That college became the centre of
all the Muslims of India and even for Muslims abroad and was
given the status of a University in 1920.
all the Muslims of India and even for Muslims abroad and was
given the status of a University in 1920.
Cambridge History of India - v4 - Indian Empire
The late Mr.
M.
S.
Aney who
was at that time a member of the Executive Council of the Viceroy
incharge of the Indian Overseas Department observed: "Indian
refugees are treated in such a way as to humiliate them and make
them feel that they belong to an inferior race. ” In the words of
Gandhiji, “The admitted inequality of treatment of Indian and
European evacuees and the nianifestly overbearing behaviour of
the troops are adding to the distrust of British intentions and dec-
larations. " There was a lot of resentment in the country when
## p. 780 (#822) ############################################
780
THE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT IN INDIA
the people heard of the sufferings of the Indians and this contribut-
ed to the decision of Gandhiji to start the Quit India Movement.
Another cause was the sufferings of the people on account of the
scorched earth policy followed by the British Government in India.
The lands belonging to the people of India were destroyed for mili-
tary purposes and they were not given adequate compensation.
They were deprived of their means of livelihood. To quote
Gandhiji, “For a Bengali to part with his Canoe, is like parting
with his life. ” A lot of harshness was used by the Government
while getting the houses of the peasants evacuated for the military.
The inefficient and ineffective controls and transportation muddles
added to the sufferings of the people. Prices rose in those months.
The people lost their faith in the paper currency issued by the Gov-
ernment. There was a lot of discontentment among the people and
Gandhiji decided to take advantage of it.
The immediate effect of the passing of the Quit India Resolution
was the arrest of Mahatma Gandhi and all the members of the All
India Congress Working Committee. The Indian National Congress
was banned and its offices were taken possession of by the Police. The
Government did all that it could to crush the Congress and the
movement. The people also hit back. They revolted against the
tyranny and oppression of the Government. Gandhiji had not un-
folded his strategy before his arrest. After the passing of the resolu-
tion, Gandhiji intended to carry on negotiations with the British
Government. As he was arrested all of a sudden, the people were
left without any plan and no wonder the movement was carried on
by the people in any way they could. When the Government re-
sorted to violence and shot innocent men, women and children, the
people also resorted to violence. The result was that in some parts
of the country, British authority completely collapsed. It was with
great difficulty that the British Government was able to restore law
and order in the country.
The movement did not have the support of the upper classes of
India consisting of rich merchants, landlords and princes and also
a part of labour. The Muslim League, under the leadership of
Mr. Jinnah, asked the Muslims to keep aloof from the movement.
It was declared that the movement was directed to coerce the British
Government to hand over to the Hindus the administration of the
country. The Muslim League raised the slogans of “Divide and
Quit” and “Bat Ke Rahega Hindustan” (Hindustan will have to
be divided). The Police and the bureaucracy remained loyal
throughout. Churchill praised “the loyalty and steadfastnesss of
the brave Indian Police as well as Indian official class generally. '
The Hindu soldiers were not trusted to put down the rioters and
## p. 781 (#823) ############################################
QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT
781
the Gurkhas, Baluchis and White soldiers were usually employed
for that purpose. Those who actually participated in the move-
ment were the lower middle classes and peasants from whom also
come most of the students and labour. The processions were com-
posed of small shopkeepers, milk vendors, street hawkers, petty
traders, students and workers in small establishments and mills.
Shops remained closed for many days in spite of the threats of the
Government to fine the shopkeepers and also imprison them. The
peasants of India also made great sacrifices. Collective fines were
imposed on them and also realised. This was particularly so in
Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra, Gujarat and Maharashtra. The
movement of 1942 can appropriately be called a student-peasant-
middle class rebellion. The students provided the leadership and
the peasantry the fighting strength.
The revolt of 1942 had significance not only for India but the
whole world. Its reactions were widespread. “The abnormal
times in which it took place, the low fortunes of England and the
United Nations at the time of the occurrence, the importance of
India as a base of operation against Japan and as controlling the
supply line to China—the South-Eastern and Burma routes having
been conquered by Japan—and the danger of an immediate Japa-
nese move into India, all combined to make the widespread pheno-
menon of an uprising a matter of concern to the entire United
Nations. The fortunes of India were closely bound up with it.
The Axis Powers were not less interested as they found in the revolt
much to capitalize on. ”
Dr. Amba Prasad rightly points out that the failure of the move-
ment of 1942 was more marked than was the case with the move-
ments of 1921 and 1930. “The earlier movements had been in
the nature of preparatory training for a final struggle. They were
intended to create a national consciousness in the masses who had
been emasculated through centuries of subjection to a foreign rule.
The movement of 1921 was intended to revive the spirit of self-
respect among the people by removing the fear of going to jail for
the love of the country. The object of self-government was there
but it was realized that there was still a distant goal. The move-
ment of 1930 was a further stage in the direction of independence.
It was sought to remove the fear of loss of property and thereby to
create a spirit of sacrifice. The objective of independence was there
but there was a realization that still more sacrifices were needed. The
movement of 1942, however, was intended to be the last stage in that
struggle and, therefore, the supreme sacrifice of one's life was
required to attain independence. The call was ‘do or die' and
the mass slogan was 'we shall do or die. ' It is for this reason that
## p. 782 (#824) ############################################
782
THE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT IN INDIA
the word failure was more appropriately applicable to the revolt
of 1942 than it was to the earlier movements, which had constitut-
ed preparatory stages for the goal of independence. ”
The failure of the revolt of 1942 was due to many causes.
The
first was the tactical mistakes of organization and planning. The
arrest of Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress leaders left the people
without any leadership or guidance. No wonder, they made mis-
takes and were ultimately crushed. To quote Jai Prakash Narain,
“The lack of organization was so considerable that even important
Congressmen were not aware of the progress of the revolt and, till
late in the course of the rising, it remained a matter of debate in
many Congress quarters whether what the people were doing was
really in accordance with the Congress programme. " There was
no co-ordination and no strategy. Those who led the movement
were divided in their views on the course of action. Nobody knew
what to do. The loyalty of the services and the superior physical
strength of the Government succeeded in crushing the revolt. To
quote Dr. Amba Prasad, “Thus it was the superior physical power
of the Government which succeeded in putting down the revolt.
On the one side were large unarmed masses, unorganised, leader-
less, hesitating in their minds whether what they were doing would
be approved by Gandhiji or not; on the other side was the power
of the uniformed, disciplined policeman and soldier, armed with
rifles and guns, and the power of law and the use of all means of
communications. If necessary, the machine-gunning would be
done from the aeroplanes. In such a situation, the revolt could
only succeed, if it were a simultaneous rising which would have
paralysed the administrative machinery in the shortest possible
time. At its best it was a satyagraha or mass movement; at its
worst, it was an unorganised revolt of a violent character and, in
the latter form, it gave the Government a good excuse to crush down
with force. ”
As regards the gains of the revolt of 1942, Dr. Amba Prasad
observes: “Though the revolt of 1942 failed at the time, it prepared
the ground for independence in 1947. When people have reached
a stage where they can demonstrate that they can lay down their
lives for national independence, it becomes impossible for a foreign
power to continue to impose its will on them for any length of time.
The revolt of 1942 made the British nation realize, supreme realists
as they have been, that their rule was no longer wanted by India.
Woodrow Wyatt, who was adviser to the Cabinet Mission to India
throughout their negotiations, was of the opinion in 1946 that if
the British fail to find soon a way of handing over smoothly, there
may first be a revolution to drive them out. There was a deep and
## p. 783 (#825) ############################################
INDEPENDENCE OF INDIA
783
>
wide-spread anti-British feeling existing after 1942, mostly created
by the revolt of that year'. "
The Congress leaders remained in jail till the end of the Second
World War in 1945. Many attempts were made to find a solu-
tion to the political tangle in the country but all of them failed.
The Muslim League was adamant on getting Pakistan and ulti-
mately the Indian Independence Act, 1947 was passed and thus
India became independent on August 15, 1947.
WHY ENGLAND GAVE INDIA INDEPENDENCE ?
9
There were many reasons which forced the British Government
to grant independence to India and the most important was the
strength of the nationalist movement. That movement under the
leadership of Mahatma Gandhi had become so strong that the grant
of independence could not be postponed for long. The Quit India
Movement showed that the people of India could go to any length
to bring to an end the British Raj in the country. The people made
tremendous sacrifices to paralyse the administrative machinery. The
British Government was not ignorant of the slogans: "Do or Die"
and “Now or Never. ” The organization of the Indian National
Army under Subhash Chandra Bose and the cry of “Dilli Chalo”
made the British Government realise the folly of resisting the demand
of the people of India for independence.
Another reason which forced the Government to grant inde-
pendence was that it found itself unable to keep India under her
control with the help of sheer force. Great Britain became a
second rate power after World War II. She became so weak that
it became difficult for her to keep India under her control. When
Great Britain gave independence to Burma, she gave independence
to India also. The strike of the naval officers and ratings in Bom-
bay in 1945 convinced the British Government that it was no
longer possible to rule India with the help of force and power must
be transferred into the hands of the Indians without further delay.
After World War II, all the three branches of the Defence forces
were inspired by the new spirit of patriotism and the revolt of the
naval officers was of special significance in the context of the exist-
ing circumstances. It was for the first time after 1857 that a
section of the defence forces openly revolted against the British
Government on a political issue. The rebellion was not an isolated
event. The Indian National Army which had been formed out of
the prisoners of war had attacked India. After the surrender of
Japan, many officers of the Indian National Army were captured
and publicly tried in the Red Fort at Delhi. There was a lot of
## p. 784 (#826) ############################################
784
THE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT IN INDIA
public excitement and enthusiasm and in the end, all of them were
released. All these developments convinced the British Govern-
ment that they could not rely upon the armed forces in holding the
country against the wishes of the people.
Another cause was a conviction in the minds of those who ruled
India that it was no longer profitable to keep India in chains. It
was felt that Great Britain could gain more by giving India inde-
pendence. This has actually been found to be true as there is
more trade between India and Great Britain today than it was
before her independence.
