Miss Fatima Jinnah, younger sister of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali
Jinnah, was born in 1893. Of his seven brothers and sisters, she was the
closest to the Quaid. Jinnah became her guardian upon the death of
their father in 1901. Due to her brother’s keen interest, and despite
strident family opposition, Miss Fatima received excellent early
education. She joined the Bandra Convent in 1902. In 1919 she got
admitted to the highly competitive University of Calcutta where she
attended the Dr. Ahmad Dental College. After she qualified, Jinnah went
along with her idea of opening a dental clinic in Bombay and helped her
set it up in 1923.
Miss Fatima Jinnah initially lived with her brother for about eight
years till 1918, when he got married to Rutanbai. Upon Rutanbai’s death
in February 1929, Miss Jinnah wound up her clinic, moved into Jinnah’s
bungalow, and took charge of his house; thus beginning the life-long
companionship that lasted till Jinnah’s death on September 11, 1948.
In
all, Miss Jinnah lived with her brother for about 28 years, including
the last 19 tiring years of his life. The Quaid would discuss various
problems with her, mostly at the breakfast and dinner table. Paying
tribute to her sister, the Quaid once said, “My sister was like a bright
ray of light and hope whenever I came back home and met her. Anxieties
would have been much greater and my health much worse, but for the
restraint imposed by her”.
Miss Jinnah not only lived with her brother but also accompanied him
on his numerous tours. In 1932, she joined him in London when he
remained there after the Second Round Table Conference.
When the All India Muslim League was being organized, Miss Fatima
Jinnah was taken on as a member of the Working Committee of the Bombay
Provincial Muslim League, and worked in that capacity until 1947.
In March 1940, she attended the Lahore session of the Muslim League.
Fatima was convinced that the Hindus intended to subjugate and dominate
the Muslims completely. It was primarily due to her initiative that the
All India Muslim Women Students Federation was organized in February
1941 at Delhi.
During the transfer of power in 1947, she was an inspiration to
Muslim women. She formed the Women’s Relief Committee, which later
formed the nucleus for the All Pakistan Women’s Association. She also
played a significant role in the settlement of refugees in the new state
of Pakistan.
Despite
her old age, she continued to help social and educational associations.
During the Quaid’s illness, she remained passionately attached to him.
After his death, she often issued important statements on important
occasions, as a reminder to the nation of the ideals on which Pakistan
had been established.
In 1965, Miss Fatima Jinnah ran for President as a candidate of the
Combined Opposition Party. Even a conservative party like the
Jamaat-i-Islami accepted her as a woman presidential candidate. Miss
Jinnah’s greatest advantage was that she was sister of the Founder of
Pakistan and had been detached from the political conflicts that had
plagued Pakistan after the Founder’s death. The sight of this dynamic
lady moving in the streets of big cities, and even in the rural areas of
a Muslim country, was both moving and unique. She proclaimed her
opponent presidential candidate, Ayub Khan, a dictator. Miss Jinnah’s
line of attack was that by coming to terms with India on the Indus Water
dispute, Ayub had surrendered control of the rivers over to India. Her
campaign generated such tremendous public enthusiasm that most of the
press agreed that if the contest were by direct election, she would have
won against Ayub.
It
seems that the thought of doing a biography of her illustrious brother
came to Miss Jinnah about the time when Hector Bolitho’s “Jinnah Creator
of Pakistan” was first published in 1954. It was felt that Bolitho had
failed to bring out the political aspects of Jinnah’s life in his book.
Miss Jinnah started looking for a Pakistani author to do a biography of
the Quaid. G. Allana was her choice. G. Allana assisted Miss Jinnah on
the assignment but they parted company due to reasons undisclosed. Later
both carried on their independent works on Jinnah. Her book “My
Brother” was published by the Quaid-i-Azam Academy in 1987.
The people of Pakistan hold Miss Fatima in high esteem. Due to her
selfless work for Pakistan, the nation conferred upon her the title of
Madar-i-Millat, or “Mother of the Nation”. She died in Karachi on July
8, 1967. Some historians indicate that the date of her death was
actually July 2, 1967.
Following are excerpts from some of her statements.
Madar-i-Millat’s
Message to the Nation on Eid-ul-Azha, 1967: “The immediate task before
you is to face the problem and bring the country back on the right path
with the bugles of Quaid-i-Azam’s message. March forward under the
banner of star and the crescent with unity in your ranks, faith in your
mission and discipline. Fulfill your mission and a great sublime future
awaits your enthusiasm and action. Remember: ‘cowards die many times
before death; the valiant never taste death but once.’ This is the only
course of action which suits any self-respecting people and certainly
the Muslim Nation.”
Madar-i-Millat’s Message to the Nation on Eid-ul-Azha, 1965: “Let us
sink all our differences and stand united together under the same banner
under which we truly achieved Pakistan and let us demonstrate once
again that we can, united, face all dangers in the cause of glory of
Pakistan, the glory that the Quaid-i-Azam envisaged for Pakistan.”
Madar-i-Millat’s Message to the Nation on Quaid-i-Azam’s Birthday, 25
December, 1963: “The movement of Pakistan which the Quaid-i-Azam
launched was ethical in inspiration and ideological in content. The
story of this movement is a story of the ideals of equality, fraternity
and social and economic justice struggling against the forces of
domination, exploitation, intolerance and tyranny”.