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ROAD TO PAKISTAN The Life and Times of Mohammad Ali Jinnah Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 21:05 09 May 2016 B. R. NANDA Road to Pakistan Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 21:05 09 May 2016 ii Road to Pakistan Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 21:05 09 May 2016 Road to Pakistan The Life and Times of Mohammad Ali Jinnah B.R. Nanda Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 21:05 09 May 2016 LONDON NEW YORK NEW DELHI First published 2010 by Routledge 912 Tolstoy House, 15–17 Tolstoy Marg, New Delhi 110 001 Simultaneously published in the UK by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2010 B.R. Nanda Typeset by Star Compugraphics Private Limited D–156, Second Floor Sector 7, Noida 201 301 Printed and bound in India by Sanat Printers 312, EPIP, Kundli Sonipat 131 028, Haryana All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage and retrieval system Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 21:05 09 May 2016 without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978-0-415-48320-9 CONTENTS Preface vii 1. The Early Years 1 2. Politics Calling 11 3. The Rising Star 26 4. The Making of a Muslim Gokhale 38 5. The Advent of Gandhi 48 6. Eclipsed 62 7. Down But Not Out 73 8. In the Council Chamber 83 9. The Communal Tangle 94 10. On Centre-Stage 100 11. Dead End 108 12. Leader in Search of a Role 124 13. First Round Table Conference 135 14. Second Round Table Conference 147 15. Self-Exile 158 Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 21:05 09 May 2016 16. The Raj at Bay 167 17. Image of a Nationalist 176 18. Electoral Arena 191 19. The Moment of Truth 201 20. On the Off ensive 212 21. The Congress Response 219 vi Road to Pakistan 22. British Response 234 23. Inching Towards Partition 253 24. Declaration of War 263 25. The Die is Cast 277 26. Phantom to Reality 294 27. Towards Transfer of Power 313 28. Post Partition 325 29. Epilogue 329 Notes 334 Select Bibliography 351 About the Author 361 Index 363 Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 21:05 09 May 2016 PREFACE was 30 years old when the partition of India took place in I 1947 and when, just fi ve months later, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in January 1948. I recall the tidal wave of emotion I felt at the time. Understanding the events of the three-quarter century leading up to the creation of India and Pakistan as two sovereign nations at the end of British rule has been a passion and quest for me ever since. There were three protagonists in the struggle — the British, the Congress and the Muslim League. In my previous books, while I have dealt with the history of the period, the bio- graphical focus has been on Congress leaders — Gokhale, Gandhi, Nehrus (Jawaharlal and Motilal). I felt it important to look at the events of the period through the biographical lens of the Muslim League leadership and that is how this book on Jinnah was conceived. Apart from published ma- terial, it is based on records held at the India Offi ce Library in the UK, the National Archives of India and the Quaid-i- Azam Academy in Pakistan. I would like to thank the eminent historian, Shri S.R. Mehrotra and the eminent sociologist, Prof T.N. Madan, both of whom have been kind in their encouragement through the years this book was under preparation and in their critical comments and suggestions which have been extremely valuable. Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 21:05 09 May 2016 I would like to thank my wife, Janak. She has been very encouraging. She has also shown great forbearance not just during the writing of this book but with a lifetime of research and writing that has often kept me preoccupied and away, even if I was present. Her love and support have made my work possible. My son Naren has been of tremen- dous help to me, encouraging me and helping me with suggestions on the manuscript. Chapter 1 EARLY YEARS ohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, was Mborn on 25 December 1876 at Karachi. He was the eldest of seven children of Jinnahbhai Poonja, a Khoja mer- chant whose father had emigrated from Gondal State of Kathiawar to Karachi, and Mithibai, who also belonged to a Khoja family of Gondal. There was hardly anything in his family background to indicate that young Mohammad Ali was cut out for a great role in the history of his country. Jinnahbhai Poonja had little formal education, but had a smattering of English. He built a thriving business in import and export trade by collaborating with Grahams Shipping and Trading Company, a British concern, which had an offi ce in Karachi. Though a port and a trading centre for north- western India, Karachi, with its population of 50,000 in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, was socially and politically a backwater. Mohammad Ali’s education began in an infant vernacular school from where he went on to a Gujarati-medium madrasa. A bright, handsome and self-willed child, he seemed more interested in playing marbles with children of his own age than in books. This may have been due to indiff erent teaching; perhaps the cur- Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 21:05 09 May 2016 riculum was unexciting and could not suffi ciently awaken the interest of an intelligent child. He developed such an aversion to studies that he told his father he would rather work in the family shop than go to school. Jinnahbhai may have been surprised, but the child had already learnt the three R’s and the prospect of his eldest son joining him in business may not have been unwelcome. A few weeks of slogging in the shop from early morning till late in the 2 Road to Pakistan evening, however, chastened the boy and he went back to school. He could not, however, bring himself to take his studies seriously; his teachers despaired of his making any progress; he was pronounced ‘horribly poor’ in mathematics. It was decided to send him to Bombay where a loving aunt sent him to a school there. However, his mother missed him badly and he was recalled to Karachi. The six-month stint in Bombay gave Mohammad Ali his fi rst exposure to the world beyond his hometown. On returning to Karachi he rejoined the Sind Madressah- tul-Islam in Karachi, where he learnt both Gujarati and English. In March 1892, he was admitted to the Christian Mission School. This was his fi rst opportunity to meet non- Muslim teachers and students. He remained a mediocre student, who shone neither in the classroom nor on the sports ground. He had been in the Mission School for hardly seven months when Sir Frederick Graham, head of the Karachi branch of Grahams Shipping and Trading Com- pany, with which Jinnahbhai was collaborating, off ered to arrange for Mohammad Ali to get training in business at the Company’s headoffi ce in London. Mohammad Ali, who had never been too happy in the various schools he had attended, jumped at the idea of going abroad. His father was pleased at the new vistas opening for his son, but his mother was distraught. She could not bear the thought of parting with her son for two years. In ad- dition, she dreaded the ultimate disaster of having on her hands an English daughter-in-law, and relented only when Mohammad Ali agreed to marry before he left Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 21:05 09 May 2016 India. Emibai, a 14-year old girl, was chosen from the an- cestral village of Paneli in Gondal State. The marriage was celebrated in October 1982. Soon after, 16-year-old Mohammad Ali sailed for England. II Mohammad Ali arrived in London in early December 1892. Like most Indian students who came to England, he Early Years 3 felt lonely. He was particularly ill-equipped for his new life. His schooling in Karachi’s Gujarati-medium madrasa had been somewhat indiff erent; he had not even passed the matriculation examination of Bombay University. His knowledge of English needed brushing up. But he quickly adapted himself to his new surroundings. He discarded his long Kathiawari coat and turban and switched over to western-style suits. He began his apprenticeship with Grahams Company in Threadneedle Street in right earnest. But as he pored over the fi les and ledgers of the company day in and day out, he became bored. He began to wonder whether a business career would suit him at all. We do not know which options he considered and why, but after ruling out commerce, he settled upon the legal pro- fession. He may have been impressed, while he was a child, by the prestige commanded by English-trained bar- risters in Karachi and Bombay. At the turn of the century every ambitious Indian boy aspired to join the Indian Civil Service or, if that was not possible, to qualify as a barrister.