Mohammad Ali Jinnah - The Great Enigma - An Indian View

419 Pages·2011·4.84 MB·English

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MOHAMMAD ALI JINNAH THE GREAT ENIGMA 2
FOREWORD

The author of this book Mr. Sheshrao Chavan had met me only
once. He had come to see me with my old friend Mr. Prakash Almeida.
That was a long meeting in which we discussed many issues including
politics. In the very next visit Mr. Chavan handed over a typed
manuscript of his book, “Mohammad Ali Jinnah: The Great Enigma”
and requested me to write a Foreword to the book.

I am not a politician, nor am I a historian. Of course I have had
always keen interest in politics and so I had followed the events that
culminated in the partition of India rather intimately. Perhaps through
our discussion Mr. Chavan got the impression that being a vintage man
of 90, which I am, and who spent the first 20 years of his life in Sindh,
which I did, I might be the just right person to write Foreword to his
book, which I do not think I am! Nevertheless I agreed to Mr. Chavan’s
request mainly because the subject is very dear to me.

My Recllections of Jinnah:
I had the opportunity to see Mr. Jinnah twice during the early
years of my career as ENT Surgeon, a couple of years before
independence. The first time I saw him was when I was in London for my
FRCS examination. A public meeting was held at the famous Prince
Albert Hall to be addressed by Jinnah and Liaqat Ali. I attended that
meeting out of curiosity. About 1500 Indians mostly Muslims, had
gathered. As soon as Mr. Jinnah referred to Pakistan in his speech, one
young man, a student like me, got up and started shouting that there
would be no division of India! Expectedly the young man was heckled by
the crowd, which was already charged with jingoism. I later learnt that
the young man was none other than Dr. Rafiq Zakaria, the great Islamic
scholar, who passed away recently. In the heart of my heart, I felt proud
of the young man who had displayed exemplary courage to speak up
what he believed even at the risk of attracting mob fury.

MOHAMMAD ALI JINNAH THE GREAT ENIGMA 3
The next time I saw Mr. Jinnah was when I was called to examine
him for his minor ENT complaint at ‘Bombay House,’ (Tata House) where
he was a regular visitor. Jinnah himself wanted to be examined only by
an ENT Specialist, who had FRCS degree from England, and I fitted his
requirement aptly. Mr. Jinnah was very polite to me during the meeting
where besides us, Dr. Jal Patel, Tata’s In-house doctor was also present.
I was proud to have examined such a highly distinguished person like
Jinnah, who had by then already reached the status of a cult figure.

Thereafter there was no occasion for me to see Mr. Jinnah.
However, I followed almost all major events concerning Jinnah and
Pakistan. Needless to say, mere name of the book was enough to goad
me to read the entire manuscript not once, but thrice!

The purpose of writing this book is to explore, once again, answer
to questions that have haunted our mind for years like: Who divided
India? Was Jinnah alone responsible for Partition? Whether the Congress
party and its leaders like Gandhiji and Jawaharlal Nehru too were
responsible in some measure? Finally as the name of the book suggests,
it is an attempt by the author to unravel the enigma called Jinnah.

Mr. Sheshrao Chavan, without any emotional attachment and
without any prejudice and completely unbiased brought out the facts
after going through several books relating to the subject, archival
material and authentic references. He has narrated the facts and left it to
the reader to form his own opinion. When any such books are written,
mostly a person is already known about his views and he tries to justify
the facts in his favour or against them. I think, Chavan is an exceptional
person. This is the best part of his character and qualities. He has
followed Rajtarangini of Kalhana. This book should serve as a beacon to
students and research scholars on how a subject as intense and intricate
as Jinnah’s life should be treated, researched and presented.

MOHAMMAD ALI JINNAH THE GREAT ENIGMA 4
Having read about the political life of Jinnah by various authors
including Dr. Rafiq Zakaria, I have formed certain impressions about
Jinnah in my memory based on my own assessment and those of others.

Die-hard Nationalist:
There is no doubt that Jinnah who returned from England in 1896
to practice law in Bombay was a perfect nationalist and an ardent votary
of Hindu-Muslim unity and rightly thought that religion was a personal
matter of an individual. He first attended the 20th Session of the
Congress held in Bombay in the year 1904. The first person who
captivated his mind then was Gopal Krishna Gokhale, a Brahmin and
Founder of the Servants of India Society. Gokhale was one of the most
prominent leaders during 19th century, and was mentor to both Gandhi
and Jinnah. So impressed was Jinnah with Gokhale’s personality that he
actually wanted to become a “Muslim Gokhale.” Gokhale had described
Jinnah as the best “Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity.” Till Gokhale’s
demise in 1915, Jinnah and Gokhale remained greatest admirers of each
other. Sarojini Naidu was another great admirer of Jinnah. In her
biography of Jinnah, she has showered high praise on Jinnah for his
intense patriotism

