Fazl-I-Hussain a Political Biography
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Reproduced by SANI H. PANHWAR (2020) A POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY BY AZIM HUSAIN WITH A FOREWORD BY C. RAJAGOPALACHARIAR 1946 Reproduced by Sani H. Panhwar (2020) CONTENTS Foreword .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 1 Introduction .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 3 I Boyhood 1877-1898 .. .. .. .. .. .. 9 II England 1898-1901 .. .. .. .. .. .. 18 III Sialkot 1901-1905 .. .. .. .. .. .. 37 IV Lahore 1905-1920 .. .. .. .. .. .. 45 V Punjab Politics 1877-1918 .. .. .. .. .. .. 57 VI Muslim Politics 1905-1920 .. .. .. .. .. .. 72 VII The Punjab 1919-1920 .. .. .. .. .. .. 82 VIII A Minister with a Policy .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 97 IX Political Evolution under Chelmsford Reforms .. .. .. 110 X Communalism versus Nationalism .. .. .. .. .. 128 XI New Delhi 1930-1935 .. .. .. .. .. .. 138 XII Indians in Africa .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 144 XIII Economic and Social Policy .. .. .. .. .. .. 155 XIV Repression and Reforms .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 162 XV Rehabilitation of Muslims .. .. .. .. .. .. 168 XVI Muslim Politics 1921-1935 .. .. .. .. .. .. 174 XVII The Punjab 1930-1935 .. .. .. .. .. .. 191 XVIII The Shahidgunj Agitation .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 206 XIX Reorganization of the Unionist Party .. .. .. .. .. 214 XX Reorganization of the Unionist Party (Contd.) .. .. .. .. 231 XXI The End .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 248 XXII Conclusion .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 255 FOREWORD IT requires a considerable amount of courage for a son to write a detailed biography of his own father. Much more is it the case when the powerful men whom the subject of the biography actively opposed and who still cherish the memory of it continue to wield vast authority and are in a position to make or mar the fortunes of any individual. Mr. Azim Husain has summoned the courage for performing what I consider is his duty. Anyone who is in possession of the precious material required for a biography of any of our great men owes a duty to give it to the nation. Differences of opinion are unimportant and even irrelevant for the aims and objects of true biography. What are relevant are the struggle, the courage and the sustaining strength of character, which inspire coming generations for the unceasing endeavor that the condition of our people claims at the hands of all talented men and women. A great man has but little chance in a world so full of small men. Small men do not make things easy but ever try to impede on one ground or another. Thus the struggle is not only to be waged against the stupendous volume and weight of the work that has to be achieved, not only against the honest difficulties of the task to be performed, but also against the pull from behind by the small men that are impatient of the big men. Had Fazl-i-Husain not become a sick man at an early age and breathed his last at the age (A fifty-nine, in spite of his great desire to live a little longer so that he might initiate and build up provincial autonomy in the Punjab, the fortunes of the Unionist Party and probably the history of Muslim politics in India would have been very different from what they have been. It is not possible for anyone to escape one's environment or the passions and prejudices arising out of it. Even an attempt to overcome an evil often leads to misunderstanding and is misrepresented as cooperation and conspiracy with the very evil one struggles to overcome. The keynote of Fazl-i-Husain's policy was that democracy should be run by parties formed on non-communal lines and yet Fazl-i-Husain was represented by his opponents as a protagonist of communal politics. Though Fazl-i-Husain did not live to complete his work, as he had wished, the authentic record of the life and work of such a man is of the utmost value to aspiring men and women who wish to play a part in the difficult task of building up this country's future. Muslims will read this book with pride, but others too may greatly profit by a careful reading of this record of the workings of the mind of a very able Mussalman statesman who loved and took pride in India. Hindus cannot fully understand and perform their national duties unless they note the workings of the best minds among Mussalmans and acquaint themselves truly with their aspirations, their doubts and their difficulties. Here in this book one has an abundance of the most Fazl-i-Hussain A Political Biography; Copyright © www.sanipanhwar.com 1 intimate material of this nature which can be reflected upon in a scientific and patriotic manner by all, Muslims and non-Muslims. There is nothing so unsatisfactory as a character-sketch written by an opponent or an unabashed sycophant. Little knowledge and much bias are often embellished and served out in