As a Pakistani, my answer to this would be that most Bangladeshis see him through the prism of post-1971 politics. Factually, this perception remains historically inaccurate and clouded by jingoism. Without Jinnah, Bangladesh would not even exist today of course.If you want to learn someone true character about person , you learn from his/her enemy.
Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence is a book written by
Jaswant Singh, a former
Finance Minister of India and an
External Affairs Minister, on Pakistan's founder
Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the politics associated with the
Partition of India.
It was due to Jinnah’s leadership that West and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) were formed, and the movement for Pakistan was spearheaded mainly by his efforts. There is academic consensus over this. Before 1949, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, whom the Bengalis call “Bangabandhu”, was, in fact, one of the staunch loyalists of Jinnah and the Muslim League’s campaign for an independent Pakistan. Without East Pakistan separating, the Bangladeshis would undoubtedly be Indians today, and perhaps living as second-class citizens there; much like the East Bengali refugees whom Indians call a “burden”.This should be much better punishement of hypocrite nation.
Many Bengali commentators cite the 1950s Bengali Language Movement as the reason for animosity. But the truth is that Jinnah died in 1948 (a year after Pakistan’s independence), and the seeds of Bengali agitation were laid much later (due to political reasons which is a whole another debate).
There is then the vague reference to a speech in Dhaka where he advocated Urdu as a national language, which other Bangladeshi nationalists prefer to cite. But there is no evidence that Jinnah even opposed the use of Bengali at a provincial level; he simply maintained that at the federal level, Pakistan should have one national language (a lingua franca) which would be used as the official mode of communication between all groups. Similar to how English is used today. It did not prevent the Punjabis, Sindhis, Pashtuns, Baloch, Kashmiris, Saraikis etc. from using or studying their own native languages within their provinces. None of these ethnicities had major problems either with using one standard lingua franca. If one looks at India, they have given a special union status to Hindi and English, while all other languages are designated ‘co-official’ in their respective states. Similarly Urdu historically has a significant role among the Muslim masses of the subcontinent. Even today, most Bangladeshis are more likely to understand Urdu than Pakistanis are to understand Bengali.
Therefore it can be concluded that the Bangladeshi narrative of Jinnah is mostly fabricated and one that relies on the anti-Pakistan narrative which developed from 1950s onwards. It does not have any meaningful foundations. There were definitely no anti-Jinnah sentiments in 1947/1948 when East Pakistan became independent. It was artificially manufactured post-1950 to 1970s.
Most Pakistanis belong to the younger generation, who were born after 1971, and therefore do not have any sentimental attachment to Bangladesh. It is like a chapter of history relegated to textbooks. I personally think even if all had gone well, the Western and Eastern wings would still not have remained unified for long. Muhammad Iqbal’s idea of Pakistan did not mention Bengal anywhere. Neither did Chaudhry Rahmat Ali mention Bengal when he coined the term “PAKISTAN” (he saw it as a separate state). Therefore most Pakistanis have come to believe that it is feasible for both states to be separate.
One may look at the present Pakistan—Bangladesh diplomatic relations to understand the dynamics. Our political structure, ideology, culture, foreign policy, military histories, and outlook remain divergent. Bangladesh’s secular government has generally leaned more towards India and is happy playing second fiddle, while Pakistanis prefer to be independent Islamic state and sovereignty belong to Allah and do not appreciate any regional hegemony.
In After surrender of West Pakistan army and declaration of independent Bangladesh, within a matter of four years person called father of nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated along with his whole family in a Military coup, only this time army was not from West Pakistan but from their own Bangladesh.
Allah expose and
punish the hypocrites.