Jinnah’s Defence of Lokmanya Tilak:
One of the tallest nationalists of the independence struggle,
Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak had chosen Jinnah to defend him in the
Court of Law, when he was charged with seditious writing in his
newspaper ‘Kesari.’ Tilak lost the case and was sentenced to six years of
imprisonment. Every body felt that the punishment awarded to Tilak by
an Indian Judge, Justice Davar was rather harsh. An appeal was filed
and Jinnah again appeared for Tilak. This time Tilak was exonerated by
the Court. Tilak was an orthodox Brahmin and a great patriot. Engaging
the services of Jinnah by Tilak itself was a tribute to Jinnah’s legal
acumen and patriotism, especially since there were several legal
luminaries practicing in the Bombay High Court then.

MOHAMMAD ALI JINNAH THE GREAT ENIGMA 5
After Justice Davar sentenced Tilak to six years of rigorous
imprisonment, the British Government conferred Knighthood on Davar.
The Bar Association of Bombay High Court wanted to give him dinner.
When the circular informing the event went to Jinnah, he wrote a very
strong remark that the Bar should feel ashamed to want to give a dinner
to a judge who had obtained knighthood by doing what the Government
wanted, and by sending a great patriot to jail with a savage sentence.
When Justice Davar called Jinnah to his chamber to know the reason for
the latter writing such strong words against the Judge, Jinnah told him
that what he had written was truth and that he could not suppress the
strong feeling about the manner in which the Judge had handled Tilak’s
case. This shows the very high regard Jinnah had for Tilak.

Jinnah Hall:
Jinnah was such a staunch nationalist that people of Bombay
collected 65,000 rupees by way of contributions and built the ‘Jinnah
Hall,’ at Lamington Road in Girgaum area of Bombay to commemorate
their triumph under Jinnah, who led a popular movement to oppose the
public reception that was to be accorded to Lord Wellington when his
tenure as Governor of Bombay came to an end in 1918. A majority of
those who contributed to the fund were Hindus.

Why Jinnah distanced himself from the Congress:
Many incidents were responsible for creating a hiatus between
Jinnah and the Congress. But three of them could be termed as ‘turning
points’ that changed his attitude towards the Congress.

1. The Khilafat Movement:
The word Khilafat draws its origin from ‘Caliph.’ Before discussing
the Khilafat movement and its objectives, we need to understand the
origin of the word itself. Caliph is the term or title for the Islamic leader
of the Ummah, or community of Islam. It is an Anglicised version of the
Arabic word Khalifah, which means “successor” or “representative.”
Caliphs were often so referred to as leaders of the Muslims. After the first
MOHAMMAD ALI JINNAH THE GREAT ENIGMA 6
four Sunni Caliphs, the title was claimed by the Umayyads, the
Abbasids, and the Ottomans, as well as by others, competing lineages in
Spain, North Africa, and Egypt.

The Turkish Ottoman Caliphate (Empire) had existed for over six
centuries. At the height of its power in the 16th and 17th centuries, its
territory included the Middle East, parts of North Africa, and much of
South-Eastern Europe. During these two centuries, the Ottoman Empire
was among the world’s most powerful political entities. It was the only
non-European power to seriously challenge the rising power of the West
between the 15th and 20th centuries, to such an extent that it became an
integral part of European balance of power politics.

The defeat of Turkey in the First World War caused apprehensions
in India over the Khalifa’s custodianship of the Holy places of Islam. The
Khilafat Movement was launched in India by Ali brothers – Muhammad
Ali and Shaukat Ali, - Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Dr. M.A. Ansari, and
Hasrat Mohani in 1919 as a movement to protect the Turkish Khalifa
and save his (Ottoman) Caliphate from dismemberment by Great Britain
and other European powers.

Gandhiji supported the Khilafat Movement and became a member
of the Central Khilafat Committee. The position taken by Gandhiji in
support of his own stand was: “If I deem the Mahomedan to be my
brother, it is my duty to help him in his hour of peril to the best of my
ability, if his cause commends itself to me as just.” A resolution passed
by the Congress at its special session held in Calcutta read thus: “…It is
the duty of every non-Muslim Indian in every legitimate manner to assist
his Muslim brother in his attempt to remove religious calamity that has
overtaken him.”

The resolution was opposed by Chittaranjan Das, B.C. Pal, Annie
Besant, Rabindranath Tagore and Jinnah. Jinnah said: “I strongly
MOHAMMAD ALI JINNAH THE GREAT ENIGMA 7
oppose Indian Muslims engaging themselves in extra territorial affairs
relating to Muslims outside India.”

I myself cannot understand the justification for the Khilafat
Movement. The Khilafat Movement was a failure as the Ottoman
Caliphate was abolished by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, one of the greatest
charismatic leaders of modern Turkey in 1924. The title of Caliph has
since become defunct.

