Reading 3
SIMLA DEPUTATION.
In the beginning of the twentieth century the national
and
international situation necessitated the introduction of new reforms in
the subcontinent, envisaging more, powers to the natives. 1 he Muslim leaders
were also looking for a suitable time to present the demand of effective
representation of ttne Muslims. Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk, the secretary of Ahgarh
Trust, therefore, organised-* Simla Deputation and 35 Muslim leaders from all
over India, under the leadership of Sir Agha Khan met Lord Minto (October 1,
1906) and :put forward the demand, on behalf of the Muslim community that they
were an important nation of the country but in, the European type of elections,
introduced by the government, they had totally been ignored. According
to the Deputation, they should, therefore, be given their due representation
and their members should be elected only by their own votes. This kind of
election, i.e., separate electorate the Deputation also demanded at the levels ot
municipal committees and district boards. The deputation also requested that a
separate quota for the Mushms.be fixed in government services and other fields of
life, as they were a separate nation. Though Lord Minto did! not make firm
commitment, his reply was encouraging.
In December of the same year, Muslim League: was founded. In the next few
years, London Muslim League
(presided over by Syed Amir Ali) laid ground for separate electorate in London
and in the reforms of 1909, this demand of the Muslims was, in principle,
accepted, though the seats reserved for them were not commensurate with their
population.
Partition of Bengal: In the beginning of the twentieth century, the event of the
partition of Bengal totally exposed the mentality of Hindu Congress. The province
of Bengal was so large that it was virtually an impossibility for one governor to
administer it properly. For excess of rains and lack of proper means of
transportation, the government of Calcutta could neither govern the eastern
regions or take steps for their development. In those areas, agriculture was on the
wane and trade had such barriers that the produce of the area could hardly reach
the port of Chittagong for export. In 1905, the British government divided this
province into two parts to solve these administrative problems.
Fortunately, the new province of East Bengal had a clear Muslim majority which
could greatly benefit by the development of the province. Uptill now, the
government jobs were in the hands of Bengali Hindus; trade had been
monopolised by them; the Hindu lawyers of Calcutta had dominated all the courts
of the province; the newspapers were published from Calcutta and it was a.
blessing only for their Hindu owners and journalists; the Hindus regarded the
Muslims of Bengal as inferior to themselves. However, all this changed with the
creation of a new province. Dacca High Court was set up New newspapers began
to be published from Dacca. The citizens of the new province were provided
employments on priority basis and thus doors of jobs were opened for the
Muslims. With a
boost in agriculture and trade, the Muslims also benefitted. In short, the Hindus
realised that their golden goose had been lost . They, therefore, launched a violent
movement against the partition of Bengal. They created a gimmick of Bengali
nationalism and by declaring the Muslims of East Bengal their brothers, tried to
entrap them. By swadeshi movement, i.e., the boycott of foreign goods, the British
government was pressurised. The Muslims opposed the movement. It caused
Hindu-Muslim riots. Thus Congress, with its attitude, proved that the Hindus were
not prepared to concede legitimate rights of the Muslims which they had usurped.
That was the reason that Salim Ullah of Dacca was in the forefront for the
establishment of a political party for the Muslims.
Foundation of Muslim League
For Simla Deputation, Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk had invited all the notable Muslim
leaders. On that occasion various proposals were discussed to check the decline of
Muslim nation. Nawab Salim Ullah Khan of Dacca suggested that the
Muslims should give up their nonpolitical stance and establish their separate
political organisation. Thus it was decided that in December (1906), the session
of Muhammadan Educational Conference should be convened at Dacca and
at that time, after probing into all the aspects of the suggestion, a decision
should be taken. In the beginning of the twentieth century, for various reasons, the
Muslims were prepared to end the non-political policy of
Sir Syed Ahmed
Khan. On December 30, 1906, All India Muslim League was founded.
