A Pakistani View

by S.M. Ikram

 

On the occasion of the All India Muslim League session, 1936

Jinnah was not invited to the later sessions of the Round Table Conference, but he was now residing in England, and had opportunities of meeting the delegates from India. An important contact, which he effectively renewed during this period was with Sir Muhammad Iqbal, who had come as a delegate to the Round Table Conference. Jinnah was the principal speaker at a reception given in honour of the poet by Iqbal Literary Association and thereafter invited him to lunch at his house. Thus began a series of meetings which were to leave a mark on the course of India’s history. Jinnah was not now a delegate to the Round Table Conference, but during the first session, which he attended, he had criticised to conception of the central federation, which other delegates had supported enthusiastically. His objections were partly from the nationalist anglet (sic) – the inclusion of the autocratic princes at the centre would “water down democracy” – and partly from the Muslim point of view – a strong centre would nullify the provincial autonomy which the Muslims valued so much. Iqbal, on the other hand, had a few years before, held out his plan for a Muslim bloc in the North-West. This did not receive much consideration at the Round Table Conference, but the separation of Sind, and grant of full reforms to the North-West Frontier Province were bound to pave the way for its fulfillment. This plan, the poet discussed at length with Jinnah, and gradually convinced him that in this lay the only hope for a contented, peaceful India in general and for the bulk of Indian Muslims in particular.

Iqbal had got Jinnah seriously interested in what came to be known as the “Pakistan Scheme” but even then he did not return to India to take it up. He was biding his time, and all the time, most unhappy. During the course of a brief visit to Oxford in 1932, he said to the present writer, with great anguish of soul, “but what is to be done? The Hindus are short-sighted and I think, incorrigible. The Muslim camp is full of those spineless people who, whatever they may say to me, will consult the Deputy Commissioner about what they should do! Where is, between these two groups, any place for a man like me?”

Meanwhile he was getting reports from India that Indian Muslims were a flock of sheep without a shepherd. The Aga Khan’s leadership was ineffective, as he wanted the palm without the dust, and could not give up the health resorts of France and Switzerland. Maulana Muhammad Ali was dead. So was Sir Muhammad Shafi, and even if he had been alive, he was too closely associated with a pro-British policy to inspire general enthusiasm. The League and the Muslim Conference had become the plaything of petty leaders who would not resign office, even after a vote of no-confidence! And, of course, they had no organization in the provinces, and no influence with the masses.

It was in these circumstances that certain well-wishers of the Muslims turned towards Jinnah. They requested him to return to India, and once again lead to army, which was first becoming a rabble. Iqbal joined in these appeals. Jinnah relented, but even now he would only visit India for a few months and return to England again. In 1934, however, he was elected the permanent president of the All-India Muslim League, and finally returned to India in October, 1935.

Back in India, Jinnah began to reorganize the All-India Muslim League. Its annual session was held at Bombay in April 1936, under the presidentship of Sir Wazir Hasan, and its constitution was revised to make it more democratic and living organization. Steps were also taken, for the first time, to set up a machinery for contesting elections on behalf of the Muslim League. A central election board with provincial elections under the Government of India Act of 1935. Jinnah toured the country to convass (sic) support for the League candidates, but his efforts were only partially successful. In the Punjab, he had the constant support of Iqbal, but could not come to an agreement with Sir Fazl-i-Hussain, the Unionist leader and League fared very badly in that ‘key’ province. Experience in Bengal was similar. In the elections, the League was actively assisted by the Jamiat-ul-Ulama, and had generally the goodwill of the Congress, which had been receiving support for Jinnah’s Independent Party in the Central legislative Assembly, but it failed to make much headway against firmly entrenched provincial parities.

The Rallying-Post

The provincial elections of 1937 produced many surprises. The League had not come out with flying colours. The Congress, on the other hand, achieved a success, which neither its supporters nor its opponents had anticipated. Most provincial Governors and British officials expected at the provincial election a repetition of the previous elections to the Central Legislature, when Congress had won about 50 per cent of the Hindu seats. They looked to the provincial parites, which they had encouraged in various areas – the Unionists in Punjab, the Justice Party in Madras, the Zamindars in the Nationalist Party in U.P., the Marathas in Bombay – and were sure that although the Congress may be the largest single party, it would have to depend on others to form ministries. Here they were to be completely disillusioned. The organizing ability of Sardar Vallabhbhi Patel, who had succeeded Dr. Ansari as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Board, the army of the workers, which the Congress had built up during the previous twenty years, the magic name of Mahatma, and the whirlwind tours of the president, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, completely upset the official calculations. The Congress triumphed in all the Hindu provinces and even in the North-West Frontier!

There is no doubt that this unexpected success went to the head of the Congress leaders. Before and even during the elections, they were friendly to the Muslim League. Now they were cold and distant. Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru declared at Calcutta that there were only two parties in the country – the British and the Congress. The League had fared so badly at the elections that it was not necessary to acknowledge its existence. To this attitude of high disdain, two other factors contributed. The Congress president was surrounded by certain left wing – almost de-Muslimised – Muslims, who later left even the Congress fold for the Communists’ ranks. They urged on Nehru, that it was “medieval” to recognize political parties based on religions, and the Congress had only to organize a vigorous Muslim Mass Contact Movement to achieve the same success amongst the Muslims, which it had gained among the Hindus. Nehru was carried away by these visions, and an open breach occurred between the Congress and the League. While in the original elections, the Congress had supported the League in U.P. now it set up a candidate to oppose the Muslim League in Bhraich constituency of U.P. which had returned a Leaguer, who died shortly after the elections.

The personality of the chairman of the Congress parliamentary board was another factor, which drove the Congress away from the League. Sardar Patel was a great organizer but for a man of his ability and importance, he was amazingly ill-informed about the background of Muslim politics, and even otherwise perhaps freedom from communalism was not one of his many gifts. He was at this time at the summit of the Congress parliamentary board, bossed over all government in the Congress provinces. He had to decide the question of Muslim representation in provincial government, and he dealt with the problem in his usual firm and unimaginative way. If he had faced the question in a spirit of statesmanship, he could have seen that Sir Sikandar Hayat and other Muslim premiers had already tackled the corresponding Hindu problem in the Muslim provinces, in a manner which could be a very safe guide to the Congress. Sir Sikandar Hayat’s party was in absolute majority in the Punjab Assembly, but he offered the Hindu seat in the Government to the Hindu Mahasabha, and although Raja Narendara Nath, the president of the Hindu Party, was unable to accept it owing to old age, his nominee, Sir Manohar Lal was appointed a minister. There was really no other way to give honest, real, representation to the minorities. If a minister had to be taken not on account of affiliation to the party, or any other personal claim, but to represent the minorities, it was obvious that he should be their genuine representative and not a stooge of the party in power. This the iron-willed Sardar would not – or could not – grasp. Under the constitution, representation had to be given to the minorities. So he was prepared to have Muslim ministers even from the Muslim League – but then, they must resign from the League, sign the Congress pledge, and abide by its discipline. In other words, the minority representatives were not to represent the minorities but the Congress! In imposing his iron discipline, the Sardar had some initial difficulties. The Muslim League had not done well in predominantly Muslim areas, but it had won the vast majority of seats in the Congress provinces. In some of these – like Bombay – not a single Muslim had been returned on the Congress ticket. So what was to be done about the representation of the Muslims in the Governments of these provinces? The problem was somewhat complicated but the efficient, resourceful Sardar was not going to be baffled by these difficulties. He offered the ministry to any Tom, Dick or Harry amongst the Muslim members who was prepared to sign the Congress pledge and so the farce of Muslim representation was complete.

The procedure adopted was, of course, a negation of the constitutional safeguards for the Muslims, but it was also less than fair to the Muslim League. Before the elections the Congress and Jinnah’s Independent Party had closely collaborated with each other in the Central Legislative Assembly and many Congress resolutions against the Government succeeded only on account of Jinnah’s support. Their relations during the elections were also friendly. Later, when after the elections in 1937, the Congress at first refused to accept office, and the Governors called the League leaders, as representing the next largest party, to form what we called interim Ministries Jinnah would not allow this. It is known that in some cases, the leaders of the League parties in the provincial legislatures e.g. Sir Ali Mohammad Khan Dehlavi in Bombay were quite willing – even keen – to become premiers but Jinnah overruled them. He would not profit by the Congress refusal to come in, or do anything, which might jeopardise the prospects of an effective League-Congress collaboration on which his heart was set.

