Shafi also urged strongly for Muslim
majority
representation in the
Punjab and Bengal.
Punjab and Bengal.
Cambridge History of India - v4 - Indian Empire
In that rising, murders,
forcible conversions, desecrations of temples, outrages upon wo-
men, pillage, arson and destruction were prepetrated freely and as
might be expected, the barbarities practised had an immediate re-
action on Hindu-Muslim relations throughout India. In 1924,
there were communal troubles at Delhi, Gulbarga, Nagpur, Luck-
now, Shahjahanpur, Allahabad, Jubbalpore and Kohat. The
Kohat riots were the worst. A perusal of the report of the Kohat
outrages on 9 and 10 September 1924 “sends a thrill of horror
through the reader. We cannot view the events beyond saying that
after the shootings and carnage of the 9th and 10th September, a
special train had to remove 40C0 Hindus of whom 2600 were living
for two months afterwards on the charity of Rawalpindi and 1400
in other places. ” In order to protect themselves, the Hindus start-
ed the Shuddhi and Sangathan movements. Their objective was
purely defensive and these movements were not at all directed
against the Muslims but they nad the unfortunate effect of sepa-
rating the Hindus from the Niuslims. The Muslims also started
the Tabligh and Tanzim movements. The net result was that the
Hindo-Muslim unity disappeared.
It must be noticed that during the Khilafat movement, there
were many Muslims who were not happy at the idea of cooperation
between the Hindus and the Muslims. It appeared to them that
such a policy would take the Muslims away from the path laid
down by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. By working in cooperation with
the Hindus, the Muslims would lose their separate identity. No
wonder, the Ali Brothers were condemned by those Muslims. It
was contended that Shaukat Ali was responsible for installing
Mahatma Gandhi as Imam Mehdi. It was alleged that Moham-
mad Ali prostrated before Mahatma Gandhi and addressed him
as God.
It was intolerable to the orthodox Muslims that even the
topmost Muslims addressed Mahatma Gandhi as Sarkar. They
were also opposed to Charkha and Khaddar of Gandhi. At the
Calcutta Madrassah, Abdur Rahim stated on 12 March 1923:
## p. 804 (#846) ############################################
804
PAKISTAN
"One observation irresistibly occurs to me in this connection that
the new cult of the Charkha and the Khaddar, the symbol in the
non-cooperation movement employing as it does aloofness from the
world and an abandonment of all earnest effort to utilise the re-
sources of nature for ever-growing needs of an expanding humanity,
is repugnant to the entire spirit of Islam and the history of Islamic
civilisation. ” S. Khuda Baksh felt no hesitation in saying that "the
non-cooperation movement has meant a setback to Muslims in
India. It has drawn Muslims into perilous paths and has diverted
them from activities more useful and work more beneficial lying
before them in the domain of the arts and sciences, in the sphere of
law and politics. ” Allegations were made that the Ali Brothers
had embezzled large sums of money collected by them from the
public and they were asked to publish the accounts of all the subs-
criptions received by them.
Some Muslim historians have tried to show that Mahatma Gandhi
deliberately directed the Khilafat movement with the sole object
of causing the maximum harm to Muslim interests and Muslim
solidarity. The Muslims were already poor and backward and
by prevailing upon the Muslim lawyers and litigants to boycott the
courts and the Muslim students and teachers to boycott their
schools and colleges, the interests of the Muslims were adversely
affected. The Muslim community which was already economical-
ly and educationally backward was weakened still further. Even
the migration of Muslims from India in thousands was interpreted
as a trap set by Mahatma Gandhi. “The land of the Rishis was
being rid of the Malechhas! Here was the crux of Gandhi's pro-
gramme. Well might he rejoice over it! ” Another verdict was:
“Everything destructive of Musalmans had the Mahatmzic blessing
of Gandhi. ” It was also contended that while Mahatma Gandhi
called upon the Muslims to make tremendous sacrifices for the sake
of the Khilafat, he did not demand the same sacrifices from the
Hindus. However, it is pointed out that the Muslim leaders like
Abul Kalam Azad and Moham: nad Ali were responsible for exhort-
ing the Muslims to sacrifice their material possessions and interests
for the sake of Islam. To quote Azad, “Muslims should neither
think of politics nor education, should neither praise freedom nor
get entangled in the shackles of slavery. They are not supposed
to think or decide on these things. It was God who had to decide
on these things and He has decided. Their duty is cnly to act
strictly in accordance with the commands of God which are incor-
porated in the Quran. They should empty their minds of all
man-made ideas and national sentiments and surrender themselves
to the instruction and guidance of the Supreme Educator. If Islam
## p. 805 (#847) ############################################
THE KHILAFAT MOVEMENT
805
invites them to participate in politics, they should immediately get
involved in it. If it tells them to keep aloof, then they should
immediately withdraw from it If Islam says, that slavery and
sycophancy are the two real means to achieve welfare, then Mus-
lims should become living embodiments of slavery. If Islam says
that freedom and demanding one's rights are the only sources of
a nation's life and honour, then Muslim should immerse themselves
in the struggle for freedom. . . . . . Muslims have no desires of their
own, no plans, no policy. Their desire and policy is to act com-
pletely according to the dictates of Islam. ” Hence, this charge is
without any force.
It is unfortunate that the atmosphere in the country created by
the Khilafat movement did not last long and the forces working
against the country got the upper hand. During the Khilafat
days, the Hindus and the Muslims treated each other as brothers
and if that spirit of brotherhood had continued, not only the free-
dom of the country would have come earlier, there would not have
been any division of it. The failure only proves the weakness of
the nationalist spirit in the country.
What actually happened was that the Hindu-Muslim riots in
different parts of the country strained the relations between the
Hindus and the Muslims to such an extent that even at that time
certain leaders started talking about the division of the country on
communal lines. Maulana Hasrat Mohini suggested the establish-
ment of separate Muslim and Hindu states. Lala Lajpat Rai also
was worried about the situation in the country. He was of the
definite opinion that so long as the Muslims insisted on separate
electorates or separate representation which at that time formed
the central pivot of Muslim policy, there could be no united India.
His view was that a United India and communal representation
with separate electorates were absolutely irreconcilable. "Once
you accept communal representation with separate electorates, there
is no chance of its being ever abolished, without a civil war. . . . .
Communal representation with separate electorates is the most
effective reply to the demand for Swaraj and the surest way of
India never getting it. I have never been able to appreciate the
mentality of those who constantly talk of turning out the British
and at the same time insist on communal representation with sepa-
rate electorates. I really do not understand what they mean.
Referring to the demand of Maulana Hasarat Mohini for a sepa-
rate Muslim State in India, Lala Lajpat Rai made the following
suggestions: “Under my scheme the Muslims will have four Mus-
lim States: (1) the Pathan Province or the North-West Frontier;
(2) Western Punjab; (3) Sind; and (4) Eastern Bengal. If there
>
## p. 806 (#848) ############################################
806
PAKISTAN
are compact Muslim communities in any other part of India, suffi-
ciently large to form a province, they should be similarly constitut-
ed. But it should be distinctly understood that this is not a united
India. It means a clear partition of India into a Muslim India and
a non-Muslim India. "
At the Calcutta session of the All India Muslim League held in
December 1927, it was decided that the Council of the Muslim
League should appoint a Sub-Committee to confer with the Work-
ing Committee of the Indian National Congress and other organ-
izations with a view to drafting a Constitution for India. How-
ever, it was made clear that the Muslim League stood for certain
fundamental principles and those were the formation of a separate
Province of Sind, introduction of reforms in the N. W. F. P. and
Baluchistan on the same footing as in other Provinces. Unless and
until the above two proposals were implemented, the Muslims
would never surrender the right of their representation through
separate electorates in favour of joint electorates with reservation
of seats fixed in proportion to the population of different communi-
ties. Muslim representation in the Central Legislature would not
be less than one-third. Hindu minorities in Sind, Baluchistan and
the N. W. F. P. would be accorded the same concessions in the form
of reservation of seats over and above the proportion of their popu-
lation as the Muslims would get in the Hindu majority provinces.
In addition to provisions like religious freedom, there was to be a
further guarantee in the Constitution that on communal matters
no Bill or Resolution would be considered or passed if a three-
fourths majority of the members of the community concerned were
opposed to it. It is worthy of notice that there was no mention of
the Punjab or Bengal in the above mentioned proposals.
The policy of the British Government at that time was not to
allow the Muslims and the Hindus to unite. This is clear from
the following extract from a letter of Lord Birkenhead a ddressed to
a
Lord Irwin in February 1928: "I should advise Simon to see at
all stages important people who are not boycotting the Commis-
sion, particularly Moslems and the depressed classes. I should
widely advertise all his interviews with representative Moslems.
The whole policy is now obvious. It is to terrify the immense
Hindu population by the apprehension that the Commission having
been got hold of by the Moslems, may present a report altogether
destructive of the Hindu position, thereby securing a solid Moslem
support and leaving Jinnah high and dry. ” It is contended that
if the Congress had gone out of the way to come to a settlement
with Mr. Jinnah and accepted his demands, men like Mohd. Shafi
who were supported by the British Government, would have been
## p. 807 (#849) ############################################
NEHRU REPORT
807
isolated and the course of events in the country would have been
different. Unfortunately, the Nehru report failed to satisfy the
Muslims and the result was that the two factions in the Muslim
League led by Mohd. Shafi and Mr. Jinnah got united.
