ALL-INDIA MUSLIM LEAGUE THIRTY-FIRST SESSION KARACHI, DECEMBER 24-26, 1943: NAWAB BAHADUR YAR JANG’S ORATION
The following is the English translation of the speech of Moulvi Muhammad Bahadur Khan, President All-India States Muslim League, which he made on December 26, just after the conclusion of the Thirty-first Session.
Respected Quaid-e-Azam, ladies, and gentlemen: The session of the All-India Muslim League is over, and in keeping with our old tradition, I am once again called upon to address you. I consider this session to be a momentous one, inasmuch as it has opened a new chapter in the life of the Muslim۔
Of the six resolutions passed at the session, three, as they look to me, are the most important. The first deals with the appointment of a Committee of Action, the second demands the formation of a Five-Year Planning Committee, and the third urge the Central Government to allow General Elections.
I will not say much about the last mentioned resolution beyond saying that however much my Punjabi friends may be indebted to the blessed soul of the late Sir Fazl-e-Hussain, if the new elections take place, in the words of Ghalib:
بھرم نکل جائے ظالم تیری قامت کی درازی کا
اگر اس طرہ پر پیچ و خم کا پیچ و خم نکلے
I will now explain at length the other two resolutions. I consider them to be the harbingers of a new era, heralds of a new dawn, and an auspicious sign of the bright future of the League. I would beg leave of our Quaid-e-Azam to say in the words of Dagh:
تیور تیرے اے رشکِ قمر دیکھ رہے ہیں
ہم شام سے اندازِ سحر دیکھ رہے ہیں
Steady Progress towards Pakistan
The regeneration and the progress of the League is a natural process of regeneration and progress which has taken place gradually and steadily and will continue in the same manner. The Muslim League has not revolutionized our political life abruptly but has led us slowly and steadily to our goal, so that every step may carry us forward and be irrevocable. When the Quaid-e- Azam took the reins of the League into his hands, we were hypnotized by false notions and wrong ideologies. Our compatriot had given us to understand that we were a minority in spite of our 100 million. This inferiority complex had influenced every One of us. The Quaid-e-Azam told us that we were not a minority; for 100 million people cannot be called a minority. We were a nation—a separate and self-contained nation whose ingredients and structure differed fundamentally from those of other nations of the world, and which was founded on fundamentals that transcend geographical boundaries, race, and color.
When this idea that we are not a minority but a nation earned the general support of the Muslims, the Quaid-e-Azam told us that the Parliamentary system of Government cannot be suitable for a country that is inhabited by two separate nations having nothing in common with each other. When this theory too became popular with the Muslims, the Quaid-e-Azam went further and gave practical shape to Iqbal’s dream by demanding the establishment of a sovereign and the free Muslim States in the North-West and North-East of India, which are predominantly Muslim zones. This demand is now popularly called Pakistan. Three years ago many of us did not even believe that Pakistan would ever be realized.
Committee of Action
But the Cripps Proposals and the present hopeful conditions have assured its early realization. More and more Muslims are now joining in our demand for Pakistan. The time has now come that the League should take a final preparatory step in this direction. At Delhi, we gave our last warning to the British Government. Today the All-India Muslim League, after passing the resolution of a ‘Council of Action’, has expressed its firm determination that if Pakistan was not to be had on demand, we will have it by force.
A leader or commander of an army whose soldiers are paralyzed, lame and inactive cannot hope to win any war. It is expedient for him to evaluate his true strength before raising the war cry. This Council of Action has been appointed not only to make an estimate of the League’s strength in each province but also to raise new strength and preserve it for the day when our Leader would order us to march forward.
Muslims of India, holding public meetings, passing resolutions, and making or hearing speeches never revolutionize the life of any nation. So far as the stage of your purity of thought and ideology is concerned, that stage is passed. The time is for action, and action alone. If you are not prepared for it, do not abuse Pakistan by your demand. Perhaps Dagh addressed us when he said:
نہ تھی تابِ دل تو کیوں چاہ کی
بڑا تیر مارا اگر آہ کی
Therefore, get ready and assure your cautious and foresighted Leader that the whole nation is with him at every stage of the struggle.