The grant of independence to India was facilitated by the fact
that the Labour Party came to power in England in 1945. The
members of the Labour Party had always been the advocates of
independence for India and they actually gave the same to her when
they themselves came to power. Things would have been certainly
more tedious and the grant of independence would have been delay-
ed if a person like Winston Churchill was in power in 1945-47.
Another factor which helped the grant of independence was the
acceptance by the Congress of the Muslim League demand for the
establishment of Pakistan. The situation was so serious that if
the Congress had not agreed to partition India, it would not have
been possible for the British Government to hand over the admin-
istration of India into the hands of the Indian leaders. By dividing
India and giving the Muslim League a separate state of Pakistan,
the British rulers must have felt that they had avoided a bloody
civil war.
The American Government also played its part. It is well
known that during World Wai II, President Roosevelt put a lot
of pressure on the British Government to grant independence to
India. That pressure continued even after the death of Roosevelt
in 1945. The British Government which depended upon American
Government for help after 1945, could not resist the pressure of
public opinion in America in favour of the grant of independence
to India.
We are reliably informed by some respectable Indians who re-
turned to India from England during the year immediately follow-
ing the end of the Second World War that British soldiers who had
first hand knowledge of the poverty of the Indian masses spoke
about it feelingly to their friends and relatives. That knowledge
filtered down to the people. A feeling was created in England that
perhaps with independence, the Indians might be able to improve
their economic condition. That explains the unanimous support
given by the members of Parliament to the India Independence
Bill in July, 1947.
## p. 785 (#827) ############################################
INDEPENDENCE OF INDIA
785
According to Prime Minister Attlee, the independence of India
was the fulfilment of Britain's mission in India. The British were
leaving India after fulfilling their mission in the country. They
had taught the Indians to govern themselves and they were now
leaving the reins of Government in their hands.
Similar sentiments had been expressed earlier by English ad-
ministrators and politicians from time to time. Mountstuart
Elphinstone of whom it was said by Bishop Heber that "he had
seen more of India and the adjoining countries than any man now
living,” never ceased to preach the importance of training Indians
for that self-government which, he believed, must eventually come.
As early as 1819, he wrote of the British Empire in India that "the
most desirable death for us to die or should be, the improvement
of the natives reaching such a pitch as would render it impossible
for a foreign nation to retain the government; but this seems at an
immeasurable distance. . . . . . A time of separation must come; and
it is for our interest to have an early separation from a civilised
people, rather than a rupture with a barbarous nation, in which
it is probable that all our settlers and even our commerce would
perish, along with all the institutions we had introduced into the
country. " When Elphinstone became the Governor of Bombay,
his views got further crystallised. One day, Lieutenant-General
Briggs visited his camp and on seeing in his tent a pile of printed
Marathi books asked him what they were. The reply of Elphin-
stone was: “To educate the native, but it is our high-road back
to Europe. ” After many years, the Directors of the English East
India Company refused to appoint Indians to the Covenanted
Medical Service and on that occasion, Elphinstone protested in
these words: “I conceive that the administration of all the depart-
ments by a great country by a small number of foreign visitors, in
a state of isolation produced by a difference in religion, ideas, and
manners, which cuts them off from all intimate communion with
the people can never be contemplated as a permanent state of
things. I conceive also that the progress of education among the
natives renders such a scheme impracticable, even if it were other-
wise free from objection. It might, perhaps, have once been pos-
sible to have retained the natives in a subordinate condition (at the
expense of national justice and honour) by studiously repressing
their spirit and discouraging their progress in knowledge; but we
are now doing our best to raise them in all mental qualities to a
level with ourselves, and to instil into them the liberal opinions in
government and policy which have long prevailed in this country,
and it is vain to endeavour to rule them on principles only suited to
a slavish and ignorant population. '
## p. 786 (#828) ############################################
786
THE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT IN INDIA
A similar view was expressed by Sir Thomas Munro is these
words: “We should look upon India, not as a temporary posses-
șion, but as one which is to be maintained permanently until the
natives shall in some future age have abandoned most of their
superstitions and prejudices, and become sufficiently enlightened,
to frame a regular government for themselves, and to conduct and
preserve it. Whenever such a time shall arrive, it wiil probably
be best for both countries that the British control over India should
be gradually withdrawn. That the desirable change contemplated
may in some after-age be effected in India, there is no cause to
despair. Such a change was at one time in Britain itself at least
as hopeless as it is here. When we reflect how much the character
of nations has always been influenced by that of goveruments, and
that some, once the most cultivated, have sunk into barbarism,
while others, formerly the rudest, have attained the highest point
of civilisation, we shall see no reason to doubt that if we pursue
steadily the proper measures, we shall in time so far improve the
character of our Indian subjects as to enable them to govern and
protect themselves. "
The belief of Lord Macaulay was that "it may be that the pub-
lic mind of India may expand under our system until it has out-
grown our system. . . . . . that having become instructed in Euro-
pean knowledge, they may in some future age demand European
institutions”, and when that happened, it would be the proudest
day in English History. The following passage occurs in his
speech in the House of Commons: “Are we to keep these men sub-
missive? or do we think we can give them knowledge without
awakening ambition? or do we mean to awaken ambition and pro-
vide it with no legitimate vent? Who will answer any one of these
questions in the affirmative? Yet one of them must be answered
in the affirmative by every person who maintains that we ought
permanently to exclude the people of India from high office. I
have no fears. The path of duty is plainly before us, and it is
also the path of wisdom, of national prosperity, and of honour. "
Similar views were expressed by Sir Charles Wood in these
words: “Of course, there will be a struggle and blood and treasure
to an enormous amount will be spent in vain. This is, I am afraid,
the most probable end of our indian rule, but good conduct, wise
measures and sound policy towards the natives may avert it for
many years, if it can do no better. Whatever may be the result,
our course ought be the same: to improve the native, reconcile him
if we can to our rule and fit him for ruling himself. I don't believe
that his fitness to rule well wi'l make him a worse subject, till his
time arrives. ”
## p. 787 (#829) ############################################
CHAPTER XXXVI
PAKISTAN
THE Muslims ruled India for more than 6 centuries. They were
able to conquer practically the whole of India. However, towards
the end of the reign of Aurangzeb, the Mughal Empire began to
break up. The Marathas raised the standard of revolt and ulti-
matly were able in the 18th century to set up a big Maratha
Empire. The Sikhs, after some time, were also able to carve out
a kingdom of their own. Many small Muslim States also came
into existence. Both the English and the French East India Com-
panies joined the scramble for power. After defeating their rivals,
in Bengal and the Deccan, the English East India Company was
able to establish its own empire in India. One by one, the Mus-
lim states were conquered and annexed. The Marathas were fin-
ally defeated and their territories also annexed. Sind and the
Punjab were annexed during the 1840's. By the middle of the
19th century, British hold over the whole of India was complete
and they ruled the country with an iron hand, without the people
having any say in the administration of the country.
The relations between the English and the Muslims were parti-
cularly bad as the Muslims nursed a grievance that it were the
British who snatched away power from their hands. They refus-
ed to study the English language and maintained an attitude of
aloofness from the British. No wonder, they were not taken in
the employment of the English East India Company and the Hindus
alone from India were to be found there. The Muslim resent-
ment against the British Government exhibited itself during the
Wahabi Movement, but the same was suppressed ruthlessly by the
British Government. During the rising of 1857-58, the Muslims
played an important part. The Mughal Emperor put himself at
the head of the rebels and naturally the British Government took
stern action against the Muslims not only during the period of che
national uprising but even after that. This state of affairs conti-
nued up to 1870. It was then that a change took place in the Bri-
tish attitude towards the Muslims. In 1871 was published a book
entitled “The Indian Mussalmans” by Sir William Hunter. The
contention of the author was that the Muslims were too weak for
rebellion and "it was expedient now to take them into alliance
rather than continue to antagonise them. ”
## p. 788 (#830) ############################################
788
PAKISTAN
SIR SYED AHMED KHAN
The work of Sir William Hunter was facilitated by Sir Syed
Ahmed Khan (1817-98). He belonged to a Mughal official family
and had entered the British judicial service. During the 1857-58
days, he remained faithful to the British Government. After that,
he published a book analysing the causes of the revolt of 1857-58.
His conclusion was that the Indian Muslims must come to terms
with the British Government and at the same time remain aloof from
the Hindus. He put emphasis on the community of fundamental
.
Islamic and Christian ideas with their common Judaic heritage.
Reason and revelation were basic to both Islam and Christianity.
Sir Syed joined the Viceroy's Legislative Council in 1878 but
even before that he had founded in 1875 the Muhammadan Anglo-
Oriental College at Aligarh.
That college became the centre of
all the Muslims of India and even for Muslims abroad and was
given the status of a University in 1920.
Not content with this, Sir Syed laid the foundation of the Annual
Muslim Educational Conference in 1886. This was done only a
year after the establishment of the Indian National Congress in
1885. The Muslim Conference was held cach year at a different
place in India. In addition to being a centre of information re-
garding the general and educational condition of the Indian Mus-
lims, it became a forum of dissemination of Muslim political opi-
nions. With the help of this Annual Conference, the Muslims hop-
ed to cover "the whole of Upper India with a network of societies,
committees and individuals, all working harmoniously in the great
cause, so that a big evil may be dealt with by a strong remedy and
by the vigorous work of one generation the tide of misfortune may
be turned and the Mahommedan Nation may be set moving on
the tide of progress abreast of all the other Nations of India. "
Nawab Imad-ul-Mulk Maulvi Sayyid Husain Bilgrami made it
clear in his inaugural address as President of the Conference on 27
December, 1900 that several purposes were associated with the
Annual Conference and it provided a meeting ground for the edu-
cated Musalmans of different parts of India, so that they might
have opportunities of mutual consultation for the progress of their
community and take concerted action for its achievement. The
Annual Conference gradually gained ground and it succeeded in
collecting information regarding the number, aims and methods of
the Muslim societies in each district, the number,
and
addresses of eminent Musalmans, Maulvis, Ulema and the mem-
bers of the Muslim nobility "who may be thought earnest in devot-
ing their leisure and money to matters of communal interest. ”
## p. 789 (#831) ############################################
SIR SYED AHMED KHAN
789
Both the educational and political objectives of the Conference were
emphasized during the Annual Conferences.
