Book: My Leader

Author: Zia-ud-din Ahmad Suleri (Z.A.Suleri)

Fourth Edition July, 1982
Price: Rs.120
Pages: 383
Publishers: Progressive Papers Ltd Lahore-Pakistan
Reviewed By: Dr. Tanvir Hussain Bhatti

Freelance International Columnist, Poet and Author of the

Books “What Plagues Pakistan?” and “Live Balls of Fire"
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The author Z.A.Suleri(1913-1999) was a notable and veteran journalist who remained
associated with Dawn, Evening Times, Pakistan Times, etc., for a considerable period. He
organized Pakistan Movement in Great Britain. In 1965 War he was called to head ISPR. In
1978, he was appointed additional secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
Mr.Suleri is also remembered as pip (short for patriot and preposterous).His noteworthy books
include: The Road to Peace and Pakistan (1944),My leader(1945),Wither Pakistan
(1948),The Lost years(1963),Politicians & Ayub (1964) and Influence of Islam on world
civilization ( 1978).
The book under consideration is the fourth edition of My Leader published in 1982. The
author had divided the book into three main sections, i.e., ‘Introduction’, ‘My Leader and ‘Some
thoughts on the Quaid’. In the ‘Introduction’, Mr.Suleri raised and addressed several historical
questions about the Quaid like, “Why did he choose to become Governor-General of Pakistan?
Why did he accept the Radcliff Award?” Then he described the treatment given to the Quaid
during his illness and deliberate effort by myopic politicians to reduce his stature. He highlighted
how adroitly the Quaid handled various political situations. The section “My Leader” is divided
into eight subsections that cover an estimate of the Quaid’s work for the Indian Muslims. The
section “Some thoughts on the Quaid” consists of series of articles reproduced from The Pakistan
Times in which the author highlighted Quaid’s vision and urged his countrymen to place him on
high pedestal like Attaturk, Lenin and Mao in their respective countries.
Initially, the Quaid-e-Azam was a great proponent of Hindu-Muslim unity. He made great
endeavor for rapprochement through striking Lukhnow Pact in 1916; therefore, he was hailed
‘Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity’. However, Mahatma Gandhi wreaked havoc to the
identity and independent existence of the Muslim Community by jumping on the bandwagon of
Khilafat Movement that brought him to limelight. He enticed the emotionally charged Muslims
for the cause of Khilafat with clandestine intention to push them backward in all avenues of life.
Mr.Gandhi deceitfully asked the Muslims to boycott the western goods, refuse grants given to the
Muslim educational institutions, shed titles, carry out Hijrat, etc., while paradoxically did not
asked the Hindu community to do the same. After failure of the Khilafat Movement, the role of
the Muslim League as a representative political party of the Muslims of the subcontinent was
thrown to the backburner.

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Quaid settled in London but came back when Allama Iqbal wrote to him , “You are the
only leader the nation has the right to look up to for leadership at this critical time.” Mr.Jinnah
made several efforts to bridge the gap between the two poles apart communities. He ultimately
came to the painful conclusion, like Sir Sayyad Ahmad Khan, that cobwebs of
misunderstandings cannot be removed between the two communities because the Hindus want
exclusive inheritance of the British mantle to establish Hindu Raj. The Hindus’ mentality and
imperialistic ambitions were reflected in Nehru Report, Round Table Conferences and especially
after establishment of Congress Ministries through elections of Government of India Act
1935.Therefore, the Quaid decided parting of ways to render his services exclusively for the
sloth-rumpled and sleep-crumpled Muslims of the subcontinent.
The Quaid-e-Azam, having rare virtues of mind and character, did not form his opinion in
a huff or hurry but on the basis of historical realities and his own political experiences that
accentuated separateness. In due course, Mr. Jinnah coin Two Nation Theory by declaring, “By
all canons of international law, we are a nation”. He realized and pleaded that application of
western concept of majority rule in India means permanent subjugation of the Muslims.
Therefore, he urged his compatriots, “Achieve Pakistan or perish.”
After the passage of Pakistan Resolution of 1940, the British used several machinations
and Machiavellian schemes to bomb the conception of Pakistan. Invitation of prominent Muslim
leaders to join National Defense Council (1941), Cripps Proposals (1942),Simla Conference
(1945), Cabinet Mission (1946),Wavell’s double standards and Mountbatten’s sinister approach
were particularly directed to block establishment of Pakistan. When they felt that birth of an
independent Muslim state is a palpable reality due to unwavering attitude of Mr.Jinnah, they
spared no effort to give him a moth-eaten Pakistan through a fraudulent Radcliff Award.
Similar wily tactics were used by the Congress leadership in
C.R.Formula(1944),Gandhi-Jinnah talks(1944) and Liaqat-Desai Pact (1945).They also used
Muslim show-boys in the form of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. The Quiad-e-Azam stood like a
rock in the face of all conniving methods and dangers posed by the British and the Congress.
Eventually, Pakistan appeared on the map of the world with a bang. Mr.Jinnah single-handedly
providing Moses like guidance to his nation gave them an independent state. He rejected the

