Chapter 25
Muslim League’s Contradiction
WHILE Muslim League’s communal politics had left the country ablaze,
there were also forces that set to work among the Muslim and
non-Muslims to douse the fire. At a time when virtually the whole
nation was roused to lunacy and had reached the level of animals,
anyone talking of peace and amity between the Hindus, Muslims and
Sikh did admitted seem, if not irrelevant, certainly a bit naive and
unrealistic.
Among the Muslims an organised effort in this direction was made by
the Khudai Khidmatgars. When the Muslim League bid to break Khudai
Khidmatgar ministry intensified, when active sabotage was for the
first time introduced in NWFP, politics through Major Khursheed
Anwar, and when the tradition of public disturbance and rioting was
established here, it became apparent, on the one hand, that the way
was opened for anti-national elements to harass and rob people and
seize factories and trading establishments through the spread of
communal killing, and on the other, that the officials were not
particularly concerned about their obligations in this regard, that
they were not doing all they could to protect the non-Muslims.
The provincial ministry then requested the Khudai Khidmatgars to
volunteer themselves for protection of the life and property of the
non-Muslims in Peshawar city. Some six thousand of us came forward.
Although some Muslim League workers and certain good-for-nothing
louts used to taunt and sneer at the Khudai Khidmatgars for their
pains or remind them of Bihar riots or the rampage of Muslims at the
hand of Punjab Sikhs, it can be denied that they greatly succeeded
in safeguarding the honour and life and properties of the
non-Muslims.
However, the British effort was to impress on everyone that the
Hindu and Muslim separation was so conclusive that there was no
question of their living together. The object was to free the
province of non-Muslim population. This suited the Muslim League
also. Apart from enabling the seizure of the non-Muslim properties,
the flight of the Hindus and Sikhs, who held several seats in the
provincial assembly, suited the purposes of both the British and the
Muslim League. Thus all the non-Muslims were gathered in the
Balahisar fort in Peshawar and then sent off to India.
In India, the Congress leaders, especially Gandhiji, also set to
putting off the communal fire. Gandhiji went to the extent of
staking his life on it. He went on a fast-unto-death against the
anti-Muslim riots in Calcutta. The example of personal sacrifice
created such an atmosphere that apart from the common Hindus,
Muslims and Sikhs, even the government policemen were deeply
affected and broke into tear, and Gandhi eventually ended his fast
and embraced thousands of Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs in the Calcutta
ground.
However the communal flames had taken such a hold that if they were
put off at one point they broke out at another. Gandhi kept rushing
from one place to another determined that they should somehow be
ended. It was Calcutta now, Delhi next; East Bengal at one time,
Bihar at the other. It was the same Hussein Shaheed Suhrawardy who
as chief minister of Bengal had led the Muslim procession in
pursuance of the Muslim League call for Direct Action; and it was
the same place where the communal fire has been first fanned. That
Suharawardy at that place was now setting off with Gandhi to quash
the flames of communal politics!
We have seen that when the Muslim League had accepted the Cabinet
Mission Plan and the idea of a federation based on the concept of
three zones and a central government, it had relinquished its demand
for Pakistan. And since that place was now founded on the basis of
the two nation theory, it had logically also given up its faith in
that theory.
The Muslim Leaguers had chosen religion as the basis for their
politics. They sought justification for every thing they did in
religion. Now religion admitted no tampering. The Muslims in any
case believe the prophet (PBUH) to be God’s last messenger who had
left a complete code of life for the faithful which permitted not a
little of addition or deletion. These Muslim League leaders had
raised the slogan, “Pakistan ka matlab kiya, La ilaha illallah.”
What bothered us at the time was how after making the demand for
Pakistan synonymous with the basic tenet of Islamic faith, the same
Muslim Leaguers could abandon that demand. Religion in no case
allowed that a movement started on the basis of the kalmia on one
day should be dropped on the next. Did it not then mean a retraction
from the kalima itself?