Sir Syed also founded in 1888 the Indian Patriotic Association.
The objectives of the new organisation were to “(a) publish and
circulate pamphlets and other papers for information of members
of Parliament, English journals and the people of Great Britain, in
which those mis-statements will be pointed out by which the sup-
porters of the Indian National Congress have wrongly attempted
to convince the English people that all the Nations of India and the
Indian chiefs and rulers agree with the aims and objects of the
National Congress, (b) to inform members of Parliament and the
newspapers of Great Britain and its people by the same means of
the opinions of Mohammedans in general, of the Islamia Anjmans,
and those Hindus and their societies which were opposed to the
objects of the National Congress, (c) to strive to preserve peace in
India and to strengthen the British rule; and to remove those bad
feelings from the hearts of the Indian people, which the supporters
of the Congress are stirring up throughout the country and by
which great dissatisfaction is being raised among the people against
the British Government. "
In addition to these, Sir Syed started in 1893 the Mohammedan
Defence Association of Upper Iridia. Principal Beck of the Aligarh
College played an important part in starting this organisation. On,
30 December, 1893, a meeting of some influential Muslims was
held at the house of Sir Syed to discuss the political condition of
the Musalmans. The proceedings of this meeting were started with
an address by Principal Beck himself. The Principal was not in
favour of political agitation as that could alienate the Muslims
from the British Government. However, he felt the necessity of
an organisation to give political lead to the young Muslims. To
quote Principal Beck, “With the press pouring out a stream of
political articles, our young educated Mohammedans will be drawn
into the current to support or cppose the measures proposed. . . .
I think it would be a mistake to leave them without guidance. "
The advice of Principal Beck was accepted and the Mohammedan
Defence Association of Upper India was set up through a resolu-
tion passed to that effect in the same gathering.
Sir Syed was a true Muslim and he was jealous of the progress
made by the Hindus. He felt that Muslims had made a mistake
in ignoring the study of the English language and European ideas.
He would like to pull up the Muslims of India so that they were
not handicapped in any way in their struggle for existence. He
also felt that the future of the Muslims in India was not bright.
A beginning had already been made by the introduction of demo-
## p. 790 (#832) ############################################
790
PAKISTAN
a
cratic institutions in India by the British Government. If ultimate-
ly, the British Government agreed to transfer power into the hands
of the Indians, the Muslims will be nowhere. The Muslims being
in a minority in India will not be able to safeguard their own inter-
ests. The Hindu majority could do anything against the Muslim
minority. It was for that reason that Sir Syed advised the Muslims
of India not to join the nationalist movement in the country and
keep away from it. Sir Syed was not bothered about the fact
whether India became free or not. His only worry was that if
more powers were given to the Indians by the Englishmen, those
were going to be used by the Hindus against the Muslims. He
was not prepared to put up with the majority rule of the Hindus
in the distant future. That was the reason why he called upon
all the Muslims of India not to join the Indian National Congress.
Sir Syed jeered at the national agitation for freedom and called it
as "no more than the cries of jackals and crows” and advised the
British Government to rule with the help of force a country like
India which did not have a common nationality, common blood,
common aims and common ways of thinking. He assured the
Government of India that the Muslims would not join the Indian
National Congress and in this he was eminently successful. Sir
Sved definitely succeeded in keeping most of the Muslims away
from the Indian National Congress. As a matter of fact, a delibe-
rate attempt was made both by the British bureaucracy in India
and the influential Muslims to keep the Muslims away from the
Hindus. Aligarh became the centre of Muslim thought and cul-
ture. Practically every big Muslim in India sent his children to
Aligarh for education or he was persuaded or coerced to do so by
the British bureaucracy in India. The credit for separating the
Muslims from the Hindus must go to Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. He
may have played the game which some of the Englishmen in India
wanted him to play but the fact remains that as a result of the
policy advocated by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, the nationalist move-
ment in India became positively weak and ultimately it resulted in
the partition of India in 1947.
PRINCIPAL BECK
A reference must be made in this connection to the work of Mr.
Beck who was the Principal of the Aligarh College from 1883 to
1899. It was Principal Beck who organised the Muslim opposition
in 1899 to Bradlaugh's Bill in the British Parliament for giving
representative institutions to India. The memorial which was sent
on behalf of the Muslims of India claimed that the introduction of
## p. 791 (#833) ############################################
PRINCIPAL BECK
791
democratic institutions was not suited to India because India was
not one nation. It has already been pointed out above that Princi-
pal Beck was the prime mover in the establishment of the Moham-
medan Defence Association of Upper India in 1893. The object
of that organisation was to prevent the Muslims from joining the
Congress. To quote Beck, “The objective of the Congress is to
transfer the political control of the country from the British to the
Hindus. . . . . . Muslims can have no sympathy with these demands.
It is imperative for the Muslims and the British to unite with a
view to fighting these agitators and prevent the introduction of
democratic form of Government unsuited to the needs and genius
of the country. We, therefore, advocate loyalty to the Govern-
ment and Anglo-Muslim collaboration. ” Again, “The parliamen-
tary system in India is most unsuited and the experiment would
prove if representative institutions are introduced. The Muslims
will be under the majority opinion of the Hindus, a thing which
will be highly resented by Muslims and which I am sure, they will
not accept quietly. "
Principal Beck was able to convince Sir Syed that while an
Anglo-Muslim alliance would ameliorate the condition of the Mus-
lim community, the nationalist alignment would lead them once
again to sweat, toil and tears. He was further led to believe that
supporting the Government was the surest way of making up the
leeway for his community. As a result, his unique influence was
used to keep the Muslims, particularly in Northern India, away
from the Congress.
On the death of Principal Beck, Sir John Strachey wrote: “An
Englishman who was engaged in empire-building activities in a
far off land has passed away. He died like a soldier at the post of
his duty. The Muslims are a suspicious people. They opposed
Mr. Beck in the beginning suspecting him to be a British spy but
his sincerity and selflessness soon succeeded in his gaining their
confidence. "
There is a temptation to compare the work of Principal Beck
with that of Hume. The latter founded in 1885 the Indian Natio-
nal Congress which fought for more than 60 years the battle of
India's freedom and ultimately made her free in 1947. On the
other hand, Principal Beck tried to separate the Musliins from the
Hindus and ultimately succeeded in his object. It were his ideas
that in a way helped the establishment of Pakistan in 1947. While
Hume stood for the unity and freedom of India, Beck stood for the
division of India and if possible keeping the Muslims attached to
the British Government.
## p. 792 (#834) ############################################
792
PAKISTAN
PARTITION OF BENGAL
On 16 October, 1905, Lord Curzon announced the Partition of
Bengal into two parts. It was pointed out that this was being
done with a view to overcome the administrative difficulties which
were being faced by the British Government in India. The pro-
vince of Bengal was an unwieldy one and its boundaries were un-
scientific and required readjustment. However, the real object of
the partition of Bengal was the desire of the British Government
to create a Muslim majority province and to reward the Muslims
for their devotion to the British Government and to punish Bengali
Babus for their audacity to defy the British Government in India.
As was expected, the Hindus of Bengal carried on a vigorous agita-
tion against the partition for practically 6 years and ultimately the
same was cancelled in 1911.
So far as the Muslims were concerned, they attached very great
importance to the creation of a Muslim majority province. They
were very grateful to Lord Curzon for what he had given them.
While the Hindus criticised the re-appointment of Lord Curzon,
the Muslims welcomed the same and showered praises on him.
They considered Lord Curzon as the best Viceroy. No wonder,
when Bengal was partitioned, the Muslims were overjoyed. They
not only thanked the Government for their gift but also opposed
the anti-partition agitation. The Muslims were made to believe
that partition was beneficial to them. At a meeting of the Muslim
League held on 30 December, 1906 at Dacca, a resolution was
passed to the effect that the partition of Bengal was beneficial to
the Muslims. Agitation against partition was condemned. In
its extraordinary meeting held in 1908, the Muslim League ex-
pressed its grave anxiety over the anti-partition movement and
hope in the steady and firm stand of the Government in the matter
because the Partition was believed to have brought salvation to the
Musalmans of Eastern Bengal from degradation and ruin. The
Muslim League also declared that any change in the partition would
result in the feeling of a grave injury to the Musalmans from one
part of India to another. Sayyid Ahmad Delhvi, Editor of Farhing
Asafia, remarked that although the illiterate and ignorant frontier
tribes could not estimate the power and strength of the British
Government, there was no reason why the Bengalis who were ex-
perts in the English language and familiar with the history of the
world should be unaware of it. They might succeed in killing 10
or 20, 50 or 100 Englishmen with the help of bombs, but they
would not be able to uproot the British rule in India. They ought
to have known that even the children of Englishmen were brave
## p. 793 (#835) ############################################
LORD MINTO AND THE MUSLIMS
793
soldiers and born heroes. The revolutionary activities of the Ben-
galis were condemned by the Muslims and resolutions to that effect
were passed by the Muslim Lcague. The London Branch of the
Muslim League was goaded to action with a view to check the
growth of the idea that the partition be amended or upset. It was
directed to impress upon the British Government that a policy of
firmness in the matter would be more advantageous to it than even
the slightest show of weakness. Moreover, the Muslims who were
loyal subjects of His Majesty, had a right to be heard before any
action was taken by the British Government. It was conveyed to
the British Government that the Musalmans believed that their lives
and rights would remain protected only by the continued rule of
the British Government in India. They did not like, even for a
minute, that any impediment be placed in the way of the grand
administration of the British Government.
