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.
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.
Cambridge History of India - v4 - Indian Empire
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. L. A. 's divided them-
selves into groups and one group sat at one police station. When-
ever a Muslim happened to come with a report of some injury done
to him or to some other Muslim, the Congressman sitting at the
police station laughed at him and sent him away without allowing
the police to record the complaint. About the Lalpura village in
Patna District, it was alleged that in the name of village uplift,
Congress preachers “incited Hindus against Muslims. The result
was that hundreds of Hindus of Lalpura and other places caused a
serious riot in which a Muslim almost lost his life". The entire
book covering 264 pages was full of allegations of this nature. In
the article written by Mr. Jinnah himself, it was contended that
democracy was not suited to India. Mr. Jinnah also referred to
the alleged Congress atrocities and charged the Congress with power
intoxication. To quote Mr. Jinnah, “The Working Committee (of
the Congress) arrogated to itself the position of a parallel Central
Government to whom the Provincial Governments were reponsi-
ble. ” Referring to Maulana Azad, Rajendra Prasad and Patel to
whom the different provinces were assigned in order to bring about
administrative coordination, Mr. Jinnah observed: “Regional
dictators were appointed and the Ministers were entirely subject to
their orders generally and no Provincial legislation could be enacted
without their approval. ” About Bande Matram, the Congress Flag
and Hindi, Mr. Jinnah observed: "in the six Hindu Provinces, a
Kulturkampf was inaugurated. ”
It was rightly pointed out by Dr. Rajendra Prasad that the
Muslim League adopted Hilter's tactics of inventing false charges
and exaggerating small ones into Himalayan blunders. The same
thing was repeated again and again so that it may look like truth.
All kinds of falsehoods were invented by the Muslim League with
the object of creating bitterness in the minds of the Muslim Masses
with a view to prepare them for demanding Pakistan.
The Congress made an offer to the Muslim League to get the
alleged atrocities investigated through Sir Maurice Gwyer, Chief
Justice of the Federal Court of India or some other person of the
similar status. The simple reply of Mr. Jinnah was that the
Viceroy was asked to consider the whole question and nothing
was done to substantiate the truth of the allegations made against
the Congress Ministries.
## p. 820 (#862) ############################################
820
PAKISTAN
After the resignation of the Congress Ministries in October-
November, 1939, the Muslim League celebrated on 22 December,
1939 "The Deliverance Day” throughout India. The following re-
solution was passed by the Muslim League meetings on that date:
"That the Congress Ministries both in the discharge of their duties
of the administration and in the Legislatures have done their best
to flout the Muslim opinion, to destroy Muslim culture, and have
interfered with their religious and social life, and trampled upon
their economic and political rights; that in matters of differences
and disputes the Congress Ministries invariably have sided with,
supported and advanced the cause of the Hindus in total disregard
and to the prejudice of the Muslim interests. ”
(The truth is that the Congress Ministries had treated the Mus-
lims well. They could not afford to do otherwise. They wanted
independence for their country and no wonder they had to care for
the goodwill of all, including the Muslims. Nothing was done
deliberately to injure the feelings of the Muslims. Everything was
done for the good of the people as a whole. ) Sir Harry Haig,
Governor of U. P. , rightly ovserves: “The Congress Ministries dealt
with the Muslims fairly and justly. " Coupland says: “The Con-
gress Ministries had not lent themselves to a policy of communal
injustice, still less of deliberate persecution. ”
During 1938 and 1939, there was correspondence between Mr.
Jinnah on the one hand and Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhash Chandra
Bose, Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Rajendra Prasad and Sir Tej Bahadur
Sapru but nothing came out of it. The contention of Mr. Jinnah
was that the Congress must recognise the Muslim League as the
sole representative organisation of the Muslims of India. Nehru
was not prepared to admit this as the Congress stood for all the
people of India including the Muslims. The only outcoine of this
correspondence was that it added to the prestige of Mr. Jinnah in
the eyes of the Muslims of India. Mr. Jinnah also consolidated
his position during this period.
A reference may be made to two statements of Mr. Jinnah made
by him in 1939 regarding the position of the Muslim League and
its President vis-a-vis the politics of India. The first statement is
to the following effect: “The British public may be misled by cer-
tain propaganda that Muslims are against the freedom of India.
We want freedom and liberty, but the question is, whose freedom
and liberty? Muslim India wants to be free and enjoy liberty to
the fullest extent and develop its own political, economic, social
and cultural institutions according to its own genius, and not to
be dominated and crushed, while wishing Hindu India well and
giving it fullest scope to do likewise. I know that the Englishman
## p. 821 (#863) ############################################
MR. JINNAH IN 1939
821
who has developed in his own country a system of parliamentary
government cannot think of anything else but what has worked
and been developed through the centuries as the only pattern for
every other country in the world. But he must dismiss from his
mind the experiments tried in Canada and Australia where after
all the foundations of Government are suited to the genius of the
people, mainly British in stock. It is very doubtful as to how it
will work in South Africa where there are two powerful rival com-
munities like the Boers and the British, and even here the differ-
ences between them are not so fundamental
fundamental as those between
Hindus and Muslims. Even Ireland, after decades of union, did
not submit to the British Parliament in spite of the close affinity
with the English and Scotch. I may refer to Lord Morley’s dic-
tum that the fur coat of Canada would not do for the extremely
tropical climate of India.
