On the birth anniversary of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, it is worth recalling a defining strand of his legacy that transcends politics and time: his unwavering commitment to the rights, dignity, and equality of religious minorities.
Among the many dimensions of his leadership, Jinnah’s insistence on equal citizenship and legal protection for all communities stands as a foundational promise made at the birth of Pakistan.
That promise was articulated with clarity on August 11, 1947 in his address to Pakistan’s first Constituent Assembly.
In what has since been regarded as the Magna Carta of minority rights in Pakistan, Jinnah declared that citizens were free to go to their temples, mosques, or any other place of worship, and that religion or creed had nothing to do with the business of the state.
This assurance was not confined to a single historic speech.
Just days later, on August 15, 1947, in his first broadcast to the nation as Governor-General, Jinnah placed the burden of responsibility squarely on the majority.
He urged Pakistanis to reassure minorities by word, deed, and thought and made it clear that loyal citizens, regardless of faith, had nothing to fear in the new country.
Jinnah’s concern for minority rights, however, did not begin with independence.
Nearly two decades earlier, in his Fourteen Points of 1929, he had already outlined constitutional safeguards that were advanced for their time.
He proposed effective and adequate representation of minorities in legislatures, full religious liberty in belief, worship, education, and association, and even a form of minority veto, whereby legislation deemed injurious by a supermajority of a minority community could not be imposed upon it.
The real test of these ideals came amid the violence and upheaval of Partition.
As communal riots raged in 1947, Jinnah addressed a massive gathering in Lahore on October 30, invoking both moral duty and state authority.
He reminded Muslims that the tenets of Islam required protection of neighbors and minorities, regardless of caste or creed, and called it a matter of national prestige and honor to safeguard minority lives.
Inclusion was also reflected in Jinnah’s choices in governance and symbolism.
His appointment of Jogendra Nath Mandal, a Hindu leader from the Scheduled Castes, as Pakistan’s first law and labor minister sent a powerful signal that the highest offices of the state were open to all.
Even the national flag carried this message: the white stripe alongside the green was explicitly meant to represent religious minorities, embedding pluralism into the country’s identity.
Cultural gestures also carried meaning. Historical accounts though debated by some scholars, suggest that Jinnah commissioned Jagan Nath Azad, a Hindu Urdu poet, to write Pakistan’s first provisional national anthem, reflecting a multi-faith vision at the symbolic heart of the new state.
His longstanding ties with Karachi’s Parsi community, and his personal relationships within minority intellectual circles further illustrated a comfort with diversity that translated into state practice.
Jinnah spoke directly to minority communities as well.
On December 25, 1947, his own birthday and just months before his death, he addressed Pakistan’s Christians in a Christmas broadcast, assuring them that they were equal citizens and that their rights were as sacred as those of any other community.
Perhaps most compelling are the voices of minority leaders who worked alongside him. S. P. Singha, a Christian leader who supported Punjab’s inclusion in Pakistan, expressed confidence that minorities would have a place of honor in Jinnah’s Pakistan, noting that he never broke a promise made to them.
Mandal himself spoke of Jinnah’s vision as one of social justice, recalling that even the most marginalized were given a seat at the table.
International and national observers also recognized this aspect of his leadership.
Historian Stanley Wolpert famously noted that few individuals reshape history and create a nation-state, and Jinnah was among them.
Earlier in his career, Gopal Krishna Gokhale described him as the best ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity while Muhammad Iqbal emphasized in his correspondence that a separate homeland was envisioned to foster peace and social justice for all its inhabitants.
In 1947, speaking to the Associated Press of America, Jinnah summed up this vision succinctly.
Minorities in Pakistan, he said, would be citizens of Pakistan enjoying all the rights, privileges, and obligations of citizenship without distinction of caste, color, religion, or creed. That statement was both a promise and a trust.
As Pakistan marks the birthday of its founding father, remembering Jinnah’s stance on minority rights is not an exercise in nostalgia.
It is a reminder of a foundational commitment rooted in law, reinforced by action, and affirmed by those who placed their faith in him.
The legacy he left was clear: the strength of Pakistan would lie in the equality and security of all its citizens.
