FREEDOM MOVEMENT

Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada on Azad & Pakistan Movement

Maulana Azad took leading part in the Khilafat Movement along with Ali Brothers and had to undergo imprisonment. Azad was associated with the Congress and continued to be so till the end. Maulana Azad joined the Muslim League on December 10, 1913 and was associated with it till 1928. Addressing the Muslim League Session at Calcutta in January, 1928 Azad endorsed the Delhi proposal of Quaid-i-Azam. He said: "Delhi opened the way to the creation of such a state of s of the affairs as would guarantee them a proper share in the future of India. Their existing small majority in Bengal and the Punjab was only a census figure, but the Delhi proposals, for the first time, gave them five provinces of which no less than three (Sindh, the Frontier Province and Baluchistan) contained a real overwhelming Muslim majority. If the Muslims did not recognize this great step, they were not fit to live. There would now be nine Hindu provinces against five Muslim provinces, and whatever treatment Hindus accorded Muslims in the nine provinces. Muslim would accord the same treatment to Hindus in the five provinces. Was not this a great gain? Was not a new weapon gained for the assertion of Muslim rights?

In 1935 when Rajendra Prasad was negotiating with Quaid-i-Azam, Maulana Azad wrote to Rajendra Prasad on February 18, 1935 to take full advantage of the situation as he had found Jinnah in a conciliatory mood and considered him a person who could deliver the goods on behalf of the Muslims.

In a letter written to Rajendra Prasad on August 15, 1938, Azad made a critical evaluation of the Congress policy on the communal question, making a retrospective analysis of the communal question since 1928, he concluded that the Congress had delayed the solution of the Hindu-Muslim question. That was the main reason why it had taken such a complicated turn at that moment. His contention was that if "we had settled the matter at that time (in 1928 Jinnah was asking for reservation of seats in the Punjab and Bengal in case adult franchise was ot established), the whole misunderstanding between the on to the Congress and Muslims would have disappeared forever". From 1939 till 1946, Maulana Azad remained the minorities. President of the Congress and was critical of the Pakistan slims in scheme. In July, 1940 in response to the cable of Azad, Quaid-i-Azam replied:

'I refuse to discuss with you, by correspondence or otherwise, as you have completely forfeited the confidence of Muslim India. Can't you realize you are made a Muslim 'show-boy' Congress President to give it color that it is national and deceive foreign countries. You represent neither Muslims nor Hindus. The Congress should be Hindu body. If you have self-respect resign at once".

Arad's Scheme:

On August 22, 1940, Maulana Azad sent a draft scheme to Gandhiji for Hindu-Muslim compromise. This was intercepted by the British Authorities but after security was forwarded to Gandhiji. Following is the outline of the Azad's scheme:

a)     The future Constitution of India must be federal with fully autonomous units in which the Central subjects must be only of an All-India nature and agreed upon by the constituent units.

b)     The units must be given the right of secession.

c)     There must be joint electorates in both the Centre and the province with reservation of seats and such differential franchise as may be needed to make the electorates reflect the strength of population of the communities.

d)    There must be parity of Hindus and Muslims in the central legislature and the Central Executive till such time as communal suspicions disappears and parties are formed on economic and political lines.

e)     There should be a convention by which the Head of the India Federation should in the initial period be Hindu and Muslim by turn."

On receipt of this letter, on August 16, Gandhi sent at wire, "your letter I think should not be published. Writing fully." In the letter of the same date, Gandhi wrote:

"I did not infer from your letter that you are writing about my Hindus. Whatever you have in your heart has not appeared in your writing. But don't worry. We will talk the matter over when next we meet if you so desire. Whatever you want to say about the communal problem should not be said without consulting me and the Working Committee. I am also of the opinion that it would be better to keep quiet party can give its opinion after consultations with you. They have the right to do so. Besides, it is their duty. My opinion differs from your (sic). I do not feel the urge to do anything hasty.

" Azad's Personal Views before Cabinet Mission

On April 3, 1946 Maulana Azad met the Cabinet Mission. After concluding observations in his capacity as President of the Working Committee of the Congress, Azad said: "He wish to make view personal observations. The most important observation was: "There is at least one proposal in the Sapru Committee's Report, which deserves consideration though it has been overlooked in the heat of controversy. The report had visualized a Central Government in which Hindus and Muslims would be in equality but on the basis of joint electorates. Personally (he) felt that his proposal should be considered further." Sir S. Cripps asked whether the Maulana would himself agree that it will be necessary to have an Interim Executive which would have equality or near equally of Hindu and Muslim members. Maulana Azad said this had

not yet been considered by the Working Committee but he could do this had not yet been considered by the Working Committee but he could do his best to promote this idea. Personally, he seriously doubted whether Congress would agree to parity at the present time."

On April 15, 1946, Azad made the first of his private approach to the Mission. Azad sought an intimation of the Mission's intentions in its interview with Jinnah, so that he might advise upon the likely Congress reaction. Cripps saw him but their conversation is not recorded".

It seems that on or about April 27, 1946 Maulana Azad wrote a private letter to Cripps, in which he said that there was no need for the Cabinet Mission to worry too much about Gandhi or his misgivings.

On May 25, 1946 Azad wrote two letters to Lord Wavell, one official as President of the Congress and the other personal letter. In his personal letter Azad wrote:

"This is a; personal communication which will, 1 believe, help to give you a clearer appreciation of the situation and arrive at a solution acceptable to all of us".

In his book "India Wins Freedom", Maulana Azad is critical of Gandhi, Nehru and Patel. About Nehru, Maulana Azad observed "Jawaharlal's mistake in 1937 has been bad enough but his mistake of 1946 (statement com regarding Cabinet Mission Plan) "proved even more costly".