The following factors led to its establishment:
1. The Attempt to Eliminate Urdu: The Hindus had been planning to eliminate the
Urdu language since 1867 but Sir Syed Ahmed Khan did not let them succeed in
their aim and for this purpose he used Ihis influence and gave cogent reasons for
his case. The Hindus intensified their compaign after the death of S ir Syed. Sir
Antony McDonald, the Governor of U.P. by his order enforced Hindi and Dev
Nagri script instead of Urdu and Persian script on April 18, 1900 in th-e judicial
courts and Government offices. This was a scheme to eject the Muslims out of
office and to destnqy the Muslim culture. This was also a plan to wipe out thee
Muslim influence. On May 13, 1900 Nawab Mohsin-ul-NCulk called a meeting of
the Muslim representatives at Aligarh. He explained the whole situation in his
speech and set up ”Urdu Defence Association”.
On August 18, 1900, a gresat meeting was held in Luckriow, in which Mohsin-ulMiulk while assuring the Queen of the faithfulness of Musliims also stated that
they would offer any sacrifice for the: safety and defence of their cultural heritage.
Governoi Antony McDonald took this step as against the government and
threatened to stop the grant for the College. In such circumstances Mohsmul-Mulk
resigned from the Secretary-ship of the Trust, but compelled by the trustees, he
too’k back the resignation. After Antony, James-LA-Toche became the Lt:
Governor, who ended the pressure, reinstated Urdu but allowed Hindi to be taught
along with Urdu. This struggle created in the Muslims the awareness to safegnarrd their genuine rights.
2. Activities of Arya Samaj: ^Arya Sarnaj attacked the precepts of Islam and
raised the slogan ”Hindustan for Hindus”. This opened the eyes off the Muslims
and they
Christians < to harm th Muslims w
j ,n f^r their defence. After 1890, Arya Samaj gained stood »*p iu
, ..•* dT^nong the Hindus and Shuddhi movement also popularity ai> &
^ oc- ?* force to be reckoned with, emerged as ^
, ~
g/aughter: The wave of prejudice spread
«.* +h& Hindus and they demanded to ban the among8’ in
, * ^ cows. They also demanded that who so be
slausrl
n . - ~r.*isible for this action should be banished from found respu*’
tr/’ ^6 flesh °f cows was consumed by the
^ .*•„<. a^nd the Muslims. The Hindus could never dare Christians «*^
th^ Christians but their aggression against the to n.3J ’
.. w^nt on increasmS day by day. They organised
*’
• , • _ -for the protection of cows. Further they started association ^
. Y ^~ drums and singing and dancing in front of the beatiflS *n oo o
4,Hen the Muslims used to offer their prayers. The moscpes VV1
rm fpl* the necessity of safeguarding their rights and MusHms 1& , ,. , , ,.-.,.
\ f Viat Dun?ose establlsne<J political organisations.
Modert* Hindu Literature: The Hindus published
literature (especially in. Bengali and Mahrati) in
, they depicted the Muslims as raiders, thieves,
’ts usi*1”?61”8 etc’ an(^ mstigated the Hindus to destroy
Muslim culture. Such challenge could not be faced
• Viout nol^ca’ organisation of the Muslims.
. conar$ss Dominated by fanatic Hindus: The
eress cJa’med to be a political party of all the Indians,
’t had been dominated by the fanatic Hindus. Tilak and
. ^ra ^ath Bannerji could not be opposed or challenged
the Con§ress- ^n<^ these leaders openly talked of
•,u:«^ the Muslims from the sub-continent or of
•^;*r, the Muslims from the sub-continent or of bamshinS
ddhi’ ^’vaJ’ was ^e ^ero °f Tilak who was in favour sin°- a^ l^e meth°ds and
manners which could end
\J i
*^
O ^ , __ . ,
f
, , «’
-~ -
-, ,
-^. .
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113 Pakistan Movement: The First Phase
opf
•osition to ^is tar8et- Bannerji believed in Kali Devi
which was a symbol of torture, cruelty and blood-shed. Among the Congress
leader was Madan Mohan Malvia who created a prejudiced, organisation, Hindu
Mahasabha. The Muslims felt the necessity of a strong defence against
the vicious activities of these fanatic leaders.
<t
6. Reaction on the Partition of Bengal:
The
Partition of Bengal in 1905 proved useful for the Muslims. The Hindus reacted
’strongly against this division. It transpired from the activities of the Hindus that
they were not prepared to give due rights to the Muslims and in Swadeshi
movement they were supported by the Hindus of all classes. The Hindu nation had
usurped the genuine rights and privileges of the Muslims. This made the Muslims
to shed .their slumber and wake up to endeavour for their rights. The Muslims who
had participated in the Congress were disappointed to such an extent that only
seventeen unknown Muslims attended the Congress meeting of 1905.
