Indicators of liberalism

Taimur Ashraf, in the Daily Times, has an interesting point to make.  Since Jinnah, a lawyer, defended in court both Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak (1909, on a charge of sedition) and Ilam Din (1929, appeal of his death sentence awarded for the murder of Rajpal; motive of the murder - alleged blasphemy against the Prophet),  Jinnah's liberal credentials are established.

Iqbal's Letters to Jinnah, 1937

http://sites.google.com/site/cabinetmissionplan/iqbal-s-letters-to-jinnah-may-june-1937

Pakistan Day

There has been some controversy in the Pakistan press about just when Pakistan Day began to be celebrated.  The correct answer is that Pakistan Day was celebrated March 23, 1941 and every year since till 1947 as the anniversary of the Lahore Resolution.  I do not know if Pakistan Day was observed in 1948. (Jinnah was in East Pakistan arguing with them about Bengali and other issues.)

Photographs of the source documents are below the fold.  Clicking on them should lead you to flickr, where larger sizes should be available. One day, I may transcribe them.

Note: 1942 is the only case where we can quibble about whether "Pakistan Day" is inferred from the date rather than from Jinnah's statements.

Jinnah and Robeson's music

Via pakteahouse, this

Taj Mahal Foxtrot
Naresh Fernandes
Lustre/Roli Books
Rs 1,295 pp 192

At the stroke of the midnight hour, when India was coughing awake to light and freedom, the charmed people of Bombay and Karachi were celebrating in swing time. In Bombay’s Taj Mahal Hotel, jazz bands led by saxophonist Micky Correa and trumpeter Chic Chocolate were playing the new national anthem with a young JRD Tata and Vijaylakshmi Pandit in audience. At the Karachi Club a night later, Ken Mac’s band played a special request by Muhammad Ali Jinnah — Paul Robeson’s ‘The End’, which the Quaid-e-Azam apparently used to hum while visiting his wife’s grave in Mazagaon, Bombay.

Excerpts from Ispahani letters to Jinnah

M.A. Ispahani was the first Pakistani Ambassador to the US. The following series of excerpts relate to the United Nations actions on Jammu & Kashmir.

January 8, 1948

The Security Council met at 2.45 pm on Tuesday last and decided to admit India and Pakistan to their table and permit them to take part in the discussion without having the right to vote.
...
January 22, 1948

We are busy with the Security Council and Government is being kept informed by telegram of the developments. India is obstinate and Inshallah she shall be made to learn the lesson of her life. Zafrullah Khan is working like a Trojan; his presentation of our case before the Security Council was masterly and his negotiations across the table with the Indians are a feast for us who sit on his side. Every time he beats the best talent of India arrayed opposite us.

February 27, 1948

The other evening we had the pleasure of hearing Sheikh Abdullah making an ass of himself. He lost control of his tongue with the result that he even blasphemed by uttering that 'not even God Almighty, if appointed to take charge of the Interim Government, would remain neutral. Yesterday, Zafrullah Khan tore Abdullah to shreds.

March 27, 1948

The sudden turn of events at Lake Success must have shocked you. In spite of what Attlee told Zafrullah Khan in London, I did not think that the UK would dare commit such a volte face. She has, however, done it and managed to talk the USA, France, Canada and Belgium into following suit. China, who from the outset pulled in favour of India, served as an excellent tool. It is no longer a secret, in spite of the earlier denials by Britain that the Chinese resolution now before the Security Council was in fact sponsored by Britain and approved of by the USA......I am convinced that threat and blackmail on the part of India gave Attlee cold feet. It is both urgent and necessary therefore that the UK and the USA should be advised that we are determined not to swallow a pill that they are out to manufacture for us, which pill we know will cause us incalculable and irreparable injury....


March 31, 1948
It is really tragic to witness such a sudden change in the attitude of the majority of the Security Council. The very points they turned down as unfair, they now seek to justify as fair. Britain, of course, is behind the move. I think that the present international situation - USA/USSR tension - must have influenced the US through British pressure, to keep on the good side of India. So, an attempt is being made to throw us to the wolves.