The Congress party leaders, however, when it was their turn to be invited by the Governors, completely ignored the Muslim League. This must have hurt Jinnah; what followed was calculated to rouse his ire still further. The Congress Government had taken one false step in taking, as Muslim Ministers, persons who did not command the confidence of the Muslims in the legislature. This false step was succeeded by many more of the same type. In the absence of a true Muslim representative in the Cabinet, the congress Government had nobody to advise them about the views of the Muslims, when they took decision affecting the general population. The so-called “Muslim Minister” knew very well that he was governed by the Congress pledge, and the iron discipline of that party. He usually represented himself alone, and lacked that moral courage which comes from having “big battalions at one’s back.” In many cases, he was just a newcomer to the Congress ranks, avowedly for the sake of the office – and did not carry with his colleague in the Cabinet, anything of the influence which a Syed Mahmud or Yaqub Hassan would carry. Bereft of any following, and any mission, that he was to watch the Muslim interests – and in many cases, even the support of a contented conscience – the Muslim Minister was a pathetic figure, and deprived of his frank advice, the Congress Governments took several steps, which caused deep resentment amongst the Muslims – as well as by Hindu untouchables – and a committee has reported on the hardships, to which Muslims were exposed under the Congress rule.

The second half of the year 1937 was one of the darkest periods through which Indian Muslims have had to pass since 1857. Their central political organization had failed to show any effectiveness at the polls. Over the greater part of the country, where the Congress ministries held sway, they felt that the Hindu Raj had come. They suddenly realized that all the fears, which Sir Syed and Viqar-ul-Mulk had expressed about their future, were coming true. They were most disheartened and sore at heart. They saw no way out of their predicament, and thought that soon the Congress, with its vast organization, and the policy of corrupting a few ambitious, un-principled Muslims, would extend its sway over the Muslim majority provinces and the while country would be come a vast prison-house for them.

The prospects for the Muslims were most gloomy and many faint hearts began to suggest that they should settle with the Congress on its own terms. There was however one light which burned bright and clear. Jinnah has been called a proud and haughty person, and this trait of character may have caused him as his people occasional difficulties. This was, however, the time when just these qualities were needed. In the midst of the storm he stood like a rock. He was the proud representative of a proud people and he hurled defiance at the pretensions and the dreams of the Congress. He was not going to lower his flag to come to terms with the Congress. Far from his accepting conditions while being offered seats in the Congress Governments, it would be he, who would impose conditions!

Indian Muslims are not likely to forget the resolve stand which Jinnah, without any visible following, without much support in the legislatures, and inspired solely by his sense of duty and his faith in his people, took at this juncture. But there was another great Muslim who, although in the background, gave Jinnah powerful and effective moral support. Jinnah had written about Iqbal.

“To me he was a friend, guide and philosopher, and during the darkest moments through which the Muslim League had to go, he stood like a rock and never flinched one single moment.”

Gradually the darkness began to lift. The Muslims saw the light and rallied round. Those in the Muslim majority provinces saw what was happening to their co-religionists in the Congress provinces and were deeply touched. They now realised that except through a powerful, All-India organization they had no means of saving themselves. So after having decisively defeated the League in the elections, the Muslim premiers of the Punjab, Bengal and Sind, came to terms with Jinnah and agreed to abide by the policy and decisions of All-India Muslim League in all-India matters.

These decisions which were announced at the annual sessions of the League, held at Lucknow, toward end of 1937, not only opened a new chapter for the League but marked a turning point in the history of Muslim India. The session was held in the face of heavy odds but, thanks to the help of the young Raja of Mahmudabad the arrangements were perfect, Jinnah, in his presidential address hurled defiance at the Congress, but now it was not the defiance of one who had nothing but faith and courage, to succour him. He had the premier of the Punjab and Bengal on his right and left and he knew that he had the support of almost every selfrespecting Muslim. The Muslim India had relied the round the rallying-post!

Search For Security

The significance of the Lucknow session of the League was not on the Congress leaders. They realize that their treatment of the Muslims in the Congress provinces had been taken as a challenge by the entire Muslim India, which was prepared to meet it. The firm, disciplinarian policy of the iron dictator – the Sardar – had given results, quite different from what he expected. Thinking Hindus began to criticize the want of statesmanship shown by the Congress leadership in dealing with the Muslims. Tairsee, president of Hindu Gymkhana of Bombay, criticised, in the columns of Bombay Chronicle, the unstatesmanlike attitude which the Congress leadership had shown in refusing genuine representation to the Muslims in Congress Cabinets. Sardar Sardhul Singh Caveeshar of the Punjab expressed the same view in a long letter to Mahatma Gandhi. Sir Chiman Lal Sitalved criticised the unhappy development in the presidential address delivered in December 1937 at Calcutta session of All-India Liberal Federation and contrasted the unwise rigidity shown by the Congress leaders with the statesmanship displayed by the Muslim premier like Sir Sikandar Hayat.

The Congress leaders realized that they had blundered and appeared willing to take Muslim representatives in the Congress Cabinet on less exacting terms. Now it was Jinnah’s turn to be firm and unbending. The numerous unity talks which started between him and the Congress leaders, usually broke down on the question of the representative character of the Muslim League. His plea was that in 1916, when alone there was an agreement between Hindus and Muslims, the League had been taken as the sole and the authoritative representative of the Muslims and the Congress should now acknowledge its position in the same way. This, the Congress considered incompatible with its claim of speaking on behalf of entire India, and the negotiations broke down. Perhaps the truth in that what had happened in 1937, had not only embittered Jinnah but had finally convinced him that there was no safety for the Muslims in the goodwill of the Congress or the Hindus.

S.M. Ikram was a member of the Indian civil service and after partition held a number of important positions in the civil service of Pakistan. He has also published books in both Urdu and English on a variety of topics related to the history and culture of the Muslims of the subcontinent. In the excerpt quoted above, taken from a series of biographical sketches of Indian Muslim leaders, he discusses of the re-organization of the Muslim League in the thirties under the leadership of Jinnah.

Source: Muhammad Ali Jinnah Makers of Modern Pakistan. Edited by: Sheila McDonough (Sir George Williams University) D.C. Health and Company, Lexington, Massachusetts, USA.

Quaid-e-Azam's Visit to Peshawar in 1936

 

 

 

The Historic Group Photograph of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah at his Last Visit to Islamia College, Peshawar, N-WFP, Pakistan (12.04.1948 CE) (Courtesy of Prof. Dr. Taskeen Ahmad Khan, Associate Dean, Associate Faculty of Urology, Khyber Medical University, Peshawar (nb: From the Personal Library File of Maj. Gen (Retd.) Anwar Sher Khan, Peshawar).

by Mohammad Anwar Khan

The Government of India Act 1935, though considered “fundamentally bad”1 by the Muslim leaders, was a significant step, as the future constitutional framework of India was based upon it. Elections to the provincial assemblies were announced for the fall 1936-37 and the Muslim League in the 24th session, in Bombay, on the 12th of April 1936, resolved to contest the provincial assemblies elections and authorised the Quaid to organise elections boards at the central and the provincial level and also devise “ways and means” for contesting the forthcoming election.2 The Quaid, accordingly, invited a large number of influential Muslim leaders all over India for a meeting by the end of April 1936 at Delhi and also went to Lahore for consultation with the leaders of Punjab. He addressed letters for this meeting to a large number of the Muslim leaders from the NWFP, notable amongst them were Pir Bakhsh,3 Malik Khuda Bakhsh.4 No one from the Frontier attended this meeting. Pir Bakhsh did not acknowledge it. The Quaid met later Malik Khuda Bakhsh and Rahim Bakhsh Ghaznavi at Lahore at the residence of Mian Abdul Aziz.5

The Frontier was given representation in the Central Parliamentary Board. Pir Bakhsh, Malik Khuda Bakhsh, Allah Bakhsh Yousufi and Abdul Rahim (Rahim Bakhsh) Ghaznavi were appointed as members of the board from the Frontier. The Quaid was very keen at this time to learn more about the Frontier. It was a Muslim majority area. He had also fought for its provincial status. His knowledge of the Frontier was not upto date: this is discernible from his correspondence with Pir Bakhsh6 on September 13, 1936 and that with Abdul Ghafoor, Allah Bakhsh Yousufi and few others.7 He wanted to know more as he intended visiting Peshawar.8 The Quaid for the most part depended upon Pir Bakhsh with whom he had developed acquaintance since 1931.9 None would tell him the details. Malik Khuda Bakhsh rather has asked him in April to visit Peshawar10 and to see things for himself. In October he decided to tour Punjab and Frontier, and he accordingly wrote to the Frontier leaders including Sahibzada Abdul-Qayum11 whom he knew as member of the Imperial Legislative Council a dna colleague at the Round Table Conference, supporting the cause of Indian Musalmans in general and that of Frontier in particular. Sahibzada being attached to government agency, asked one of his Lieutenant Agha Lal Badshah, who had worked under him in the British Political service in Waziristan to extend a formal invitation to the Quaid on behalf of the Muslims of the NWFP.12 He also asked Pir Bakhsh to assist Lal Badshah in which a number of Muslim Peshawari leaders participated, a resolution was drafted requesting the Quaid to visit Peshawar. It was written by Pir Bakhsh and Sufi Abdul Aziz Khushbash “an energetic national worker of Peshawar city” as Pir Bakhsh introduced him in his letter to the Quaid, was deputed to deliver this invitation to the Quaid at Lahore.13