NEHRU REPORT
The Nehru Report accepted the Muslim demand for the forma-
tion of separate provinces of Sind and the North-West Frontier
Province. However, the Muslims were not given separate electo-
rates or weightage. Seats were reserved for the Muslims at the
Centre and also in those provinces in which they were in a minority.
No seats were reserved for the Muslims in the Punjab and Bengal.
There was to be a unitary Government in the country.
The All Parties National Convention met in Calcutta in the last
week of December 1928 to discuss the Nehru Report. Mr. Jinnah
who was at that time the President of the Muslim League, put
forward his famous fourteen points as amendments to the Nehru
Report in the open Session on 28 December, 1928. His basic
amendments were that the Muslims should have 33-1/3% of the
seats in the Central Legislature. The residuary powers should
vest in the Provinces and not in the Centre. The Muslims in the
Punjab and Bengal should be represented on the basis of popu-
lation for 10 years subject to a subsequent revision. However,
the amendments of Mr. Jinnah were not accepted. It is pointed
out that the difference was not a material one. The Nehru
Report had recommended 30% of the representation in the Central
Legislature to the Muslims and the latter were asking for 33-1/3%
cnly. Gandhiji was inclined to concede the additional 31-1/3%
seats but the others were not willing and hence the attempt failed.
This was going to have very serious consequences. Within a
week, the All India Muslim Conference was held in Delhi on 1
January, 1929 under the Presidentship of the Aga Khan. Many
resolutions were passed in that Conference. It was demanded
that the only form of Government suitable to Indian conditions
was a Federal system with complete autonomy and residuary po-
wers vested in the constituent States. The Muslims should not
be deprived of the right to elect their representatives through sepa-
rate electorates without their consent. The Muslims should con-
tinue to have weightage in the Hindu majority provinces and
they were willing to give the same privilage to the non-Muslim
minorities in Sind, the North-West Frontier Province and Baluchis-
tan. The Muslims should have their due share in the Central
and Provincial Cabinets.
The Muslim majority in all Muslim
## p. 808 (#850) ############################################
808
PAKISTAN
majority Provinces such as the Punjab and Bengal should not be
disturbed in any way.
At the meeting of the All India Muslim League held on 28
March, 1929, Mr. Jinnah moved a resolution that no scheme for the
future constitution of India would be acceptable to Muslims unless
and until his fourteen basic points were incorporated in it. The
form of the future Constitution should be Federal with the residuary
powers vested in the Provinces. A uniform measure of autonomy
must be granted to all provinces. All legislatures in the country
and other elected bodies must be constituted on the definite princi-
ple of adequate and effective representation of minorities in every
Province without reducing the majority in any province to a minority
or even equality. In the Central Legislature, Muslim represen-
tation must not be less than one-third. The representation of Com-
munal groups must continue to be by means of separate electorates
as at present. However, it was open to any community, at any
time, to abandon its separate electorate in favour of a joint elector-
ate. Any territorial redistribution that might at any time be neces-
sary shall not in any way affect the Muslim majority in the Punjab,
Bengal and the North-West Frontier Province. Full religious
liberty, i. e. , liberty of belief, worship and observance, propaganda,
association and education, shall be guaranteed to all communities.
No Bill or resolution or any part thereof shall be passed in any legis-
lature or any other elected body if three-fourths of the members of
any community in that particular body oppose such a Bill, resolu-
tion or part thereof on the ground that it would be injurious to the
interests of that community or in the alternative such other method
is devised as may be found feasible and practicable to deal with such
cases. Sind should be separated from the Bombay Presidency.
Reforms should be introduced in the North-West Frontier Province
and Baluchistan on the same footing as in other Provinces. Pro-
vision should be made in the Constitution giving the Muslims an
adequate share, alongwith other Indians, in all the services of the
State and in local self-governing bodies having due regard to the
requirements of efficiency. The Constitution should embody ade-
quate safeguards for the protection of Muslim culture and for the
protection and promotion of Muslim education, language, religion,
personal laws and Muslim charitable institutions and for their due
share in the grants-in-aid given by the States and local self-govern-
ing bodies. No Cabinet, either Central or Provincial, should be
formed without there being a proportion of at least one-third Muslim
Ministers. No change should be made in the Constitution by the
Central legislature except with the concurrence of the States con-
stituting the Indian Federation. These demands of Mr. Jinnah
## p. 809 (#851) ############################################
IQBAL AND PAKISTAN
809
were not accepted by the Indian National Congress. However,
these demands show a determination on the part of the Muslims to
safeguard what they considered to be their special interests. One
by one, the British Government conceded many of their demands
and ultimately the Muslims got in 1947 more than what they asked
for in 1929.
IQBAL AND PAKISTAN
over
Sir Muhammad Iqbal (1873–1938) presided
the
Allahabad Session of the All India Muslim League held in Decem-
ber 1930. In his presidential address, he advocated the establish-
ment of a separate Muslim state in India to safeguard the interests
of the Muslims. To quote him, “I would like to see the Punjab,
North-West Frontier Province, Sind and Baluchistan amalgamated
into a single State. Self-Government within the British Empire or
without the British Empire, the formation of a consolidated North-
West Indian Muslim State appears to me to be the final destiny of
the Muslims at least of North-West India. ” However, he was agree-
able to the exclusion of the Ambala Division and some other dis-
tricts predominantly peopled by the non-Muslims. Iqbal was think-
ing only of North-West India and not of Bengal. He was also
agreeable to the idea of the Noth-Western Muslim State forming a
part of the Indian Federation if residuary powers were left entirely
to the self-governing State. Iqbal gave the ideological basis of the
Muslim state in these words: “A community which is inspired by
feelings of ill-will towards other communities is low and ignoble.
I entertain the highest respect for the customs, laws, religious and
social institutions of other communities. . . . . Yet I love the com-
munal group which is the source of my life and my behaviour; and
which has formed me what I am by giving me its religion, its litera-
ture, its thought, its culture, and thereby re-creating its whole past,
as a living operative factor, in my present consciousness. ” In
categorical terms, Iqbal declared: "I therefore demand the for-
mation of a consolidated Muslim State in the best interests of India
and Islam. For India it means security and peace resulting from
an internal balance of power, for Islam an opportunity to rid itself
of the stamp that Arabian Imperialism was forced to give it, to
mobilize its law, its education, its culture and to bring them into
closer contact with its own original spirit and with the spirit of
modern times”. Iqbal concluded his address with these words:
"In the words of the Quran, ‘hold fast to yourself, no one who
erreth can hurt you provided you are well-guided'. ”
With the passage of time, the views of Iqbal about a separate Mus-
## p. 810 (#852) ############################################
810
PAKISTAN
lim State became more and more clear and firm. In one of his letters,
Iqbal wrote to Mr. Jinnah that the question of Muslim poverty could
be solved only by the law of Islam and that required the establish-
ment of a separate Muslim State. To quote him, “After a long and
careful study of Islamic law I have come to the conclusion that if
this system of law is properly understood and applied, at least the
right to subsistence is secured to every body. But the enforce-
ment and development of the Shariat of Islam is impossible in this
country without a free Muslim State or States". Iqbal firmly be-
lieved that the problem of bread for Muslims and peace of India
could not be solved without a separate territorial arrangement for
the Muslims. To quote him, “If such a thing is impossible in
India, the only other alternative is civil war which as a matter of
fact has been going on for some time in the shape of Hindu-Muslim
riots. I fear that in certain parts of the country, e. g. , N. W. India,
Palestine may be repeated”. In the same letter, Iqbal wrote to
Jinnah: “It is necessary to redistribute the country and to provide
one or more Muslim States without absolute majorities. Don't
you think that a time for such a demand has already arrived?
Perhaps this is the best reply you can give to the atheistic socialism
of Jawaharlal Nehru. ” Pointing to the Hindu-Muslim riots, Iqbal
concluded that injustice resulted to the Muslims and therefore a
separate home-land for them was needed. To quote him: "In these
circumstances, it is obvious that the only way to a peaceful India
is a redistribution of the country on the lines of racial, religious and
linguistic affinities. ” Iqbal tells us that Lord Lothian told him
“before I left England that my scheme was the only possible solu-
tion of the troubles of India, but that it would take twenty-five
years to come". Regarding the new Constitutional scheme, Iqbal
observed: "To my mind the new Constitution with its idea of a
single Indian Federation is completely hopeless. A separate feder-
ation of Muslim Provinces. . . . . is the only course by which we can
secure a peaceful India and save Muslims from the domination of
non-Muslims. Why should not the Muslims of North-West India
and Bengal be considered as Nations entitled to self-determination
just as other nations in India and outside India are? ”
Z. A. Suleri has rightly pointed out that the share of Iqbal in
shaping the destiny of the Indian Muslims was tremendous. As a
matter of fact, the entire Muslim intelligentsia who demanded
Pakistan was inspired by Iqbal.
ROUND TABLE CONFERENCES
At the Round Table Conferences held in London in 1930 and
## p. 811 (#853) ############################################
COMMUNAL AWARD
811
1931, the question of Muslim representation in the future legis-
latures came up for discussion. Sir Muhammad Shafi demanded
that the Muslims must get 33-1/3 per cent representation in the
Central Legislature. His contention was that although the Muslims
constituted a little over 25 per cent of the population of British
India, they were entitled to get weightage because they bore the
major burden for the defence of the country. The historical im-
portance of the Muslims should also be taken into consideration.
