Commemorative stamps of Pakistan - 100th Birthday of Jinnah

Day before yesterday, Pakistan observed the 134^th birthday of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, born on 25^th December 1876 in Karachi. But when in 1976, we were celebrating the 100^th birthday of this great leader of British India and later Pakistan; the Pakistan Post issued a number of commemorative stamps on the occasion as shown above.

The stamps also included a Rs.10 commemorative stamp with outline of Jinnah embossed in golden colour. This special stamp was published at Da Carter SA, Paris (France). His photos also appeared on the RCD yearly anniversary commemorative stamps (the other portraits included Raza Shah of Iran and Kemal Attaturk of Turkey).

Jinnah was the main driving force that compelled the once mightiest empires of the world, the Great Britain, to give in and carve out from the British India a separate homeland for the Muslims of the Indian sub-continent. A graduate of the Lincoln's Inn, he become the youngest Indian to be called to the Bar at Law. Jinnah entered politics in 1905 from the platform of the Indian National Congress (the same time that Muslim League was also founded by Sir Agha Khan in 1906, but Jinnah was to join the League much later). In 1934, Dr Allama Muhammad Iqbal persuaded Jinnah to assume the leadership of the Muslims. So Jinnah joined the All India Muslim League and from here he fought a tough battle with the British and the Hindus, and it was his powerful advocacy of the case of Pakistan and his remarkable strategy in the delicate negotiations that made him win a separate Muslim country for the Muslims of the United India then under the Great Britain.

Jinnah became Pakistan’s first governor general much to the annoyance of Lord Mountbatten, for which Pakistan had to pay very dearly in the division of boundary of Kashmir (a Muslim majority area), which till date remains a bitter bone of contention between India and Pakistan. Jinnah finally bade farewell to the newly born country on 11 September 1948 and was buried in his hometown, Karachi.

Related Reading on Jinnah:

Muhammad Ali Jinnah-The Founding Father of Pakistan (Pakistanpaedia) 

Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Wikipedia)