Abdul Aziz Khushbash,14 in his interview with the author stated that his travel expenses were borne by Syed Lal Badshah. The Quaid was staying at the Faletti’s Hotel. A room was provided for him too. He stayed for two days at Lahore and then accompanied him to Peshawar by evening Bombay mail. He sent telegram on the 17th of October 1936 prior to their departure to Syed Lal Badshsh intimating the time and day of their arrival in Peshawar. Both reached Peshawar next morning. Nawab Mamdot, saw the Quaid off at the Lahore railway station.15

The Quaid arrived in Peshawar on Sunday, the 18th of October 1936.16 Bombay express reached the City station at about 8 AM. About 400 persons welcomed him at the station.17 Secret police report tells us presence of prominent persons amongst them like Sahibzada Qayum, Ghulam Samdani, Pir Bakhsh, Lal Badshsh, Chan Badshah, Mohammad Usman Naswari, Rahim Bakhsh, Ataullah and Abdul Hye.18 It also records presence of about thirty Khaksars and 78 boyscouts. The Quaid was greeted and garlanded.19 He shook hands with all those in the front.20 He was dressed meticulously western, wearing top hat, long coat, beneath it a well cut suit with English shoes, took aback many credulous Peshawaris, dubbed by one as an Englishman.21 The Quaid was taken in procession, in a convertible grey car provided by Sahibzada Qayum. The station receptionists were later joined by the public, and the procession including volunteers, a Rover’s batch of Islamia College,22 students from Edwardes’ College, left for the city through a pre-planned route. The Quaid was driven slowly, seated by him were Pir Bakhsh, Lal Badshah in the back seat and perhaps Hakim Jalil in the front seat as gleaned through a photograph taken on the occasion. The procession entered the city through Hashtnagri, Karimpura bazaar, to the Ghanta Ghar, then through Chowk Yadgar, the party proceeded via Phurgaran towards Yakatut and terminated at the residence of Sahibzada Qayum, which had been furnished for the Quaid’s stay.23 Mr. Ayub Khattak then a second year student of Islamia College and incharge Rover’s group recollects that flowers were showered at the procession from a balakhana near Ghanta Ghar, and a handful of sweet (shakarpara) was pelted over the motorcar from the Sufi sweet house (still situated in Ghantaghar at the entrance to Karimpura) one ball hitting the Quaid at the right eyebrow, which gave reddish look for a quite a while. It all took about two hours to reach Mundiberi. Here the Quaid thanked all, especially the student community and promised to meet them later during his stay at Peshawar.24

The Quaid stayed for a week from 18th of October to the 24th at the Mundiberi residence of Sahibzada Qayum.

The first day in Peshawar was spent quietly. There is no day record maintained by one, of this event. The news media was not much alive to it. The Khyber Mail, then a weekly, has only given a three line account of the arrival and a column on the departure. The Frontier Advocate and the Sarhadi Samachar both Hindu papers, on which I could not lay hand, are reported not to pay much heed to the visit. Al-Jamiat’s file for 1936 is not maintained and also those of Islahe Sarhad are not traceable. The story therefore is based on a few secret police reports and recollections of men connected with this event. Some exaggerated versions of this visit have lately appeared.

The Quaid was visiting at this time in his individual capacity. The public was least conscious of his mission less to talk of the Muslim League. An educated frontierman had heard about him as supporter of the Frontier cause in the Legislative Council and at the Round Table Conference. His Fourteen Points, which inter alia had urged for reforms in the Frontier, has aroused liking for him. His struggle for the Muslim cause, was penetrating the Frontier though slow, but steadily. The students of Islamia College invited him in May 1936 to preside over the Prophet’s day function.25 This he could not attend, but he sent message26 for the occasion. The Khyber Mail in its weekly political and educational columns was portraying both literary and political efforts of the Indian Muslim leaders and the Quaid and Iqbal found place in them. The Frontier politics had been completely overshadowed by the Khudai Khidmatgar (redshirt) movement, which had affiliated itself with the Indian National Congress. It was a movement that had deep roots in the rural areas and its leader, Abdul Ghaffar Khan, had emerged as a socio-political saviour and his arrest had caused political restlessness in the area.27 Coinciding it the approaching provincial elections had produced hectic political life. Redshirt election campaign offices were opened all over the province. District parliamentary boards, were set up during the middle of 1936. Meetings were organised and the public made conscious of their rights. Dr. Khan, Abdul Qayum Khan, Qasim Shah Mian, Ghulam Rabbani, Ghulam Mohammad Lundkhwar, Mehar Chand Khanna, Dr. C.C. Ghosh, Ashiq Bad Shah, Mian Samin Jan, Kamdar Khan and others were daily reported addressing meetings in the length and breadth of the province. The government had to resort to arrests in certain cases, which further made their cause popular. August 21, was observed as Ghaffar Khan Day all over the province.28 The Socialist Party of Peshawar joined hands with the Redshirt.29 There were, in fact, only two parties in the Frontier, the government and the Redshirt, as claimed by the Congress leadership. The others were all disarrayed. Non-Congressite Muslims would hold inconclusive periodic meetings, and one like it was held on August 25-26th at Abbottabad to prepare the election manifesto and devise means for the forthcoming elections,30 but personal rivalry marred unanimous stand. The Muslim Azad Party, was split up into Nishtar and Pir Bakhsh group. Khaksars and Ahrars were mostly ineffective.

The political situations, therefore in October 1936, in the Frontier province was quite blurred. The Quaid was to analyse it properly. He, therefore, in the first instance met the Redshirt leaders, at about 6 p.m. on the first day of his arrival. The secret police reports Ghulam Mohammad Lundkhwar, Abdul Qayyum Khan, Qaim Shah Mian and Dr. C.C. Ghosh, calling on the Quaid on that evening. They discussed the affairs in general with him.31 The visitors formed part of the city parliamentary board. The Quaid persuaded them to wind up this board. To this they did not agree.32 He asked Qayyum Khan according to the secret police, report, to join the Muslim League. Qayyum later reported to Dr. Khan that he refused it.33

Next day, that is the 19th of October, the Quaid addressed the students of Edwardes College during the forenoon hours. There is no authentic information on this visit. The police secret reports mention of a gathering of about 200 students in College hall, in which, the Quaid explained the object of his visit to Peshawar. He appreciated political awakening in the Frontier and hoped that it would play an important role in the future constitution of the country.34

The same evening at about 4 p.m. the Quaid addressed the public of Peshawar at Shahibagh under the auspices of Muslim Azad Party. The news for this meeting had been customarily heralded in the city. Agha Lal Badshah presided over the meeting and Pir Bakhsh acted as the stage secretary. Sources vary on the number of audience.35 Police report indicates presence of about one thousand persons. Khushbash puts this number to 4000. Malik Shad estimates between two thousand to two and a half thousand (Professor) Jalalud Din Khilji, (ex-Principal Islamia College) then a Youngman of about 25, who happens to have reached the meeting spot unscheduled, found a small gathering not exceeding 300 persons. All accounts confirms that a good number of Hindus, mostly lawyers and the Sikhs were also present. The Quaid was as usual wearing western dress, a sola hat, was noticed smoking cigar on the dais. Many took him for an Englishman36 and quite a few left when he addressed them in English as it was not followed by all.37 The special branch timed the speech about 30 minutes, explaining to all that he had not come to lend support to any particular political group in the province, but to enlighten them on the aims and objects of the All India Muslim League. He also talked for a while on the 1935 Act and exhorted the Muslims to forge unity in their ranks and files, evolving one united party “Should they form such a party Hindus will follow suit”. He emphasized that the Muslim League aimed at producing liberal and progressive minded nationalist who could lead their nation to freedom.38 He advised them to send their best men to the assembly.39 He also asked the Hindus and Sikhs to sent their best too so that Hindu-Muslim unity is cemented and way paved for swaraj.40

Pir Bakhsh at the end of the speech gave a resume of it in Urdu. The meeting dispersed by about 5:30 p.m.41

On Tuesday, the 20th of October, the Quaid visited Islamia College on the invitation of the Khyber Union, the student organisation. The chief informants for this function are Ayub Khattak, Abdul Manan,42 both second year students of Islamia College. Malik Shad also participated in this function and has some dim recollections of it. Ayub Khattak informs that the college administration was not happy with this invitation and the organizers had to assure the Principal that the guest would not make any political speech. Khatak, Manan, and few others who were interviewed confirmed that Sahibzada Qayum was not present in the function.43

The Quaid was welcomed on entering the hall (Roosekepple) by students who had occupied it to full. The Principal (R.H. Holdsworth) welcomed the guest, as president of the Union. Prof. Mohammad Shafi, in his address paid tributes to the Quaid for his efforts in bringing unity in Muslim thought. He dwelt at length on the concept of Muslim unity and quoted extensively from Iqbal. The Quaid spoke for about half an hour. He advised the students “to advance themselves politically and educationally”.44 He was sure that this seat of learning (Islamia College) will one day equal the glamour of Al-Azhar and Cordova.45 Mohammad Yusuf Khalil, the vice-president of the Union, thereafter dilated on the objectives of the student body touching also upon the Pathan code of honour and ethic and requested the guest to become their honorary life member. The membership register thereafter was presented to him. The Quaid while singing it remarked that it is so endearing to his heart that he was signing the document without reading it.

