Saleena Karim's Secular Jinnah & Pakistan: What the Nation Doesn't Know is a unique study of M.A. Jinnah, founder of Pakistan, and his ideological convictions. Seven years after it was originally published, the book has been thoroughly revised and new material has been added, including updates in light of recent scholarship; commentary on how the ideological divide has affected the education curriculum; discussion of Bengal in the ideological context, with a full review of the controversy over the Delhi Resolution of 1946; details of how Chief Justice Munir and Governor-General Ghulam Mohammed justified the first dictatorship of Pakistan; notes on Scheduled Caste leader J.N. Mandal's political support of the Muslim League; assessment of resistance to socialist economic reforms by landlords backed by religious leaders; accounts of provincial politics; evidence from early Muslim sources that support the progressive thinking of Pakistan's founders; extensive reviews of works only touched upon in the previous edition; appraisal of Jinnah's powers as a person as well as a statesman; and more. Popularly known for having revealed that a false quote ascribed to Pakistan's founder is still being used as part of the standard argument for a 'secular Jinnah', the book's most important contribution is its argument that while scholarship recognises three ideological categories in Pakistan - religious, secular, and synthesist - Jinnah belongs to a fourth, and this has yet to be explored.
Was Jinnah the sole driving force behind the Partition of India? Or was he a champion of Islam who stood for a new Islamic renaissance? Mahomed Ali Jinnah started his political career in the Congress as a staunch Indian nationalist. He believed in secular politics and was opposed to bringing religion into it. He was known as an ambassador of Hindu–Muslim unity. So why did he, towards the end of his career, initiate the creation of a separate Muslim-state? This new biography provides the answers while casting fresh light on Jinnah's character, his personal life, his political and legal careers, his relationship with Gandhi, Nehru as well as his disagreements with their ideas. Carefully examining the major events of his life – from early childhood to his first speech as President of the All India Muslim League – Yasser Latif Hamdani presents a complex and compelling portrait of Jinnah who is often narrowly regarded as a votary of a theocratic Islamic state. Based on extensive research and a wealth of archival material, Hamdani has revealed those traits of Jinnah’s personality that made him the most misunderstood leader of his times. He also comments on how religious zealots have turned Pakistan into an Islamic Republic contrary to Jinnah's vision.
In Purifying the Land of the Pure, Farahnaz Ispahani analyzes Pakistan's policies towards its religious minority populations, both Muslim and non-Muslim, since independence in 1947.