When Jinnah was accused of kidnapping his future wife Rati

Alan Camille Johnson was the press attache to Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India. He compiled his memoirs about the last days of the partition of India into a journal called ‘Mission with Mountbatten’.

A page in these memories also belongs to the night of August 13 in Karachi, when a reception was given by the Quaid-i-Azam in honor of Lord Mountbatten at Government House Karachi, in which soft music was also arranged in addition to drinks.

Alan Kimmel Johnson writes that ‘All the guests were well entertained, but I found Jinnah isolated, which led to the melancholy of this historic moment.

He was dressed in a hat and pajamas and his silver hair shone. He blessed only a few guests with his trouble.

Even with such great success, the man looked lonely. I wanted to congratulate them, but seeing them wrong in strange thoughts, my words remained in my mouth.’

Alan Kimmel Johnson’s thoughts give the impression that he was sad at this historic moment on the night when he was about to receive the greatest success of his life.

What was the cause of this sadness? This question kept knocking in my mind for a long time, but I got the answer to this question in Dr. Saad Khan’s book ‘Rati Jinnah’, in which it is written that the musical tunes that made this historic evening enchanting were The famous British Klokar Kin Mac was playing who was brought from Bombay to Karachi in a special flight of Tata Airlines on the personal wish of Quaid-i-Azam.

He performed in Bombay’s elite clubs for decades. Begum Quaid-e-Azam often listened to the tunes of the same singer and even when she announced her marriage to Quaid-e-Azam on her birthday, the same tunes were playing.

Therefore, Quaid-e-Azam wanted to name this historic moment after his late Begum and if he was sad that evening, it was only because his Begum was not with him in those historic moments.

When and where did you first meet Rati?

When did Quaid-e-Azam meet his spouse Rati for the first time? This meeting probably took place at the Orient Club in Bombay. Quaid-e-Azam had started practicing law in Bombay in 1897, and most of his evenings were spent at the same club, where Quaid-e-Azam’s clients included a wealthy Parsi businessman, Sir Denshaw Pittet, Rati’s father. Later they became friends and thus Quaid-e-Azam also started visiting their house.

Rati was born in 1900. When Rati regained consciousness, she used to come to the same club for horse riding, so it is assumed that the two met in the same club.

Quaid-e-Azam and Rati traveled to Europe in the same ship in 1913. Rati was traveling with her parents to their summer palace in the French Riviera while Quaid-i-Azam and Motilal Nehru were traveling to Britain on the same plane.

Since Rati was politically active, she became influenced by Quaid-e-Azam’s political vision. When Quaid-i-Azam went to Paris to meet his friend Jamshed Tata, Jamshed Tata arranged for him to meet his fiancee who was Rati’s paternal uncle. Rati was also present in this meeting.

At that time, Parsi girls used to get married at the age of 13, 14. When Rati Sahiba fell in love with Quaid-i-Azam, at that time most of her classmates were married.

Rati’s father used to send his children to France for vacations, but because of World War II, the Pittet family could not go to France, so they went to their summer home in Darjeeling, which had a view of Mount Everest. This time, Dineshia Patit also invited Quaid-e-Azam to spend the holidays with her.

Quaid-e-Azam and Rati’s love developed here and it was here that Rati proposed marriage to Quaid-e-Azam. One day, sitting in the palace of Darjeeling, Quaid-e-Azam asked Sir Dunsia Pittet for a relationship. Jinnah’s way of asking for a relationship was also very logical. He spoke to Sir Duncia Pittet as follows.

Quaid-e-Azam: What do you think about inter-faith marriages?

Sir Duncia Pittet: Such marriages lead to harmony among nations and may even help to bridge religious antagonisms.

Quaid-e-Azam: Then what do you think if I ask you for the relationship of your daughter Rati?

This question of Quaid-e-Azam was unexpected for Sir Dinshaw Pittit, so after this meeting Sir Dinshaw and Quaid-e-Azam ended their relationship, however meetings between Rati and Jinnah continued.

The distance between their homes was less than a mile and then meetings were also held at the Orient Club, even when Quaid-e-Azam went to the Muslim League headquarters in Lucknow, Rati also followed behind.

After seeing the meeting of the two, Sarojini Naidu had to say that ‘a person like Janah who is busy with his work, his love for Rati is full of true feelings.’

Jinnah accused of kidnapping Rati

When Rati turned 17, her birthday was celebrated with great fanfare at the Taj Mahal Hotel. Rati called Quaid-e-Azam secretly and not only welcomed him on his arrival at the hotel but also seated him on the stage with his mother and father.

Meanwhile English singer Ken Mack’s Oxtra was playing tunes and the song was ‘So Deep in the Night.’ Meanwhile, Rati took Jinnah’s hand and brought him to the stage and very frankly announced: ‘Jay and I are going to get married.’

Sir Dinisha Pittet became very angry. The next day they reached the court to stop Jinnah from marrying my daughter.

At that time, the legal age of marriage was 18 years. When Rati came of age, Rati and Jinnah got married on April 19, 1918. Sir Duncan Pitt learned of this news from the newspapers, on which he accused Jinnah of abducting his daughter.

Rati was named Mary after accepting Islam. At the time of marriage, Rati was 18 years old and Quaid-e-Azam was 41 years old.

The wedding became one of the most shocking news stories in the media at the time, prompting the newlyweds to spend a month at a secret mountain retreat.

Raja Sahib of Mahmudabad hosted the newlyweds at his palace Nainital. Here Rati planted a myrtle plant as a memorial of her love for Jinnah, which is evergreen and fragrant and is attributed to Venus, the goddess of love.