Shafi also urged strongly for Muslim majority representation in the
Punjab and Bengal. It is well-known that when Mahatma Gandhi
went to London in 1931 to attend the second Round Table Con-
ference, he tried his best to arrive at a settlement with the Muslims
on the question of their representation and he went to the extent
of giving Mr. Jinnah a blank cheque to write whatever he pleased.
However, no agreement was arrived at and Mahatma Gandhi left
the Conference in disgust. A representative body of the delegates
to the Round Table Conference continued their efforts at Simla to
arrive at an agreement on the communal question bui they also
failed.
COMMUNAL AWARD
On 16 August, 1932, Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald
gave his famous Communal Award. Regarding separate elector-
ates, the Prime Minister observed that "Government had to face
facts as they are, and must maintain this exceptional form of re-
presentation”. The Muslims were given the following represen-
tation in the various provinces:-
Province
Muslim Total
Percentage Number
of Population of Seats
Number
of Seats
Reserved
for
Muslims
7. 9
9. 2
Madras
Bombay excluding Sind
Bengal
The United Provinces
The Punjab
The Central Provinces
Assam
Sind
NW. F. Prov
Bihar and Orissa
215
175
250
228
175
112
108
60
50
175
29
30
119
66
86
14
54 7
15. 3
570
4. 7
33. 7
70. 7
91 8
108
34
34
36
42
The Communal Award was in keeping with the British policy
of "divide and rule”. If the Muslinis were to vote only for the
## p. 812 (#854) ############################################
812
PAKISTAN
Muslims and the Muslim Legislators had to look to the Muslim
voters alone, there could be no good relations between the Muslims
and the Hindus and with the passage of time, the two communities
were bound to be away from each other. The final outcome could
be only separation and that actually happened in 1947. It was
this Communal Award which enabled Mr. Jinnah to appeal to the
Muslim voters in the name of Islam and Pakistan. The British
Government and British bureaucracy in India could do no greater
disservice to India than this Communal Award. It can be pointed
out that the so-called Muslim interests could be safeguarded by
reserving a certain number of seats for them but without separate
Muslim electorates. In that case, the Muslims would have been
returned to the legislatures to protect the Muslim interest but they
would have been elected by voters who were not only Muslims but
also Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, etc. In this manner, the evil of
communalism would have been avoided. But that could happen
cnly if the British Government and its officials were anxious to
maintain the unity of India. The fact is that many of them were
not.
RAHMAT ALI AND PAKISTAN
Choudhry Rahmat Ali is considered to be the originator of the
word Pakistan. The word was first used in a small leaflet entitled
"Now or Never,” published in January, 1933 and signed by Rahmat
Ali Choudhry and three other students in Cambridge. Rahmat
Ali tells us that one fine sunny morning, while taking a ride in one
of the omnibuses of London, he conceived a suitable nomenclature
for the Northern Independent Muslim State. Taking P from the
Punjab, A from Afghan (North-West Frontier Province), K from
Kashmir, S from Sind and Tan from Baluchistan, he coined the
word Pakistan. Chowdhry Rahmat Ali wrote in 1947: “ 'Pakistan'
is both a Persian and an Urdu word. It is composed of letters
taken from the names of all our homelands-'Indian' and 'Asian. '
That is, Punjab, Afghania (North-West Frontier Province), Kash-
mir, Iran, Sindh (including Kachch and Kathiawar), Tukharis-
tan, Arghanistan and Baluchistan. It means the lands of the Paks-
the spiritually pure and clean. It symbolizes the religious beliefs
and the ethnical stocks of our people; and it stands for all the terri-
torial constituents of our original Fatherland. It has no other
origin and no other meaning; and it does not admit of any other
interpretation. "
There is basic difference between the scheme of Iqbal and that
of Rahmat Ali. Unlike Iqbal, the provinces of Rahmat Ali's
>
## p. 813 (#855) ############################################
MUSLIM POLITICS (1933—7)
813
Pakistan were to have a separate federation of their own. Rahmat
Ali published a map of India which showed three Independent
Muslim Nations forming a triple alliance, viz. , Pakistan in the
North-West, Bang-I-Islam consisting of Bengal and Assam in the
North-East and Usmanistan in the South formed by the State of
Hyderabad. Iqbal was willing to exclude the Ambala Division
from the Punjab which was to form a part of the Muslim State.
CENTRAL ASSEMBLY
Toward the end of 1934, elections were held for the Central
Legislative Assembly. The Congress won 44 seats, Congress
Nationalists 11, Independents 22, Europeans 11, Officials 26 and
nominated members 13. With the support of the Europeans, offi-
cials and nominated members, the Government could secure the
help of 50 members only. On the other hand, the total strength
of the Congressmen and Congress Nationalists was 55. The result
was that the Muslims under the leadership of Mr. Jinnah held the
balance between two blocs. When the Report of the Joint Select
Committee came for discussion in the Central Assembly in February,
1935, the Congress demanded that the recommendations of the
Report should be rejected completely because they were no more
than the usual imperialist device to deprive the Indian people of the
power to assume charge of their affairs. The Congress motion
was lost by 72 to 61. Mr. Jinnah himself moved three resolutions
in the Central Assembly and those were carried with the support
of the Congress. The first resolution accepted the Communal
Award until the Indians by mutual agreement, could put forward
another scheme. The second resolution criticised the nature of
provincial autonomy but conceded that it represented a real ad-
vance as the scope of provincial autonomy was more than that of
dyarchy. The third resolution dealt with the All-India Federation
which was to be established in the future. To quote Jinnah, “I
believed that it means nothing but the absolute sacrifice of all that
British India has stood for and developed in the last 50 years in
the method of progress in the representative form of Government. ”
PROVINCIAL ELECTIONS
As the princes were not willing to join the All-India Federation
provided in the Government of India Act, 1935, the British Gov-
ernment decided to inaugurate the provincial part of t’e Act and
elections were actually held in the beginning of 1937. Mr. Jinnah
had been away from India for more than 2 years (1933-6). In
## p. 814 (#856) ############################################
814
PAKISTAN
the Bombay session of the All-India Muslim League held in April
1936, Mr. Jinnah was empowered to constitute a Central Election
Board under his own presidentship to fight the provincial elections.
In his election speeches, Mr. Jinnah emphasized the point that the
Congress should not challenge the position of the Muslim League
as the only representative organisation of the Muslims and it should
campaign itself only to the Hindus. While inaugurating the Mus-
iim League election campaign in Bengal Mr. Jinnah declared: “I
warn my Hindu friends and the Congress to leave the Moslems
alone. We have made it clear and we mean it that we are ready
and willing to co-operate with any group or groups of progressive
and independent character, provided that their programme and
our programme are approximately the same. We are not going to
be the camp followers of any party or organization. Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru is reported to have said in Calcutta that there
are only two parties in the country, namely, the Government and
the Congress, and the others must line up. I refuse to line up with
the Congress. There is a third party in this country and that is
the Moslems. We are not going to be dictated to by anybody. "
Jawaharlal Nehru did not like this assertion of Mr. Jinnah as he
believed that the economic interests of the Hindus and the Mus-
lims were the same. To quote him, “I come into greater touch
with the Moslem masses than most of the members of ihe Muslim
League. I know more about their hunger and poverty and misery
than those who talk in terms of percentages and seats in the Coun-
cils and places in the State service. "
When the results of the elections for Provincial Assemblies were
declared, it was found that out of a total of 1,585 seats, the Con-
gress was able to capture 711 and out of them, only 26 were
Muslim seats. Out of 489 Muslim seats, the Muslim League
was able to capture only 104 seats. It is worthy of notice that the
Muslim League was popular in ihose provinces in which the Hindus
were in majority and not so in those provinces where the Muslims
were in majority. In Bengal, out of 119 Muslim seats, it was
able to capture 37 seats only. In the Punjab, out of 86 Muslim
seats, the League got only 1 seat. In the North-Western Frontier
Province and Sind, the Muslim League did not win even one seat. '
FORMATION OF CONGRESS MINISTRIES AND MUSLIM LEAGUE
After the elections were over, the Congress was able to form min-
istries in seven and later on eight provinces. In the case of U. P. ,
the Congress and League had fought the elections on a common
platform. It was understood that the Muslim League would be
## p. 815 (#857) ############################################
MUSLIM LEAGUE AND CONGRESS MINISTRIES 815
offered two places in the ministry. Out of 64 Muslim seats, the
League had won 24, Independent Muslims 30, the National Agri-
cultural Party 9 and the Congress only 1. One view is that the
Muslim League was not prepared to allow its members to join the
Congress ministry because the Congress demanded the complete
merger of the Muslim League Party in the Congress Party. It
also demanded that the Muslim League Parliamentary Board should
be dissolved and no candidate should be set up by the Board in
any later by-election. The point of the Congress was that such
terms were necessary for the purpose of maintaining discipline
among the members of the ministry. Mr. Jinnah declared that
the Congress was “drunk with victory. ” He also considered those
terms "as a direct rebuff” and declared that "the Muslims can
expect neither justice nor fairplay under Congress Government. ”
He attacked the Congress as a Fascist Hindu body which was out
to crush all other parties in the country, particularly the Muslim
League.