In view of this Muslim attitude, the orders of the British Govern-
ment cancelling the partition, could not be liked by them. The
British Government was criticised on the ground that it had betray-
ed them and it was not possible to have faith in the pledged word
of such a Government. To quote Nawab Mushtaq Husain Viqar-
ul-Mulk Bahadur, “So far as the Musalmans are concerned, it may
be understood to be the consensus of opinion that this re-union is
generally disliked. In face of the assurances repeatedly given by
successive ministers of the Crown as to the Partition being “a settl-
ed fact, the amalgamation betrays the weakness of the Govern-
ment and will, in future, be regarded as one of the reasons for plac-
ing no trust in its utterances and actions. "
It is worthy of note that Bengal which was partitioned in 1905
was partitioned again in August 1947 in order to give the Muslims
of East Bengal another Muslim majority province.
LORD MINTO AND THE MUSLIMS
When the Government of India made up its mind to give con-
cessions to India in the constitutional field about the year 1906,
the Muslims put forward a demand for separate electorates for
themselves. Those demands were placed before Lord Minto by a
Muslim deputation led by Sir Agha Khan. But it must be notic-
ed that everything was arranged by Archibold, Principal of the
Aligarh College. The deputation was a command affair. Mr.
Archibold wrote thus: “Colonel Dunlop Smith, Private Secretary
of His Excellency, the Viceroy, informs me that His Excellency is
agreeable to receive the Muslim deputation. He advises that a
formal letter requesting permission to wait on the Excellency be
## p. 794 (#836) ############################################
794
PAKISTAN
sent to him. In this connection, I would like to make a few sug-
gestions. The formal letter should be sent with the signatures of
some representatives of Mussalmans. The deputation should con-
sist of representatives of all the provinces. The third point to be
considered is the text of the address. I would here suggest that
we begin with a solemn assurance of loyalty. The Government's
decision to take a step in this direction of self-government should
be appreciated. But our apprehensions should be expressed that
the principle of election, if introduced, would prove detrimental to
the interests of the Muslim minority. It should respectfully be
suggested that nomination or representation by religion be intro-
duced to meet Muslim opinion. We should also say that in a
country like India due weight must be given to the Zamindars. But
in all these views, I must be in the background. They must come
from you. . . . . . I can prepare for you the draft of the Address or
revise it. If it is prepared in Bombay, I can go through it. As
you are aware, I know how to phrase these things in proper langu-
age. Please remember that if we want to organise a powerful
movement in the short time at our disposal, we must expedite mat-
ters. ”
Lord Minto received the deputation sympathetically and gave
the following reply: “The pith of your address, as I understand it,
is a claim that under any system of representation, whether it affects
a municipality or a district board or a legislative council, in which
it is proposed to introduce or increase an electoral organisation, the
Mohammedan community should be represented as a community.
You point out that in many cases electoral bodies as now constitut-
ed cannot be expected to return a Mohammedan candidate, and if
by chance they did so, it could only be at the sacrifice of such a
candidate's views to those of a majority opposed to his community
whom he would in no way represent; and you justly claim that
your position should be estimated not only in your numerical
strength, but in respect to the political importance of your com-
munity and the service it has rendered to the Empire. I am entire-
ly in accord with you. Please do not misunderstand me, I make
no attempt to indicate by what means the representation of commu-
nities can be obtained, but I am as firmly convinced as I believe
you to be that any electoral representation in India would be
doomed to mischievous failure which aimed at granting a personal
enfranchisement regardless of the beliefs and traditions of the com-
munities composing the population of this continent. ” Lady Minto
tells us in her Diary that Lord Minto described the day on which
the Muslim deputation met him as “an epoch in Indian history. "
Having committed himself to give separate electorates to the
## p. 795 (#837) ############################################
FOUNDATION OF MUSLIM LEAGUE
795
Muslims, Lord Minto took up the matter with Lord Morley, the
Liberal Secretary of State for India. The latter was not in favour
of the proposal of Lord Minto. But the Viceroy insisted that sepa-
rate electorates alone could satisíy the Muslims of India and nothing
else. The result was that ultimately Lord Morley accepted the
point of view of Lord Minto and provision was made in the Act of
1909 for separate electorates for the Muslims. Lord Morley wrote
to Lord Minto thus in December 1909: "I won't follow you again
into our Mohammedan dispute. Only I respectfully remind you
again that it was your early speech about their extra claims that
started the (Muslim) hare. I am convinced my decision was
best. ” It is clear that Lord Minto was the real father of communal
electorates although the British officials also played their part.
After the Simla deputation, Nawab Salim Ulla Khan of Dacca
set up a permanent political organisation of the Muslims known
as the Muslim League. The latter supported the partition of
Bengal and opposed the boycott of British goods.
THE MUSLIM LEAGUE
On 30 December 1906 was established the All India Muslim
League with a view to “support, whenever possible, all measures
emanating from the Government, and to protect the cause and
advance the interest of our co-religionists throughout the country
to controvert the growing influence of the so-called Indian Nation-
al Congress which has a tendency to misinterpret and subvert Bri-
tish rule in India, or which might lead to that deplorable situation,
and to enable our youngmen cf education, who for want of such
an association have joined the Congress, to find scope, according to
their fitness and ability, for public life. ”
Zaka Ullah has rightly pointed out that the All India Muslim
League was in complete accord with the advice of Sir Syed Ahmed
Khan. The policy of Sir Syed had been followed as tie Muslims
did not join the Indian National Congress and set up a separate
League of their own. Moreover, there was nothing in common
between the Congress and the Muslim League. While the latter
taught the lesson of undivided loyalty to the British Crown, the
Congress preached open agitation or sedition. A reference to a
statement of the Secretary of the Muslim League also points out
to the fundamental difference between the Congress and the Mus-
lim League: "We are not opposed to the social unity of the Hindus
and the Musalmans. . . . . . but the other type of unity (political)
involves the working out of common political purposes. This sort
of our unity with the Congress cannot be possible because we and
## p. 796 (#838) ############################################
796
PAKISTAN
>>
the Congressmen do not have common political objectives. They
indulge in acts calculated to weakening the British Government.
They want representative Government which means death for
Musalmans. They desire competitive examinations for employ-
ment in Government services and this would mean the deprivation
of Musalmans of Government jobs. Therefore we need not go
near political unity (with the Hindus). It is the aim of the League
to present Muslim demands through respectful requests before the
Government. They should, like Congressmen, cry for boycott, deli-
ver exciting speeches and write impertinent articles in newspapers
and hold meetings to turn public feeling and attitude against their
benign Government. In a letter to the President of the Deccan
Muslim League, His Highness the Aga Khan who was the Presi-
dent of the All India Muslim League, wrote thus: “Recognising, as
we must do, that British rule is essential to India—that it is the
only rule which can preserve us from internal anarchy and unsym-
pathetic foreign domination, that it is the only rule under which
India can march steadily along the paths of peace, contentment and
moral and intellectual progress by which we have advanced so far,
let us bend all our energy to making that rule strong in its hold
upon the imagination and affection of the people of India. ” The
founders of the Muslim League believed that "Musalmans have
their own traditions and ideals which constitute the common pro-
perty of Islam but which cannot wholly be identical with those of
any other community. Prominent among the ideals which sway
the ordinary Musalman is the conviction that nothing would com-
pensate him for the loss of conscious membership of the great Mus-
lim community of the world. ”
The first annual session of the All India Muslim League was held
at Karachi on 29 December, 1907. Karachi in Sind was delibe-
rately chosen for that purpose. “Sind is that pious place in India
“
where Muhammad Bin Qasim came first, with the torch of religion
and the gift of Hadis. No other place could appeal to our elders. ”
The President of the session made the following significant declara-
tion: “If a handful of men under a boy could teach Kalima to the
territory of Sind and promulgate the law of true Shariat of God
and His Rasul, can seven crores of Musalmans not make their social
and political life pleasant? ” The President also declared that he
was satisfied with the attitude of the Government towards the Mus-
lims. He hoped that at least 4 Musalmans would be taken in the
Imperial Council under the new reforms. He also cunveyed his
feelings of gratitude towards the Viceroy and the Government of
India in advance.
The All India Muslim League welcomed the Minto-Morley Re-
## p. 797 (#839) ############################################
MUSLIM POLITICS IN 1911-3
797
>
forms as they gave the Muslims what they had asked for. They
had got not only separate electorates for themselves but also the
reservation of seats with due weightage according to their position
in the politics of the country.
When Italy attacked Turkey to secure Tripoli in 1911, the Mus-
lims of India protested and requested the British Government to
come to the help of Turkey. To quote Maulana Mohammad Ali,
“It lies with England to say whether, through her support, Turkey
shall be strong (and it is only a strong Turkey that can carry
through a campaign of reforms), or whether through the defection
of Great Britain she must be weak and look elsewhere for salvation
that will be indefinitely delayed. ” Prayers were offered in mosques
for the successful termination of war in favour of Turkey. The
All India Muslim League passed the following resolutions: “(1) The
Council of the All India Muslims League voicing the feelings of
Indian Musalmans, places on record its deep abhorrence of Italy's
unjustifiable and high handed action in Tripoli and her flagrant
and unprecedented outrage on international morality, cordially
sympathises with Turkey in her undeserved troubles and admires
her magnanimity and dignified attitude throughout the crisis and
appeals to the Imperial Government to exercise its great, and un-
doubted influence as the greatest Muslim power and the traditional
ally of Turkey in the cause of peace and put an end to an unjust
and unconscionable War. (2) The Council of League advises
Musalmans to keep a dignified attitude and place implicit confi-
dence in the benevolence and good intentions of the Imperial Gov-
ernment and to try to raise suiiscriptions for the relief of sufferers
in the war. (3) The Council of the All India Muslim League ex-
pects Muslims throughout the country to boycott Italian goods of
all kinds. ”
The Muslims of India were once again put in an awkward posi-
tion as a result of the Balkan Wars of 1912-13. There was terrible
suffering in Turkey and appeals were issued for funds to help the
Muslims of Turkey. His Highness the Aga Khan sent his own
contribution of £2,000 to the British Red Crescent Fund. He
called upon the Muslims of India to suspend all their activities and
send help to Turkey. Maulana Shaukat Ali issued a call for volun-
teers. No Musalman was expected to be a silent spectator of the
struggle of his fellow Muslims in a just and noble cause.