This function, in all probability, took place in the afternoon.46 The meeting soon after adjourned with no tea party.47

There are positive evidence that the Quaid’s visit to Landi-Kotal was on the 21st or the 22nd. A group photograph at Landikotal in currency for a while in Peshawar was lately displayed at the centenary exhibition at the University of Peshawar. Malik Saida Khan Shinwari played host for him at his village in Landi Kotal. No positive date for this visit could be ascertained. It certainly was not Friday, the 23rd of October, as Malik Shad affirms that the Quaid performed Juma prayer in Masjib Mohbat Khan, wearing fez, under the imamat of Hafiz Noor Mohammad.48 The government record at the political Agent Khyber office is not in order to establish the correct day of visit.

The Quaid’s stay from 21st to 24th is also shrouded in myth. No definite story can be built as there is no authentic record with the exception of a secret police report that the Quaid met important Muslim leaders on the 23rd at the residence of Sahibzada Qayum, in the cantonment area in which Kuli Khan, Abdul Rahim Kundi, Pir Bakhsh, Abdul Rahman, Lal Badshah and Hakim Abdul Jalil participated.49 There is no detailed account of the meeting. The report concludes that a branch of the provincial Muslim League was formed on the suggestions of the Quaid with Khuda Bakhsh as president, Pir Bakhsh secretary and Hakim Jalil, Rahim Bakhsh, Abdul Latif, Syed Ali and Lal Badshah as members of the executive committee.50 Another report emanating from the same source reveals that Abdul Wadood Sarhadi alongwith a few other met the Quaid on the 24th and apprised him of the situation in the province. Wadood did not show any inclination to join Muslim League, on the contrary he forecasted that the Khudai Khidmatgar will win the forthcoming election and the Muslim League stood no chance to compete with them.51

This was the plea also taken by all other political leaders. There are indications that the Frontier leaders were not keen then to bet on the Muslim League for the forthcoming provincial elections and therefore they all preferred to contest the election in their individual capacity rather than as League candidates. The Khyber Mail carried the following column by its staff reporter on the conclusion of the Quaid’s tour of the Frontier.

“Mr. Jinnah saw works of all shades of opinion and had an exchange of views with them. A number of representative Muslims from all over the Province met him on Friday afternoon.

After a long discussion it was decided to form a party in order to take steps for the early formation of a Provincial Muslim League in the NWFP. Members of this Consultative Board include about 20 members of the Independent Party of the Province with Mr. Pir Bakhsh Khan MLC as convener.

It is proposed to hold a representative meeting of the Frontier Muslims of all shades of political thought in the first week of November at Peshawar in order to finally decide the question of the formation of the Muslim League. This decision has excited considerable interest in political circle of the Frontier. The majority of the workers in Peshawar seem to agree with Mr. Jinnah as regards programme of the League which they are studying keenly at present.

Mr. Jinnah before his departure told the Press that he was entirely satisfied with the result of his Frontier visit and cherished strong hopes of a bright future.

Members of the Independent Party, who owing to their election activities could not attend the above meeting have telegraphically informed of the above result. Mr. Jinnah has promised to visit the Frontier again whenever it is necessary for him to do so in the interest of the new Board. It is also stated that Maulana Ahmad Saeed, Secretary of Jamiatul Ullama-e-Hind, Delhi, will be deputed by Mr. Jinnah to do propaganda in the NWFP on behalf of the Muslim League.”52

The Quaid left Peshawar on the 24th evening. He was seen off at the railway station by about fifty persons important amongst them Pir Bakhsh, Lal Badshsh and Abdul Jalil.53

---

Mohammad Anwar Khan is Director, Institute of Central Asian Studies, University of Peshawar.

References

1. Jamilul Din Ahmad, Historic Documents on the Muslim Freedom Movement p. 193. Hereafter cited as Historic Document.
2. Ibid.
3. The letter to Pir Bakhsh presently form part of Aziz Javed collection.
4. Khuda Bakhsh to Jinnah DIK 30-4-1936 QA Paper cell Islamabad.
5. This information is based on the statement of Mr. Ghaznavi.
6. Aziz Javed collection.
7. Abstract of NWFP, Police Intelligence Secret File No. 94 P. 319.
8. Ibid.
9. “The role of NWFP in Pakistan Movement” by Pir Bakhsh in Dawn Supplement May 12, 1975.
10. Letter.
11. The information from Malik Mohammad Shah and Rahim Bakhsh Ghaznavi.
12. Ibid.
13. Pir Bakhsh to Jinnah, Peshwar 14-10-1936. QA Paper Cell.
14. The title of Khushbash (happy going) was conferred on him by Pandit Amir Chand Bambwal, the editor of Frontier Advocate in prison during 1922 on account of his jolly disposition.
15. Mr. Rahim Bakhsh Ghaznavi, a follower of Nishtar, informs that Sardar Abdul Rab Nishtar, then an opponent of Pir Bakhsh was highly alarmed on hearing the Quaid’s visit on the invitation of the rival group. He sent the two brothers, Allah Bakhsh Yousufi and Rahim Bakhsh Ghaznavi to Lahore to apprise the Quaid of their standpoint and to ask him not to do anything which in any degree harm their group position. Later Nishtar went in advance to see him at the Noshera railway station and tried to convince him of his viewpoint. It seems to have made little effect on him because later developments show that the Quaid could not under any circumstance encourage schism amongst the Musalmans.
16. Khyber Mail, Oct. 18, 1936 p. I Col. 2.
17. Abstract of Intelligence p. 369.
18. Ibid.
19. Khyber Mail.
20. Malik Shad.
21. Malik Shad says that Mian Mohammad nicknamed Nim Shah said so.
22. Mr. Ayub Khattak accompanied the group to the Station and then joined the procession upto the residence.
23. Ayub Khattak’s interview. This statement is also corroborated by Malik Shad.
24. Malik Shad deposes that Pahlavan Faqir Mohammad and Fazal Mahmood were reciting Iqbal’s poem in the front line.
25. Khyber Mail May 10, 1936 P. I Col. 2.
26. Ibid., June 14, 1936 P. 2 Col. 4.
27. Khyber Mail. There are many entries to this effect In 1936 file.
28. Khyber Mail August 16, 1936, p. I Col. I.
29. Ibid., October 4, 1936 p. I Col. 2.
30. Ibid., August 16, 1936 p. I Col. I.
31. Abstract of Intelligence op. cit., p. 369.
32. Ibid.
33. Abstract of Intelligence o.p. cit., P. 377.
34. Ibid., P. 381.
35. Ibid., P. 381.
36. Professor J.D. Khiliji recollections.
37. Ibid.
38. Abstract of Intelligence op. cit., p. 382.
39. Khyber Mail 25th Oct. 1936 p. I Cols. 2-3.
40. Abstract of Intelligence op. cit.
41. Malik Shad.
42. Mr. Abdul Manan Khan is currently Agriculture Secretary to the Government of NWFP.
43. Dr. Sakhaullah ex-Professor of Arabic also lends support to it.
44. Ayub Khattak’s recollections.
45. Abdul Manan’s recollections.
46. Ayub Khattak asserts that it was in the afternoon. Abdul Manan would not remember it. Dr. Sakhaullah thinks it was in the forenoon. The College’s own account is silent about it.
47. Ibid.
48. He is not quite sure, but thinks it was Hafiz Noor.
49. Abstract of Intelligence op. cit., P. 382.
50. Abstract of Intelligence op. cit., P. 382.
51. Ibid.
52. Khyber Mail, October 25, 1936 op. cit.
53. Abstract of Intelligence P. 382.