Quaid-e-Azam, do not be disappointed. Your friend and old colleague, Iqbal (may God bless his soul), perhaps addressed you when he said:
اے رہبرِ فرزانہ، مایوس نہ ہو اس سے
کم کوش سہی لیکن بے ذوق نہی راہی
It is possible you may not get people of sound and strong caliber from our so-called elite, but our nation is not devoid of sturdy, obedient and selfless soldiers. Allow me to offer myself in the capacity of a humble soldier” for the Council of Action. I make this offer with all my heart. I solemnly pledge and bear you and the audience as my witnesses, I bear the air, the shining sun, the stars, and the moon and, above all, I bear God as my witness, that I will sacrifice my life and everything at your command in the name of God. I assure you that you will never find me lagging behind even at the most difficult stage of our struggle.
Quaid-e-Azam, that day will be the greatest day of my life when I shall have sacrificed the last penny in my pocket and the last drop of my blood at the altar of God. (Voices from the meeting: “We are with you.”
Do not make a hasty decision. I arrived at this decision after) 12 years of constant thinking. For all these years I have been preparing myself. Now I am ready for action. Go and make your decision after having a look at the blooming faces of your wives and the smiling faces of your children. Make your decision after taking into account all sorts of sacrifices that you will have to make on this path. Think of all your relations, think of the ruination of your property. Many a decision of the Musalmans, which they make in a fit of passion and in imitation of others, is only for the moment and ephemeral. Today we do not want those people who want to effloresce into fragrant sweet flowers on the ‘Tree of the Millat’. We want people who will kill all their desires and efface themselves into manure to strengthen the roots and trunk of the tree. We want people who will spill their own blood and give their life for the life of their nation. Those enthusiasts are not needed who nourish a desire for pageantry. Only those foundation stones are needed that bury themselves deep into the earth to support a magnificent edifice on them. I said it yesterday and repeat it today.
ایسی کوئی دنیا نہیں افلاک کے نیچے
بے معرکہ ہاتھ آئے جہاں تخت و جمِ کئے
Planning Committed
The second specialty of this session is the resolution about the formation of a Five-Year Planning Committee. As the Persian maxim goes, ‘happy is the man who is foresighted’.
مردِ آخر ہیں مبارک بندی ایست
Even those nations who are involved in a life and death struggle in the present global war, and whose success and defeat cannot as yet be prophesied, are busy today chalking out post-war plans. If therefore, the Muslim League has also thought it fit to prepare a plan for the future progress and prosperity of Pakistan, it has taken a step in the right direction.
The achievement of Pakistan will not be as difficult as its maintenance. Your Quaid-e-Azam has proclaimed more than once that the Muslims have no right to frame the constitution and law of any one of their States. The laws governing the constitution of a Muslim are definitely laid down in the Holy Quran. There is no denying the fact that we want Pakistan the establishment of the Quranic system of government. It will bring about a revolution in our lives, a renaissance, a new fervor and zeal, and above all a resuscitation of pristine Islamic purity and glory. The object of this Planning Committee will be to enable the Muslims of Hindustan in general and Pakistan, in particular, to make their life worth living and plan their educational, social, economic, and political uplift from a purely Islamic point of view. No actual revolution can take place unless an intellectual revolution precedes it. It is there¬ fore imperative to bring about an intellectual revolution first of all.
Present Educational System
In the history of revolutions, we find that Muhammad (peace be upon him) was the only person who successfully brought about these two kinds of revolutions in a short period of only 23 years. To complete the first stage it is necessary that we pay the utmost attention to our educational system. It is only the present system of education in our country that has taught us humble servility, self-negation and the absence of ambition. It was India’s misfortune that our educational system was chalked out by a nation that did not only want to exploit the economic resources of this land but also wanted to have a firm grip on our hearts and soul. It presented our history before us in such a manner that we turned enemies against each other. We, therefore, want a complete reorientation of this system of education, which has killed all initiative and spirit of enterprise and co-operation amongst us. Only that system will suit us which is based on the Quran and the Traditions, and which would produce true Muslims.
In any system of education, I attach the greatest importance to primary education. It is in primary education that our socio-political structure is raised. The Planning Committee will chalk out a system that will not only be better than any other scheme of education but will also be revolutionizing. It is your duty to help this Committee to your utmost.
