Jinnah took oath of allegiance to King George: MQM

Defending public criticism for holding dual nationality, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) chief Altaf Hussain said former prime minister Nawaz Sharif lived with his family in Saudi Arabia on a "diplomatic passport" for a long time, Geo News reported.

In a telephonic address from London, Hussain said Jinnah also had a British passport.

The MQM chief read out the oath taken by Jinnah after assuming charge as the governor-general of Pakistan in 1947.

He said Jinnah took an oath of allegiance to British King George VI.

Hussain read out a provision of the Indian Independence Act, 1947, that stated that the office of governor-general in each of the two new countries - Pakistan and India - was a representative of the British Crown.

Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, however, said the MQM chief had distorted history.

"The oath taken by the Quaid-e-Azam was determined by the fact that the independence of Pakistan in 1947 was not complete," the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf chief told the Dawn.

"Both India and Pakistan had attained quasi independence and became dominions of the British empire. It was for this reason that the Quaid became governor-general and not the president," Imran said.

"The governor-general was nominally a representative of the British monarch and this fact was reflected in the oath taken by both the Pakistani governor-general and Indian Governor General Mountbatten," he said.