Source: World Scholars on Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
Edited by: Ahmad Hasan Dani, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan 1979.

Quaid-e-Azam in London, December 1946

Talking to the media with Nehru

Quaid-e-Azam's stern warning to Churchill

The Pakistan Concept: Its Background

by P.H.L. Eggermont

Introduction
In 1936 Pandit Nehru wrote in his Autobiography :

“The Muslim nation in India- a nation within a nation, and not even compact, but vague, spread out, indeterminate. Politically the idea is absurd. Economically it is fantastic; it is hardly worth considering….”

At the time not only Nehru and his followers but also the greater part of the Western authors, journalists, and political reporters were sceptic, or even opposite to the Pakistan-concept. However, in spite of all these ominous prediction Pakistan became a fact on the 14th August 1947, and, at present, nearly thirty years after, it is manifest that this state has energetically survived wars and calamities, has courageously resisted economic reverse, and has developed into an esteemed member of the United Nations.

Which mysterious forces may have caused the blind spot in the eyes of Nehru, and in the eyes of so many prominent Western intellectuals so that they failed to discern the strength of the Pakistan-concept?

The answer to that question lies hidden within a complexity of factors among which the most important one is the wide gap separating the Islamic and Hindu views regarding social, cultural and religious aspects of life.

As a matter of fact only the British have realized the unity of the sub-continent, and were able to guard it for over a century. In this respect Queen Victoria (1837-1904) was historically the first geographic Chakravartin. As, therefore, in the recent period the political unity of India happened to coincide with the traditional Hindu claim upon its ruling over the entire sub-continent, I am inclined to consider this mere coincidence to represent one among the factors which caused men like Nehru and Gandhi to close their eyes to the lesson of history teaching that partition and division had been the usual feature of the sub-continent for ages and ages.

Another mythical factor is the so-called “Absorption-theory”. In his book “Discovery of India” Nehru writes:-

“India’s peculiar feature is absorption, synthesis”. It is true, in antiquity this theory fitted in well with the facts: invaders like the Greeks in the 3rd century B.C., the Scythian in the 1st century B.C., the White Huns in the 5th century A.D., have been absorbed all of them.

The Muslims, however, are the exception to the rule. They have never been absorbed, though a great range of forms of peaceful co-existence can be noticed during the Muslim period.

How unacquainted the early Muslims were with the Indian culture is shown in the next lines written by Al-Beruni, the contemporary of Mahmud of Ghazni, who conquered the Punjab between A.D 1000 and 1026:-

“We believe in nothing in which they believe and vice-versa…. If ever a custom of theirs resembles one of ours, it has certainly just the opposite meaning”

Al-Beruni’s words seem to have remained valid until our days, for Mohammad Ali Jinnah, whose Centenary is celebrated at present, has explained during an interview in 1942 :-

“Islam is not merely a religious doctrine, but a realistic and practical code of conduct - in terms of everything important in life, of our history, our heroes, our art, our architecture, our music, our laws, our jurisprudence. In all these things our outlook is not only fundamentally different, but often radically antagonistic to the Hindus.”

In between Al-Beruni’s first notes on Indian creed and customs and the interview of Mohammad Ali Jinnah extends the gap of time filled by the autumn-time of the Indian Middle Ages, the preponderance of the Turco-Afghan states, the Empire of the Moghuls, and since A.D 1757 the power of the British Empire.

At first the British continued making use of the feudal structure of the Muslim and Hindu states they had conquered, ruling by means of the administrative Hindu middle class, and maintaining Persian as the language used in the courts of justice. The great change started only in the frame of the rise of liberalism and the big industries in England. Lord William Bentinck the first Governor-General of the entire sub-continent (A.D.1828-1835) replaced Persian by English, a reform of which he himself did not realize the importance, but which in the long run appear to have accelerated the modern development of the sub-continent a great deal. At first this reform was disadvantageous to the Muslims. The Hindus were quick to learn the new language, but they kept sticking to the use of charming Persian and useful Urdu so that they came to lag behind compared with the Hindus. Of 240 Indian pleaders admitted to the Calcutta bar between 1852 and 1868 only one was Muslim. The “Mutiny” of 1857 turned out to be disadvantageous to the Muslims as well. For a long time they were not permitted to follow a glorious career in the Indian army.

However, only thirty years later, in 1888, Lord Dufferin addressed the members the Mohammedan National League at Calcutta as follows:-

“In any event, be assured, Gentlemen, that I highly value those remarks of sympathy and approbation which you have been pleased to express in regard to the general administration of the country. Descended as you are from those who formerly occupied such a commanding position in India, you are exceptionally able to under-stand the responsibility attaching to those who rule.”

The scholar: Sir Syed Ahmad Khan

This Muslim renaissance, this recovery of Muslim political influence was almost entirely due to one Muslim whose indefatigable energy pointed his co-religionists the way to modern times. He was Sir Syed Ahmad (1817-1898). Starting his career as a clerk in the service of the East India Company in 1837 he finished as a member of the Governor General’s Legislative Council from 1878-1883. He had earned the confidence of the British by his saving many Europeans during the “Mutiny “, so that he was able to make the new rulers acquainted with the Muslim points of view they had been unaware of formerly. His activities comprised three fields, Islam, reconciliation with the British, and relation with the Hindus. As to Islam, after a visit to England in 1869 he became aware that Islamic theology should recover the dynamism it had possessed in the glorious past. In the same way as Islamic philosophy has amalgamated the scientific discoveries of the ancient Greek science during the middle Ages, it should react upon the new data provided by the recent Western science. There is no contradiction between the Word of Allah and the Work of Allah, he said. He spent much time to justify his effort by writing in two journals he had founded. His greatest contribution however was the establishment of the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh where besides the study of Islam young Muslims could obtain English education. Many later political leaders as capable as the Hindus have studied there. Politically he preached firm loyalty to the British Crown so that he extricated the Muslims from their isolated position. His policy towards the Hindus was characterized by some distrust. When Lord Ripon created local self-government institutions he insisted that the Muslim communities should receive separate nomination.

This distrust sprang notably from anti-Islamic currents among the Hindus, as e.g. it appeared from the popular novel Anandamath written by the Bengali author Bankim Chandra Chartterjee in 1882. The contents of this novel represented an affront to good taste in general and an insult to the Muslim community in particular. These anti-Islamic currents were not universal at the time. At the first session of the Indian National Congress held in 1886 the President said:

“For long our fathers lived and we have lived as individuals only or as families, but henceforward I hope that we shall be living as a nation, united one and all to promote our welfare, and the welfare of our mother-country”.

Sir Syed however did not agree to that, and called the members of the Congress back to reality by saying in one of his speeches on the subject:-

“The proposals of the Congress are exceedingly inexpedient for a country which is inhabited by two different nations….Now suppose that all the English …were to leave India….then who would be rulers of India? Is it possible that under these circumstances two nations---the Mohammedan and Hindu—could sit on the same throne and remain equal in power? Most certainly not. It is necessary that one of them should conquer the other and thrust it down. To hope that both could remain equal is to desire the impossible and the inconceivable.”

In fact it is this antithesis between the idealistic Hindu One-Nation theory and the realistic Muslim Two-Nation theory which contained the seed of the separation realized more than 60 years later.

The Poet: Mohammad Iqbal


Sir Syed had rendered the Indian Muslims their prestige, but the 20th century needed someone who gave them a sense of separate destiny. The Hindus were so fortunate as to obtain at an early time, in 1918, a charismatic leader, Mahatma Gandhi. In their turn the Muslims acquired a gifted and inspiring poet. They had to wait until 1936 before a leader turned up who was acknowledged by all of them. The poet was Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938). As a student in Europe (1905-1907) he had discerned the portents of the approaching World-war I. He returned to India, filled with dislike for the selfish policy of the European national sates, but also with admiration for the active, and dynamic life of the Europeans themselves. During the war he published his vision on the relation between individual man, the world and God (1915 and 1918). Some people, he says, regard the development of the individual as supreme end, and the state as an instrument to that. Others exalt the state and regard it as far more important than the rights of the individual. Between these extremes Iqbal shows the middle way, viz. the development of the spiritual person in close connection with the communal group to which one belongs. Such an ideal society however, is only possible if it is based on Monotheism, Tawhid, for the idea of one God emphasises the essential unity of all mankind. The human society is one indivisible unit and man is related to man as brother, irrespective of colour, creed or race or geographical environment. Therefore he says:-

“That which leads to unison in a hundred individuals is but a secret from the secrets of Tawhid. Religion, wisdom and law are all the effects; power, strength and supremacy originate from it. Its influence exalts the slaves, and virtually creates a new species out of them. Within it fear and doubt depart, spirit of action revives, and the eye sees the very secret of the Universe.”