The stu-
dents of the Aligarh College saved money from their food to be
sent to the Balkans. Their zeal was so great that the Lieutenant-
Governor of the United Provinces went to the Aligarh College and
advised the students to devote most of their time to studies and not
to ruin their health by starvation.
was at that time a member of the Executive Council of the Viceroy
incharge of the Indian Overseas Department observed: "Indian
refugees are treated in such a way as to humiliate them and make
them feel that they belong to an inferior race. ” In the words of
Gandhiji, “The admitted inequality of treatment of Indian and
European evacuees and the nianifestly overbearing behaviour of
the troops are adding to the distrust of British intentions and dec-
larations. " There was a lot of resentment in the country when
## p. 780 (#822) ############################################
780
THE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT IN INDIA
the people heard of the sufferings of the Indians and this contribut-
ed to the decision of Gandhiji to start the Quit India Movement.
Another cause was the sufferings of the people on account of the
scorched earth policy followed by the British Government in India.
The lands belonging to the people of India were destroyed for mili-
tary purposes and they were not given adequate compensation.
They were deprived of their means of livelihood. To quote
Gandhiji, “For a Bengali to part with his Canoe, is like parting
with his life. ” A lot of harshness was used by the Government
while getting the houses of the peasants evacuated for the military.
The inefficient and ineffective controls and transportation muddles
added to the sufferings of the people. Prices rose in those months.
The people lost their faith in the paper currency issued by the Gov-
ernment. There was a lot of discontentment among the people and
Gandhiji decided to take advantage of it.
The immediate effect of the passing of the Quit India Resolution
was the arrest of Mahatma Gandhi and all the members of the All
India Congress Working Committee. The Indian National Congress
was banned and its offices were taken possession of by the Police. The
Government did all that it could to crush the Congress and the
movement. The people also hit back. They revolted against the
tyranny and oppression of the Government. Gandhiji had not un-
folded his strategy before his arrest. After the passing of the resolu-
tion, Gandhiji intended to carry on negotiations with the British
Government. As he was arrested all of a sudden, the people were
left without any plan and no wonder the movement was carried on
by the people in any way they could. When the Government re-
sorted to violence and shot innocent men, women and children, the
people also resorted to violence. The result was that in some parts
of the country, British authority completely collapsed. It was with
great difficulty that the British Government was able to restore law
and order in the country.
The movement did not have the support of the upper classes of
India consisting of rich merchants, landlords and princes and also
a part of labour. The Muslim League, under the leadership of
Mr. Jinnah, asked the Muslims to keep aloof from the movement.
It was declared that the movement was directed to coerce the British
Government to hand over to the Hindus the administration of the
country. The Muslim League raised the slogans of “Divide and
Quit” and “Bat Ke Rahega Hindustan” (Hindustan will have to
be divided). The Police and the bureaucracy remained loyal
throughout. Churchill praised “the loyalty and steadfastnesss of
the brave Indian Police as well as Indian official class generally. '
The Hindu soldiers were not trusted to put down the rioters and
## p. 781 (#823) ############################################
QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT
781
the Gurkhas, Baluchis and White soldiers were usually employed
for that purpose. Those who actually participated in the move-
ment were the lower middle classes and peasants from whom also
come most of the students and labour. The processions were com-
posed of small shopkeepers, milk vendors, street hawkers, petty
traders, students and workers in small establishments and mills.
Shops remained closed for many days in spite of the threats of the
Government to fine the shopkeepers and also imprison them. The
peasants of India also made great sacrifices. Collective fines were
imposed on them and also realised. This was particularly so in
Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra, Gujarat and Maharashtra. The
movement of 1942 can appropriately be called a student-peasant-
middle class rebellion. The students provided the leadership and
the peasantry the fighting strength.
The revolt of 1942 had significance not only for India but the
whole world. Its reactions were widespread. “The abnormal
times in which it took place, the low fortunes of England and the
United Nations at the time of the occurrence, the importance of
India as a base of operation against Japan and as controlling the
supply line to China—the South-Eastern and Burma routes having
been conquered by Japan—and the danger of an immediate Japa-
nese move into India, all combined to make the widespread pheno-
menon of an uprising a matter of concern to the entire United
Nations. The fortunes of India were closely bound up with it.
The Axis Powers were not less interested as they found in the revolt
much to capitalize on. ”
Dr. Amba Prasad rightly points out that the failure of the move-
ment of 1942 was more marked than was the case with the move-
ments of 1921 and 1930. “The earlier movements had been in
the nature of preparatory training for a final struggle. They were
intended to create a national consciousness in the masses who had
been emasculated through centuries of subjection to a foreign rule.
The movement of 1921 was intended to revive the spirit of self-
respect among the people by removing the fear of going to jail for
the love of the country. The object of self-government was there
but it was realized that there was still a distant goal. The move-
ment of 1930 was a further stage in the direction of independence.
It was sought to remove the fear of loss of property and thereby to
create a spirit of sacrifice. The objective of independence was there
but there was a realization that still more sacrifices were needed. The
movement of 1942, however, was intended to be the last stage in that
struggle and, therefore, the supreme sacrifice of one's life was
required to attain independence. The call was ‘do or die' and
the mass slogan was 'we shall do or die. ' It is for this reason that
## p. 782 (#824) ############################################
782
THE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT IN INDIA
the word failure was more appropriately applicable to the revolt
of 1942 than it was to the earlier movements, which had constitut-
ed preparatory stages for the goal of independence. ”
The failure of the revolt of 1942 was due to many causes.
The
first was the tactical mistakes of organization and planning. The
arrest of Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress leaders left the people
without any leadership or guidance. No wonder, they made mis-
takes and were ultimately crushed. To quote Jai Prakash Narain,
“The lack of organization was so considerable that even important
Congressmen were not aware of the progress of the revolt and, till
late in the course of the rising, it remained a matter of debate in
many Congress quarters whether what the people were doing was
really in accordance with the Congress programme. " There was
no co-ordination and no strategy. Those who led the movement
were divided in their views on the course of action. Nobody knew
what to do. The loyalty of the services and the superior physical
strength of the Government succeeded in crushing the revolt. To
quote Dr. Amba Prasad, “Thus it was the superior physical power
of the Government which succeeded in putting down the revolt.
On the one side were large unarmed masses, unorganised, leader-
less, hesitating in their minds whether what they were doing would
be approved by Gandhiji or not; on the other side was the power
of the uniformed, disciplined policeman and soldier, armed with
rifles and guns, and the power of law and the use of all means of
communications. If necessary, the machine-gunning would be
done from the aeroplanes. In such a situation, the revolt could
only succeed, if it were a simultaneous rising which would have
paralysed the administrative machinery in the shortest possible
time. At its best it was a satyagraha or mass movement; at its
worst, it was an unorganised revolt of a violent character and, in
the latter form, it gave the Government a good excuse to crush down
with force. ”
As regards the gains of the revolt of 1942, Dr. Amba Prasad
observes: “Though the revolt of 1942 failed at the time, it prepared
the ground for independence in 1947. When people have reached
a stage where they can demonstrate that they can lay down their
lives for national independence, it becomes impossible for a foreign
power to continue to impose its will on them for any length of time.
The revolt of 1942 made the British nation realize, supreme realists
as they have been, that their rule was no longer wanted by India.
Woodrow Wyatt, who was adviser to the Cabinet Mission to India
throughout their negotiations, was of the opinion in 1946 that if
the British fail to find soon a way of handing over smoothly, there
may first be a revolution to drive them out. There was a deep and
## p. 783 (#825) ############################################
INDEPENDENCE OF INDIA
783
>
wide-spread anti-British feeling existing after 1942, mostly created
by the revolt of that year'. "
The Congress leaders remained in jail till the end of the Second
World War in 1945. Many attempts were made to find a solu-
tion to the political tangle in the country but all of them failed.
The Muslim League was adamant on getting Pakistan and ulti-
mately the Indian Independence Act, 1947 was passed and thus
India became independent on August 15, 1947.
WHY ENGLAND GAVE INDIA INDEPENDENCE ?
9
There were many reasons which forced the British Government
to grant independence to India and the most important was the
strength of the nationalist movement. That movement under the
leadership of Mahatma Gandhi had become so strong that the grant
of independence could not be postponed for long. The Quit India
Movement showed that the people of India could go to any length
to bring to an end the British Raj in the country. The people made
tremendous sacrifices to paralyse the administrative machinery. The
British Government was not ignorant of the slogans: "Do or Die"
and “Now or Never. ” The organization of the Indian National
Army under Subhash Chandra Bose and the cry of “Dilli Chalo”
made the British Government realise the folly of resisting the demand
of the people of India for independence.
Another reason which forced the Government to grant inde-
pendence was that it found itself unable to keep India under her
control with the help of sheer force. Great Britain became a
second rate power after World War II. She became so weak that
it became difficult for her to keep India under her control. When
Great Britain gave independence to Burma, she gave independence
to India also. The strike of the naval officers and ratings in Bom-
bay in 1945 convinced the British Government that it was no
longer possible to rule India with the help of force and power must
be transferred into the hands of the Indians without further delay.
After World War II, all the three branches of the Defence forces
were inspired by the new spirit of patriotism and the revolt of the
naval officers was of special significance in the context of the exist-
ing circumstances. It was for the first time after 1857 that a
section of the defence forces openly revolted against the British
Government on a political issue. The rebellion was not an isolated
event. The Indian National Army which had been formed out of
the prisoners of war had attacked India. After the surrender of
Japan, many officers of the Indian National Army were captured
and publicly tried in the Red Fort at Delhi. There was a lot of
## p. 784 (#826) ############################################
784
THE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT IN INDIA
public excitement and enthusiasm and in the end, all of them were
released. All these developments convinced the British Govern-
ment that they could not rely upon the armed forces in holding the
country against the wishes of the people.
Another cause was a conviction in the minds of those who ruled
India that it was no longer profitable to keep India in chains. It
was felt that Great Britain could gain more by giving India inde-
pendence. This has actually been found to be true as there is
more trade between India and Great Britain today than it was
before her independence.