This is the basic problem that any organisation or party that uses
religion for advancing its political advancing its political
objective is bound to face. On the one side are the organisations
that are purely religious and launch movements that are also guided
by religious objectives-such as the one comprising the dedicated
scholars belonging to the Deoband University. They considered it
their religious duty, yakin to jehad, to conduct a movement to drive
out the heretical British imperialism. On the other hand were
parties, especially the Muslim League, who pursued their political
objectives in the name of religion. They were bound to face
difficulties since the course of religion is clear and
straightforward. It permits no compromises, no maneuverings, and no
veering or holding back from the main course; though in politics all
of this is inherent.
Thus the people who mix politics with religion are destined to face
dilemmas like the Muslim Leaguers, who at one stage had to so change
their political stance as to give up their demand for Pakistan.
Since they had mad Pakistan an article of religious faith, it was
right to object that they had back tracked not on their political
but their religious belief.
A characteristic of Muslim League politics was that its leaders said
different things to different people. When Mr. Jinnah came to NWFP
he met religious leaders here, among other people. He wrote to the
pir of Manki Sharif, Mr. Aminal Hasanat, that Pakistan would be an
Islamic state ruled by the Shariah of the prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
On the other hand, Sikandar Mirza recalls in his book a dialogue he
had with the Quaid-I-Azam on the eve of the departure from Delhi to
Karachi:
Before we all left Delhi, I said to Quaid-I-Azam one day, ‘Sir, we
are all agreed to go to Pakistan; but what kind of government are
you going to have? Are you going to have a type of government with
accent on Islam?” “No nonsense,” he replied, “I am going to have
modern government.”
Muslim League had on one hand presented Pakistan as the mullah’s
paradise with streams running with milk and honey, houris and slaves
without number, lush fruits of all varieties, no worries about
cultivating crops and everything available for the asking. The
promise to Pir Manki Sharif about Shariat-I-Mohammadi has been
noted. When Muslim League was allowed to join the interim
government, one of the ministers it named on its panel was
Jogindarnath Mandal, who was a Hindu and a Harijan. This too was a
surprise. A self-avowedly religious movement which had assumed the
responsibility of safeguarding the interest of Muslims only, names a
minister from another community which according to it, was a
separate nation, one with which Muslim could not live in the same
state!
Let us go further. When the Muslim League succeeded in its mission
and the country was divided and Pakistan formed under the two-nation
theory, Mr. Jinnah, just three days before the formal announcement
that is on August 11, 1947, made a rather detailed declaration of
the principles of state policy in the Pakistan constituent assembly.
He said:
If you change your past and work together in a spirit that every one
of you, no matter what community he belongs to, no matter what is
his colour, caste or creed, is first, second and last a citizen of
this state, with equal right, privileges and obligations, there will
be no end to the progress you will make…..
I cannot emphasise it too much. We should begin to work in that
spirit and in course of time all those angularities of the majority
and minority communities, the Hindu community and the Muslim
community because even as regards Muslims you have Pathans,
Punjabis, Shias, Sunnis, and so on, and among the Hindus you have
Brahamins, Vishanuas, Khatris also Bengalis, Madrasis, and so on
will vanish….
You are free to go to your temple, mosques, or any other place of
worship. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has
nothing to do with the business of the state…….
We are starting with the fundamental principle that we are all
citizens, and equal citizens of one state……
Now I think that we should keep that in front of us as our ideal and
you will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be
Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal
faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of
the state.
G. Allana, Historic Documents P. 545-546
It is worth noting that this speech was not delivered at a press
conference, or at a public meeting or a reception. This announcement
was made before the members of Pakistan’s constituent assembly,
whose responsibility was to draw up a constitution for the Islamic
state of Pakistan and to lay down the fundamental rights of its
citizens.
The position of Mr. Jinnah should also be kept in mind. He was, on
behalf of the Muslims of the subcontinent, the formal president of
the Muslim League organisation. He was also the Governor-General of
Pakistan; and the elected president of the constituent assembly.
Thus, there was no representative body of which Mr. Jinnah was not
then the Guiding spirit.
Finally, this was a written speech. As a veteran barrister and
parliamentarian, it was perhaps the first time that he was reading
from a prepared text. He apparently understood, and wished to be
understood, the historic importance of his enunciation.