Maulana Abul Kalam tells us that the Muslim League refused
to join the U. P. Ministry because Jawaharlal Nehru had written
to Choudhry Khaliquzzaman, the Muslim League leader of the
United Provinces, that the Muslim League could get only one
place in the ministry. That was not acceptable to the Muslim League
because the local political situation was such that both Choudhry
Khaliquzzaman, and Nawab Ismail Khan had to be taken into
the Government. As the Congress was offering only one seat, it
was not possible for the Muslim League to join the ministry. On
this point, Brailsford observes: “On the eve of the elections of 1937
in the United Provinces, a leading Muslim politician who had hither-
to belonged to the Congress Party deserted it, because he thought
he would be defeated and went
over to the Muslim League
with his following. He was mistaken: the Congress was victorious
and formed the Ministry. This man asked to be taken back to the
fold and also to be rewarded with a cabinet post. Very naturally,
but perhaps unwisely, the Congress refused—as any British party
in a like case would have done. The consequences were unfor-
tunate and to the English mind astounding. The Muslim League
redoubled its attacks on the Congress and on the strength of this
and similar cases accused it of being a totalitarian party which
sought to monopolise power. ” (Subject India, p. 83).
Jawaharlal Nehru tells us that he was not anxious to include
the League members in the Congress Ministries as they were big
landlords and the Congress was determined to carry out its prog-
ramme of agrarian reforms and the Muslim Leaguers were bound
to oppose the same.
## p. 816 (#858) ############################################
816
PAKISTAN
MASS CONTACT MOVEMENT
>
At this time, the Congress launched the Mass Contact Move-
ment whose object was to win over the Muslims to the Congress
fold. In his presidential address to the All India National Con-
vention held at Delhi on 19 March, 1937, Jawaharlal Nehru
"attributed the failure of the Congress to capture Muslim seats
to neglect of work among the Muslim masses and said that it was
now for us to go ahead and welcome the Muslim masses and
intelligentsia to our great organisation. ” On reading this news,
Sir Muhammad Iqbal wrote a confidential letter to Mr. Jinnah
on 20 March, 1937 from Lahore. In that letter, Iqbal observed:
“I suppose you have read Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru's address to the
All-India National Convention and that you realise the policy
underlying it in so far as Indian Muslims are concerned. . . . . . I
therefore suggest that an effective reply should be given to the
All-India National Convention. . . . To this Convention you must
restate as clearly and as strongly as possible the political objective
of the Indian Muslims as a distinct political unit in the country. ”
This was actually done by Mr. Jinnah while presiding over the
Lucknow Session of the Muslim League held in October 1937.
Jinnah's words were: “I want the Muslims to ponder over the
situation and decide their fate by having one single, definite uni-
form policy which should be loyally followed throughout India. ”
LUCKNOW SESSION OF LEAGUE
The Lucknow Session of the Muslim League held in October,
1937 is very important for the Muslim League as it was in this
session that Sir Sikander Hyat Khan, Premier of the Punjab, Fazl-
ul-Huq, Premier of Bengal and Sir Muhammad Saaduallah, Pre-
mier of Assam declared that they were going to advise the Muslim
Members of their political parties to joint the Muslim League. It
is pointed out that soon after the League Session at Lucknow in
October, 1937, as many as 90 branches of the League were es-
tablished in the United Provinces and 40 in the Punjab. Nearly
100,000 new members were enrolled in the United Provinces. Mr.
Jinnah was helped in his task by the Muslim students from Ali-
garh and village Mullahs who saw in the Congress Muslim mass
contact campaign a threat to their own authority.
The Muslim League became aggressive. It debarred from its
membership those persons who were also the members of the Con-
gress. Even disciplinary action was taken against them. Wazir
Hassan and Yakub Khan left Muslim League in disgust. In
## p. 817 (#859) ############################################
LEAGUE PROPAGANDA AGAINST CONGRESS 817
his letter addressed to the President of the Muslim League, Wazir
Hasan wrote: “I, therefore, take leave of you, deploring the ruinous
path of disunity and separation which is being shown to our people
to follow now. I am confident that the true interests of the Muslims
of India lie not that way but in the closest unity with Indian
National Congress. ” Yakub Khan declared: “I have resolved to
devote all my spare time to the service of Islam and the Muslim
Community. This I intend doing by organising Indian Mussalmans
on healthier lines of harmony and goodwill towards their fellow
nationals in India. ”
LEAGUE PROPAGANDA AGAINST CONGRESS MINISTRIES
a
Mr. Jinnah also began to attack the Congress and the Congress
Ministries. He alleged that malicious propaganda was being carried
on against the Muslim League with a view to discredit it. In his
presidential address to a special session of the Muslim League held
on 17 and 18 April, 1938, Mr. Jinnah objected to the use of Bande
Matram song in the legislatures. Referring to the Congress Gov-
ernments, Mr. Jinnah observed: “They are pursuing a policy
making Hindi a compulsory language, which must. . . . destroy. . . .
the spread of the development of Urdu and what is worse still is
that Hindi with its Hindu Sanskritous literature and philosophy
and ideals will and must necessarily be forced upon the Muslim
children and students”. He also alleged that serious difficulties
were being placed in the way of the Muslims enjoying religious
freedom. He was obsessed with the idea of Hindu Raj and he de-
clared that all notions and dreams of such a Raj “must be abandon-
ed”. While presiding over the Patna session of All-India Muslim
League held from 26 to 29 December, 1938, Mr. Jinnah con-
demned the Wardha Education Scheme and Vidya Mandir Scheme
and ridiculed Mahatma Gandhi as their author. To quote Mr.
Jinnah, “The genius behind these was Mr. Gandhi and it was Mr.
Gandhi alone who described the very ideals with which the Con-
gress started its career and converted it into a communal Hindu
body, with a view to a revival and propagation of Hindu culture. ”
While speaking at the Sindh Muslim League Conference held on 8
October, 1938, Mr. Jinnah observed: “The Congress is fighting for
domination over the Muslims. It is rank madness but that has
seized the Congress and it is against that design--that mad ideal--
that I have rebelled. ”
The Muslims condemned the Vidya Mandir Scheme of the
Central Provinces. Their contention was that the word Mandir
was a Hindu name. For the Muslims, a Hindu temple was a place
## p. 818 (#860) ############################################
818
PAKISTAN
where idols were worshipped and that was a deliberate affront to
Islam which condemned Idolatry. Moreover, the Vidya Mandir
schools were managed by committees elected on joint electorates.
The complaint of the Muslims was that no provision was made for
separate Muslim schools or for the training of Urdu speaking
teachers. The Muslims of the Central Provinces went to the ex-
tent of resorting to direct action against the Vidya Mandir Scheme.
The Muslim League condemned the Bande Mataram as the na-
tional anthem. It characterized the anthem as “positively anti-Isla-
mic and idolatrous in its inspiration and ideas. ” The Muslim League
appointed an inquiry Committee to find out the grievances of the
Mussalmans in the Congress Provinces. The report was publish-
ed towards the end of 1938 and came to be known as the Pirpur
Report after the name of its chairman, Rajya Sayyid Muhammad
Mahdi of Pirpur. The Report attacked the “closed door” policy
of the Congress and declared that Parliamentary Government was
not workable in India. It was alleged that in the matter of public
appointments due regard was not paid to the size and importance
of the Muslim Community in India. It was alleged that “the flag,
the anthem, the reverence paid to Mr. Gandhi, the emphasis laid
by the Mahatma himself on cow protection, all these are evidence
of a deliberate and far-reaching attack on the civic and cultural
rights of the Muslim Community, but its most insidious feature is
the attempt to extend the use of Hindi at the expense of Urdu. ”
The Working Committee of the Bihar Muslim Leaguc appointed
an enquiry committee and the report submitted by it came to be
known as the Shareef Report after the name of its draftman, Mr. S.
M. Shareef. This Committee was set up to enquire into the grie-
vances of the Bihar Muslims and its Report embodied allegations
of a very serious nature, although there was no substance in them.
After the resignation of the Congress Ministries in October-
November, 1939, Fazl-ul-Huq issued a statement to the press and
later on the same was embodied in a pamphlet entitled "Muslim
Sufferings under Congress Rule”. This contained stories which
had absolutely no truth in them. In 1946, a book entitled “It
Shall Never Happen Again” was published by the Muslim League.
It covered 32 articles from the Dawn and it referred to the alleged
sufferings of the Muslims in the Congress-governed Provinces. It
was stated there that the principal sufferers were the Muslims and
that was due to the deliberate policy followed by the Congress.