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Mountbatten ambition to become the joint Governor General to ensure complete sovereignty of
the newly born state.
After the establishment of Pakistan, the self-centered politicians stop thinking for the
public that resulted in leadership crisis. They deliberately tried to reduce the stature of the Quaid
to upgrade their own personalities that obscured only the raison d’être of Pakistan. Therefore,
Mr.Suleri aptly mentioned, “...if it is Attaturk’s Turkey,Lenin’s Russia,Mao’s China, Pakistan is
Jinnah’s a million times more. It is entirely his handiwork.”(p-236-37)
The writer made a successful effort to carry out the task of estimating Mr.Jinnah’s
achievements. This is really a unique book that has projected various glimpses of the Quaid in
lurid colors. Mr.Suleri used lopsided approach because he was protagonist of Muslim
nationhood, part and parcel of the Pakistan Movement and idealized its leader. No neutral writer
can produce such fabulous piece of work to bring to light sagacious leadership of Mr.Jinnah. The
writer used power of his pen to justify the Two Nation Theory coined and solicited by the Quaid-
e-Azam. The writer also mentioned several quotations of Mr. Jinnah to reflect his statesmanship;
ideology and purpose of his struggle to carve out Pakistan.
The manuscript is an reliable amalgamation of semi-biography and history. The writer
has unfolded many historical facts and supported them with citations of luminous historians that
has increased value and authenticity of the book. The author had an edge over the others because
his work reflected his practical experiences as a proficient observer having penetrating insight.
Although ‘My Leader’ is a very informative piece of writing but it did not covered all events and
aspects of the Quaid’s accomplishments. The book in this context is asymmetrical. The writer
himself accepted this deficiency in the Preface, “I am quite conscious of the shortcomings of this
attempt. The work requires greater details.”
The writer put the Quaid-i-Azam on a very high pedestal in comparison of his
corresponding leaders; therefore, all events mentioned in this book revolve around his
personality. The following excerpt from the manuscript reflects how much affiliation the writer
has with his leader.
• “Perhaps no statesman in the history faced a worse trial of nerves and acumen than the
Quaid. But he did not lose his cool”( p-XXXV)

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• “Few great men have enjoyed the respect of his fellow-men---even his enemies---for
sheer integrity of character and honesty of purpose”( p-XLIII)
• “Not only was the Quaid the true architect of Pakistan, he was its sole architect.”( p-
LXV)
• “Jinnah has the idealist and the practical politician combined in him---a rare
combination.”( p-58)
• “He is calm and courageous, quite and dignified.” (p-65)
• “…he is the greatest architect of modern Islam in India. He has given it a ‘habitat and a
name’”(p-95)
• “He is the incorruptible politician par excellence.”(p-174)
The writer also achieved the goal of underscoring disastrous role of Mr.Gandhi for
Muslims of the Subcontinent. Different extracts from the book made comparison between Mr.
Jinnah and Mr. Gandhi. e.g., “Jinnah and Gandhi represent two opposite ideologies, two opposite
frames of mind, two opposite lines of conduct, and two very opposite directions…And never the
twain shall meet.”(p-64).Moreover, “Jinnah and Gandhi are two phenomena of opposite drifts.”(
p-173)
The writer had very idealistic approach. If he opposed someone, he turned a blind eye
towards his positive qualities and vice versa. This unveiled that that the author could not be a
neutral or unbiased because of his inclined ideological and political affiliations. Strong criticism
for Mr. Gandhi and high admiration for Mr. Jinnah reflected paradoxical shade of opinion of the
author for both leaders.
Despite its trivial inadequacies, My Leader is an excellent piece of writing that should be
widely publicized and circulated to project greatness of the Quaid-e-Azam and raison d’être of
Pakistan. The writer had strong grip on the English language. The author used appropriate idioms
and phrasal verbs that added flavor in this marvelous manuscript and mounted the influence of
his persuasive arguments. Although, bibliography is not mentioned at the end; however, the
writer quoted several eminent writers, with apposite footnotes, to support his point of view. The
Quaid appreciated the writer’s effort in these words, “I congratulate you on marshalling facts so
well and giving a clear picture of the seven years of our struggle.”

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