Two Parsi doctors from Mumbai will be awarded Pakistan’s highest civilian honour. These two doctors had kept the information about the serious illness of Pakistan’s founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah secret before the partition of India in 1947. After examining Jinnah, the doctors found that he was suffering from severe TB disease and his condition had become so bad that he probably had only one or two years left to live.
Very few people were aware of the seriousness of Jinnah’s illness. Doctor Jal Ratanji Patel and radiologist Jal Dhaybo-Ku did X-ray examination of Jinnah in 1946. He did not make public the serious condition of the disease. Pakistan has now decided to honor this decision of both the doctors. He will be given this award in March next year.
Who were these two doctors?
Mumbai-based physician Dr. Jal Ratanji Patel and radiologist Dr. Jal Dhaybo-Ku did an X-ray examination of Mohammad Ali Jinnah in 1946. After examination, both the doctors found that Jinnah’s TB had reached a very serious and advanced stage. According to his estimation, Jinnah probably had only one or two years left. At that time there was no effective antibiotic available for the treatment of TB.
Both the doctors did not make public the information about Jinnah’s illness and his serious condition. At that time Jinnah was in a very important political role regarding the partition of India and the demand for a separate country for Muslims.
Why was the information hidden?
It is believed that information about Jinnah’s ill health could have affected his political position. For this reason, information about the seriousness of his illness remained limited to only a few close people.
Why did the Pakistan government give the honour?
Pakistan’s Minister of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal, who is also the chairman of the country’s Awards Committee, announced the honor to the two doctors. He said that both doctors “guarded the secret of Jinnah’s final illness with utmost sincerity.” This award will be given to both the doctors in March next year.
What impact could partition have had?
This entire incident related to Jinnah’s illness is also recorded in the book ‘Freedom at Midnight’ by Larry Collins and Dominic Lapierre. The book claims that if key figures in the British and Indian leadership had known about Jinnah’s serious illness, their political strategy regarding India’s independence and partition in 1947 might have been different. According to the book, if Lord Mountbatten, Jawaharlal Nehru or Mahatma Gandhi had known about the seriousness of Jinnah’s illness, the calculus of political decisions related to independence and partition could have been different.
What did Mountbatten say later?
‘Freedom at Midnight’ claims that Lord Mountbatten later told the authors that if he had known about the seriousness of Jinnah’s illness earlier, he could have postponed the transfer of power by a few months. It has also been claimed in the book that in such a situation perhaps Pakistan would not have been formed.
However, these claims are part of the historical narrative given in the book and have been debated among historians. Therefore, it cannot be said with certainty how the partition of India or the formation of Pakistan would have been affected if the information about Jinnah’s illness had come to light earlier.
How serious was Jinnah’s illness?
Mohammad Ali Jinnah was suffering from TB for a long time. He had this disease since the 1930s. At that time there was no effective treatment available for the treatment of this disease. Jinnah’s health had deteriorated significantly in the last phase of his political career. Despite this, the seriousness of his illness was kept a top secret.
When did Jinnah die?
Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s health continued to deteriorate. He died on 11 September 1948. This happened a little more than a year after Pakistan became independent. The secret of Jinnah’s illness was kept a very secret during his life. Only a select few people were aware of his serious condition.