April 5, 1948

At this stage it can be said that he [Zafrullah] received a fairly sympathetic hearing and it is hoped that Pakistan's viewpoint will not be disregarded totally. Much will, however, depend on the stand England takes, and so far, it seems that both Attlee and Cripps are out to appease India and to back her unreasonable views. They seem concerned about what India will accept and not with what is fair. We have had clear intimation from the British Delegation recently that they are unable to support our point of view......

Noel-Baker who sided with us and who still appears sympathetic, seems helpless. He has been sent back with a mandate to press us and to back India.

April 20, 1948

It seems that the Kashmir dispute will eventually have to be settled in Kashmir and not at Lake Success and that unless India faces a military reverse, there cannot be any hope for her seeing reason.
....[Zafrullah] quoted from the earlier speeches of the sponsors of the 'final resolution' to show how they had suddenly changed their stand and how they were now labouring to make us accept what they themselves not long ago, considered to be unfair and unjust. He made a clear analysis of the resolution and submitted our amendments to it which, as he said, were in line with the principles propounded by the nations before they were cast into the Hudson for some 'unknown' reason. Most of the representatives were unable to hide their discomfiture but that is hardly a consolation to us.

June 6, 1948

During the last five or six weeks, it has grown more and more patent that the members of the Security Council are no longer interested in the Indo-Pakistan dispute. Furthermore, they have shown themselves unwilling to arrive at a decision that will not be well received by India. Particularly the big powers are out more to appease India than do justice. It took me three weeks to get the President of the Security Council to call the meeting of May 27th. It was my constant pressure and protest that eventually persuaded the President, Parodi of France, to summon a meeting of the Council on the 27th of May....

The forerunner of Nabi Fai?

The forerunner of Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai? From a letter from M.A. Ispahani to Jinnah, from Calcutta, February 17, 1947

Quote:
As I advised you on my return form the U.S.A. the opening of a foreign publicity department in the U.S.A. is not as easy as in the U.K. Washington is most careful; it does not want foreign money to come in through the backdoor for propaganda purposes. I think Washington is afraid of Soviet Russia. Any citizen of U.S.A. who participates in foreign propaganda has to answer too many questions and produce, if required, his books of account. You will agree that no businessman wants or has the time to reply to all kinds of enquiries that may be made from time to time by Washington. In the circumstances, we have to see if arrangements cannot be made whereby the monthly expenses incurred by our Centre for its maintenance and publicity cannot be remitted to the persons directly in charge of the Centre. Liaquat Ali, our Finance Minister, is in a better position to guide us in the matter than anyone else. I shall be obliged if you will let me know what I should do. I shall be leaving for Delhi on the 19th of this month and I shall make it a point to discuss this matter with Liaquat Ali.

Jinnah: a Bangla view

Mr. YLH points out:

It is important to draw a distinction here between state language/lingua franca and national language. The two are entirely distinct — the former is appurtenant to statehood and the latter is a cultural construct. Nowhere in any of his speeches on that fateful trip to East Pakistan did Jinnah refer to Urdu as the national language. He used the words state language and lingua franca interchangeably. More importantly, he repeatedly emphasised in the same speeches that East Pakistanis had every right to safeguard and protect the Bengali language and culture as the official language and culture of East Pakistan. The impression therefore that Jinnah was out to destroy the Bengali language and culture is erroneous.

Since it is a matter of language, let's see what Jinnah said and what Bengalis heard:

In a Radio Address to East Pakistanis before his departure from East Pakistan on March 28, 1948, Jinnah had harshly rebuked the critics of his language policy.  He characterized the opponents of Urdu language as the "opponents" of Pakistan.  He said that the supporters of Bengali as a state language are nothing but the "paid agents" of foreign countries.  Aimed at castigating those who had the guts to demand Bengali to be one of the State languages of Pakistan, an imbecile Jinnah had labeled the champions of Bengali language as "communists,"  "enemies of Pakistan," "breakers of integrity of Pakistan," "defeated and frustrated hate-mongers,"   "champions of provincialism," " breakers of peace and tranquility," "political assassins and political opportunists," "traitors," " inhabitants of fools' paradise," and "self-serving, fifth columnists" etc. He commended the Chief Minister Khawaja Nazimuddin for using various forms of repressive and aggressive measures against the supporters of Bengali language. Jinnah had repeatedly reminded the proponents of Bangla language that the Central Government of Pakistan "is determined to take appropriate stern actions" against these evil forces.

