On Pratinayak
I wrote Prakash No Padchayo in 1988. The book was a big hit. Some years later a Gandhian friend of mine casually mentioned that there were only two persons whom Gandhiji could not make see reason -- Harilal and Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
It was then that I decided to write a book on Jinnah. I called the book Pratinayak because in my view he was not a nayak (hero) and nor was he a khalnayak (villain). He was a pratinayak (anti-hero). He was capable of becoming a hero, but did not have the qualities one needs to achieve the extraordinary.
He was a master strategist. He ate pork and drank alcohol -- both forbidden in Islam. He never read the Holy Koran, but was the biggest Muslim icon of his times. All this made him a fascinating person.
Dinkar Joshi's photograph: Jewella C Miranda
Also See: 'Nation Jinnah founded is theocratic and non-secular'