WHILE Muslim League’s communal politics had left the country ablaze,
there were also forces that set to work among the Muslim and
non-Muslims to douse the fire. At a time when virtually the whole
nation was roused to lunacy and had reached the level of animals,
anyone talking of peace and amity between the Hindus, Muslims and
Sikh did admitted seem, if not irrelevant, certainly a bit naive and
unrealistic.
Among the Muslims an organised effort in this direction was made by
the Khudai Khidmatgars. When the Muslim League bid to break Khudai
Khidmatgar ministry intensified, when active sabotage was for the
first time introduced in NWFP, politics through Major Khursheed
Anwar, and when the tradition of public disturbance and rioting was
established here, it became apparent, on the one hand, that the way
was opened for anti-national elements to harass and rob people and
seize factories and trading establishments through the spread of
communal killing, and on the other, that the officials were not
particularly concerned about their obligations in this regard, that
they were not doing all they could to protect the non-Muslims.
The provincial ministry then requested the Khudai Khidmatgars to
volunteer themselves for protection of the life and property of the
non-Muslims in Peshawar city. Some six thousand of us came forward.
Although some Muslim League workers and certain good-for-nothing
louts used to taunt and sneer at the Khudai Khidmatgars for their
pains or remind them of Bihar riots or the rampage of Muslims at the
hand of Punjab Sikhs, it can be denied that they greatly succeeded
in safeguarding the honour and life and properties of the
non-Muslims.
However, the British effort was to impress on everyone that the
Hindu and Muslim separation was so conclusive that there was no
question of their living together. The object was to free the
province of non-Muslim population. This suited the Muslim League
also. Apart from enabling the seizure of the non-Muslim properties,
the flight of the Hindus and Sikhs, who held several seats in the
provincial assembly, suited the purposes of both the British and the
Muslim League. Thus all the non-Muslims were gathered in the
Balahisar fort in Peshawar and then sent off to India.
In India, the Congress leaders, especially Gandhiji, also set to
putting off the communal fire. Gandhiji went to the extent of
staking his life on it. He went on a fast-unto-death against the
anti-Muslim riots in Calcutta. The example of personal sacrifice
created such an atmosphere that apart from the common Hindus,
Muslims and Sikhs, even the government policemen were deeply
affected and broke into tear, and Gandhi eventually ended his fast
and embraced thousands of Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs in the Calcutta
ground.
However the communal flames had taken such a hold that if they were
put off at one point they broke out at another. Gandhi kept rushing
from one place to another determined that they should somehow be
ended. It was Calcutta now, Delhi next; East Bengal at one time,
Bihar at the other. It was the same Hussein Shaheed Suhrawardy who
as chief minister of Bengal had led the Muslim procession in
pursuance of the Muslim League call for Direct Action; and it was
the same place where the communal fire has been first fanned. That
Suharawardy at that place was now setting off with Gandhi to quash
the flames of communal politics!
We have seen that when the Muslim League had accepted the Cabinet
Mission Plan and the idea of a federation based on the concept of
three zones and a central government, it had relinquished its demand
for Pakistan. And since that place was now founded on the basis of
the two nation theory, it had logically also given up its faith in
that theory.
The Muslim Leaguers had chosen religion as the basis for their
politics. They sought justification for every thing they did in
religion. Now religion admitted no tampering. The Muslims in any
case believe the prophet (PBUH) to be God’s last messenger who had
left a complete code of life for the faithful which permitted not a
little of addition or deletion. These Muslim League leaders had
raised the slogan, “Pakistan ka matlab kiya, La ilaha illallah.”
What bothered us at the time was how after making the demand for
Pakistan synonymous with the basic tenet of Islamic faith, the same
Muslim Leaguers could abandon that demand. Religion in no case
allowed that a movement started on the basis of the kalmia on one
day should be dropped on the next. Did it not then mean a retraction
from the kalima itself?
