-India
Muslim League in 1941. This came as a big blow to Bengalis. Instead of
taking dictates from Jinnah or Liaquat Ali Khan, Fazlul Huq had resigned
from the Muslim League for which he had to be in political exile for
more than 10 years.</p>
<p>While it is not denying the fact that the language movement
epitomises the spirit of Bangladeshi nationalism, it is a fact that
Jinnah’s whimsical views on the issue of Urdu as well as step-motherly
treatment with Bengali leaders and people created deep sense of
alienation among them, which later sowed seeds of disintegration of
Pakistan.</p>
<p>The writer is former editor, Somaiya Publications/Dainik Bhaskar</p> </div></div>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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