All sorts of cock and bull stories were given in that book. Re-
ferring to their attack on Tirath Bazar, Sitapur, it was stated that
about 400 Hindus armed with Lathies, swords, spears and other
deadly weapons appeared on the scene with cries of "Gandhi
## p. 819 (#861) ############################################
LEAGUE PROPAGANDA AGAINST CONGRESS
819
Mahatma ki Jai” and suddenly attacked the Muslim shopkeepers
and looted and plundered their goods. It was also alleged that the
prominent Congress Leaders of the place took a leading part in
the loot and plunder. About Banaras it was said that the leading
Congressmen including the President and secretary of the city
Congress Committee and the two Central M.
forcible conversions, desecrations of temples, outrages upon wo-
men, pillage, arson and destruction were prepetrated freely and as
might be expected, the barbarities practised had an immediate re-
action on Hindu-Muslim relations throughout India. In 1924,
there were communal troubles at Delhi, Gulbarga, Nagpur, Luck-
now, Shahjahanpur, Allahabad, Jubbalpore and Kohat. The
Kohat riots were the worst. A perusal of the report of the Kohat
outrages on 9 and 10 September 1924 “sends a thrill of horror
through the reader. We cannot view the events beyond saying that
after the shootings and carnage of the 9th and 10th September, a
special train had to remove 40C0 Hindus of whom 2600 were living
for two months afterwards on the charity of Rawalpindi and 1400
in other places. ” In order to protect themselves, the Hindus start-
ed the Shuddhi and Sangathan movements. Their objective was
purely defensive and these movements were not at all directed
against the Muslims but they nad the unfortunate effect of sepa-
rating the Hindus from the Niuslims. The Muslims also started
the Tabligh and Tanzim movements. The net result was that the
Hindo-Muslim unity disappeared.
It must be noticed that during the Khilafat movement, there
were many Muslims who were not happy at the idea of cooperation
between the Hindus and the Muslims. It appeared to them that
such a policy would take the Muslims away from the path laid
down by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. By working in cooperation with
the Hindus, the Muslims would lose their separate identity. No
wonder, the Ali Brothers were condemned by those Muslims. It
was contended that Shaukat Ali was responsible for installing
Mahatma Gandhi as Imam Mehdi. It was alleged that Moham-
mad Ali prostrated before Mahatma Gandhi and addressed him
as God.
It was intolerable to the orthodox Muslims that even the
topmost Muslims addressed Mahatma Gandhi as Sarkar. They
were also opposed to Charkha and Khaddar of Gandhi. At the
Calcutta Madrassah, Abdur Rahim stated on 12 March 1923:
## p. 804 (#846) ############################################
804
PAKISTAN
"One observation irresistibly occurs to me in this connection that
the new cult of the Charkha and the Khaddar, the symbol in the
non-cooperation movement employing as it does aloofness from the
world and an abandonment of all earnest effort to utilise the re-
sources of nature for ever-growing needs of an expanding humanity,
is repugnant to the entire spirit of Islam and the history of Islamic
civilisation. ” S. Khuda Baksh felt no hesitation in saying that "the
non-cooperation movement has meant a setback to Muslims in
India. It has drawn Muslims into perilous paths and has diverted
them from activities more useful and work more beneficial lying
before them in the domain of the arts and sciences, in the sphere of
law and politics. ” Allegations were made that the Ali Brothers
had embezzled large sums of money collected by them from the
public and they were asked to publish the accounts of all the subs-
criptions received by them.
Some Muslim historians have tried to show that Mahatma Gandhi
deliberately directed the Khilafat movement with the sole object
of causing the maximum harm to Muslim interests and Muslim
solidarity. The Muslims were already poor and backward and
by prevailing upon the Muslim lawyers and litigants to boycott the
courts and the Muslim students and teachers to boycott their
schools and colleges, the interests of the Muslims were adversely
affected. The Muslim community which was already economical-
ly and educationally backward was weakened still further. Even
the migration of Muslims from India in thousands was interpreted
as a trap set by Mahatma Gandhi. “The land of the Rishis was
being rid of the Malechhas! Here was the crux of Gandhi's pro-
gramme. Well might he rejoice over it! ” Another verdict was:
“Everything destructive of Musalmans had the Mahatmzic blessing
of Gandhi. ” It was also contended that while Mahatma Gandhi
called upon the Muslims to make tremendous sacrifices for the sake
of the Khilafat, he did not demand the same sacrifices from the
Hindus. However, it is pointed out that the Muslim leaders like
Abul Kalam Azad and Moham: nad Ali were responsible for exhort-
ing the Muslims to sacrifice their material possessions and interests
for the sake of Islam. To quote Azad, “Muslims should neither
think of politics nor education, should neither praise freedom nor
get entangled in the shackles of slavery. They are not supposed
to think or decide on these things. It was God who had to decide
on these things and He has decided. Their duty is cnly to act
strictly in accordance with the commands of God which are incor-
porated in the Quran. They should empty their minds of all
man-made ideas and national sentiments and surrender themselves
to the instruction and guidance of the Supreme Educator. If Islam
## p. 805 (#847) ############################################
THE KHILAFAT MOVEMENT
805
invites them to participate in politics, they should immediately get
involved in it. If it tells them to keep aloof, then they should
immediately withdraw from it If Islam says, that slavery and
sycophancy are the two real means to achieve welfare, then Mus-
lims should become living embodiments of slavery. If Islam says
that freedom and demanding one's rights are the only sources of
a nation's life and honour, then Muslim should immerse themselves
in the struggle for freedom. . . . . . Muslims have no desires of their
own, no plans, no policy. Their desire and policy is to act com-
pletely according to the dictates of Islam. ” Hence, this charge is
without any force.
It is unfortunate that the atmosphere in the country created by
the Khilafat movement did not last long and the forces working
against the country got the upper hand. During the Khilafat
days, the Hindus and the Muslims treated each other as brothers
and if that spirit of brotherhood had continued, not only the free-
dom of the country would have come earlier, there would not have
been any division of it. The failure only proves the weakness of
the nationalist spirit in the country.
What actually happened was that the Hindu-Muslim riots in
different parts of the country strained the relations between the
Hindus and the Muslims to such an extent that even at that time
certain leaders started talking about the division of the country on
communal lines. Maulana Hasrat Mohini suggested the establish-
ment of separate Muslim and Hindu states. Lala Lajpat Rai also
was worried about the situation in the country. He was of the
definite opinion that so long as the Muslims insisted on separate
electorates or separate representation which at that time formed
the central pivot of Muslim policy, there could be no united India.
His view was that a United India and communal representation
with separate electorates were absolutely irreconcilable. "Once
you accept communal representation with separate electorates, there
is no chance of its being ever abolished, without a civil war. . . . .
Communal representation with separate electorates is the most
effective reply to the demand for Swaraj and the surest way of
India never getting it. I have never been able to appreciate the
mentality of those who constantly talk of turning out the British
and at the same time insist on communal representation with sepa-
rate electorates. I really do not understand what they mean.
Referring to the demand of Maulana Hasarat Mohini for a sepa-
rate Muslim State in India, Lala Lajpat Rai made the following
suggestions: “Under my scheme the Muslims will have four Mus-
lim States: (1) the Pathan Province or the North-West Frontier;
(2) Western Punjab; (3) Sind; and (4) Eastern Bengal. If there
>
## p. 806 (#848) ############################################
806
PAKISTAN
are compact Muslim communities in any other part of India, suffi-
ciently large to form a province, they should be similarly constitut-
ed. But it should be distinctly understood that this is not a united
India. It means a clear partition of India into a Muslim India and
a non-Muslim India. "
At the Calcutta session of the All India Muslim League held in
December 1927, it was decided that the Council of the Muslim
League should appoint a Sub-Committee to confer with the Work-
ing Committee of the Indian National Congress and other organ-
izations with a view to drafting a Constitution for India. How-
ever, it was made clear that the Muslim League stood for certain
fundamental principles and those were the formation of a separate
Province of Sind, introduction of reforms in the N. W. F. P. and
Baluchistan on the same footing as in other Provinces. Unless and
until the above two proposals were implemented, the Muslims
would never surrender the right of their representation through
separate electorates in favour of joint electorates with reservation
of seats fixed in proportion to the population of different communi-
ties. Muslim representation in the Central Legislature would not
be less than one-third. Hindu minorities in Sind, Baluchistan and
the N. W. F. P. would be accorded the same concessions in the form
of reservation of seats over and above the proportion of their popu-
lation as the Muslims would get in the Hindu majority provinces.
In addition to provisions like religious freedom, there was to be a
further guarantee in the Constitution that on communal matters
no Bill or Resolution would be considered or passed if a three-
fourths majority of the members of the community concerned were
opposed to it. It is worthy of notice that there was no mention of
the Punjab or Bengal in the above mentioned proposals.
The policy of the British Government at that time was not to
allow the Muslims and the Hindus to unite. This is clear from
the following extract from a letter of Lord Birkenhead a ddressed to
a
Lord Irwin in February 1928: "I should advise Simon to see at
all stages important people who are not boycotting the Commis-
sion, particularly Moslems and the depressed classes. I should
widely advertise all his interviews with representative Moslems.
The whole policy is now obvious. It is to terrify the immense
Hindu population by the apprehension that the Commission having
been got hold of by the Moslems, may present a report altogether
destructive of the Hindu position, thereby securing a solid Moslem
support and leaving Jinnah high and dry. ” It is contended that
if the Congress had gone out of the way to come to a settlement
with Mr. Jinnah and accepted his demands, men like Mohd. Shafi
who were supported by the British Government, would have been
## p. 807 (#849) ############################################
NEHRU REPORT
807
isolated and the course of events in the country would have been
different. Unfortunately, the Nehru report failed to satisfy the
Muslims and the result was that the two factions in the Muslim
League led by Mohd. Shafi and Mr. Jinnah got united.
