That Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah won Pakistan against impossible odds, is well known, but the real reasons for Jinnah's successes are not widely recognized. The suspicion lingers that his policies were communal and negative and that Pakistan was a mistake. The reason for this is that the critics of Pakistan have written more voluminously and powerfully than its defenders. This book convincingly shows that it was Mahatma Gandhi who first introduced religion into politics. This ultimately drove the Hindus and the Muslims irreconcilably apart and eventually convinced even Jinnah - who had won the accolade of being the Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity - that his dream of a united India was nothing but a mirage.

This book provides a detailed and systematic analysis of the charismatic leadership of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the leader of Indian Muslims during the crisis-ridden decade of 1937-47. Based on the concept of charisma formulated by Max Weber and developed by recent writers, the study concentrates on the 'personality-related' and 'situational' factors that led to the emergence of Jinnah as the charismatic leader of the Muslims and sustained him in that role until the creation of Pakistan. In explaining and explicating Jinnah's charisma, his early political career and the crises facing the Muslims of British India, both systemic and of leadership, have been examined at length. This has been followed by a critical appraisal of Jinnah's formula of Pakistan, his strategy for political mobilization of the Muslims under the banner of the All-India Muslim League, and his extraordinary skills and abilities in negotiating with the British and Congress leaders who were united in their opposition to Pakistan. Recognizing him as their charismatic leader, and moved by the Pakistan demand, the Muslim masses rallied behind him, with the result that at the creation of Pakistan in August 1947, his charisma was truly at its zenith. Book jacket.

The issues concerning the Partition of India in 1947 have long been debated both by Indian and Pakistani historians, but now a leader directly responsible for the Defence and Foreign Affairs of India has come forward with a historical appraisal that helps both countries come to a better understanding of the contentions between them. Jaswant Singh has not written a hagiography of Jinnah, but focused on him as a key figure in the final deliberations preceding Independence.