7. Success of Liberal Party in England: In 1905 elections in England, the
liberal party succeeded and Mr. Morley who had presented Ireland Home Rule
Bill during the period of Gladstone, was made the Secretary of state for India. Mr.
Morley, in the course of discussion on the budget promised to introduce new
administrative reforms for the sub-continent which aimed at giving more
importance to elections. As soon as Mohsin-ul-Mulk read this news, he decided
to work for the rights of the Muslims.
8. Simla Delegation and its Success: A delegation of Muslim leaders met the
Viceroy Lord Minto at Simla on October 1, 1906 to protect the rights of Muslims
of the
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Pakistan Movement: The First Phase
sub-continent- This delegation was headed by Sir Agha Khan. In this delegation
prominent Muslims of every province nad participated. The credit goes to Nawab
Mohsin-ui_Mtllk and Nawab Waciar-ul-Mulk for the success of the Delegation.
T^e gimla delegation succeeded to throw light on the imp6rtance of the Muslim
community. They said that they were 1^° of Indian population. They were not a
minority t,ut a strong political community. So they must be given th^ir ri§ntsThey exPressed their dissatisfaction with the election procedure. They made it
clear to the Viceroy that represeiatation on the British lines would adversely affect
the Muslims- They demanded separate electorate in the elections from tne
Municipal Committees to the Legislative Council for the Muslims. Also they
.demanded quota irx Government Jobs’ the aPPointment of Muslim . judges i^ the
High Court and elevating the Aligarh College to a University- .
.
•pne Viceroy Lord Minto gave a cautious but encoura&jng answer and promised
to give representation to the Muslims as a separate community in the
administrative set up of tfte Government. It was a great achievement for the
Muslims- •
Formation of Muslim League; Nawab Salim Ullah Khan oy Dacca could not
participate in the delegation but he, keying in view the circumstances, proposed
the formation of a separate political part;y of Muslims. So the leaders decked that
positive steps would be taken in Deceml^er 1906 in the Session of Muslim
Educational Conference at Dacca.
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115 Pakistan Movement. The First Phase
After the end of the session of Educational Conference on 30 December, 1906,
Nawab Wiqar-ul-Mulk presided over a special meeting. He stressed upon the
formation of a Muslim Political Party in view of the majority of prejudiced
Hindus. Maulana Zafar Ali Khan seconded the idea and ”All India Muslim
League” resolution was passed by the Muslim leaders. Aims and Objects: There
were three main objects for setting up of the Muslim League:
(a) To promote among the Musalmans of India feelings of loyalty to the British
Government and to remove any misconception that may arise as to the intension of
Government with regard to any of the measures.
(b) To promote and advance the political rights and interests of the Musalmans
of India and to respectfully represent their needs and aspirations to the
government.
(c) To prevent the rise, among the Musalmans, of any feeling of hostility towards
other communities without prejudice to the aforementioned objects of the
League.
During the first few years, the Muslim League spent
• most of its strength to get separate electorate and to preserve the partition of
Bengal. Attempts were also made to upgrade M.A.O. College to a University
level. Sir Agha Khan was the President of Muslim League and because of him, it
was given importance in the high echelons of government. Justice Ameer Ali
Syed, as President of London Muslim League, introduced it in Britain and soon
its importance began to be felt in both India and Britain.
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Pakistan Mo\>emenl: The First Phase
Minto Morley Reforms and the Muslims: In 1909, the British government
introduced a new constitutional structure to give more power to the people of India
and to seek greater participation of the Indians in running the affairs of the
government. According to this act, the natives were to be members of the
executive councils of governor general and provincial governors. The numerical
strength of Legislative Councils was increased and in the Central Legislature, 27
out of a total 60 members, were to be elected. This Act, recognising the Muslims
as a separate community, reserved five, out of a total 27 seats for them and
separate electoral rolls were prepared for them. Likewise, in the provincial
councils, the Muslims were to be represented by separate electorate. No doubt, the
Muslims were given less share than their numerical strength, but it was a great
triumph for them as they were recognised a separate nation. They had now been
saved from that dangerous situation, created by the Act of 1892, when not even a
single Muslim from trie whole country was elected to the legislative council.
