Jinnah146;s Story Teller

Bolitho later gathered his papers relating to Jinnah and sold them for the princely sum of 300. Sharif al Mujahid, a prominent Pakistani scholar, spent years tracking them, and finally found them in 1984, but has chosen to publish them only now. The reason, he writes, is that he was waiting for 8220;the arrival of fair weather8221;. It is only now, he feels, that it is possible to discuss with a measure of objectivity the roles and politics of former leaders, without immediately drawing the wrath of those who will not allow diminution of any icon.

The project of a Jinnah biography was initiated by Pakistani Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, but the process by which Bolitho, this most eminently unsuitable person, was chosen remains a mystery. What were the criteria? Were there any other candidates? If so, who, and why did they fall by the wayside? Al Mujahid sheds no light on the subject. Bolitho had three strikes against him 8212; for reasons unknown, Jinnah8217;s sister Fatima was against him; his knowledge of the historical background of the British Raj was non-existent; and he had no knowledge at all of Jinnah.

Bolitho began his task with a huge handicap. He was, incredibly enough, denied access to any of Jinnah8217;s papers. Given this insurmountable roadblock, why did Bolitho persist? Moreover, this prohibition conditioned the structure and style of his book. He relied on interviews with a select few who had known and worked with Jinnah, and interjected himself into it, as a biographer following in the footsteps of his subject. It is important to remember this 8212; Bolitho8217;s book is oral history, pure and simple. He did not even attempt to access contemporary newspapers. Al Mujahid8217;s surmise that the Jinnah diary may be more interesting than the biography itself is correct.

Flawed in design and execution, more trouble was to follow the book. The first draft was so heavily edited by the Pakistani side, represented by Principal Information Officer Majeed Malik, that it had to be totally rewritten. Even this version found passages being excised. It is fascinating to read the correspondence between Bolitho and Malik, the one trying to save his manuscript, falling in line with every 8220;suggestion8221; made by the other. All aimed at smoothening out any wrinkle and diluting anything that detracts from the projected image of Jinnah as a hero. The diary notes are full of stories which go beyond Jinnah8217;s icy exterior and make him more human, more than the biography itself does. They also throw light on Bolitho himself, a most unsympathetic figure, arrogant in the extreme, finally writing that only white men tell the truth.

Even a cursory look at Bolitho8217;s Jinnah papers or diary, as he called them will raise the red flag for anyone reading his biography of Jinnah. It also stands as a cautionary tale to all those who undertake to write an official biography, not realising that sometimes they may have to sell their souls in order to see their book in print. As Bolitho did.