THE HINDU PHOTO LIBRARY

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad with Sir Sikander Hayat Khan at a party in Lahore.

IT is one of the ‘ifs’ of history as to what course history would have taken if Sir Sikander Hayat Khan had not died in late 1942. He was restive in the League and parleyed with Azad and other Congress leaders. Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s use of the word “go-between” incensed him and Sir Sikander replied on July 8, 1940, in terms people would find hard to believe today. It bears quotation in extenso because it reveals that in 1940 the All India Muslim League was not a monolith.

“I am writing this letter to convey my protest and indignation on the tone and wording of your reply as also against the most unusual and objectionable step of releasing the correspondence to the press without my permission. Believe me that it has caused me immense pain to find that a person of your position and experience should have stooped to take such an unmannerly and undignified step…. Your telegram, to put it mildly, shows an utter lack of decency and sense of proportion. I never had any intention of acting as an intermediary between Mr. Savarkar and yourself. You have reserved to yourself the privilege of acting as ‘go-between’ between the Hindus and the Working Committee and this is as it should be as after all it is primarily the function of the office-bearers of the League to play this delicate role.

“As regards interviews, so long as the Resolution of the Working Committee is not contravened, it is none of the business of the Working Committee or the President to dictate to me in these matters. It is for me, and for that matter, it is the inherent right of every individual member of the League to decide whom to see, and where and when…. You say ‘Hindu leaders welcome to see me regarding Hindu-Muslim question’. I only wish they could be made to reciprocate this desire. It appears they are shy of going near you because they are not sure of the kind of welcome they would receive if they were to see you.

“My recent talk with a lady, who is held in great esteem throughout India and who claims to have known you ‘for years’ as a fellow-worker in the political field, would help you in appreciating the nature and depth of the feeling which seems to be prevalent among Congressmen and others. She said, ‘Oh, why don’t you try to bring Jinnah and Congress leaders together and get this tangle solved. He was such a nice man – I do not know what has happened to him.’ I suggested in reply that she should herself see you and try to find a solution of the difficulties. She immediately retorted: ‘But he would bite my head off.’ I said, ‘Surely an old friend like you need have no such fears.’ She said ‘Yes I know Jinnah, he is very nice, but everybody does not understand him. He puts on a brusque and bullying attitude merely to hide his lack of self-confidence. He does not mean it; he suffers from an inferiority complex and adopts a haughty and superior attitude to conceal this shortcoming.’

“She may or may not be correct. But even Quaid-i-Azam is after all a human being and it would do no harm, even if the description given by this lady is not true, to do a little heart-searching and see whether there is no room for self-correction or self-improvement if for no other reason but [sic.; for than] to remove this erroneous impression regarding the accredited order of the Muslims.”

Jinnah’s reply of August 1, 1940, showed how far he had travelled to become “the Supreme Leader”: “I must say that I find your letter to be a bundle of contradictions and self-condemnatory… your talks were reported to be in connection with the Hindu-Muslim question. Further, it has been so asserted by Mr. Abdul Kalam Azad repeatedly ever since…. You know that on the 16th June the Working Committee decided that no member of the Working Committee should have any discussion or negotiations with any Congress leaders without the permission of the President or the Working Committee.… I am really amused when you say that it appears that the Hindu Congress leaders are shy of coming near me because they are not sure of the kind of welcome they would receive if they came to see me. Do you really, seriously believe this? You know that they have come to see me before on more than one occasion, and they were welcomed….

“I am really astonished that you are impressed by what that famous old woman told you about me. I wish you would use your own independent judgment…” That was a boorish reference to Sarojini Naidu by her former friend who himself had long ceased to be a young man.

A.G. Noorani