Dialogue With A Giant III

This is the third part of the interview series. You can read previous parts here and here . Beverly Nichols interviewed Quaid-e-Azam in 1943 and included it in his book "Verdict On India". He was quite taken with Quaid's personality. Look how he describes him [Jinnah] in the chapter when he reached at his place to meet him. 

THE most important man in Asia is sixty-seven, tall, thin, and
elegant, with a monocle on a grey silk cord, and a stiff white collar
which he wears in the hottest weather. [...]
I have called Mr. Jinnah 'the most important man in Asia

That was to ensure that you kept him spotlit in your mind. Like
all superlatives the description is open to argument, but it is not
really so far from the truth. India is likely to be the world's
greatest problem for some years to come, and Mr. Jinnah is in a
position of unique strategic importance. He can sway the battle
this way or that as he chooses.  

JINNAH: [with a smile] What other questions have you got there?

SELF(BN): The first is economic. Are the Muslims likely to be richer
or poorer under Pakistan? And would you set up tariffs against
the rest of India?

JINNAH: I'll ask you a question for a change. Supposing you
were asked which you would prefer ... a rich England under
Germany or a poor England free, what would your answer be?

SELF: It's hardly necessary to say.

JINNAH: Quite. Well, doesn't that make your question look a
little shoddy? This great ideal rises far above mere questions of
personal comfort or temporary convenience. The Muslims are a
tough people, lean and hardy. If Pakistan means that they will
have to be a little tougher, they will not complain. But why should it mean that?What conceivable reason is there to suppose
that the gift of nationality is going to be an economic liability? A
sovereign nation of a hundred million people even if they are
not immediately self-supporting and even if they are industrially
backward - is hardly likely to be in a worse economic position
than if its members are scattered and disorganized, under the
dominance of two hundred and fifty million Hindus whose one
idea is to exploit them. How any European can get up and say
that Pakistan is 'economically impossible' after the Treaty of
Versailles is really beyond my comprehension. The great brains
who cut Europe into a ridiculous patchwork of conflicting and
artificial boundaries are hardly the people to talk economics to us,
particularly as our problem happens to be far simpler.



I have italicized one of my favorite phrases from this interview. I feel so proud whenever I read these lines. How eloquently Quaid put Pakistan's case. He was sure that neither he nor his people would back off from any problem in the way of Pakistan. He knew that these are just phases to further grow into a strong nation. And his people would go to any length to achieve their ideal.