Note: the above is a composite of the speeches that Jinnah gave around that period, and all of the above is not in the one radio address.

Jinnah: Bengalis Muslims are all from outside

Mr. YLH keeps making points about Jinnah that cause me to look it up and find more interesting things about this man.  YLH writes:

Jinnah overturned the martial race theory, declaring that the martial qualities of the Bengalis had been suppressed by the colonial rulers and that the Bengalis were second to none. He thus became the first ruler in 200 years to undo the officially sanctioned racism against the Bengalis.

Even this is funny - prior to the revolt of 1857,  as you can check in Wiki or elsewhere - the British did not discriminate against the Bengalis in recruitment.

Each of the three "Presidencies" into which the East India Company divided India for administrative purposes maintained their own armies. Of these, the Army of the Bengal Presidency was the largest.

Since Jinnah gave a speech in 1948 reminding the Bengalis of their martial tradition, (and it is not clear he did anything to improve Pakistani army recruitment of Bengalis), it was only 91, not 200 years.  But Pakistan is known for its madrassa math.

But I digress.  Let me get to the point made in the headline.  In Dhaka (Dacca), addressing a public meeting, March 21, 1948, Jinnah tried to calm the apprehensions of the East Pakistanis about the official language, Urdu.  He blamed the "certain amount of excitement over the question of whether Bengali or Urdu shall be the State language of this Province and of Pakistan" on the enemies of Pakistan, who were seeking to foment provincialism.

As long as you do not throw off this poison [of provincialism] in our body politic, you will never be able to weld yourself, mould yourself, galvanize yourself into a real true nation.   What we want is not to talk about Bengali, Punjabi, Sindhi, Baluchi, Pathan and so on.  They are of course units.  But I ask you: have you forgotten the lesson that was taught to us thirteen hundred years ago? [i.e., Islam]  If I may point out, you are all outsiders here.  Who were the original inhabitants of Bengal—not those who are now living.  So what is the use of saying "we are Bengalis, or Sindhis, or Pathans, or Punjabis". No we are Muslims.

[emphasis added.  Quote from Speeches, Statements & Messages of the Quaid-e-Azam, Volume IV, collected and edited by Khurshid Ahmad Khan Yusufi.]

Jinnah - longevity

Alan Campbell Johnson in "Mission with Mountbatten" reports on an interesting conversation he had with Robert Stimson of the B.B.C..  This conversation was on December 22, 1947, which was soon after an interview Stimson had with Jinnah.

Stimson's general impression was that, subject to four great queries, Pakistan was perhaps a stronger entity than some of the critics recognised.   Those queries were: whether she could avoid war; whether Jinnah had long to live (in Stimson's opinion he looked fitter than in August, and he was himself at pains to say that he hoped to be operating for at least twelve years); whether she could secure economic support, and whether she could retain any of her Hindus.

Jinnah's powers

Yasser Latif Hamdani makes the claim

There are many myths that are woven around Jinnah’s period as Governor-General of Pakistan, one of which was forwarded by Campbell Johnson who inaccurately claimed in his book Mission With Mountbatten that Jinnah applied for powers under the Ninth Schedule of the Government of India Act 1935 (GOIA 1935). It was the Ninth Schedule of the GOIA 1935 that strengthened the Governor-General and gave him powers to ensure passage of bills in a form that had been recommended by the Governor-General. From July 19, 1947 onwards, the Ninth Schedule was no longer available.

Myth?
(Also see this on the Cabinet Mission Plan web-site)

As promised by Jinnah

SSridhar writes on BRF:

Jinnah told Islamists like Abu Ala al Mawdudi that he was getting them the land [namely Pakistan] and it was up to them to construct a mosque there. He knew what he was getting into.

Jinnah's letter to the Pir of Manki Sharif promising shariah was produced in the Constituent Assembly in 1949 to push through the Objectives Resolution. It is available in the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan Debates, Volume 5, 1949, Page 46.