This is the basic problem that any organisation or party that uses
religion for advancing its political advancing its political
objective is bound to face. On the one side are the organisations
that are purely religious and launch movements that are also guided
by religious objectives-such as the one comprising the dedicated
scholars belonging to the Deoband University. They considered it
their religious duty, yakin to jehad, to conduct a movement to drive
out the heretical British imperialism. On the other hand were
parties, especially the Muslim League, who pursued their political
objectives in the name of religion. They were bound to face
difficulties since the course of religion is clear and
straightforward. It permits no compromises, no maneuverings, and no
veering or holding back from the main course; though in politics all
of this is inherent.
Thus the people who mix politics with religion are destined to face
dilemmas like the Muslim Leaguers, who at one stage had to so change
their political stance as to give up their demand for Pakistan.
Since they had mad Pakistan an article of religious faith, it was
right to object that they had back tracked not on their political
but their religious belief.
A characteristic of Muslim League politics was that its leaders said
different things to different people. When Mr. Jinnah came to NWFP
he met religious leaders here, among other people. He wrote to the
pir of Manki Sharif, Mr. Aminal Hasanat, that Pakistan would be an
Islamic state ruled by the Shariah of the prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
On the other hand, Sikandar Mirza recalls in his book a dialogue he
had with the Quaid-I-Azam on the eve of the departure from Delhi to
Karachi:
Before we all left Delhi, I said to Quaid-I-Azam one day, ‘Sir, we
are all agreed to go to Pakistan; but what kind of government are
you going to have? Are you going to have a type of government with
accent on Islam?” “No nonsense,” he replied, “I am going to have
modern government.”
Muslim League had on one hand presented Pakistan as the mullah’s
paradise with streams running with milk and honey, houris and slaves
without number, lush fruits of all varieties, no worries about
cultivating crops and everything available for the asking. The
promise to Pir Manki Sharif about Shariat-I-Mohammadi has been
noted. When Muslim League was allowed to join the interim
government, one of the ministers it named on its panel was
Jogindarnath Mandal, who was a Hindu and a Harijan. This too was a
surprise. A self-avowedly religious movement which had assumed the
responsibility of safeguarding the interest of Muslims only, names a
minister from another community which according to it, was a
separate nation, one with which Muslim could not live in the same
state!
Let us go further. When the Muslim League succeeded in its mission
and the country was divided and Pakistan formed under the two-nation
theory, Mr. Jinnah, just three days before the formal announcement
that is on August 11, 1947, made a rather detailed declaration of
the principles of state policy in the Pakistan constituent assembly.
He said:
If you change your past and work together in a spirit that every one
of you, no matter what community he belongs to, no matter what is
his colour, caste or creed, is first, second and last a citizen of
this state, with equal right, privileges and obligations, there will
be no end to the progress you will make…..
I cannot emphasise it too much. We should begin to work in that
spirit and in course of time all those angularities of the majority
and minority communities, the Hindu community and the Muslim
community because even as regards Muslims you have Pathans,
Punjabis, Shias, Sunnis, and so on, and among the Hindus you have
Brahamins, Vishanuas, Khatris also Bengalis, Madrasis, and so on
will vanish….
You are free to go to your temple, mosques, or any other place of
worship. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has
nothing to do with the business of the state…….
We are starting with the fundamental principle that we are all
citizens, and equal citizens of one state……
Now I think that we should keep that in front of us as our ideal and
you will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to be
Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal
faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of
the state.
G. Allana, Historic Documents P. 545-546
It is worth noting that this speech was not delivered at a press
conference, or at a public meeting or a reception. This announcement
was made before the members of Pakistan’s constituent assembly,
whose responsibility was to draw up a constitution for the Islamic
state of Pakistan and to lay down the fundamental rights of its
citizens.
The position of Mr. Jinnah should also be kept in mind. He was, on
behalf of the Muslims of the subcontinent, the formal president of
the Muslim League organisation. He was also the Governor-General of
Pakistan; and the elected president of the constituent assembly.
Thus, there was no representative body of which Mr. Jinnah was not
then the Guiding spirit.
Finally, this was a written speech. As a veteran barrister and
parliamentarian, it was perhaps the first time that he was reading
from a prepared text. He apparently understood, and wished to be
understood, the historic importance of his enunciation. |