NEHRU REPORT
The Nehru Report accepted the Muslim demand for the forma-
tion of separate provinces of Sind and the North-West Frontier
Province. However, the Muslims were not given separate electo-
rates or weightage. Seats were reserved for the Muslims at the
Centre and also in those provinces in which they were in a minority.
No seats were reserved for the Muslims in the Punjab and Bengal.
There was to be a unitary Government in the country.
The All Parties National Convention met in Calcutta in the last
week of December 1928 to discuss the Nehru Report. Mr. Jinnah
who was at that time the President of the Muslim League, put
forward his famous fourteen points as amendments to the Nehru
Report in the open Session on 28 December, 1928. His basic
amendments were that the Muslims should have 33-1/3% of the
seats in the Central Legislature. The residuary powers should
vest in the Provinces and not in the Centre. The Muslims in the
Punjab and Bengal should be represented on the basis of popu-
lation for 10 years subject to a subsequent revision. However,
the amendments of Mr. Jinnah were not accepted. It is pointed
out that the difference was not a material one. The Nehru
Report had recommended 30% of the representation in the Central
Legislature to the Muslims and the latter were asking for 33-1/3%
cnly. Gandhiji was inclined to concede the additional 31-1/3%
seats but the others were not willing and hence the attempt failed.
This was going to have very serious consequences. Within a
week, the All India Muslim Conference was held in Delhi on 1
January, 1929 under the Presidentship of the Aga Khan. Many
resolutions were passed in that Conference. It was demanded
that the only form of Government suitable to Indian conditions
was a Federal system with complete autonomy and residuary po-
wers vested in the constituent States. The Muslims should not
be deprived of the right to elect their representatives through sepa-
rate electorates without their consent. The Muslims should con-
tinue to have weightage in the Hindu majority provinces and
they were willing to give the same privilage to the non-Muslim
minorities in Sind, the North-West Frontier Province and Baluchis-
tan. The Muslims should have their due share in the Central
and Provincial Cabinets.
The Muslim majority in all Muslim
## p. 808 (#850) ############################################
808
PAKISTAN
majority Provinces such as the Punjab and Bengal should not be
disturbed in any way.
At the meeting of the All India Muslim League held on 28
March, 1929, Mr. Jinnah moved a resolution that no scheme for the
future constitution of India would be acceptable to Muslims unless
and until his fourteen basic points were incorporated in it. The
form of the future Constitution should be Federal with the residuary
powers vested in the Provinces. A uniform measure of autonomy
must be granted to all provinces. All legislatures in the country
and other elected bodies must be constituted on the definite princi-
ple of adequate and effective representation of minorities in every
Province without reducing the majority in any province to a minority
or even equality. In the Central Legislature, Muslim represen-
tation must not be less than one-third. The representation of Com-
munal groups must continue to be by means of separate electorates
as at present. However, it was open to any community, at any
time, to abandon its separate electorate in favour of a joint elector-
ate. Any territorial redistribution that might at any time be neces-
sary shall not in any way affect the Muslim majority in the Punjab,
Bengal and the North-West Frontier Province. Full religious
liberty, i. e. , liberty of belief, worship and observance, propaganda,
association and education, shall be guaranteed to all communities.
No Bill or resolution or any part thereof shall be passed in any legis-
lature or any other elected body if three-fourths of the members of
any community in that particular body oppose such a Bill, resolu-
tion or part thereof on the ground that it would be injurious to the
interests of that community or in the alternative such other method
is devised as may be found feasible and practicable to deal with such
cases. Sind should be separated from the Bombay Presidency.
Reforms should be introduced in the North-West Frontier Province
and Baluchistan on the same footing as in other Provinces. Pro-
vision should be made in the Constitution giving the Muslims an
adequate share, alongwith other Indians, in all the services of the
State and in local self-governing bodies having due regard to the
requirements of efficiency. The Constitution should embody ade-
quate safeguards for the protection of Muslim culture and for the
protection and promotion of Muslim education, language, religion,
personal laws and Muslim charitable institutions and for their due
share in the grants-in-aid given by the States and local self-govern-
ing bodies. No Cabinet, either Central or Provincial, should be
formed without there being a proportion of at least one-third Muslim
Ministers. No change should be made in the Constitution by the
Central legislature except with the concurrence of the States con-
stituting the Indian Federation. These demands of Mr. Jinnah
## p. 809 (#851) ############################################
IQBAL AND PAKISTAN
809
were not accepted by the Indian National Congress. However,
these demands show a determination on the part of the Muslims to
safeguard what they considered to be their special interests. One
by one, the British Government conceded many of their demands
and ultimately the Muslims got in 1947 more than what they asked
for in 1929.
IQBAL AND PAKISTAN
over
Sir Muhammad Iqbal (1873–1938) presided
the
Allahabad Session of the All India Muslim League held in Decem-
ber 1930. In his presidential address, he advocated the establish-
ment of a separate Muslim state in India to safeguard the interests
of the Muslims. To quote him, “I would like to see the Punjab,
North-West Frontier Province, Sind and Baluchistan amalgamated
into a single State. Self-Government within the British Empire or
without the British Empire, the formation of a consolidated North-
West Indian Muslim State appears to me to be the final destiny of
the Muslims at least of North-West India. ” However, he was agree-
able to the exclusion of the Ambala Division and some other dis-
tricts predominantly peopled by the non-Muslims. Iqbal was think-
ing only of North-West India and not of Bengal. He was also
agreeable to the idea of the Noth-Western Muslim State forming a
part of the Indian Federation if residuary powers were left entirely
to the self-governing State. Iqbal gave the ideological basis of the
Muslim state in these words: “A community which is inspired by
feelings of ill-will towards other communities is low and ignoble.
I entertain the highest respect for the customs, laws, religious and
social institutions of other communities. . . . . Yet I love the com-
munal group which is the source of my life and my behaviour; and
which has formed me what I am by giving me its religion, its litera-
ture, its thought, its culture, and thereby re-creating its whole past,
as a living operative factor, in my present consciousness. ” In
categorical terms, Iqbal declared: "I therefore demand the for-
mation of a consolidated Muslim State in the best interests of India
and Islam. For India it means security and peace resulting from
an internal balance of power, for Islam an opportunity to rid itself
of the stamp that Arabian Imperialism was forced to give it, to
mobilize its law, its education, its culture and to bring them into
closer contact with its own original spirit and with the spirit of
modern times”. Iqbal concluded his address with these words:
"In the words of the Quran, ‘hold fast to yourself, no one who
erreth can hurt you provided you are well-guided'. ”
With the passage of time, the views of Iqbal about a separate Mus-
## p. 810 (#852) ############################################
810
PAKISTAN
lim State became more and more clear and firm. In one of his letters,
Iqbal wrote to Mr. Jinnah that the question of Muslim poverty could
be solved only by the law of Islam and that required the establish-
ment of a separate Muslim State. To quote him, “After a long and
careful study of Islamic law I have come to the conclusion that if
this system of law is properly understood and applied, at least the
right to subsistence is secured to every body. But the enforce-
ment and development of the Shariat of Islam is impossible in this
country without a free Muslim State or States". Iqbal firmly be-
lieved that the problem of bread for Muslims and peace of India
could not be solved without a separate territorial arrangement for
the Muslims. To quote him, “If such a thing is impossible in
India, the only other alternative is civil war which as a matter of
fact has been going on for some time in the shape of Hindu-Muslim
riots. I fear that in certain parts of the country, e. g. , N. W. India,
Palestine may be repeated”. In the same letter, Iqbal wrote to
Jinnah: “It is necessary to redistribute the country and to provide
one or more Muslim States without absolute majorities. Don't
you think that a time for such a demand has already arrived?
Perhaps this is the best reply you can give to the atheistic socialism
of Jawaharlal Nehru. ” Pointing to the Hindu-Muslim riots, Iqbal
concluded that injustice resulted to the Muslims and therefore a
separate home-land for them was needed. To quote him: "In these
circumstances, it is obvious that the only way to a peaceful India
is a redistribution of the country on the lines of racial, religious and
linguistic affinities. ” Iqbal tells us that Lord Lothian told him
“before I left England that my scheme was the only possible solu-
tion of the troubles of India, but that it would take twenty-five
years to come". Regarding the new Constitutional scheme, Iqbal
observed: "To my mind the new Constitution with its idea of a
single Indian Federation is completely hopeless. A separate feder-
ation of Muslim Provinces. . . . . is the only course by which we can
secure a peaceful India and save Muslims from the domination of
non-Muslims. Why should not the Muslims of North-West India
and Bengal be considered as Nations entitled to self-determination
just as other nations in India and outside India are? ”
Z. A. Suleri has rightly pointed out that the share of Iqbal in
shaping the destiny of the Indian Muslims was tremendous. As a
matter of fact, the entire Muslim intelligentsia who demanded
Pakistan was inspired by Iqbal.
ROUND TABLE CONFERENCES
At the Round Table Conferences held in London in 1930 and
## p. 811 (#853) ############################################
COMMUNAL AWARD
811
1931, the question of Muslim representation in the future legis-
latures came up for discussion. Sir Muhammad Shafi demanded
that the Muslims must get 33-1/3 per cent representation in the
Central Legislature. His contention was that although the Muslims
constituted a little over 25 per cent of the population of British
India, they were entitled to get weightage because they bore the
major burden for the defence of the country. The historical im-
portance of the Muslims should also be taken into consideration.