While addressing the Karachi Bar Association on 25 January 1948 on the occasion of the Holy Prophet’s birthday, Jinnah said: “Some are misled by propaganda. Islamic principles are as applicable to life as they were 1,300 years ago. The Constitution of Pakistan will be made on the basis of the sharia”.

One of Pakistan’s renowned political scientists, Prof. (Late) Khalid bin Sayeed narrates in his book, ‘Pakistan: The Formative Phase 1957-1948’ Jinnah’s assurances to a group of visiting Islamists thus: “…Constituent Assembly…will be predominantly Muslim…and would be able to enact laws for the Muslims not inconsistence with Shariah Laws and the Muslims will no longer be obliged by un-Islamic laws…”

While portraying himself as a secularist and a Constitutionalist, Jinnah nevertheless asked only an Islamic clergy, Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani who had apostatised Shias, to raise the flag of Pakistan on Aug. 14, 1947. Later, Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, who had apostatized Ahmedis and calling for them to be stoned to death, was made Sheikh-ul-Islam-i-Pakistan. It was Shabbir Usmani who drafted the Objectives Resolution.

In passionate speeches that Jinnah delivered to masses of the new state of Pakistan, he addressed them as ‘Mussalmans’ instead of as ‘Pakistanis’ and used terms like ‘mujahid’, ‘tenets of the Holy Quran’, and referred to Pakistan as a ‘bulwark of Islam’.

On the other hand, the only time he appeared to be secular was a feeble attempt in his August 14, 1947 speech when he said, "You are free . . ." etc. He neither said nor did anything before or after that to discourage establishing an Islamist Pakistani state.

From a letter from Iqbal to Jinnah

Also the insertion of Jawaharlal’s socialism into the body-politic of Hinduism is likely to cause much bloodshed among the Hindus themselves. The issue between social democracy and Brahmanism is not dissimilar to the one between Brahmanism and Buddhism. Whether the fate of socialism will be the same as the fate of Buddhism in India I cannot say. But it is clear to my mind that if Hinduism accepts social democracy it must necessarily cease to be Hinduism.

Marvi Sirmed on Jinnah

Here.

The liberals' Jinnah problem

Salman Arshad, in this comment on pakteahouse.net, makes it crystal clear

@ YLH:
If you really admire Jinnah for being the typical manipulative nasty politician who only admitted that “two religions equals two nations” only before 00:00 AM 15 Aug 1947, then there really is nothing to talk about.

You can go your way, let honesty go up anyone’s a***.
You need not even write this article.
.
But if you really admire Jinnah for being a man of principle, then the two nation theory is a matter of principle. Two religions means two nations which means they cannot live together in a democratic setup under the same constitution. In this case all nations MUST exist on the basis of religion (or any other cultural/social difference), and regions with majorities MUST be annexed (eg. kashmir) even through WAR because its a f****ing matter of principle.
.
Both cases are f*****up. No need to go into details. Just put a mirror before Pakistan. It will be clear.
.
The third case is the obvious one. Rise above these matters. Lets form our identity on the basis of a MISTAKE.

Let us be one of the few great nations in the world that admitted its own historical mistake. That might actually make us the greatest nation in the world. Lets admit that things have gone way forward and that there is no turning back. We are not merging with India if we admit our mistake.

As soon as we admit our mistake, we will be faced with the task of cleaning up the mess that our theory has created. That itself is a matter of a couple of decades.

Jinnah January 1948

I do not have a record of this in my books, so posting it here for later validation.

Marvi Sirmed in the Daily Times:

Prevalent madness has been dictating everyone in power since partition, including Jinnah and every other leader, who would tow the popular line or make shortsighted attempts to appease the street sentiment instead of leading the alternative opinion. Jinnah did it as early as January 1948 while addressing the Jamaat-e-Islami women who were rallying for the enforcement of shariah. He assured them of the enforcement as soon as possible. (emphasis added)

Jinnah's Revelation

I think Allama Shabbir Ahmed Usmani is the Deobandi cleric, member of the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan, who asked for the Islamization of Pakistan even during Jinnah's lifetime.