"The Congress insistence that they, and they alone, represent the
people of India is not only without any foundation, but is highly
detrimental to the progress and advancement of India. They know
that they do not represent the whole of India, not even all the Hindus,
and certainly not the Muslims, who are often wrongly described as
a minority in the ordinary sense as understood in the West. They
are in a majority in the North-West and in Bengal, all along the
corridor stretching from Karachi to Calcutta. That part of the
Indian continent alone has double the population of Great Britain
and is more than ten times in area. Until the Congress come down
to earth and face realities, they will be wholly responsible for block-
ing the progress of India, and unless they give up the Fascist and
authoritarian basis of their policy and programme which they are
vigorously following, there cannot be any peace in India. "
The second statement in these words: “We had many difficulties
to face from January 1939 right up to the declaration of war. We
had to face the Vidya Mandir in Nagpur. We had to face the
Wardha Scheme all over India. We had to face ill-treatment and
oppression to Muslims in the Congress-governed Provinces. We
had to face the treatment meted out to Muslims in some of the
Indian States such as Jaipur and Bhavnagar. We had to face a
vital issue that arose in that little state of Rajkot. Rajkot was the
acid test made by the Congress which would have affected one-
third of India. Thus the Muslim League had all along to face
various issues from January 1939 up to the time of the declaration
Before the war was declared the greatest danger to the
Muslims of India was the possible inauguration of the Federal
scheme in the Central Government. We know what machinations
were going on. But the Muslim League was stoutly resisting them
cf war.
## p. 822 (#864) ############################################
822
PAKISTAN
in every direction. We felt that we could never accept the dan-
gerous scheme of the Central Federal Government embodied in the
Government of India Act, 1935. I am sure that we have made no
small contribution towards persuading the British Government to
abandon the scheme of Central Federal Government. In creating
that mind in the British Government the Muslim League, I have
no doubt, played no small part. You know that the British people
are very obdurate people.
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. L. A. 's divided them-
selves into groups and one group sat at one police station. When-
ever a Muslim happened to come with a report of some injury done
to him or to some other Muslim, the Congressman sitting at the
police station laughed at him and sent him away without allowing
the police to record the complaint. About the Lalpura village in
Patna District, it was alleged that in the name of village uplift,
Congress preachers “incited Hindus against Muslims. The result
was that hundreds of Hindus of Lalpura and other places caused a
serious riot in which a Muslim almost lost his life". The entire
book covering 264 pages was full of allegations of this nature. In
the article written by Mr. Jinnah himself, it was contended that
democracy was not suited to India. Mr. Jinnah also referred to
the alleged Congress atrocities and charged the Congress with power
intoxication. To quote Mr. Jinnah, “The Working Committee (of
the Congress) arrogated to itself the position of a parallel Central
Government to whom the Provincial Governments were reponsi-
ble. ” Referring to Maulana Azad, Rajendra Prasad and Patel to
whom the different provinces were assigned in order to bring about
administrative coordination, Mr. Jinnah observed: “Regional
dictators were appointed and the Ministers were entirely subject to
their orders generally and no Provincial legislation could be enacted
without their approval. ” About Bande Matram, the Congress Flag
and Hindi, Mr. Jinnah observed: "in the six Hindu Provinces, a
Kulturkampf was inaugurated. ”
It was rightly pointed out by Dr. Rajendra Prasad that the
Muslim League adopted Hilter's tactics of inventing false charges
and exaggerating small ones into Himalayan blunders. The same
thing was repeated again and again so that it may look like truth.
All kinds of falsehoods were invented by the Muslim League with
the object of creating bitterness in the minds of the Muslim Masses
with a view to prepare them for demanding Pakistan.
The Congress made an offer to the Muslim League to get the
alleged atrocities investigated through Sir Maurice Gwyer, Chief
Justice of the Federal Court of India or some other person of the
similar status. The simple reply of Mr. Jinnah was that the
Viceroy was asked to consider the whole question and nothing
was done to substantiate the truth of the allegations made against
the Congress Ministries.
