Daily Times

Having left the Congress in 1920, Jinnah formally repudiated the Lucknow Pact in 1924 at the Lahore session of the Muslim League. He could now try to become the supreme leader of the Muslims, but the competition was stiff. The second stage in Jinnah’s life can be described as a Muslim communitarian. A communitarian is a person who identifies with his community and seeks to protect its collective interests in relation to other communities within a given political dispensation.He developed the idea that India was not home to one political nation but several nationalities. Among the nationalities, he identified were Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Dalits and south Indian Dravidians. Under such a standpoint, he subsumed supportive arguments and advanced political demands. He continued with his support for separate electorates and weightage for Muslims as well as a political dispensation of a loosely united but federal India. He called for most powers to be vested in the provinces while the central government’s powers were to be “confined to such matters as are of general and communal interests.” He overruled joint electorates and emphasised that the Muslim majorities should be preserved in provinces where they were in a majority. No majority should be reduced to a minority or even equality, he stressed.In 1926, he demanded the separation of Sindh from Bombay and adequate Muslim representation in public services. At the Delhi Muslim Conference held in 1927, he expressed willingness to give up separate electorates provided the Muslim representation in the Central Assembly was agreed at one-third. Sir Aga Khan, Sir Shafi and Sir Fazle Hussain of Punjab and Sir Abdul Rahim of Bengal were not willing to give up separate electorates.Having surrendered the leadership contest to Gandhi, Jinnah now faced opposition from Muslim competitors to the leadership of the Muslim community of India. In 1928, an all-white Simon Commission arrived in India to talk to Indians with a view of proposing constitutional reforms for India. In 1919’s dyarchy or double system of government, some ministries were given to elected ministers while other key ministries remained a prerogative of the governors to appoint a minister.

The Simon Commission’s all-white character resulted in some Indian politicians willing to cooperate with it while others boycotted it.

The 1919 Indian Act had proposed a commission after 10 years. The Simon Commission was that commission, but its all-white character resulted in some Indian politicians willing to cooperate with it while others boycotted it.The Indian National Congress and the Hindu Mahasabha opposed the Simon Commission. The Muslim League split into the Jinnah League that boycotted the Simon Commission while the Shafi League, including Allama Iqbal, decided to cooperate with it.The Indian National Congress called a meeting of all political parties to discuss a constitution for India. The Shafi League boycotted it, while Jinnah made his participation conditional to his demands made in 1924 being accepted. When that was not done, he sailed away to England to be with his ailing wife, Ruttie. At any rate, nearly all other political parties, secular, communal, class and caste-based and representing ethnic minorities met under the chairmanship of Dr Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari of the Congress Party. A committee was set up with Motilal Nehru as chairman. Two Muslim Leaguers attended the conference: Shoaib Qureshi and Ali Imam.After much discussion and deliberation, the following main recommendations were made by the Nehru Report:1. There will be no state religion; India will be a secular state. India will be a Dominion in the British Empire on equal footing with the white dominions.2. Men and women will have equal rights.3. India will be a federation with an effective centre. 39 subjects were given to the centre and 67 to the provinces.4. There will be joint or general elections based on universal adult franchises.5. Separate electorates and weightage will be abolished.6. Muslims could have seats reserved for them in the central and provincial assemblies in accordance with their population strength.7. Hindustani will be the national language with two official scripts, Devanagari and Persian-Urdu. However, English will be retained as a link language because South Indians were not conversant in Hindustani.8. A feasibility report for the separation of Sindh from Bombay was to be prepared and if Sindh could be financially viable it was to become a new province. The Hindu Mahasabha’s opposition to it was overruled. While Sir Aga Khan, Sir Shafi and Sir Fazle Hussain rejected the report, it was signed by leaders of many parties. Muslim signatories included Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Dr Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, Maulvi Abdul Qadir Kasuri and Ali Imam.In December 1928, Jinnah advanced his 14-points, which reiterated the idea of a loosely united India with limited functions assigned to the centre and all residuary powers given to the provinces. One-third Muslim representation in the Central Assembly and separate electorates for Muslims were demanded, which could be abandoned whenever they felt they could dispense with them. There were several other points too. These were rejected by Congress.However, a significant number of Muslims from Punjab and Bengal wanted to accept the Nehru Report because the universal adult franchise meant that both Muslim-majority provinces would have more seats than others. Earlier, the Lucknow Pact had reduced their representation. Meanwhile, in the Muslim-majority provinces, Muslim representation had nearly doubled. The Nehru Report argued that separate electorates prevented the formation of a coherent and cohesive Indian nation constituted by equal citizens. Jinnah’s friend and Muslim League financier. Raja Sahib Mahmudabad was also in favour of accepting the Nehru Report but at the 1929 session of the Muslim League, the meeting was stormed by goondas who removed all supporters of the Nehru Report. Jinnah walked in after that, and the Nehru Report was rejected.In June 1929, he wrote to British Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald, saying among other things:“I may tell you without exaggeration that the movement for the independence is gaining ground, as it is supported by the Indian National Congress His Majesty’s Government without delay [must] make a declaration granting to India full responsible government with dominion status.”The harsh truth was that the British were not willing to grant dominion status to India and the idea of an independent India was anathema to them. Jinnah’s sound advice was ignored with equanimity.

(to be continued)

The writer is Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Stockholm University; Visiting Professor Government College University; and, Honorary Senior Fellow, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. He can be reached at billumian@gmail.com