The grant of independence to India was facilitated by the fact
that the Labour Party came to power in England in 1945. The
members of the Labour Party had always been the advocates of
independence for India and they actually gave the same to her when
they themselves came to power. Things would have been certainly
more tedious and the grant of independence would have been delay-
ed if a person like Winston Churchill was in power in 1945-47.
Another factor which helped the grant of independence was the
acceptance by the Congress of the Muslim League demand for the
establishment of Pakistan. The situation was so serious that if
the Congress had not agreed to partition India, it would not have
been possible for the British Government to hand over the admin-
istration of India into the hands of the Indian leaders. By dividing
India and giving the Muslim League a separate state of Pakistan,
the British rulers must have felt that they had avoided a bloody
civil war.
The American Government also played its part. It is well
known that during World Wai II, President Roosevelt put a lot
of pressure on the British Government to grant independence to
India. That pressure continued even after the death of Roosevelt
in 1945. The British Government which depended upon American
Government for help after 1945, could not resist the pressure of
public opinion in America in favour of the grant of independence
to India.
We are reliably informed by some respectable Indians who re-
turned to India from England during the year immediately follow-
ing the end of the Second World War that British soldiers who had
first hand knowledge of the poverty of the Indian masses spoke
about it feelingly to their friends and relatives. That knowledge
filtered down to the people. A feeling was created in England that
perhaps with independence, the Indians might be able to improve
their economic condition. That explains the unanimous support
given by the members of Parliament to the India Independence
Bill in July, 1947.
## p. 785 (#827) ############################################
INDEPENDENCE OF INDIA
785
According to Prime Minister Attlee, the independence of India
was the fulfilment of Britain's mission in India. The British were
leaving India after fulfilling their mission in the country. They
had taught the Indians to govern themselves and they were now
leaving the reins of Government in their hands.
Similar sentiments had been expressed earlier by English ad-
ministrators and politicians from time to time. Mountstuart
Elphinstone of whom it was said by Bishop Heber that "he had
seen more of India and the adjoining countries than any man now
living,” never ceased to preach the importance of training Indians
for that self-government which, he believed, must eventually come.
As early as 1819, he wrote of the British Empire in India that "the
most desirable death for us to die or should be, the improvement
of the natives reaching such a pitch as would render it impossible
for a foreign nation to retain the government; but this seems at an
immeasurable distance. . . . . . A time of separation must come; and
it is for our interest to have an early separation from a civilised
people, rather than a rupture with a barbarous nation, in which
it is probable that all our settlers and even our commerce would
perish, along with all the institutions we had introduced into the
country. " When Elphinstone became the Governor of Bombay,
his views got further crystallised. One day, Lieutenant-General
Briggs visited his camp and on seeing in his tent a pile of printed
Marathi books asked him what they were. The reply of Elphin-
stone was: “To educate the native, but it is our high-road back
to Europe. ” After many years, the Directors of the English East
India Company refused to appoint Indians to the Covenanted
Medical Service and on that occasion, Elphinstone protested in
these words: “I conceive that the administration of all the depart-
ments by a great country by a small number of foreign visitors, in
a state of isolation produced by a difference in religion, ideas, and
manners, which cuts them off from all intimate communion with
the people can never be contemplated as a permanent state of
things. I conceive also that the progress of education among the
natives renders such a scheme impracticable, even if it were other-
wise free from objection. It might, perhaps, have once been pos-
sible to have retained the natives in a subordinate condition (at the
expense of national justice and honour) by studiously repressing
their spirit and discouraging their progress in knowledge; but we
are now doing our best to raise them in all mental qualities to a
level with ourselves, and to instil into them the liberal opinions in
government and policy which have long prevailed in this country,
and it is vain to endeavour to rule them on principles only suited to
a slavish and ignorant population. '
## p. 786 (#828) ############################################
786
THE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT IN INDIA
A similar view was expressed by Sir Thomas Munro is these
words: “We should look upon India, not as a temporary posses-
șion, but as one which is to be maintained permanently until the
natives shall in some future age have abandoned most of their
superstitions and prejudices, and become sufficiently enlightened,
to frame a regular government for themselves, and to conduct and
preserve it. Whenever such a time shall arrive, it wiil probably
be best for both countries that the British control over India should
be gradually withdrawn. That the desirable change contemplated
may in some after-age be effected in India, there is no cause to
despair. Such a change was at one time in Britain itself at least
as hopeless as it is here. When we reflect how much the character
of nations has always been influenced by that of goveruments, and
that some, once the most cultivated, have sunk into barbarism,
while others, formerly the rudest, have attained the highest point
of civilisation, we shall see no reason to doubt that if we pursue
steadily the proper measures, we shall in time so far improve the
character of our Indian subjects as to enable them to govern and
protect themselves. "
The belief of Lord Macaulay was that "it may be that the pub-
lic mind of India may expand under our system until it has out-
grown our system. . . . . . that having become instructed in Euro-
pean knowledge, they may in some future age demand European
institutions”, and when that happened, it would be the proudest
day in English History. The following passage occurs in his
speech in the House of Commons: “Are we to keep these men sub-
missive? or do we think we can give them knowledge without
awakening ambition? or do we mean to awaken ambition and pro-
vide it with no legitimate vent? Who will answer any one of these
questions in the affirmative? Yet one of them must be answered
in the affirmative by every person who maintains that we ought
permanently to exclude the people of India from high office. I
have no fears. The path of duty is plainly before us, and it is
also the path of wisdom, of national prosperity, and of honour. "
Similar views were expressed by Sir Charles Wood in these
words: “Of course, there will be a struggle and blood and treasure
to an enormous amount will be spent in vain. This is, I am afraid,
the most probable end of our indian rule, but good conduct, wise
measures and sound policy towards the natives may avert it for
many years, if it can do no better. Whatever may be the result,
our course ought be the same: to improve the native, reconcile him
if we can to our rule and fit him for ruling himself. I don't believe
that his fitness to rule well wi'l make him a worse subject, till his
time arrives. ”
## p. 787 (#829) ############################################
CHAPTER XXXVI
PAKISTAN
THE Muslims ruled India for more than 6 centuries. They were
able to conquer practically the whole of India. However, towards
the end of the reign of Aurangzeb, the Mughal Empire began to
break up. The Marathas raised the standard of revolt and ulti-
matly were able in the 18th century to set up a big Maratha
Empire. The Sikhs, after some time, were also able to carve out
a kingdom of their own. Many small Muslim States also came
into existence. Both the English and the French East India Com-
panies joined the scramble for power. After defeating their rivals,
in Bengal and the Deccan, the English East India Company was
able to establish its own empire in India. One by one, the Mus-
lim states were conquered and annexed. The Marathas were fin-
ally defeated and their territories also annexed. Sind and the
Punjab were annexed during the 1840's. By the middle of the
19th century, British hold over the whole of India was complete
and they ruled the country with an iron hand, without the people
having any say in the administration of the country.
The relations between the English and the Muslims were parti-
cularly bad as the Muslims nursed a grievance that it were the
British who snatched away power from their hands. They refus-
ed to study the English language and maintained an attitude of
aloofness from the British. No wonder, they were not taken in
the employment of the English East India Company and the Hindus
alone from India were to be found there. The Muslim resent-
ment against the British Government exhibited itself during the
Wahabi Movement, but the same was suppressed ruthlessly by the
British Government. During the rising of 1857-58, the Muslims
played an important part. The Mughal Emperor put himself at
the head of the rebels and naturally the British Government took
stern action against the Muslims not only during the period of che
national uprising but even after that. This state of affairs conti-
nued up to 1870. It was then that a change took place in the Bri-
tish attitude towards the Muslims. In 1871 was published a book
entitled “The Indian Mussalmans” by Sir William Hunter. The
contention of the author was that the Muslims were too weak for
rebellion and "it was expedient now to take them into alliance
rather than continue to antagonise them. ”
## p. 788 (#830) ############################################
788
PAKISTAN
SIR SYED AHMED KHAN
The work of Sir William Hunter was facilitated by Sir Syed
Ahmed Khan (1817-98). He belonged to a Mughal official family
and had entered the British judicial service. During the 1857-58
days, he remained faithful to the British Government. After that,
he published a book analysing the causes of the revolt of 1857-58.
His conclusion was that the Indian Muslims must come to terms
with the British Government and at the same time remain aloof from
the Hindus. He put emphasis on the community of fundamental
.
Islamic and Christian ideas with their common Judaic heritage.
Reason and revelation were basic to both Islam and Christianity.
Sir Syed joined the Viceroy's Legislative Council in 1878 but
even before that he had founded in 1875 the Muhammadan Anglo-
Oriental College at Aligarh.
That college became the centre of
all the Muslims of India and even for Muslims abroad and was
given the status of a University in 1920.
Not content with this, Sir Syed laid the foundation of the Annual
Muslim Educational Conference in 1886. This was done only a
year after the establishment of the Indian National Congress in
1885. The Muslim Conference was held cach year at a different
place in India. In addition to being a centre of information re-
garding the general and educational condition of the Indian Mus-
lims, it became a forum of dissemination of Muslim political opi-
nions. With the help of this Annual Conference, the Muslims hop-
ed to cover "the whole of Upper India with a network of societies,
committees and individuals, all working harmoniously in the great
cause, so that a big evil may be dealt with by a strong remedy and
by the vigorous work of one generation the tide of misfortune may
be turned and the Mahommedan Nation may be set moving on
the tide of progress abreast of all the other Nations of India. "
Nawab Imad-ul-Mulk Maulvi Sayyid Husain Bilgrami made it
clear in his inaugural address as President of the Conference on 27
December, 1900 that several purposes were associated with the
Annual Conference and it provided a meeting ground for the edu-
cated Musalmans of different parts of India, so that they might
have opportunities of mutual consultation for the progress of their
community and take concerted action for its achievement. The
Annual Conference gradually gained ground and it succeeded in
collecting information regarding the number, aims and methods of
the Muslim societies in each district, the number,
and
addresses of eminent Musalmans, Maulvis, Ulema and the mem-
bers of the Muslim nobility "who may be thought earnest in devot-
ing their leisure and money to matters of communal interest. ”
## p. 789 (#831) ############################################
SIR SYED AHMED KHAN
789
Both the educational and political objectives of the Conference were
emphasized during the Annual Conferences.