## p. 820 (#862) ############################################
820
PAKISTAN
After the resignation of the Congress Ministries in October-
November, 1939, the Muslim League celebrated on 22 December,
1939 "The Deliverance Day” throughout India. The following re-
solution was passed by the Muslim League meetings on that date:
"That the Congress Ministries both in the discharge of their duties
of the administration and in the Legislatures have done their best
to flout the Muslim opinion, to destroy Muslim culture, and have
interfered with their religious and social life, and trampled upon
their economic and political rights; that in matters of differences
and disputes the Congress Ministries invariably have sided with,
supported and advanced the cause of the Hindus in total disregard
and to the prejudice of the Muslim interests. ”
(The truth is that the Congress Ministries had treated the Mus-
lims well. They could not afford to do otherwise. They wanted
independence for their country and no wonder they had to care for
the goodwill of all, including the Muslims. Nothing was done
deliberately to injure the feelings of the Muslims. Everything was
done for the good of the people as a whole. ) Sir Harry Haig,
Governor of U. P. , rightly ovserves: “The Congress Ministries dealt
with the Muslims fairly and justly. " Coupland says: “The Con-
gress Ministries had not lent themselves to a policy of communal
injustice, still less of deliberate persecution. ”
During 1938 and 1939, there was correspondence between Mr.
Jinnah on the one hand and Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhash Chandra
Bose, Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Rajendra Prasad and Sir Tej Bahadur
Sapru but nothing came out of it. The contention of Mr. Jinnah
was that the Congress must recognise the Muslim League as the
sole representative organisation of the Muslims of India. Nehru
was not prepared to admit this as the Congress stood for all the
people of India including the Muslims. The only outcoine of this
correspondence was that it added to the prestige of Mr. Jinnah in
the eyes of the Muslims of India. Mr. Jinnah also consolidated
his position during this period.
A reference may be made to two statements of Mr. Jinnah made
by him in 1939 regarding the position of the Muslim League and
its President vis-a-vis the politics of India. The first statement is
to the following effect: “The British public may be misled by cer-
tain propaganda that Muslims are against the freedom of India.
We want freedom and liberty, but the question is, whose freedom
and liberty? Muslim India wants to be free and enjoy liberty to
the fullest extent and develop its own political, economic, social
and cultural institutions according to its own genius, and not to
be dominated and crushed, while wishing Hindu India well and
giving it fullest scope to do likewise. I know that the Englishman
## p. 821 (#863) ############################################
MR. JINNAH IN 1939
821
who has developed in his own country a system of parliamentary
government cannot think of anything else but what has worked
and been developed through the centuries as the only pattern for
every other country in the world. But he must dismiss from his
mind the experiments tried in Canada and Australia where after
all the foundations of Government are suited to the genius of the
people, mainly British in stock. It is very doubtful as to how it
will work in South Africa where there are two powerful rival com-
munities like the Boers and the British, and even here the differ-
ences between them are not so fundamental
fundamental as those between
Hindus and Muslims. Even Ireland, after decades of union, did
not submit to the British Parliament in spite of the close affinity
with the English and Scotch. I may refer to Lord Morley’s dic-
tum that the fur coat of Canada would not do for the extremely
tropical climate of India.
"The Congress insistence that they, and they alone, represent the
people of India is not only without any foundation, but is highly
detrimental to the progress and advancement of India. They know
that they do not represent the whole of India, not even all the Hindus,
and certainly not the Muslims, who are often wrongly described as
a minority in the ordinary sense as understood in the West. They
are in a majority in the North-West and in Bengal, all along the
corridor stretching from Karachi to Calcutta. That part of the
Indian continent alone has double the population of Great Britain
and is more than ten times in area. Until the Congress come down
to earth and face realities, they will be wholly responsible for block-
ing the progress of India, and unless they give up the Fascist and
authoritarian basis of their policy and programme which they are
vigorously following, there cannot be any peace in India. "
The second statement in these words: “We had many difficulties
to face from January 1939 right up to the declaration of war. We
had to face the Vidya Mandir in Nagpur. We had to face the
Wardha Scheme all over India. We had to face ill-treatment and
oppression to Muslims in the Congress-governed Provinces. We
had to face the treatment meted out to Muslims in some of the
Indian States such as Jaipur and Bhavnagar. We had to face a
vital issue that arose in that little state of Rajkot. Rajkot was the
acid test made by the Congress which would have affected one-
third of India. Thus the Muslim League had all along to face
various issues from January 1939 up to the time of the declaration
Before the war was declared the greatest danger to the
Muslims of India was the possible inauguration of the Federal
scheme in the Central Government. We know what machinations
were going on. But the Muslim League was stoutly resisting them
cf war.
## p. 822 (#864) ############################################
822
PAKISTAN
in every direction. We felt that we could never accept the dan-
gerous scheme of the Central Federal Government embodied in the
Government of India Act, 1935. I am sure that we have made no
small contribution towards persuading the British Government to
abandon the scheme of Central Federal Government. In creating
that mind in the British Government the Muslim League, I have
no doubt, played no small part. You know that the British people
are very obdurate people.