Although Mahatma Gandhi had on record stated that he would
gladly ask for postponement of Swaraj activity if thereby we could
advance the interests of Khilafat, the Muslims were not prepared to wait
for Swaraj. In desperation they did exactly what Hindus feared. Maulana
Mohamad Ali wrote to the ruler of Afganistan Amir Amanullah and
requested him to invade India. He requested to …”invade Hindustan, to
destroy the power of Marhatahs, and to free the down-and-out-Muslims
from the clutches of non-Muslims.” This would have been a disaster for
India. Luckily, the British were very strong and the Amir of Afganistan
did not venture to attack India. Maulana Mohamad’s words were nothing
short of treason.

Surprisingly, Gandhiji supported Ali brothers saying that “…They
have done nothing, which I would not do. If they had sent a message to
Amir, I would also send one to inform Amir that if he came, no Indian so
long as I can help it, would help the Government to drive him back.”

Chagla in his book, “Roses in December,” has stated that he felt
that Gandhiji was wrong in trying to bring about Hindu-Muslim unity by
supporting the cause of Khilafat. Such unity, he felt, was based on
‘shifting sands.’

Annie Besant felt thus: “Since the Khilafat agitation, things have
changed and it has been one of the many injuries inflicted on India by
the encouragement of the Khilafat crusade, that the inner Muslim feeling
MOHAMMAD ALI JINNAH THE GREAT ENIGMA 8
of hatred against unbelievers has sprung up, naked and unashamed, as
in the years gone by.”

Here one finds Jinnah reasonable and logical in his public stand
on the issue of Khilafat. He spoke as a true patriot and not one guided by
religious sentiments. As things turned out, Gandhiji did succeed in
attracting Muslims closer to the Congress by supporting the Khilafat
Movement, but it was a temporary gain. Before long Muslims deserted
the Congress.

2. Motilal Nehru Report:
The Indian Statutory Commission was a group of seven British
Members of Parliament that had been sent to India in 1927 to study
constitutional reforms. It was commonly referred to as the Simon
Commission after its Chairman, Sir John Simon. The Commission had to
face popular resistance, as there was no representative from India on it.
Motilal Nehru chaired the famous Nehru Commission in 1928, that was a
counter to the Simon Commission. Nehru Report, the first constitution
written by Indians only, conceived a Dominion Status for India within the
Empire. It was endorsed by the Congress party, but rejected by more
radical Indians who sought complete independence, and by many
Muslims who did not feel their interests, concerns and rights were
properly represented. On Justice Chagla’s instance, joint electorates were
accepted as one of the basic principles of Nehru Report. Later, on behalf
of the Muslim League he endorsed the Report. When Jinnah came to
know this, he became furious. Jinnah had suggested four amendments
to the report including one seeking one-third representation for Muslims
in the Central Legislature, but these were rejected.

According to Karachi Mayor Jamshedji Nusserwanji, “the first time
I saw Jinnah weep was after his amendments had been rejected at the
Calcutta meeting to consider Nehru Report…He had tears in his eyes as
he said, Jamshed, this is the parting of the ways.” This was another
significant instance of Jinnah’s alienation from the Congress.
MOHAMMAD ALI JINNAH THE GREAT ENIGMA 9
It may be mentioned here that initially Jinnah was not particularly
enamoured of separate electorates and separate representation, but
constant persuasion by Muslims made him change his stance.

3. Election of 1937:
When preparations started for the election of 1936-1937 under the
Government of India Act 1935, Jinnah was still thinking in terms of co-
operation between the Muslim League and the Congress. But the results
of elections proved to be a turning point in the relations between the two
organizations. Congress came to power in nine out of eleven provinces.
Muslim League failed to form Government in any province. Jinnah
proposed Congress to accept his nominee as Muslim ministers in the two
provinces of U.P. and Bombay, but Congress rejected the offer.

The States where Congress got majority included the North West
Frontier Province where 95% of the population was Muslim. Congress
thought that it was the sole party, which had absolute control over the
country and that it could afford to ignore the Muslim League. Even in
U.P. where the number of Muslims was large, Congress refused to take
any Muslim nominee suggested by Jinnah. This neglect by the Congress
forced him to reconsider his options.

Although it was not binding for the Congress to make members of
other party as its Cabinet ministers, Jinnah took the Congress position
as a serious affront and started a mass movement to strengthen the base
of his party. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru thought that the League had no
following. During a bye-election in U.P. in 1937, Jinnah asked votes in
the name of Allah and the Holy Koran something unknown till then.
Nehru was shocked by Jinnah’s new avataar. He soon realized that it
was a mistake not to take Muslim League in the cabinet. But then had
Nehru consented to taking Muslim League members in the Congress
Governments in U.P. and Bombay, Jinnah would have practically
controlled the Government and exploited the situation and created
MOHAMMAD ALI JINNAH THE GREAT ENIGMA 10