Jinnah, Muhammad Ali

Starting his political life in the Indian National Congress, this lawyer became the leader of the Muslim League in 1935, and was an adept of constitutional methods. In his struggle for Pakistan, he however took initiatives which led to large-scale violence. His call for a Direct Action Day in August 1946 led to the Great Calcutta Killing. He was also directly involved in the campaign launched by Muslim League in Punjab in January 1947 and which started the cycle of Partition massacres. Although he would certainly have preferred to avoid violence on such a scale, he was nevertheless unable to prevent it.