Anyway, we now have this:

TNT

From here:

The change in the stance of the Muslim League about the Muslims left in India after the decision of partition can be ascertained  in the excerpts produced below:

Mushtaque Ahmad Wajdi was a senior officer at the time of formation of Pakistan. Late he retired as the auditor general of Pakistan. On page 148 of his book "Hungamon mein zindagi' (A tumultuous Life) he writes:

 "On May 30 1947, Shujaat Ali Husni invited all the Muslim officers over tea in Delhi with an emphasis on attendance. The reason was not known. On reaching there we saw  Qaid-e-Azam, Liagat Ali Khan, Sardar Abdur Rab Nashtar and some others. As the  tea was over, it was announced that Qaid-e-Azam will speak.

After the speech while replying to a question Qaid-e-Azam said, "From now on, the nationality of Indian Muslims will be Indian. They will have nothing to do with Pakistan."

I was shocked to hear this. Five crore Muslims were declared Indians at one go. Until yesterday they were promised a new country which would be an abode of peace for them. They were asked for sacrifices on this ground and they sacrificed their lives and fortune for this cause. Today they were pushed into a virtual hell with two words. What happened to the Two nation Theory?

Then I thought that after all Qaid-e-Azam, Liaqat Ali Khan and other leaders were also Indians. Definitely, they will stay back and take care of them, but that was not to happen." 

In his book, Pathway to Pakistan, Choudhry Khaliquzzaman writes,

"Qaid-e-Azam had now realised the dangers facing Muslims left behind in India. On August 1, 1947, before leaving for Karachi, Mr Jinnah invited all the Muslim members of the Legislative Assembly to bid farewell. Mr Rizwanullah asked some unsavoury questions about the status and future of the Muslims left in India. Never before had I seen Mr Jinnah so nervous and at a loss for words because he could clearly foresee how the Muslims were going to suffer. As the situation became really unpleasant I requested my colleagues to stop the discussion. I believe that this last conversation compelled Mr Jinnah to say good bye  to the Two Nation Theory on August 11, 1947 as the designated Governor General and the President of the Legislative Assembly."

A.I.R. 1930 Lahore 157

Ilam Din murdered Rajpal, the publisher of the pamphlet "Rangila Rasul", on April 6, 1929.  Ilam Din was sentenced to death on May 22, 1929.  Mohammed Ali Jinnah and Farrukh Hussain filed an appeal to the Lahore High Court against the death sentence.  Following is the All India (Law) Reporter record of the case.

"I don't regard myself as an Indian"

In an interview of Jinnah by Norman Cliff, published in the News Chronicle(London) of March 30, 1946, Jinnah declared "I don't regard myself as an Indian".  This was just after the Cabinet Mission arrived in India, and just before they arrived at Delhi to start conferring with Indian leaders.  This interview was mentioned in the Times of India a couple of days later, and so was known in India.

I suppose Jinnah's regarding himself not as an Indian was also a negotiating ploy.

China, too

This is from 1944, "The House that Jinnah Built", by B.G. Kaushik. 

[Jinnah] has not hesitated to align himself with the most reactionary forces in the country.......

Mr Jinnah is reported to have not even spared Muslims of another nation of his disruptionist message and "strongly disapproved of the Chinese Muslims' co-operation with the Hans, as the majority of the Chinese are sometimes called."

Footnote: John Kin in an article published in the American magazine "Asia" refers to the attitude of Chinese Muslims towards Pakistan and the Indian Muslim League.  Kin says in the article: "A written appeal, addressed to Mr. Mohammed Ali Jinnah, President of the Indian Muslim League, urging him to co-operate with the Indian National Congress, was drafted to be signed by General Omar Pai Chungshi, China's No. 1 Mohammedan general and Deputy Chief of Staff of the Chinese Army, in his capacity as President of the Chinese Islamic Salvation Federation, representing all of the Chinese Muslims."

Then Kin refers to the Chinese goodwill mission brought to India by Mr Othman K.H. Woo in 1941.  He writes, Mr. Woo's "mission in India, however was merely to inform the Muslims there of the activities of their Chinese co-religionists, and to gather information on the spot about Muslims in India.....In an interview, he (Mr. Woo) reported back to Chungking, the President of the Indian Muslim League was quoted as having strongly disapproved of the Chinese Muslims' co-operation with the Hans, as the majority of the Chinese population are sometimes called."