Sir Syed also founded in 1888 the Indian Patriotic Association.
The objectives of the new organisation were to “(a) publish and
circulate pamphlets and other papers for information of members
of Parliament, English journals and the people of Great Britain, in
which those mis-statements will be pointed out by which the sup-
porters of the Indian National Congress have wrongly attempted
to convince the English people that all the Nations of India and the
Indian chiefs and rulers agree with the aims and objects of the
National Congress, (b) to inform members of Parliament and the
newspapers of Great Britain and its people by the same means of
the opinions of Mohammedans in general, of the Islamia Anjmans,
and those Hindus and their societies which were opposed to the
objects of the National Congress, (c) to strive to preserve peace in
India and to strengthen the British rule; and to remove those bad
feelings from the hearts of the Indian people, which the supporters
of the Congress are stirring up throughout the country and by
which great dissatisfaction is being raised among the people against
the British Government. "
In addition to these, Sir Syed started in 1893 the Mohammedan
Defence Association of Upper Iridia. Principal Beck of the Aligarh
College played an important part in starting this organisation. On,
30 December, 1893, a meeting of some influential Muslims was
held at the house of Sir Syed to discuss the political condition of
the Musalmans. The proceedings of this meeting were started with
an address by Principal Beck himself. The Principal was not in
favour of political agitation as that could alienate the Muslims
from the British Government. However, he felt the necessity of
an organisation to give political lead to the young Muslims. To
quote Principal Beck, “With the press pouring out a stream of
political articles, our young educated Mohammedans will be drawn
into the current to support or cppose the measures proposed. . . .
I think it would be a mistake to leave them without guidance. "
The advice of Principal Beck was accepted and the Mohammedan
Defence Association of Upper India was set up through a resolu-
tion passed to that effect in the same gathering.
Sir Syed was a true Muslim and he was jealous of the progress
made by the Hindus. He felt that Muslims had made a mistake
in ignoring the study of the English language and European ideas.
He would like to pull up the Muslims of India so that they were
not handicapped in any way in their struggle for existence. He
also felt that the future of the Muslims in India was not bright.
A beginning had already been made by the introduction of demo-
## p. 790 (#832) ############################################
790
PAKISTAN
a
cratic institutions in India by the British Government. If ultimate-
ly, the British Government agreed to transfer power into the hands
of the Indians, the Muslims will be nowhere. The Muslims being
in a minority in India will not be able to safeguard their own inter-
ests. The Hindu majority could do anything against the Muslim
minority. It was for that reason that Sir Syed advised the Muslims
of India not to join the nationalist movement in the country and
keep away from it. Sir Syed was not bothered about the fact
whether India became free or not. His only worry was that if
more powers were given to the Indians by the Englishmen, those
were going to be used by the Hindus against the Muslims. He
was not prepared to put up with the majority rule of the Hindus
in the distant future. That was the reason why he called upon
all the Muslims of India not to join the Indian National Congress.
Sir Syed jeered at the national agitation for freedom and called it
as "no more than the cries of jackals and crows” and advised the
British Government to rule with the help of force a country like
India which did not have a common nationality, common blood,
common aims and common ways of thinking. He assured the
Government of India that the Muslims would not join the Indian
National Congress and in this he was eminently successful. Sir
Sved definitely succeeded in keeping most of the Muslims away
from the Indian National Congress. As a matter of fact, a delibe-
rate attempt was made both by the British bureaucracy in India
and the influential Muslims to keep the Muslims away from the
Hindus. Aligarh became the centre of Muslim thought and cul-
ture. Practically every big Muslim in India sent his children to
Aligarh for education or he was persuaded or coerced to do so by
the British bureaucracy in India. The credit for separating the
Muslims from the Hindus must go to Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. He
may have played the game which some of the Englishmen in India
wanted him to play but the fact remains that as a result of the
policy advocated by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, the nationalist move-
ment in India became positively weak and ultimately it resulted in
the partition of India in 1947.
PRINCIPAL BECK
A reference must be made in this connection to the work of Mr.
Beck who was the Principal of the Aligarh College from 1883 to
1899. It was Principal Beck who organised the Muslim opposition
in 1899 to Bradlaugh's Bill in the British Parliament for giving
representative institutions to India. The memorial which was sent
on behalf of the Muslims of India claimed that the introduction of
## p. 791 (#833) ############################################
PRINCIPAL BECK
791
democratic institutions was not suited to India because India was
not one nation. It has already been pointed out above that Princi-
pal Beck was the prime mover in the establishment of the Moham-
medan Defence Association of Upper India in 1893. The object
of that organisation was to prevent the Muslims from joining the
Congress. To quote Beck, “The objective of the Congress is to
transfer the political control of the country from the British to the
Hindus. . . . . . Muslims can have no sympathy with these demands.
It is imperative for the Muslims and the British to unite with a
view to fighting these agitators and prevent the introduction of
democratic form of Government unsuited to the needs and genius
of the country. We, therefore, advocate loyalty to the Govern-
ment and Anglo-Muslim collaboration. ” Again, “The parliamen-
tary system in India is most unsuited and the experiment would
prove if representative institutions are introduced. The Muslims
will be under the majority opinion of the Hindus, a thing which
will be highly resented by Muslims and which I am sure, they will
not accept quietly. "
Principal Beck was able to convince Sir Syed that while an
Anglo-Muslim alliance would ameliorate the condition of the Mus-
lim community, the nationalist alignment would lead them once
again to sweat, toil and tears. He was further led to believe that
supporting the Government was the surest way of making up the
leeway for his community. As a result, his unique influence was
used to keep the Muslims, particularly in Northern India, away
from the Congress.
On the death of Principal Beck, Sir John Strachey wrote: “An
Englishman who was engaged in empire-building activities in a
far off land has passed away. He died like a soldier at the post of
his duty. The Muslims are a suspicious people. They opposed
Mr. Beck in the beginning suspecting him to be a British spy but
his sincerity and selflessness soon succeeded in his gaining their
confidence. "
There is a temptation to compare the work of Principal Beck
with that of Hume. The latter founded in 1885 the Indian Natio-
nal Congress which fought for more than 60 years the battle of
India's freedom and ultimately made her free in 1947. On the
other hand, Principal Beck tried to separate the Musliins from the
Hindus and ultimately succeeded in his object. It were his ideas
that in a way helped the establishment of Pakistan in 1947. While
Hume stood for the unity and freedom of India, Beck stood for the
division of India and if possible keeping the Muslims attached to
the British Government.
## p. 792 (#834) ############################################
792
PAKISTAN
PARTITION OF BENGAL
On 16 October, 1905, Lord Curzon announced the Partition of
Bengal into two parts. It was pointed out that this was being
done with a view to overcome the administrative difficulties which
were being faced by the British Government in India. The pro-
vince of Bengal was an unwieldy one and its boundaries were un-
scientific and required readjustment. However, the real object of
the partition of Bengal was the desire of the British Government
to create a Muslim majority province and to reward the Muslims
for their devotion to the British Government and to punish Bengali
Babus for their audacity to defy the British Government in India.
As was expected, the Hindus of Bengal carried on a vigorous agita-
tion against the partition for practically 6 years and ultimately the
same was cancelled in 1911.
So far as the Muslims were concerned, they attached very great
importance to the creation of a Muslim majority province. They
were very grateful to Lord Curzon for what he had given them.
While the Hindus criticised the re-appointment of Lord Curzon,
the Muslims welcomed the same and showered praises on him.
They considered Lord Curzon as the best Viceroy. No wonder,
when Bengal was partitioned, the Muslims were overjoyed. They
not only thanked the Government for their gift but also opposed
the anti-partition agitation. The Muslims were made to believe
that partition was beneficial to them. At a meeting of the Muslim
League held on 30 December, 1906 at Dacca, a resolution was
passed to the effect that the partition of Bengal was beneficial to
the Muslims. Agitation against partition was condemned. In
its extraordinary meeting held in 1908, the Muslim League ex-
pressed its grave anxiety over the anti-partition movement and
hope in the steady and firm stand of the Government in the matter
because the Partition was believed to have brought salvation to the
Musalmans of Eastern Bengal from degradation and ruin. The
Muslim League also declared that any change in the partition would
result in the feeling of a grave injury to the Musalmans from one
part of India to another. Sayyid Ahmad Delhvi, Editor of Farhing
Asafia, remarked that although the illiterate and ignorant frontier
tribes could not estimate the power and strength of the British
Government, there was no reason why the Bengalis who were ex-
perts in the English language and familiar with the history of the
world should be unaware of it. They might succeed in killing 10
or 20, 50 or 100 Englishmen with the help of bombs, but they
would not be able to uproot the British rule in India. They ought
to have known that even the children of Englishmen were brave
## p. 793 (#835) ############################################
LORD MINTO AND THE MUSLIMS
793
soldiers and born heroes. The revolutionary activities of the Ben-
galis were condemned by the Muslims and resolutions to that effect
were passed by the Muslim Lcague. The London Branch of the
Muslim League was goaded to action with a view to check the
growth of the idea that the partition be amended or upset. It was
directed to impress upon the British Government that a policy of
firmness in the matter would be more advantageous to it than even
the slightest show of weakness. Moreover, the Muslims who were
loyal subjects of His Majesty, had a right to be heard before any
action was taken by the British Government. It was conveyed to
the British Government that the Musalmans believed that their lives
and rights would remain protected only by the continued rule of
the British Government in India. They did not like, even for a
minute, that any impediment be placed in the way of the grand
administration of the British Government.
In view of this Muslim attitude, the orders of the British Govern-
ment cancelling the partition, could not be liked by them. The
British Government was criticised on the ground that it had betray-
ed them and it was not possible to have faith in the pledged word
of such a Government. To quote Nawab Mushtaq Husain Viqar-
ul-Mulk Bahadur, “So far as the Musalmans are concerned, it may
be understood to be the consensus of opinion that this re-union is
generally disliked. In face of the assurances repeatedly given by
successive ministers of the Crown as to the Partition being “a settl-
ed fact, the amalgamation betrays the weakness of the Govern-
ment and will, in future, be regarded as one of the reasons for plac-
ing no trust in its utterances and actions. "
It is worthy of note that Bengal which was partitioned in 1905
was partitioned again in August 1947 in order to give the Muslims
of East Bengal another Muslim majority province.
