Daily Times

In this concluding article on the interview with Colonel (retired) Amjad Hussain Syed, we learn some very interesting facts with regards to the movement for Pakistan. Shahji told me: “The next time I saw Quaid-e-Azam was when he came to attend the historic March 1940 session of the Muslim League. Just before his arrival, the Khaksars had clashed with the police (on March 19). One of them struck an Anglo-Indian police officer, Mr Beatty, with his spade and killed him. In retaliation, the police opened fire and many Khaksars were killed and injured. Jinnah arrived in Lahore on March 21. A large crowd had gathered at the Lahore railway station to welcome him. When his train arrived from Bombay it was decided to escort him out of the station through a side exit and thus avoid the crowd and save time. He was escorted by Pathan bodyguards. He said, ‘I must go and see the misguided Khaksars who are in hospital.’ We took him to Islamia College, Railway Road, where he changed his clothes. Then he went to Mayo Hospital where the injured Khaksars were being nursed. He went to each one of them, expressed his sympathy and gave them an envelope with money in it. The Pathans were carrying bags full of such envelopes from which Jinnah would take out the envelopes and hand them to the injured Khaksars. He then left for Mamdot Villa where he was staying.

Now it so happened that after the clash with the Khaksars, the situation in Lahore became volatile and Punjab Premier Sir Sikander imposed Section 144, which restricted the assembly of people. He wanted to postpone the meeting. When Jinnah heard this, he said, ‘The word postponement does not exist in my dictionary.’ The next day, Quaid-e-Azam was driven in regal style in an open buggy to Minto Park. My cousin, Syed Khalid Hussain, filmed the journey with his movie camera. Had it not been for him, this historic event would not have been preserved in live images. We donated the film to the Pakistan government. Every year, on March 23, it is shown on television. The public meeting was attended by thousands of people. I remember Mian Bashir Ahmed recited a poem welcoming Jinnah sahib to Lahore. Thereafter, other speakers spoke. On March 23, Sher-e-Bengal Chowdury Afzal Haq moved the Lahore Resolution in which the demand for the creation of Pakistan was made. It was truly a manifestation of Muslim power and Jinnah was at his very best when he spoke. I asked our servant, Sharifa, who was also there if he understood what Jinnah had said. He replied, ‘Jo keh rahe ney such keh rehe nai’ (Whatever he is saying is the truth).

In 1940, I passed the MA examination in Economics while Hameed Nizami did so in English from FC College. I took the ICS examination, which I passed. However, at that time, World War II was raging. People from my batch were sent to the army instead of the civil service. Hameed Nizami launched Nawa-e-Waqt, which became the main Urdu-language newspaper of Lahore, representing the Muslim League’s point of view. I left India for the Middle East where I served in different places — Baghdad, Jordan and Cairo — and came back only after the war in 1946. I do not remember the exact date of my return but it was after Jinnah had given his call for ‘Direct Action’ in August 1946.

Upon my return, I was posted in Bareilly. I was a captain at that time. One day, while riding my bicycle, I saw a classfellow of mine from Lahore, Kapil Dev, coming in a jeep from the other direction. When he saw me he called out my name and we met with great warmth. He told me that, in the evening, some officers were going to meet and that I should come along with him.

So, I went to the party that evening. It was a gathering of mostly English officers but some locals were present as well. Lieutenant Colonel Azam Khan (later General Azam Khan) was the chief guest. He made a remark, which greatly agitated me. He said, ‘Mr Jinnah is a mad man. He wants to divide India and divide this beautiful Indian army. How is that possible?’ I retorted, ‘Sir, you have no right to speak like this about Mr Jinnah who is a great leader of the Muslims. We have great respect for him. I have great respect for Mahatma Gandhi too but Jinnah is our leader. He will get Pakistan and you too would benefit from it.’ When I said this, the officers present started clapping.”

I then asked him what Iqbal and Jinnah’s vision of Pakistan were. He replied, “Both Iqbal and Jinnah wanted to create a welfare state in which there would be no place for religious extremism. Their vision of Pakistan did not exclude non-Muslims. That vision of Pakistan died with the death of Quaid-e-Azam. Corruption took over and now we are in a very sorry state of affairs.” I went on to ask how relations between Muslims and Hindus were in pre-partition days, to which he answered, “There was no ta’assub (prejudice). Of course, at the railway stations, two different stalls offering ‘Muslim pani’ (Muslim water) and ‘Hindu pani’ (Hindu water) underscored the wall between the two communities, but among educated people such prejudices had almost vanished. As I told you, when my Hindu classfellow from Lahore, Kapil Dev, and I met in Bareilly we were overjoyed by that chance meeting and embraced each other. As my final question, I asked him what his opinion was about Gandhi. “Gandhiji was a great man, a great leader, a dervaish-khaslat human being (a man with the qualities of a sage).”

(Concluded)

The writer is a visiting professor, LUMS, Pakistan, professor emeritus of Political Science, Stockholm University, and honorary senior fellow, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. Latest publications: Winner of the Best Non-Fiction Book award at the Karachi Literature Festival: The Punjab Bloodied, Partitioned and Cleansed, Oxford, 2012; and Pakistan: The Garrison State, Origins, Evolution, Consequences (1947-2011), Oxford, 2013. He can be reached at billumian@gmail.com