Shafi also urged strongly for Muslim majority representation in the
Punjab and Bengal. It is well-known that when Mahatma Gandhi
went to London in 1931 to attend the second Round Table Con-
ference, he tried his best to arrive at a settlement with the Muslims
on the question of their representation and he went to the extent
of giving Mr. Jinnah a blank cheque to write whatever he pleased.
However, no agreement was arrived at and Mahatma Gandhi left
the Conference in disgust. A representative body of the delegates
to the Round Table Conference continued their efforts at Simla to
arrive at an agreement on the communal question bui they also
failed.
COMMUNAL AWARD
On 16 August, 1932, Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald
gave his famous Communal Award. Regarding separate elector-
ates, the Prime Minister observed that "Government had to face
facts as they are, and must maintain this exceptional form of re-
presentation”. The Muslims were given the following represen-
tation in the various provinces:-
Province
Muslim Total
Percentage Number
of Population of Seats
Number
of Seats
Reserved
for
Muslims
7. 9
9. 2
Madras
Bombay excluding Sind
Bengal
The United Provinces
The Punjab
The Central Provinces
Assam
Sind
NW. F. Prov
Bihar and Orissa
215
175
250
228
175
112
108
60
50
175
29
30
119
66
86
14
54 7
15. 3
570
4. 7
33. 7
70. 7
91 8
108
34
34
36
42
The Communal Award was in keeping with the British policy
of "divide and rule”. If the Muslinis were to vote only for the
## p. 812 (#854) ############################################
812
PAKISTAN
Muslims and the Muslim Legislators had to look to the Muslim
voters alone, there could be no good relations between the Muslims
and the Hindus and with the passage of time, the two communities
were bound to be away from each other. The final outcome could
be only separation and that actually happened in 1947. It was
this Communal Award which enabled Mr. Jinnah to appeal to the
Muslim voters in the name of Islam and Pakistan. The British
Government and British bureaucracy in India could do no greater
disservice to India than this Communal Award. It can be pointed
out that the so-called Muslim interests could be safeguarded by
reserving a certain number of seats for them but without separate
Muslim electorates. In that case, the Muslims would have been
returned to the legislatures to protect the Muslim interest but they
would have been elected by voters who were not only Muslims but
also Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, etc. In this manner, the evil of
communalism would have been avoided. But that could happen
cnly if the British Government and its officials were anxious to
maintain the unity of India. The fact is that many of them were
not.
RAHMAT ALI AND PAKISTAN
Choudhry Rahmat Ali is considered to be the originator of the
word Pakistan. The word was first used in a small leaflet entitled
"Now or Never,” published in January, 1933 and signed by Rahmat
Ali Choudhry and three other students in Cambridge. Rahmat
Ali tells us that one fine sunny morning, while taking a ride in one
of the omnibuses of London, he conceived a suitable nomenclature
for the Northern Independent Muslim State. Taking P from the
Punjab, A from Afghan (North-West Frontier Province), K from
Kashmir, S from Sind and Tan from Baluchistan, he coined the
word Pakistan. Chowdhry Rahmat Ali wrote in 1947: “ 'Pakistan'
is both a Persian and an Urdu word. It is composed of letters
taken from the names of all our homelands-'Indian' and 'Asian. '
That is, Punjab, Afghania (North-West Frontier Province), Kash-
mir, Iran, Sindh (including Kachch and Kathiawar), Tukharis-
tan, Arghanistan and Baluchistan. It means the lands of the Paks-
the spiritually pure and clean. It symbolizes the religious beliefs
and the ethnical stocks of our people; and it stands for all the terri-
torial constituents of our original Fatherland. It has no other
origin and no other meaning; and it does not admit of any other
interpretation. "
There is basic difference between the scheme of Iqbal and that
of Rahmat Ali. Unlike Iqbal, the provinces of Rahmat Ali's
>
## p. 813 (#855) ############################################
MUSLIM POLITICS (1933—7)
813
Pakistan were to have a separate federation of their own. Rahmat
Ali published a map of India which showed three Independent
Muslim Nations forming a triple alliance, viz. , Pakistan in the
North-West, Bang-I-Islam consisting of Bengal and Assam in the
North-East and Usmanistan in the South formed by the State of
Hyderabad. Iqbal was willing to exclude the Ambala Division
from the Punjab which was to form a part of the Muslim State.
CENTRAL ASSEMBLY
Toward the end of 1934, elections were held for the Central
Legislative Assembly. The Congress won 44 seats, Congress
Nationalists 11, Independents 22, Europeans 11, Officials 26 and
nominated members 13. With the support of the Europeans, offi-
cials and nominated members, the Government could secure the
help of 50 members only. On the other hand, the total strength
of the Congressmen and Congress Nationalists was 55. The result
was that the Muslims under the leadership of Mr. Jinnah held the
balance between two blocs. When the Report of the Joint Select
Committee came for discussion in the Central Assembly in February,
1935, the Congress demanded that the recommendations of the
Report should be rejected completely because they were no more
than the usual imperialist device to deprive the Indian people of the
power to assume charge of their affairs. The Congress motion
was lost by 72 to 61. Mr. Jinnah himself moved three resolutions
in the Central Assembly and those were carried with the support
of the Congress. The first resolution accepted the Communal
Award until the Indians by mutual agreement, could put forward
another scheme. The second resolution criticised the nature of
provincial autonomy but conceded that it represented a real ad-
vance as the scope of provincial autonomy was more than that of
dyarchy. The third resolution dealt with the All-India Federation
which was to be established in the future. To quote Jinnah, “I
believed that it means nothing but the absolute sacrifice of all that
British India has stood for and developed in the last 50 years in
the method of progress in the representative form of Government. ”
PROVINCIAL ELECTIONS
As the princes were not willing to join the All-India Federation
provided in the Government of India Act, 1935, the British Gov-
ernment decided to inaugurate the provincial part of t’e Act and
elections were actually held in the beginning of 1937. Mr. Jinnah
had been away from India for more than 2 years (1933-6). In
## p. 814 (#856) ############################################
814
PAKISTAN
the Bombay session of the All-India Muslim League held in April
1936, Mr. Jinnah was empowered to constitute a Central Election
Board under his own presidentship to fight the provincial elections.
In his election speeches, Mr. Jinnah emphasized the point that the
Congress should not challenge the position of the Muslim League
as the only representative organisation of the Muslims and it should
campaign itself only to the Hindus. While inaugurating the Mus-
iim League election campaign in Bengal Mr. Jinnah declared: “I
warn my Hindu friends and the Congress to leave the Moslems
alone. We have made it clear and we mean it that we are ready
and willing to co-operate with any group or groups of progressive
and independent character, provided that their programme and
our programme are approximately the same. We are not going to
be the camp followers of any party or organization. Pandit
Jawaharlal Nehru is reported to have said in Calcutta that there
are only two parties in the country, namely, the Government and
the Congress, and the others must line up. I refuse to line up with
the Congress. There is a third party in this country and that is
the Moslems. We are not going to be dictated to by anybody. "
Jawaharlal Nehru did not like this assertion of Mr. Jinnah as he
believed that the economic interests of the Hindus and the Mus-
lims were the same. To quote him, “I come into greater touch
with the Moslem masses than most of the members of ihe Muslim
League. I know more about their hunger and poverty and misery
than those who talk in terms of percentages and seats in the Coun-
cils and places in the State service. "
When the results of the elections for Provincial Assemblies were
declared, it was found that out of a total of 1,585 seats, the Con-
gress was able to capture 711 and out of them, only 26 were
Muslim seats. Out of 489 Muslim seats, the Muslim League
was able to capture only 104 seats. It is worthy of notice that the
Muslim League was popular in ihose provinces in which the Hindus
were in majority and not so in those provinces where the Muslims
were in majority. In Bengal, out of 119 Muslim seats, it was
able to capture 37 seats only. In the Punjab, out of 86 Muslim
seats, the League got only 1 seat. In the North-Western Frontier
Province and Sind, the Muslim League did not win even one seat. '
FORMATION OF CONGRESS MINISTRIES AND MUSLIM LEAGUE
After the elections were over, the Congress was able to form min-
istries in seven and later on eight provinces. In the case of U. P. ,
the Congress and League had fought the elections on a common
platform. It was understood that the Muslim League would be
## p. 815 (#857) ############################################
MUSLIM LEAGUE AND CONGRESS MINISTRIES 815
offered two places in the ministry. Out of 64 Muslim seats, the
League had won 24, Independent Muslims 30, the National Agri-
cultural Party 9 and the Congress only 1. One view is that the
Muslim League was not prepared to allow its members to join the
Congress ministry because the Congress demanded the complete
merger of the Muslim League Party in the Congress Party. It
also demanded that the Muslim League Parliamentary Board should
be dissolved and no candidate should be set up by the Board in
any later by-election. The point of the Congress was that such
terms were necessary for the purpose of maintaining discipline
among the members of the ministry. Mr. Jinnah declared that
the Congress was “drunk with victory. ” He also considered those
terms "as a direct rebuff” and declared that "the Muslims can
expect neither justice nor fairplay under Congress Government. ”
He attacked the Congress as a Fascist Hindu body which was out
to crush all other parties in the country, particularly the Muslim
League.