antithetical rhetoric, imitating the style of certain popular English writers. Well-documented biographies are what are wanted. There is no doubt that a son, however well educated and independent in opinion, must be prejudiced in favor of his father and his work. But when he lays before the reader not only his own views but a vast quantity of authentic material, the natural bias can mislead no one and can be treated as a noble and justifiable incidental circumstance. The precious material for a biography of this kind can only be possessed and handled by a near relation and here he happens to be one whose training and occupation qualify him for a just and purposeful analysis. All those who live in the present difficult times and who seek for enlightenment and hope in the task of building up India for her great destiny will find valuable material in this interesting biography of a great and active personality whose career coincided with the whole period of the Montagu-Chelmsford constitution in India and that of the discussion of the later reform proposals. C. RAJAGOPALACHARI Fazl-i-Hussain A Political Biography; Copyright © www.sanipanhwar.com 2 INTRODUCTION TO attempt to write Mian Fazl-i-Husain's life at all -- the life of a man who held an imposing place in India's national life, and took a prominent part in many high national transactions; a man whose character and career may be regarded in such various lights, whose political interests were so manifold—is an act of temerity. To write his life today, is to push temerity still further. The ashes of controversies in which he was much concerned are still hot, and one such controversy has assumed vital importance in the form of the Pakistan issue; perspective, scale, relation, must all, while we stand so near, be difficult to adjust. Not all particulars, especially those of the latest marches in his long campaign, can be disclosed without risk of injustice to the feelings of individuals now alive. Yet to defer the task for thirty or forty years would also have obvious drawbacks. Interest grows less vivid; truth becomes difficult to ascertain; memories pale and cooler fades. If a statesman's contemporaries, even after death has abated the storm and temper of faction, can scarcely judge him, they at least breathe the same air as he breathed, know the problems that faced him and the materials with which he had to work, and appreciate the limitations of his period. In the life of Mian Fazl-i-Husain there is another consideration as well. Indians generally, and Muslims in particular, stand today at the cross roads; one false move may mean slavery for generations to come, or bitterness, strife, and civil war between Hindus and Muslims. Mian Fazl-i- Husain participated in Punjab and Indian politics for thirty years, and took a prominent part in them for over twenty years; not impossibly the experience he gained during this time, the ideas he expounded after hard and honest thinking, may, now that the dust of rivalry and controversy is laid, suggest some solution to those who are responsible for the future of this country. Of several needful apologies, one concerns the difficulty of drawing the line between history and biography—between the fortunes of his community, his province, and his country, and the thoughts, purposes and achievements of the individual who had so marked a share in them. This is partly due to the fact that no authoritative and well- documented book on the political history of the Punjab during the last forty years is in existence, and partly to the fact that the subject is a man who exerted a dominant influence throughout the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms period—no phantom, but, in his own province, almost a dictator—and who held office continuously for a period longer than any of his contemporaries. How can one tell the story of his work and days without reference, and ample reference, to the course of events over whose unrolling he presided, and out of which he made history? Some may think that this book gives an excessive preponderance to public affairs in the story of a man's life, but the fact is that during the last twenty years of his life Mian Fazl-i-Husain had one interest and one interest alone—politics. His name is associated with a record of arduous and fruitful legislative work and administrative improvement. He was the chief force propelling, Fazl-i-Hussain A Political Biography; Copyright © www.sanipanhwar.com 3 restraining and piloting his country at many decisive moments. No doubt a lengthy account of speeches, debates, bills, divisions, motions, and maneuvers of party, may become tedious at times, yet after all it is to his thoughts, his purposes, his ideals, his performance as a statesman that Mian Fazl-i-Husain owes his title to lasting fame. The track in which he moved, the instruments that he employed, were the track and the instruments, the road and the trowel, of politics. So much by way of apology for the one-sided character of this biography.