A New Dimention to Muslim Politics: The political entity of the Muslims of India
had been recognised due to separate electorate. However, anti-Muslim character of
Britain in international politics had widened the gulf between the government and
the Indian Muslims. In 1907, without any moral grounds, Russia and Britain, by a
strange agreement divided Iran ( an independent Islamic State) between the two
and its northern .part was declared under the Russian sphere of influence while the
southern part under the British sphere of influence. Turkey, which was at”the time
in the vanguard of the m wement for the unity of the Muslims, also became a
victim of British
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Pakistan Movement: The First Phase
intrigues and the war of Balkans and Italy’s invasion of Tripoli were actually the
results of British encouragement and diplomacy. This hostility forced Turkey to
seek Gerany’s friendship and in the World War I, Turkey joined the Axis powers
against the Allies. The Muslims of India naturally had a soft corner for Turkey and
they more than
ever, began to loathe the British Raj.
*k
Events inside the country also convinced the Muslims that the government was not
ready to repose trust on them and dislrked their political and educational progress.
It imposed severe conditions to upgrade Aligarh College to the level of a
university and even when the Muslims collected the desired funds, the government
was not willing to elevate it to the status of an affiliating university.
Under the Act of 1909, the separate seats reserved for the Muslims were far short
of their numerical strength. In December 1911, the partition of Bengal was
suddenly annuled which meant that, sacrificing all principles of justice and
fairplay on the altar of expediency, millions of Muslims had once again been made
slaves and lackeys of the Hindus. This action was totally unjustified as the Hindu
agitation against the partition of Bengal had nearly died down and the British
government had repeatedly declared partition as a settled fact. In 1913, on the
pretext of widening a road, a mosque in Cawnpur was razed to the ground and
when the Muslims protested, they were crushed with the bullets. The result was
that the whole country flared up in protest and the influence of those Muslim
League leaders greatly expanded who did not support the school of loyalty to the
British. Leaders like Waqar-ulMulk and Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar aroused
in
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Pakistan Movement: The First Phase
Muslims the spirit of freedom of thought. The journalistic talent of Zaftr Ali Khan
caused the masses to launch many movements. Under such circumstances, Muslim
League redefined its goals and by declaring their objective as ”a form of selfgovernment suitable to India”, decided to cooperate (with necessary guarantees of
their rights) with other nationsLukhnow Pact: The Muslims were prepared to cooperate with the majority
community of India to get more powers from the British, but on the condition that
the Hindus would recognise their legitimate rights. The antiMuslim, policy of the
British during the World War I, coupled with the Cawnpur tragedy in which a
mosque was razed to the ground, agitated the sentiments of the Muslims against
the government. Most of the Muslim leaders had been imprisoned. Muhammad
Ali Jinnah, who was a member of both the Congress and the Muslim League and
was regarded the ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity, made the two parties to
endorse a joint scheme, which came to be Known as Lukhnow Pact (1916). Under
the scheme, the following principles provided the basis for the solution of HinduMuslim differences,
(a) The right of separate electorate for the Muslims was recognised, which implied
that Congress accepted the Muslims as a separate nation and the Muslim League
as their representative body.
(b) It was decided that the Muslims would have onethird seats in the central
legislature while in the provinces, the minorities were to have more seats than their
numerical strength and it was called ”Wdghtage”. This principle implied that
the Muslims got .more representation than their
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119 Pakistan Movement: The First Phase
numerical ratio in the minority provinces but in Punjab and Bengal, their majority was lost. Despite a
population of 56% in Bengal their representation was reduced to 50%, while in Punjab where their
majority was 55%, only 40% seats were reserved for them. (Allama Iqbal was critical of the Pact for this
clause which was damaging to the Muslims.) (c) To provide constitutional safeguard to the
minorities, it was decided that no bill or resolution affecting a community was to be proceeded within any
Council if three-fourth of the representatives of that community were opposed to it. After agreeing to the
above noted principles, the two parties demanded Dominion Status, reduction in powers of
bureaucracy, separation of executive and judiciary and provincial autonomy.