LORD MINTO AND THE MUSLIMS
When the Government of India made up its mind to give con-
cessions to India in the constitutional field about the year 1906,
the Muslims put forward a demand for separate electorates for
themselves. Those demands were placed before Lord Minto by a
Muslim deputation led by Sir Agha Khan. But it must be notic-
ed that everything was arranged by Archibold, Principal of the
Aligarh College. The deputation was a command affair. Mr.
Archibold wrote thus: “Colonel Dunlop Smith, Private Secretary
of His Excellency, the Viceroy, informs me that His Excellency is
agreeable to receive the Muslim deputation. He advises that a
formal letter requesting permission to wait on the Excellency be
## p. 794 (#836) ############################################
794
PAKISTAN
sent to him. In this connection, I would like to make a few sug-
gestions. The formal letter should be sent with the signatures of
some representatives of Mussalmans. The deputation should con-
sist of representatives of all the provinces. The third point to be
considered is the text of the address. I would here suggest that
we begin with a solemn assurance of loyalty. The Government's
decision to take a step in this direction of self-government should
be appreciated. But our apprehensions should be expressed that
the principle of election, if introduced, would prove detrimental to
the interests of the Muslim minority. It should respectfully be
suggested that nomination or representation by religion be intro-
duced to meet Muslim opinion. We should also say that in a
country like India due weight must be given to the Zamindars. But
in all these views, I must be in the background. They must come
from you. . . . . . I can prepare for you the draft of the Address or
revise it. If it is prepared in Bombay, I can go through it. As
you are aware, I know how to phrase these things in proper langu-
age. Please remember that if we want to organise a powerful
movement in the short time at our disposal, we must expedite mat-
ters. ”
Lord Minto received the deputation sympathetically and gave
the following reply: “The pith of your address, as I understand it,
is a claim that under any system of representation, whether it affects
a municipality or a district board or a legislative council, in which
it is proposed to introduce or increase an electoral organisation, the
Mohammedan community should be represented as a community.
You point out that in many cases electoral bodies as now constitut-
ed cannot be expected to return a Mohammedan candidate, and if
by chance they did so, it could only be at the sacrifice of such a
candidate's views to those of a majority opposed to his community
whom he would in no way represent; and you justly claim that
your position should be estimated not only in your numerical
strength, but in respect to the political importance of your com-
munity and the service it has rendered to the Empire. I am entire-
ly in accord with you. Please do not misunderstand me, I make
no attempt to indicate by what means the representation of commu-
nities can be obtained, but I am as firmly convinced as I believe
you to be that any electoral representation in India would be
doomed to mischievous failure which aimed at granting a personal
enfranchisement regardless of the beliefs and traditions of the com-
munities composing the population of this continent. ” Lady Minto
tells us in her Diary that Lord Minto described the day on which
the Muslim deputation met him as “an epoch in Indian history. "
Having committed himself to give separate electorates to the
## p. 795 (#837) ############################################
FOUNDATION OF MUSLIM LEAGUE
795
Muslims, Lord Minto took up the matter with Lord Morley, the
Liberal Secretary of State for India. The latter was not in favour
of the proposal of Lord Minto. But the Viceroy insisted that sepa-
rate electorates alone could satisíy the Muslims of India and nothing
else. The result was that ultimately Lord Morley accepted the
point of view of Lord Minto and provision was made in the Act of
1909 for separate electorates for the Muslims. Lord Morley wrote
to Lord Minto thus in December 1909: "I won't follow you again
into our Mohammedan dispute. Only I respectfully remind you
again that it was your early speech about their extra claims that
started the (Muslim) hare. I am convinced my decision was
best. ” It is clear that Lord Minto was the real father of communal
electorates although the British officials also played their part.
After the Simla deputation, Nawab Salim Ulla Khan of Dacca
set up a permanent political organisation of the Muslims known
as the Muslim League. The latter supported the partition of
Bengal and opposed the boycott of British goods.
THE MUSLIM LEAGUE
On 30 December 1906 was established the All India Muslim
League with a view to “support, whenever possible, all measures
emanating from the Government, and to protect the cause and
advance the interest of our co-religionists throughout the country
to controvert the growing influence of the so-called Indian Nation-
al Congress which has a tendency to misinterpret and subvert Bri-
tish rule in India, or which might lead to that deplorable situation,
and to enable our youngmen cf education, who for want of such
an association have joined the Congress, to find scope, according to
their fitness and ability, for public life. ”
Zaka Ullah has rightly pointed out that the All India Muslim
League was in complete accord with the advice of Sir Syed Ahmed
Khan. The policy of Sir Syed had been followed as tie Muslims
did not join the Indian National Congress and set up a separate
League of their own. Moreover, there was nothing in common
between the Congress and the Muslim League. While the latter
taught the lesson of undivided loyalty to the British Crown, the
Congress preached open agitation or sedition. A reference to a
statement of the Secretary of the Muslim League also points out
to the fundamental difference between the Congress and the Mus-
lim League: "We are not opposed to the social unity of the Hindus
and the Musalmans. . . . . . but the other type of unity (political)
involves the working out of common political purposes. This sort
of our unity with the Congress cannot be possible because we and
## p. 796 (#838) ############################################
796
PAKISTAN
>>
the Congressmen do not have common political objectives. They
indulge in acts calculated to weakening the British Government.
They want representative Government which means death for
Musalmans. They desire competitive examinations for employ-
ment in Government services and this would mean the deprivation
of Musalmans of Government jobs. Therefore we need not go
near political unity (with the Hindus). It is the aim of the League
to present Muslim demands through respectful requests before the
Government. They should, like Congressmen, cry for boycott, deli-
ver exciting speeches and write impertinent articles in newspapers
and hold meetings to turn public feeling and attitude against their
benign Government. In a letter to the President of the Deccan
Muslim League, His Highness the Aga Khan who was the Presi-
dent of the All India Muslim League, wrote thus: “Recognising, as
we must do, that British rule is essential to India—that it is the
only rule which can preserve us from internal anarchy and unsym-
pathetic foreign domination, that it is the only rule under which
India can march steadily along the paths of peace, contentment and
moral and intellectual progress by which we have advanced so far,
let us bend all our energy to making that rule strong in its hold
upon the imagination and affection of the people of India. ” The
founders of the Muslim League believed that "Musalmans have
their own traditions and ideals which constitute the common pro-
perty of Islam but which cannot wholly be identical with those of
any other community. Prominent among the ideals which sway
the ordinary Musalman is the conviction that nothing would com-
pensate him for the loss of conscious membership of the great Mus-
lim community of the world. ”
The first annual session of the All India Muslim League was held
at Karachi on 29 December, 1907. Karachi in Sind was delibe-
rately chosen for that purpose. “Sind is that pious place in India
“
where Muhammad Bin Qasim came first, with the torch of religion
and the gift of Hadis. No other place could appeal to our elders. ”
The President of the session made the following significant declara-
tion: “If a handful of men under a boy could teach Kalima to the
territory of Sind and promulgate the law of true Shariat of God
and His Rasul, can seven crores of Musalmans not make their social
and political life pleasant? ” The President also declared that he
was satisfied with the attitude of the Government towards the Mus-
lims. He hoped that at least 4 Musalmans would be taken in the
Imperial Council under the new reforms. He also cunveyed his
feelings of gratitude towards the Viceroy and the Government of
India in advance.
The All India Muslim League welcomed the Minto-Morley Re-
## p. 797 (#839) ############################################
MUSLIM POLITICS IN 1911-3
797
>
forms as they gave the Muslims what they had asked for. They
had got not only separate electorates for themselves but also the
reservation of seats with due weightage according to their position
in the politics of the country.
When Italy attacked Turkey to secure Tripoli in 1911, the Mus-
lims of India protested and requested the British Government to
come to the help of Turkey. To quote Maulana Mohammad Ali,
“It lies with England to say whether, through her support, Turkey
shall be strong (and it is only a strong Turkey that can carry
through a campaign of reforms), or whether through the defection
of Great Britain she must be weak and look elsewhere for salvation
that will be indefinitely delayed. ” Prayers were offered in mosques
for the successful termination of war in favour of Turkey. The
All India Muslim League passed the following resolutions: “(1) The
Council of the All India Muslims League voicing the feelings of
Indian Musalmans, places on record its deep abhorrence of Italy's
unjustifiable and high handed action in Tripoli and her flagrant
and unprecedented outrage on international morality, cordially
sympathises with Turkey in her undeserved troubles and admires
her magnanimity and dignified attitude throughout the crisis and
appeals to the Imperial Government to exercise its great, and un-
doubted influence as the greatest Muslim power and the traditional
ally of Turkey in the cause of peace and put an end to an unjust
and unconscionable War. (2) The Council of League advises
Musalmans to keep a dignified attitude and place implicit confi-
dence in the benevolence and good intentions of the Imperial Gov-
ernment and to try to raise suiiscriptions for the relief of sufferers
in the war. (3) The Council of the All India Muslim League ex-
pects Muslims throughout the country to boycott Italian goods of
all kinds. ”
The Muslims of India were once again put in an awkward posi-
tion as a result of the Balkan Wars of 1912-13. There was terrible
suffering in Turkey and appeals were issued for funds to help the
Muslims of Turkey. His Highness the Aga Khan sent his own
contribution of £2,000 to the British Red Crescent Fund. He
called upon the Muslims of India to suspend all their activities and
send help to Turkey. Maulana Shaukat Ali issued a call for volun-
teers. No Musalman was expected to be a silent spectator of the
struggle of his fellow Muslims in a just and noble cause.
The stu-
dents of the Aligarh College saved money from their food to be
sent to the Balkans. Their zeal was so great that the Lieutenant-
Governor of the United Provinces went to the Aligarh College and
advised the students to devote most of their time to studies and not
to ruin their health by starvation.