Maulana Abul Kalam tells us that the Muslim League refused
to join the U. P. Ministry because Jawaharlal Nehru had written
to Choudhry Khaliquzzaman, the Muslim League leader of the
United Provinces, that the Muslim League could get only one
place in the ministry. That was not acceptable to the Muslim League
because the local political situation was such that both Choudhry
Khaliquzzaman, and Nawab Ismail Khan had to be taken into
the Government. As the Congress was offering only one seat, it
was not possible for the Muslim League to join the ministry. On
this point, Brailsford observes: “On the eve of the elections of 1937
in the United Provinces, a leading Muslim politician who had hither-
to belonged to the Congress Party deserted it, because he thought
he would be defeated and went
over to the Muslim League
with his following. He was mistaken: the Congress was victorious
and formed the Ministry. This man asked to be taken back to the
fold and also to be rewarded with a cabinet post. Very naturally,
but perhaps unwisely, the Congress refused—as any British party
in a like case would have done. The consequences were unfor-
tunate and to the English mind astounding. The Muslim League
redoubled its attacks on the Congress and on the strength of this
and similar cases accused it of being a totalitarian party which
sought to monopolise power. ” (Subject India, p. 83).
Jawaharlal Nehru tells us that he was not anxious to include
the League members in the Congress Ministries as they were big
landlords and the Congress was determined to carry out its prog-
ramme of agrarian reforms and the Muslim Leaguers were bound
to oppose the same.
## p. 816 (#858) ############################################
816
PAKISTAN
MASS CONTACT MOVEMENT
>
At this time, the Congress launched the Mass Contact Move-
ment whose object was to win over the Muslims to the Congress
fold. In his presidential address to the All India National Con-
vention held at Delhi on 19 March, 1937, Jawaharlal Nehru
"attributed the failure of the Congress to capture Muslim seats
to neglect of work among the Muslim masses and said that it was
now for us to go ahead and welcome the Muslim masses and
intelligentsia to our great organisation. ” On reading this news,
Sir Muhammad Iqbal wrote a confidential letter to Mr. Jinnah
on 20 March, 1937 from Lahore. In that letter, Iqbal observed:
“I suppose you have read Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru's address to the
All-India National Convention and that you realise the policy
underlying it in so far as Indian Muslims are concerned. . . . . . I
therefore suggest that an effective reply should be given to the
All-India National Convention. . . . To this Convention you must
restate as clearly and as strongly as possible the political objective
of the Indian Muslims as a distinct political unit in the country. ”
This was actually done by Mr. Jinnah while presiding over the
Lucknow Session of the Muslim League held in October 1937.
Jinnah's words were: “I want the Muslims to ponder over the
situation and decide their fate by having one single, definite uni-
form policy which should be loyally followed throughout India. ”
LUCKNOW SESSION OF LEAGUE
The Lucknow Session of the Muslim League held in October,
1937 is very important for the Muslim League as it was in this
session that Sir Sikander Hyat Khan, Premier of the Punjab, Fazl-
ul-Huq, Premier of Bengal and Sir Muhammad Saaduallah, Pre-
mier of Assam declared that they were going to advise the Muslim
Members of their political parties to joint the Muslim League. It
is pointed out that soon after the League Session at Lucknow in
October, 1937, as many as 90 branches of the League were es-
tablished in the United Provinces and 40 in the Punjab. Nearly
100,000 new members were enrolled in the United Provinces. Mr.
Jinnah was helped in his task by the Muslim students from Ali-
garh and village Mullahs who saw in the Congress Muslim mass
contact campaign a threat to their own authority.
The Muslim League became aggressive. It debarred from its
membership those persons who were also the members of the Con-
gress. Even disciplinary action was taken against them. Wazir
Hassan and Yakub Khan left Muslim League in disgust. In
## p. 817 (#859) ############################################
LEAGUE PROPAGANDA AGAINST CONGRESS 817
his letter addressed to the President of the Muslim League, Wazir
Hasan wrote: “I, therefore, take leave of you, deploring the ruinous
path of disunity and separation which is being shown to our people
to follow now. I am confident that the true interests of the Muslims
of India lie not that way but in the closest unity with Indian
National Congress. ” Yakub Khan declared: “I have resolved to
devote all my spare time to the service of Islam and the Muslim
Community. This I intend doing by organising Indian Mussalmans
on healthier lines of harmony and goodwill towards their fellow
nationals in India. ”
LEAGUE PROPAGANDA AGAINST CONGRESS MINISTRIES
a
Mr. Jinnah also began to attack the Congress and the Congress
Ministries. He alleged that malicious propaganda was being carried
on against the Muslim League with a view to discredit it. In his
presidential address to a special session of the Muslim League held
on 17 and 18 April, 1938, Mr. Jinnah objected to the use of Bande
Matram song in the legislatures. Referring to the Congress Gov-
ernments, Mr. Jinnah observed: “They are pursuing a policy
making Hindi a compulsory language, which must. . . . destroy. . . .
the spread of the development of Urdu and what is worse still is
that Hindi with its Hindu Sanskritous literature and philosophy
and ideals will and must necessarily be forced upon the Muslim
children and students”. He also alleged that serious difficulties
were being placed in the way of the Muslims enjoying religious
freedom. He was obsessed with the idea of Hindu Raj and he de-
clared that all notions and dreams of such a Raj “must be abandon-
ed”. While presiding over the Patna session of All-India Muslim
League held from 26 to 29 December, 1938, Mr. Jinnah con-
demned the Wardha Education Scheme and Vidya Mandir Scheme
and ridiculed Mahatma Gandhi as their author. To quote Mr.
Jinnah, “The genius behind these was Mr. Gandhi and it was Mr.
Gandhi alone who described the very ideals with which the Con-
gress started its career and converted it into a communal Hindu
body, with a view to a revival and propagation of Hindu culture. ”
While speaking at the Sindh Muslim League Conference held on 8
October, 1938, Mr. Jinnah observed: “The Congress is fighting for
domination over the Muslims. It is rank madness but that has
seized the Congress and it is against that design--that mad ideal--
that I have rebelled. ”
The Muslims condemned the Vidya Mandir Scheme of the
Central Provinces. Their contention was that the word Mandir
was a Hindu name. For the Muslims, a Hindu temple was a place
## p. 818 (#860) ############################################
818
PAKISTAN
where idols were worshipped and that was a deliberate affront to
Islam which condemned Idolatry. Moreover, the Vidya Mandir
schools were managed by committees elected on joint electorates.
The complaint of the Muslims was that no provision was made for
separate Muslim schools or for the training of Urdu speaking
teachers. The Muslims of the Central Provinces went to the ex-
tent of resorting to direct action against the Vidya Mandir Scheme.
The Muslim League condemned the Bande Mataram as the na-
tional anthem. It characterized the anthem as “positively anti-Isla-
mic and idolatrous in its inspiration and ideas. ” The Muslim League
appointed an inquiry Committee to find out the grievances of the
Mussalmans in the Congress Provinces. The report was publish-
ed towards the end of 1938 and came to be known as the Pirpur
Report after the name of its chairman, Rajya Sayyid Muhammad
Mahdi of Pirpur. The Report attacked the “closed door” policy
of the Congress and declared that Parliamentary Government was
not workable in India. It was alleged that in the matter of public
appointments due regard was not paid to the size and importance
of the Muslim Community in India. It was alleged that “the flag,
the anthem, the reverence paid to Mr. Gandhi, the emphasis laid
by the Mahatma himself on cow protection, all these are evidence
of a deliberate and far-reaching attack on the civic and cultural
rights of the Muslim Community, but its most insidious feature is
the attempt to extend the use of Hindi at the expense of Urdu. ”
The Working Committee of the Bihar Muslim Leaguc appointed
an enquiry committee and the report submitted by it came to be
known as the Shareef Report after the name of its draftman, Mr. S.
M. Shareef. This Committee was set up to enquire into the grie-
vances of the Bihar Muslims and its Report embodied allegations
of a very serious nature, although there was no substance in them.
After the resignation of the Congress Ministries in October-
November, 1939, Fazl-ul-Huq issued a statement to the press and
later on the same was embodied in a pamphlet entitled "Muslim
Sufferings under Congress Rule”. This contained stories which
had absolutely no truth in them. In 1946, a book entitled “It
Shall Never Happen Again” was published by the Muslim League.
It covered 32 articles from the Dawn and it referred to the alleged
sufferings of the Muslims in the Congress-governed Provinces. It
was stated there that the principal sufferers were the Muslims and
that was due to the deliberate policy followed by the Congress.
All sorts of cock and bull stories were given in that book. Re-
ferring to their attack on Tirath Bazar, Sitapur, it was stated that
about 400 Hindus armed with Lathies, swords, spears and other
deadly weapons appeared on the scene with cries of "Gandhi
## p. 819 (#861) ############################################
LEAGUE PROPAGANDA AGAINST CONGRESS
819
Mahatma ki Jai” and suddenly attacked the Muslim shopkeepers
and looted and plundered their goods. It was also alleged that the
prominent Congress Leaders of the place took a leading part in
the loot and plunder. About Banaras it was said that the leading
Congressmen including the President and secretary of the city
Congress Committee and the two Central M.
