Guest Column: Who are our Founding Fathers (or Mothers)?
Athar Osama June 18th, 2007
Guest Column* By: Athar Osama
Understanding Pakistan recently launched a new survey seeking to assess who our visitors thought were the “Founding Fathers” (or Mothers) of Pakistan. The results–although preliminary–are available in the side-bar (”Vote and Get Counted!”) for all to see. We asked our visitors the following question: ”Based on their contribution, which of the [13 listed] individuals did they believe were among the top-5 Founding Fathers (or Mothers) of Pakistan?” According to the results based on first 25 responses, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Allama Iqbal, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Liaquat Ali Khan, and Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah ranked as the top-5 founding fathers and mothers of the country. They received, respectively, votes from 92, 76, 68, 52, and 44% respondents. There is little surprise here except, perhaps, that atleast 2 respondents thought that Jinnah was not among the top-5 founding fathers of Pakistan!
Looking further down the list, it is remarkable to see the considerable diversity of opinion vis-a-vis the identification of the top-5 founding fathers (or mothers). The 6th and 7th numbered individuals secure 20-30% votes and the rest score in low double digits or even single digits. What these results really indicate is that different people view and weigh the contributions of these individuals differently. This list could be extended to include at least as many more individuals as it already has and that probably would further increase the spread of general opinion here. We have since changed the survey question to allow respondents to pick any and all (and as many as they wish) individuals they consider a founding father (or mother) of the country. It would be interesting to revisit the final results when the survey is closed.
It is worth looking at and thinking about this list for a moment. How many of these individuals–and their contributions–do we know about? It could be, although it is extremely unlikely, that the Pakistan Movement was really driven by a core group of 5 individuals–2 alive, 2 dead, and one part-time, at the time of the partition itself but most likely the creation of Pakistan was a collective exercise. Yet, many of the people who made significant contributions to the debate and the movement are relative unknowns in the country that they helped create.
Indeed, it is very unfortunate that with each passing year more and more of what must be documented is being lost and we, as a nation, are so ignorant and and unappreciative of our own past that we do not know (and don’t care to know) about our own history or the contributions of those who shaped it?
The celebration of and scholarship around a country’s founding fathers is an old tradition found among most well-developed countries in the world in one form or the other. The United Kingdom, for instance, with its two thousand year old history has its much cherished kings and queens as well as cardinals and politicians who have shaped the country over centuries to the form that we find it in today. The United States, one the other hand, has a much shorter national memory but, perhaps, one of the proudest tradition of celebrating its founding fathers by attempting to understand–sometimes in a hair-splitting fashion–and infer future guidance from from each one of their words, actions, and motivations that led to the American Revolution.
While hundreds of men played their part in the creation of that country–and thousands more fought to keep the American Revolution alive for well over a decade–a very small number of distinguished leaders–state and national politicians–truly stand out and are recognized as the Founding Fathers of United States of America.
Among these is one of the earliest and most well-recognized Americans, the publisher-inventor-scientist and diplomat Benjamen Franklin of Philadelphia who, among other things, established the American Philosophical Society. Franklin is more of a grand daddy figure than a founding father but his contribution to the American Revolution is unmatched–perhaps equal only to Washington’s–in that he was instrumental–as the first American Ambassador to France–in convincing the French to enter the war on the American side. Franklin dedicated his later life toward creating the “American Ethic” through his many writings and social endeavors.
The second name is that of General George Washington himself. The true founder of the American Revolution who marshalled the troops against the British and became the first President of the country. For his multi-faceted role in early America, Washington is fondly remembered as “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his fellow Americans”. After serving two terms in office, Washington chose to retire himself thus leaving a tradition that has been honored ever since (with one exception). Washington also was instrumental in putting the revolutionary army in its proper place–i.e. under the firm control of a civilian commander-in-chief–by not only respecting civilian authority himself but also extinguishing an active rebellion in the ranks when he was the President.
Among the other founding father figures are: John Adams, the quiet but principled (mostly!) second President; Thomas Jefferson — the famous author of the Declaration of Independence, Alexander Hamilton, the architect of America’s much envied (and much-loathed)financial system; James Madison, the author of American Constitution; John Marshall — who served as a Chief Justice for three decades in the early days of the American Republic thus solidifying the role of judiciary in America; and Andrew Jackson who is the youngest of them all and is often considered as one of the reformist Presidents in early America.
Others that may qualify on this list are John Jay–who co-authored the famous Federalist Papers with Hamilton and Madison that helped convince America to ratify the constitution and create the Union that it is now. Some scholars of American history include Abraham Lincoln as the final of the founding fathers who, despite living a century later, shaped in a fundamental sense the American Republic.
While tens–probably hundreds–of others people made significant contributions in the founding debates and the constitutional conventions later on, these figures–ten in all–made fundamental constributions to the American Republic thus earning their well-deserved title. As one looks at the American historical and biographical literature on the founding fathers, several things stand out:
First, it is quite apparent that the founding of the American Republic was a collective, and not an individual, exercise. That each of these individuals shared an important element of the whole enterprise and that while their constributions shaped the final outcome none of them dominated it.