Solution of Economic Problems
The second important subject this Committee will deal with is the solution to your economic problem. You know only too well that economic issues are the root cause of this war. Before the advent of Islam, there was a deep division between the rich and the poor. On one side, there were mounds of silver and gold, while on the other were deep gaping caves of poverty. People used religion as a means to maintain this unnatural class division. Imperialism and capitalism ruled supreme. When Muhammad, the Prophet of God (May peace be on him), came, he mitigated all these divisions with one stroke of ‘‘La Ilaha Illallah” and brought about perfect and natural equality between man and man. In his society, Bilal and Abu Bakr, Ammar bin Yasir and Omar were all set equal. The abolition of interest cut out the roots of usury; the law of inheritance checked all ways to the amassment and accumulation of wealth; Zakat led to the circulation of hoarded wealth, and encouragement of charity wiped out all poverty and economic inequality from the soil of Arabia.
But Islam’s economic system does not end here. It goes much further. The Quran enunciates that land belongs to God and consequently to the Islamic State—rivers, canals, forests, and minerals are all State property, no individual can have any exclusive claim on them. The system of Zakat, which is a tax on capital and not on income, is the greatest of all taxes that modern civilized countries have levied on their people. In view of this flawless economic system, can we care to cast a look at any other system?
I feel—and ardently feel—that the entry of Russia into this war on the side of the Allies has opened the door to Communism in India, and the scarcity and dearness of food have provided Communist preachers with an opportunity to raise ‘the slogan of bread’ with some effect and to seduce the poverty-stricken masses to embrace their faith. But I would draw the attention of Muslim youth to the fact that, if Communism means to efface poverty and class distinctions and to provide bread and clothing to the poor, I can call myself a rank Communist. But if Communism, as inspired by Carl Marx’s philosophy, is based on a negation of God, I seek the shelter of God from it.
Islam is based on the affirmation of the Unity of God, If Muslims relegate this to secondary importance, they are getting out of the fold of Islam. I proclaim from this rostrum that people who base their economic system on the negation of God should quit this pandal I am sure that when our Planning Committee chalks out an economic system, it will be based upon the Quran.
Quaid-e-Azam! We have understood Pakistan in this light. If your Pakistan is not such, we do not want it. (“Is this a challenge to me?” asked the Quaid-e-Azam smiling.)
No, Sir, I am not challenging you. I wanted to explain to the audience through this ‘challenge’ the nature of Pakistan we visualize.
Brethren and sisters-in-Islam! Remember, the formation of the Planning Committee is a new phase in your political life. That nation that is not well off economically and educationally can never be a great political power. Political independence with economic enslavement is the worst type of slavery. The chief aim of the Planning Committee would be to secure your economic emancipation.
Before I conclude my speech, I would like to bring it to your notice that, if you want to have a Pakistan in which the people inhabiting it would be from today. Start to lead a pure life and be honest in all your dealings. Remember! Physical impurity can be removed, but it is very difficult to remove mental or spiritual impurity. Even if you achieve Pakistan, it will be of no avail and the purpose of Islam will remain unfulfilled if you continue leading impure lives. Make it a point, therefore, to be pure in thought and action at each and every moment. It will be the first and foremost duty of your Council of Action to purify Pakistani soldiers for the great fight ahead. But alas, it is an undeniable fact that a soldier cannot be purified unless each and every commander is also pure. Listen and remember what the greatest Muslim Philosopher of the present age has said;
عطار ہو رومی ہو رازی ہو غزالی
کچھ ہاتھ نہیں آتا بے آہِ سحر گاہی
دارا و سکندر سے مرد فقیر اولیٰ
ہو جس کی فقیری میں انداز یدالٰھی
(Turning round and addressing those sitting on the dais):
اے طائرِ لاہوتی، اُس رزق سے موت اچھی
جس رزق سے آتی ہو پرواز میں کوتاہی
Reference:
“Foundation of Pakistan Vol II” by Sayed Sharif Uddin Pirzada, pp. 481-487, National Publishing House Ltd. Karachi. 1970”
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