It is with a view to the creation of a Muslim Home-land meant to representing a spiritual centre in support of the other Muslims scattered over the remaining portion of the Indian sub-continent, that Iqbal said at the Session of the Muslim League in 1930 :-

“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 Western Indian Muslim state appear to me to be the final destiny of the Muslims, at least of North West India… The Muslim demand ..is actuated by a genuine desire for free development which is practically impossible under the type of unitary government contemplated by the nationalist Hindu politicians with a view to secure permanent communal dominance in the whole of India. Nor should the Hindus fear that the creation of autonomous Muslim states will mean the introduction of a kind of religious rule in such states. 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.”

In 1933 a Muslim student at Cambridge, Chaudhari Rahmat Ali, proposed to give Iqbal’s project the name of Pakistan. The name struck the imagination of the masses, and was in general use as late as 1940.

The Leader: Muhammad Ali Jinnah

 
Iqbal was a poet, but no real politician. In fact the Muslims had at their disposal a qualified politician, Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948), but he followed for a very long period the unitary point of view adhered to by Nehru and Gandhi until, at last , he was converted to the Pakistan concept in 1937. The reason may be sought for in his character on the one hand, and in the political situation on the other.

Jinnah was known as an incorruptible and very strict lawyer. A glimpse of his character appears perhaps from the next words he said in a speech held at Lucknow in 1937:-

“Think one hundred times before you take a decision, but once a decision is taken, stand by it as one man. “

When Muhammad Ali Jinnah started his political career, the Muslim League had got involved in the Khilafat Movement which dominated the political field from 1912 until 1924. In general the Indian Muslims tended to regard the Sultan of Turkey as the leader of the Islamic faith, though formerly, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan had said:

“You are the subjects of the British authority, and not those of Abdul Hamid.”

World-war I had turned the British Empire into the adversary of Turkey, and the harsh condition of its peace settlement had, for once, brought the Indian Muslims into line with Gandhi’s opposition against the British. It is why Mohammad Ali Jinnah as the then president of the Muslim League, and the National Congress signed the famous Lucknow Pact in 1916/1917. It was an agreement between the parties on the future Constitution of India according to which the Muslims were to have one third elective seats in the All Indian Legislature, and very reasonable percentages of the elective seats in the various provinces. In this respect one should realize that the strict and incorruptible lawyer Jinnah regarded the Lucknow Pact as a legal act, as a valid cheque on the future, and certainly not as a playing ball created by the political parties to play with of their own accord.

It is from the same point of view why he opposed Gandhi’s resolution of starting a peaceful non-co operation movement at the Nagpur session of the Indian National Congress in 1920. At the Conference there were 1050 Muslims among the 14582 delegates, but Muhammad Ali Jinnah was the only dissentient.

In a letter to Gandhi he wrote:-

“Your methods have already caused split and division in almost every institution that you have approached hitherto …people generally are desperate all over the country and your extreme programme has for the moment struck the imagination mostly of the inexperienced youth and the ignorant and the illiterate. All this means complete disorganization and chaos.”

The events of august 1921 proved how accurately Jinnah had judged the situation. The Islamic Moplahs of Malabar rose in revolt, murdered a few British administrative officers, finally turned against the Hindu landowners and money-lenders. Gandhi called off his peaceful non-co-operation movement, but preaching peace the had introduced the sword. Between 1920 and 1940 continued the series of the actions and counteractions between Muslims and Hindus which contemporaries like I myself used to read in the journals all over the world at the time.

Jinnah lost his influence in the National Congress, and, disgusted, he left India to establish himself as a lawyer in London between 1930-1940. There he was favoured by participation in the Round Table Conference of 1930-1931, where he met his famous co-religionist Muhammad Iqbal.

The result of this Round Table Conference was the 1935 Government of India Act, an impressive, but very intricate piece of work the most notable feature of which was the introduction of elections for 11 new Provincial Assemblies provided with their own responsible ministers.

In this connection Liaqat Ali Khan urged Jinnah to leave England in order to prepare the elections of 1937. Reminding his Muslim electorate of the Lucknow Pact 1916-17 he brought forward a moderate election programme. However, as the Muslim League was still a middle-class organization without a firm grip on the masses the elections became a brilliant success of the Congress party, which won the majority in 5 Provinces, and turned out to become the largest party in 2 others. Without any regard to Jinnah’s co-operation programme Nehru formed Congress ministries in the Hindu-Majority provinces where the Muslim League had captured a substantial number of the Muslim seats. In Uttar Pradesh the Congress went even so far as to propose that Leaguers would be taken into the Cabinet only if the League dissolved its parliamentary organization and if all its representatives became members of the Congress. This was what later on Sir Percival Griffiths called “a serious tactical blunder of Nehru”. It was even worse than that. Jinnah regarded it as treason to the Lucknow Pact, and he declared:-

“On the very threshold of what little power and responsibility is given, the Majority community have shown their hand, that Hinduism is for the Hindus. Only the Congress masquerades under the names of nationalism.”

On Iqbal’s advice Jinnah started to turn the League into a party of the masses. He reduced the annual membership to two annas. In the same way as Nehru and Gandhi he travelled all over the country conducting a fiery campaign. The number of his followers rose quickly and between 1938 and 1942 the League won 46 out of 56 by-elections in the Muslim constituencies throughout the provinces. He became the Quaid-i-Azam, the Great Leader, and against the Congress’s point of view that only the Congress represented the people of All-India, he was now able to put his counter-claim that the League, and only the League, could represent the Indian Muslims.

On 23rd March 1940 he took the final step leading to autonomy and separation. At the annual session of the League at Lahore the next resolution was accepted:-

“No constitutional plan would be workable in this country or acceptable to the Muslims unless it is designed on the following basic principles, viz. that geographically contiguous units are demarcated into regions which should be so constituted with such territorial adjustments as may be necessary, that the areas in which the Muslims are numerically in a majority, as in the north-western and eastern zones of India, should be grouped to constitute Independent States in which the constituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign.”

The political correspondents of the press were quick to grasp the significance of this intricate long phrase, and they called it the “Pakistan resolution.”

When the long valley of World-War II was passed the political strife, or better the civil war, between Hindus and Muslims exploded, together with its horrible consequences. It ended in the replacement of Lord Wavell by Lord Mountbatten, the shock therapy by Mr. Attlee, who established the month of June 1947, and later on the 15th of August 1947 as the date of the transfer of power. It ended in the dramatic migration of 14,000,000 people, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs as well, perhaps the most massive simultaneous migration known in the history of the world. On 7th of August Jinnah flew to his native town Karachi. He was 71 years of age by now. On 11th of August he opened in his capacity of Governor General the first session of the Constituent Assembly of the recently created autonomous and independent State of Pakistan, and spoke:-

“You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any place of worship in the State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion, or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the fundamental principle that we are all citizens and equal citizens of our State…Now, I think we should keep that in front of us and as ideal…”

P.H.L. Eggermont is the Professor at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium.

Source:    World Scholars on Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
                  Edited by: Ahmad Hasan Dani, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan 1979.

Mr. Jinnah presiding over a joint meeting of Indian National Congress and All India Muslim League in 1916.

 originally uploaded by Doc Kazi.

Strong Air Force - A shield against aggression (13th Apr 1948)

Speech to the Royal Pakistan Air Force Station Risalpur on 13th April, 1948.

It gives me great pleasure to pay my first visit to a unit of the Royal Pakistan Air Force. There is no doubt that any country without a strong Air Force is at the mercy of any aggressor. Pakistan must build up her Air Force as quickly as possible. It must be an efficient Air Force second to none and must take its right place with the Army and the Navy in securing Pakistan’s defence.

I am well aware of air developments in other countries and my Government is determined that the Royal Pakistan Air Force will not lee behind.

The Royal Pakistan Air Force has started with very few assets, except loyalty and determination, to succeed. But the Royal Pakistan Air Force is already taking shape; this school formed only 7 months ago is a worthy example of this.

I know also that you are short of aircraft and equipment, but efforts are being made to procure the necessary equipment and orders for modern aircraft have also been placed.

But aircraft and personnel in any numbers are of little use, unless there is a team spirit within the Air Force and a strict sense of discipline prevails. I charge you to remember that only with discipline and self-reliance can the Royal Pakistan Air Force be worthy of Pakistan.

I am pleased to learn of the progress which this School has made and as desired by the Commander and yourselves I name it from today “The Royal Pakistan Air Force College”

I thank you all and I wish your school and yourselves all success.

