Bombay Parsi doctors who kept Jinnah's illness secret get Pak's top civilian award

Jinnah's failing health was a little-known factor that, some historians have argued, could have altered the course and timing of Partition. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who played an outsized role in the Partition of the Indian subcontinent and the creation of Pakistan, was in very.

According to historian and academic Akbar Ahmed in his book 'Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity: The Search for Saladin', Jinnah had been suffering from tuberculosis since the 1930s, at a time when the disease was highly lethal and there was no effective antibiotic treatment..

What Happened

By the final years of his life, his health had deteriorated severely. He was a heavy smoker, reportedly consuming as many as 50 cigarettes a day, in addition to Cuban cigars, while maintaining an intense work schedule.

• Since 1938 he had been constantly complaining of 'tremendous strain' on his nerves and physical strength.

• In 1946, Bombay physician Dr Jal Ratanji Patel and radiologist Dr Jal Dhaybho-Koo examined Jinnah's X-ray and concluded that his tuberculosis had advanced so severely that he might have only a year or two.

• Collins and Lapierre write in Freedom at Midnight that had Lord Mountbatten, Jawaharlal Nehru or Mahatma Gandhi known of Jinnah's condition in 1947, Partition might have been delayed or even avoided.

Key Details

By maintaining absolute professional confidentiality at such a critical moment, these doctors performed a quiet but extraordinary service.

• I would have delayed the decision to grant Independence by several months.

• The two Parsi doctors kept his condition confidential.

What Reports Say

Coverage of the story so far points to:

• Continued reporting by India Today as more details emerge