The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 180
164 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN Question : Would you care to say something, Sir Zafrulla, about your views of Mr. Jinnah and Mr. Liaqat Ali Khan ? Khan : I had many opportunities of working with Mr. Jinnah, even when I was in government, though people did not know it. Behind the scenes there was a good deal of intimacy between us two. There was at one time an impression that perhaps we did not see eye-to-eye with each other. That was entirely wrong. I was willing to help as much as I could from my side, and he occasionally gave me advice and often asked for my views. Except perhaps for Liaqat Ali Khan later, who became his first lieutenant in the political field and possessed more of his confidence than any of his other colleagues, I was closer to Mr. Jinnah than other people who worked with him. But when that is said it does not mean being very close and intimate. Mr. Jinnah's personality did not encourage intimacy. Whatever Pakistan owed to human agency for coming into being, it owed 99 percent of it to Mr. Jinnah. But Mr. Jinnah's was a personality which had more of the head than of the heart. I do not mean to say his heart was not in what he was doing, he was completely devoted to the ideal of Pakistan, but he did not encourage affectionate intimacy. He appreciated loyalty and devotion; in fact, he appreciated them so much that where he suspected any lack of them he was unforgiving. On the other hand, if he was assured of a person's loyalty to himself and to the principles for which he stood, he could forgive him a good deal. He had all the devotion that he asked for. He never asked for any affection, and even those who were not only willing but yearning to yield him affection, found no opportunity of making that offer nor were they encouraged to do so. Liaqat Ali Khan, at least in some respects, supplied the deficiencies from which Mr. Jinnah suffered. There was complete accord between Jinnah and Liaqat Ali Khan. They understood each other and appreciated each other even when they were not in complete accord with each other. I know of occasions when Liaqat Ali Khan loyally gave effect to Mr. Jinnah's views, though he could have wished them different. On his side Mr. Jinnah accepted from Liaqat Ali Khan what perhaps he would not have accepted from any body else. Liaqat Ali Khan did not have such a cold, sharp incisive intellect as Jinnah had. He was slow and deliberate. He was prepared to ask for and accept advice. He could modify his own view if he felt somebody