Pakistan Zindabad

Importance of physical culture (12th Apr 1948)

Message to the First Olympic Games on 12th April 1948.

For sound minds we should have sound bodies and that is why nations the world over attach so much importance to boy-building and physical culture. The first Pakistan Olympic Games should act as an incentive to all Pakistan nationals to emulate the Olympic Motto “Citius, Althius, Fortiusn” i.e. “Faster, Higher and stronger” I wish the organizers of the games and all competitors the best of luck. Build up Pakistan higher, firmer and stronger.

Pakistan Zindabad

Responsibilities of the youth (12th Apr 1948)

Reply to the Address presented by the Students of Islamia College, Peshawar on 12th April, 1948.

Click to enlarge

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am indeed very happy to be present here today and to have the privilege of meeting and addressing the students of this great Dar-ul-Ulum, who are the future builders of Pakistan.

On this occasion the thought that is naturally uppermost in my mind is the support and help that the movement for the achievement of Pakistan received from the student community, particularly of this Province. I cannot help feeling that the unequivocal and unmistakable decision of the people of this Province to join Pakistan, which was given through the referendum held last year, was helped considerably by the contribution made by the students. I take particular pride in the fact that the people of this Province have never and in no way lagged behind in the struggle for freedom and achievement of Pakistan.

Now that we have achieved our national goal, you will expect me to give you a bit of advice regarding the manner in which we can put our shoulders behind the most difficult and important task of building up our new State into what we all wish it to be; namely one of the greatest States in the world. The first thing you should do is to learn to appreciate the difference in the approach to the problems with which we are faced now, in contrast with those which were facing us when we were struggling for our independence. During our struggle for the achievement of Pakistan we were critical of the Government which was a foreign Government and which we wanted to replace by a Government of our own. In doing so we had to sacrifice many things including the academic careers of our younger generation. May I say that you played your part magnificently. Now that you have achieved your goal that is, a Government of your own, and a country which belongs to you and in which you can live as free men, your responsibilities and your approach to the political, social and economic problems must also change. The duties required of you now are: develop a sound sense of discipline, character, initiative and a solid academic background. You must devote yourself whole-heartedly to your studies, for that is your first obligation to yourselves, your parents and to the State. You must learn to obey for only then you can learn to command. In your criticism of the Government you must learn to be constructive. Government welcomes constructive criticism. You can make a big contribution towards bringing about harmony and unity where for personal and other selfish considerations some people may adopt courses which are likely to lead to disruption and disunity. Remember that your Government is like your own garden. Your garden flourishes by the way you look after it and the efforts that you put towards its improvement. Similarly, your Government can only flourish by your patriotic, honest and constructive efforts to improve it.

I am not making any particular reference to you but now that I have had the opportunity of talking to you I must warn you not to allow your actions to be guided by ill-digested information or slogans and catch-words. Do not take them to heart or repeat them parrot-like. Take advantage of your period of training that this institution offers you, by equipping yourself to become leaders of the future generation. There is a common fault with the students against which I must warn you. The students believe that no one can tell them anything which they do not already know. That mentality is harmful and often leads to quite a lot of mischief.But if you want to learn by your own experience, and not by the experience of your elders, let me tell you that as you become older, you will be more ready to learn from your costly experiences and the knock that you shall have received during your lifetime, which will harm you more than anybody else.

I naturally welcome your statement that you do not believe in provincialism. You must learn to distinguish between your love for your province and your love and duty to the State as a whole our duty to the State takes us a stage beyond provincialism. It demands a broader sense of vision, and greater sense of patriotism. Our duty to the State often demands that we must be ready to submerge our individual or provincial interests into the common cause for common good. Our duty to the State comes first; our duty to our Province, to our district, to our town and to our village and ourselves comes next. Remember we are building up a State which is going to play its full part in the destinies of the whole Islamic World.We therefore, need a wider outlook, an outlook which transcends the boundaries of provinces, limited nationalism, and racialism. We must develop a sense of patriotism which should galvanise and weld us all into one united and strong nation. That is the only way in which we can achieve our goal, the goal of our struggle, the goal for which millions of Mussalmans have lost their all and laid down their lives.

You have referred to the question of Khyber University. Let me tell you that nothing is nearer to my heart than to have a great centre of culture and learning in a place like Peshawar, a place from where the rays of knowledge and culture can spread throughout the Middle East and Central Asia. I therefore, fully sympathise with your aspirations in this behalf and, provided you go the right way about it, perhaps you will get your University sooner than you can imagine.

Finally, I would earnestly advise you to think and act with sobriety and in all humility as selfless and true soldiers of the people, and with absolute loyalty to Pakistan.

Remember, you must have patience.Rome was not built in a day. Time factor, therefore, is essential. You must trust in your Government and I assure you that they are fully alive to the needs of the people, and particularly the masses who require special attention. Give them full chance and opportunity. The success of our achievements will depend upon our unity, discipline and faith not only in ourselves but in God who determines the destinies of peoples and nations.

I thank you once more for the honour that you have done me today. I wish you every happiness and success.

There is one thing which I am sorry to say I missed to refer in my written speech. My young friends you must now fully realise the vital change, the fundamental change that has taken place. You are not now merely to confine yourselves to becoming Government servants which was the avenue to which most of you aspired. You must now realise that fresh fields, new channels and avenues are now being thrown open to you where you have unlimited opportunities, namely, you must now direct your attention to science, commercial banking, insurance, industry and technical education.

You must be reading newspapers and knowing how Pakistan is moving fast in creating various institutions of the kind I have mentioned. Many of you do not know how fast it is going, but it is going very fast and as we go on, these institutions will multiply. Those are the avenues, those are the channels where you can do well to yourselves and also serve the nation better than as clerks. I want to impress upon those who are responsible for the education of our young boys that they must concentrate and direct all energies in this direction.

You do not know what is waiting for you. I give one instance to illustrate.I know one young man who took a Government job as usual after he had completed his university career. He was a B.Com. and had some training in the commercial system. He was very happy to get a job in a Government department on Rs. 150 p.m. He was quite happy because an average B.A. does not get more than a tongawala or a taxiwala. He was very happy. He would not have received more than a few hundreds even after 35 years’ service. But suddenly somebody picked him up and got him in his bank and straightaway he was given Rs. 500/- p.m. Now, today, that is four years after, let me tell you, that he is drawing Rs. 1,500 p.m.–Rs. 1,500 he would have never received till the time he died. Now, therefore, I once more impress upon you to direct your minds to these channels.

One thing more I would like to say that there is some impression that the public is kept away from me. This you may call the Government’s management or the State visit of mine. I want this impression to be removed. I want to make it clear that the public is absolutely free to do what they like, provided they maintain discipline; whereas the public get so excited that they break every rule and every arrangement in their enthusiasm and regard for me. But that does no good to anybody and it is dangerous. Therefore, I wish that everyone will impress upon the people especially my young friends to line up if they want to see me. You can by all means come and see me with full freedom, but line up properly, keep order and maintain discipline so that I can comfortably pass as the object is that I should see you and should see me.

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you again for the honour you have done me today.

Pakistan Zindabad

Common ideals of Pakistan and France (21st 1948)

Reply to the Speech made by the First Ambassador of the Republic of France to Pakistan at the time of Presenting credentials to the Quaid-e-Azam on 21st January, 1948.

Your Excellency,

It has given me great pleasure to welcome you today in your capacity as the first Ambassador of the Republic of France to Pakistan. With your appointment the relationship between our two countries assumes a closer and more intimate form and I hope and trust that this will presage the most cordial and friendly co-operation between our two countries.

The magnificent history of your great country and its achievements are well known to the world. In common with other nations, we in Pakistan have admired the high principles of democracy that form the basis of your Great State. The cry of liberty, fraternity and equality which was raised during your Great Revolution and officially adopted by your great Republic had its repercussions throughout the world as is known to every student of history. These ideals and these principles are still buoying up the hopes of many downtrodden nations. As Your Excellency has yourself observed the traditions (and may I add the culture) of Pakistan, as the youngest of the free Muslim countries of the world, has been inherited from a long past; –a past which, in view of the manifold contacts of France with the Muslim world over several centuries, is well-known and familiar to the Government and people of France. Indeed in view of this long contact of France with the Muslim world, the people of France and Pakistan are not strangers to one another. I hope and trust that with this background of intimate contact between our two peoples and in particular with Your Excellency’s knowledge of our brother Muslim countries, your appointment will inaugurate a new era which I hope will lead to closer friendship between France and Pakistan. I assure Your Excellency that we in Pakistan will give you our support and co-operation which you may require in promoting relationship of goodwill and friendship between our two countries and I trust that in the result, Pakistan and France will unitedly play their part in re-establishing peace and prosperity in the precent distracted world

Once again, Your Excellency, I assure you of a warm and friendly welcome to Pakistan.