Quaid-e-Azam named his three-acre house South Court in the name of his new bride. Later it was called Jinnah House and Begum Jinnah held many functions here.

The early stage of marriage was very romantic. Both traveled to India, Europe and America together. Rati proved to be very fortunate for Jinnah and in 1926 Quaid-i-Azam was ranked among the ten richest men in South Asia.

Jinnah’s house was decorated by Rati in such a way that it became a rival to the Governor’s House in Bombay. Every evening, Begum Jinnah would take the driver to Jinnah’s chamber from where they would return home together. The roof of the car was removed.

Begum Sahiba and Quaid-e-Azam used to sit on the back seat of the car and enjoy the fresh air. This was the first enviable couple of the Muslim community who openly showed their love for each other.

Rati Jinnah was an activist of the freedom movement and this was also a major reason for her marriage to Quaid-e-Azam.

Romantic nature of Begum Jinnah

Rati Jinnah was very fond of seeing Kashmir. In the early years of their marriage, Quaid-e-Azam could not fulfill her wish, but in the summer of 1926, he took his Begum to Kashmir.

The couple traveled from Bombay to Delhi and then via Lahore to Rawalpindi Fleischmann’s Hotel, from where the couple left for Srinagar by car and reached Bara Mulla after having lunch at the Himalayan Hotel in Murree.

After staying there for the night, the couple left for Srinagar the next morning, and Begum said that today is the night of the 14th, so they will travel at night. Since Begum Sahiba had a romantic nature, Quaid-e-Azam would have been helpless in front of her.

When the couple reached Srinagar, Begum Sahiba was shocked to see houseboats floating in Dal Lake, but Begum Sahiba spent 50,000 to renovate the boat she liked for a few days’ stay. That in those days there was so much money that it could buy a four-kanal bungalow in a posh area of ​​Karachi or Lahore.

Begum Sahiba liked Srinagar so much that Quaid-e-Azam only brought her back with a promise to come again next time. When Quaid-e-Azam used to come to Delhi from Bombay to attend parliamentary sessions, Begum Sahiba would also accompany him.

He had dinner meetings with politicians, but Quaid-e-Azam would often say to Motilal Nehru’s daughters, ‘Your father is very miserly. They order food and Mary Begum has to pay the bill.’

Begum Jinnah was the most attractive woman of her time. Sarojini Naidu writes that ‘It is wonderful to walk with Pekka Dilli in London and Begum Jinnah in Bond Street.

Young princes and princesses turn to see who this charming figure is.’ While Viceroy Lord Reading’s wife wrote to her friend that ‘Muhammad Ali Jinnah visited the Viceroy’s House for lunch.

The highlight of his arrival was his very charming Begum Sahiba. The aristocracy of India used to look at him with jealous eyes and the queens and empresses would consult him on the matter of dress.

A cat is the cause of impotence in Jinnah and Rati

It is surprising that the feud between the Quaid and Begum Jinnah started with the loss of a cat. Dr. Saad Khan writes that in September 1927, Quaid-i-Azam was elected the chairman of the Hindu-Muslim Conference held in Delhi.

He went to Delhi with his wife and as usual his dogs and cats also went with his wife. The Quaid-e-Azam was very worried when the conference failed.

They wanted to go back to Bombay soon, but in the meantime Begum Sahib’s cat got lost and Begum Sahib didn’t want to leave the cat behind.’

‘When the Quaid-e-Azam failed to convince him, he had to go to Bombay alone, leaving his fellow lawyer and his best friend Sarojini Naidu with him.

‘It took three more days for Sarojini Naidu to convince Mrs Jinnah to hand over the search for the cat to the police commissioner and go back.’

Later, Mrs. Jinnah began to suspect that he was paying more attention to his work than her. Meanwhile, Begum Sahiba got angry and moved to a suite in the Taj Mahal Hotel where she stayed for 88 days, but when Begum Sahiba next When the year became seriously ill, Quaid-i-Azam neglected his work and politics and started living in Paris day and night under his care.

When her health improved in September 1928, she accompanied her mother to Bombay. On the ship, she wrote an emotional letter to her husband: ‘If I loved you a little less, I would stay with you.

‘I wanted you like no one wants anyone else, I only ask you that our relationship that started with love should also end with love.’

She lived with her brother for the last four months of her life. Quaid-e-Azam used to come every evening to take care of him.

On December 25, 1928, on the 52nd birthday of the Quaid-e-Azam, the Begum gave lunch at the Taj Mahal Hotel, after which the Quaid-e-Azam left for Calcutta to attend the twentieth annual meeting of the Muslim League.

The last meeting of Quaid-i-Azam was on January 27 when he was leaving for Delhi. Begum Sahiba said that she will not forget to offer flowers at the court of Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya on my behalf.

Begum Jinnah died in hospital on February 20 at the age of just 29 due to prolonged illness. Quaid-e-Azam immediately returned and performed Begum’s last rites.

There were so many people on his journey that even a short distance was covered in five hours. When Quaid-e-Azam was pouring soil on his grave, he was crying.

After Begum Sahiba’s death, he left India and settled in Britain, where he lived until 1934.

When he was being brought from Bombay to Karachi by a special plane on August 7, before the formation of Pakistan, on his return, he went to the grave of Begum Sahiba and started crying at the grave.

The driver picked them up. The flight was delayed by half an hour due to going to Jinnah’s graveyard. Seven days later, when Pakistan was being formed and there was happiness everywhere, then the heart of Quaid-e-Azam was very sad remembering his late wife.