Second, it is also abundantly apparent from the extensive and ever growing biographical literature on these figures that while each has made a fundamental contribution, they all have their own personal faults and quirks–sometimes quite extreme ones–that may have, at times, harmed the American republic as well. It is indeed a credit to the tradition and richness of American historical literature that these figures–despite their stature–appear with all their accomplishments and shortcomings.
Finally, it is quite well recognized that some of the fundamental contributions made these figures in the early-days of the American Republic have had quite an everlasting impact on the life of Americans even to this day. Franklin’s work-ethic and innoventiveness, Hamilton’s capitalism, Washington’s integrity, Marshall’s Justice, Jefferson’s republican ideals, and Madison’s constitution are all alive and well in American today.
Drawing a parallel with Pakistan’s relatively short history here, it is perhaps legitimate to ask the question: Who are Pakistan’s founding fathers (and mothers)? and what are their contributions? How much are we all aware of them–recognize them and their contributions–and attempt to emulate their example in the service of this country? The survey currently being hosted on this website is indicative of how the Pakistani nation–atleast the more educated of the lot–generally thinks about this issue.
Most notably, there is significant difference between the first three individuals on this list, namely, Jinnah, Iqbal, and Sir Syed, and those that follow them. Liaquat Ali Khan who certainly was a founding father figure in first playing an instrumental role in convincing Jinnah to return from Britian to lead the Pakistan Movement and later becaming the first Indian (Muslim) to become the Finance Minister of British India, and the first Prime Minister of Pakistan only receives 50% of the votes. Fatima Jinnah whose contribution towards the organization of women in the Pakistan Movement was immense recieves only 44% of the votes.
It is also interesting to note that three of these five individuals were dead within a year of the country’s founding and hence were not able to make the kind of lasting contributions that American (or even Indian) founding fathers were able to make.
Going down the list further, two more names appear to do better than the rest. Chaudhary Rehmat Ali–who, as a student at Oxford University–published a pamphlet on the Pakistan Idea and coined the name Pakistan receives 32% votes. It is interesting, however, to note that Chaudhary Rehmat Ali himself did not receive that recognition from other leaders of the Pakistan Movement, including Jinnah himself, who sidelined his idea. Muslim League was so averse to Chuadhary Rehmat Ali’s scheme that it was against the name “Pakistan”. Another interesting factoid is that it was Congress and not the Muslim League that called the Lahore Resolution of 1940 as the Pakistan Resolution primarily for the above reason. Sir Agha Khan III who helped found the Muslim League itself receives 20% votes to be 7th on the list.
It gets more interesting after that. Another six people on the list get low double-digit or single digit votes only. Hussaiyn Shaheed Suhrwardy who was in principle against the partition of Bengal and hence the creation of Pakistan ranks 8th on the list with 12% votes as does Khwaja Nazimmuddin–another Bengali of mild character–who became the second Governor General of Pakistan.
Abul Ala Maududi–the only religious figure on the list–is sometimes credited with creating the Islamic ideological foundation of the Pakistan demand gets only 8% votes, as do A. K. Fazlul Haq and Sir Sikander Hayat Khan (who, once again, only reluctantly accepted the Pakistan Demand). Chaudhary Khaliquzzaman fails to get even a single vote. It is also worth noting here that both A.K. Fazlul Haq and Chaudhary Khaliquzzaman had a definite role to play in the Pakistan Resolution that needs to be understood (and, perhaps, appreciated).
Several other names come to mind as well: Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar and Maulana Shaukat Ali, Maulana Husayn Madni, Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi, Allama Mashriqi, Chaudhari Mohammad Ali, Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar, Dr. Khan Sahib, and Sir Abdullah Haroon etc. Among the women were Begum Ra’na Liaquat Ali Khan, Lady Haroon, and Begum Salma Tassadduq Hussain are well known figures.
Several things stand out from the above. First of all, with the exception of a handful–atleast two of whom were already dead when Pakistan came into being–there is very little consensus and understanding of Pakistan’s Founding Fathers, even among interested audiences. One of the contributing factor is the general lack of scholarship about the Pakistan movement itself. Perhaps, with the exception of Jinnah himself, there is little tradition of scholarship about any other of the founding fathers (or mothers).
In preparing for Understanding Pakistan, I could hardly find a good comprehensively written book about Liquat Ali Khan. With considerable struggle, I found one. There is also exactly one book I could find about Husaiyn Shaheed Suhrwardy and none on Chaudhary Khaliquzzaman, AK Fazlul Haq, or Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar. Yet, these were the people who collectively contributed significantly to the Pakistan movement and their words, actions, and motivations are worth understanding and reading about.
Better understanding these individuals and their times will also shed some perspective not only on the Pakistan Movement itself but also on the later leadership and political challenges that Pakistan confronted and subsequently where we are today. Living nations preserve their historical past for all to read and learn from. Doing the same is our moral and national duty as well. Researching and writing about founding fathers (and mothers) and getting to know them, up-close-and-personal, with all their achievements and faults and their mutual differences is an excellent place to start from.
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[*Editor’s Note: Like all other contributions to UPP, the views expressed in the piece, unless otherwise cited, are the author’s own and not those of UPP. If you don’t agree with the subject and content of any contribution, we invite you to post a comment and provide appropriate references for your viewpoint.]
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