Pakistan Zindabad

Economic feasibility of Pakistan (1 Apr 1948)

Speech on the occasion of the presentation of New Pakistan Coins and Notes by the Finance Minister of Pakistan, on 1st April, 1948.

I thank you Mr. Finance Minister for the honour you have done me by presenting the first Pakistan coins and notes to me today. I take this opportunity of publicly expressing the appreciation of the Government and people of Pakistan of the way in which you and your Ministry has handled the finances of our Young State and your untiring zeal to put them on a sound footing. When we first raised our demand for a sovereign and independent State of Pakistan there were not a few false prophets who tried to deflect us from our set purpose by saying that Pakistan was not economically feasible. They painted extremely dark pictures of the future of our State and its financial and economic soundness. The very first budget presented by you must have caused a shock to those false prophets. It has already demonstrated the soundness of Pakistan’s finances and the determination of its Government to make them more and more sound, and strong. Although it has meant the tightening of our belts, to a certain extent, but I am sure that the people of Pakistan will not mind making sacrifices in order to make our State in the near future really a strong and stable State. So that we can handle more effectively and with ease our programme, especially for the uplift of the masses. I have no doubt in my mind about the bright future that awaits Pakistan when its vast resources of men and material are fully mobilized. The road that we may have to travel may be somewhat uphill at present but with courage and determination we mean to achieve our objective, which is to build up and construct a strong and prosperous Pakistan.

Pakistan Zindabad

Farewell Message to East Pakistan (28th Mar 1948)

Broadcast Speech from Radio Pakistan, Dhaka on 28th March, 1948.

During the past nine days that I have spent in your province, I have been studying your local conditions and some of the problems that confront east Bengal. Tonight, on the eve of my departure, I want to place before you some of my impressions. Before I do this, however, let me first cordially thank you for the great warmth and affection with which you have received me everywhere in your midst during my stay here.

From the administrative point of view, East Bengal perhaps more than any other province of Pakistan, has had to face the most difficult problems as a result of Partition. Before August 14, it existed merely as a hinterland to Calcutta, to whose prosperity it greatly contributed but which it did not share. On August 14, Dhaka was merely a mofussil town, having none of the complex facilities and amenities, which are essential for the capital of a modern Government. Further, owing to partition, the province’s transport system had been thrown completely out of gear and the administrative machinery seriously disorganised at a time when the country was threatened with a serious food shortage. The new province of East Bengal thus came into being in the most unfavourable circumstances, which might easily have proved fatal to a less determined and less tenacious people. That the administration not only survived but even emerged stronger from such setbacks as the Chittagong cyclone, is a striking tribute both to the sterling character of the people as well as to the unremitting zeal of the Government of the province. The position now is that the initial difficulties have to a great extent been overcome and, though there is no ground for complacency, there are at least reasons for quiet confidence in the future. Though now undeveloped, East Bengal possesses vast potentialities of raw materials and hydroelectric power. In Chittagong you have the making of a first-class port which in time should rank among the finest ports in the world. Given peaceful conditions and the fullest co-operation from all sections of the people, we shall make this province the most prosperous in Pakistan.

It is a matter for congratulation that despite the massacre and persecution of Muslims in the Indian Domination in the months immediately following Partition, peaceful conditions have throughout prevailed in this province, and I have seen the minority community going about its normal day-to-day vocations in perfect security. Some migration of Hindus to the Indian Dominion, there unfortunately has been, though the estimates mentioned in the Indian press are ridiculous. I am satisfied, at any rate, that whatever movement there has been, has not in any way been due to their treatment here, which under the circumstances has been exemplary, but rather to psychological reasons and external pressure. Indian leaders and a section of the Indian press have indulged freely in war-mongering talks against Pakistan. There has been persistently insidious propaganda by parties like the Hindu Mahasabha in favour of an exchange of population: and disturbances in the Indian Dominion, in which Muslims have been persecuted; have not unnaturally given rise to fears in the mind of the minority community lest unpleasant repercussions should occur in East Bengal, even though such apprehensions have no foundation for they have been belied by actual facts. Over and above all these factors, the recent declaration by the Indian Dominion on Pakistan as a foreign country for customs and other purposes has involved the Hindu business community in serious economic difficulties and brought pressure to bear on many Hindu businessmen to remove their business to the Indian Dominion. I find that the Provincial Government have repeatedly given assurances and have at all times taken whatever steps were possible for the protection and well being of the minority community and have done their best to dissuade them from leaving their ancestral homes in East Bengal for an unknown fate in the Indian Union.

I would like now to offer a word of advice to the people of this-province. I notice a regrettable tendency on the part of a certain section of the people to regard their newly won freedom, not as liberty with the great opportunities it opens up and the heavy responsibilities it imposes, but as licence. It is true that, with the removal of foreign domination, the people are now the final arbiters of their destiny. They have perfect liberty to have by constitutional means any Government that they may chose. This cannot, however, mean that any group may now attempt by any unlawful methods to impose its will on the popularly elected Government of the day. The Government and its policy may be changed by the votes of the elected representatives of the Provincial Legislative Assembly. Not only that, but no Government worthy of the name can for a moment tolerate such gangsterism and mob rule from reckless and irresponsible people, but must deal with it firmly by all the means at its disposal. I am thinking particularly of the language controversy, which has caused quite unnecessary excitement and trouble in certain quarters in this province; and if not checked, it might lead to serious consequences. What should be the official language of this province is for your representatives to decide.

But this language controversy is really only one aspect of a bigger problem–that of provincialism. I am sure you must realize that in a newly-formed State like Pakistan, consisting moreover as it does of two widely separated parts, cohesion and solidarity amongst all its citizens, from whatever part they may come, is essential for its progress, nay for its very survival. Pakistan is the embodiment of the unity of the Muslim nation and so it must remain. That unity we, as true Muslims, must jealously guard and preserve. If we begin to think of ourselves as Bengalis, Punjabis, Sindhis etc. first and Muslims and Pakistanis only incidentally, then Pakistan is bound to disintegrate. Do not think that this is some abstruse proposition: our enemies are fully alive to its possibilities, which I must warn you they are already busy exploiting. I would ask you plainly, when political agencies and organs of the Indian press, which fought tooth and nail to prevent the creation of Pakistan, are suddenly found with a tender conscience for what they call the ‘just claims’ of the Muslims of East Bengal, do you not consider this a most sinister phenomenon? Is it not perfectly obvious that, having failed to prevent the Muslims from achieving Pakistan, these agencies are now trying to disrupt Pakistan from within by insidious propaganda aimed at setting brother Muslim against brother Muslim? That is why I want you to be on your guard against this poison of provincialism that our enemies wish to inject into our State. There are great tasks to be accomplished and great dangers to be overcome: overcome them we certainly shall but we shall do so much quicker if our solidarity remains unimpaired and if our determination to march forward as a single, united nation remains unshaken. This is the only way in which we can raise Pakistan rapidly and surely to its proper, worthy place in the comity of nations.

Here I would like to address a word to the women of East Pakistan. In the great task of building the nation and maintaining its solidarity women have a most valuable part to play, as the prime architects of the character of the youth that constitute its backbone, not merely in their own homes but by helping their less fortunate sisters outside in that great task. I know that in the long struggle for the achievement of Pakistan, Muslim women have stood solidly behind their men. In the bigger struggle for the building up of Pakistan that now lies ahead, let it not be said that the women of Pakistan had lagged behind or failed in their duty.

Finally, I would address a special word to Government servants, both Central and Provincial –that great body of pioneers, many of whom have been working under very difficult conditions in this province. Yours is a great responsibility. You must ensure that this province is given, not merely the ordinary routine services that you are bound to perform, but rather the very last ounce of selfless endeavour that you are capable of producing for your State. In the great task of building up this State, you have a magnificent opportunity. You must continue to face the future, handle your jobs with the same courage, confidence and determination as you have so far displayed. Above all do not allow yourselves to be made the pawns of mischievious propagandists and self-seeking agitators who are out to exploit both you and the difficulties with which a new State is inevitably faced the Government of Pakistan and the Provincial Government have been anxiously devising ways and means whereby your housing and other difficulties, inescapable in a period of such rapid transition, may be relieved and I trust that these difficulties will soon disappear. You owe it to the great State to which you belong, to the people whom you serve and, indeed, to yourself not to be daunted by any difficulties, but to press on and go forward and maintain sustained efforts with single-minded devotion. Pakistan has a great future ahead of it. It is now for us to take the fullest advantage of what nature has so abundantly provided us with and builds up a glorious and mighty State.

Pakistan Zindabad