India Wins Freedom by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
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India Wins Freedom MAULANA ABUL KALAM AZAD Reproduced by Sani H. Panhwar (2017) INDIA WINS FREEDOM An Autobiographical Narrative MAULANA ABUL KALAM AZAD Reproduced by Sani H. Panhwar (2017) FOR JAWAHARLAL NEHRU Friend and Comrade PREFACE WHEN a little over two years ago I approached Maulana Azad with the request that he should write his autobiography, I never for a moment thought that it would be my melancholy duty to write a preface for the volume. He did not like to talk about his personal life and was at first reluctant to undertake the work. It was with great difficulty that he could be persuaded that, as one of the principal actors in the transfer of power from British to Indian hands, he owed a duty to posterity to record his reading of those memorable times. His reluctance was also partly due to his shattered health. He felt that he needed all his energies to cope with the burden of work imposed on him by inescapable political and administrative tasks. He finally agreed on my assuring him that I would do my best to relieve him of the actual burden of writing. This would of course mean that the Indian people would be denied the privilege of reading his autobiography in his own words. Indian literature in general and Urdu in particular would be the poorer for this, but even a version in English written under his direction would be better than no record at all. I think it necessary to describe in some detail how the work has been composed. During these last two years or so, I spent on an average an hour or more every evening with Maulana Azad, except on those occasions when I had to go out of Delhi. He was a wonderful conversationalist and used to describe his experiences in vivid terms. I made fairly copious notes and also asked questions for clarification of a point or elicitation of further information. He consistently refused to speak on personal matters, but on all questions relating to public affairs, he spoke with the utmost frankness and sincerity. When I had collected sufficient material for a chapter, I prepared a draft in English which I handed over to him at the earliest opportunity. He read each chapter by himself and then we went over it together. At this stage, he made many amendments by addition and alteration, as well as by omission. We proceeded in this way till I was able to give him the first draft of the completed book in September 1957. When he had the completed text in his hands, Maulana Azad decided that some thirty pages of the text dealing with incidents and reflections mainly of a personal character should not be published for the present. He directed that a copy each of the complete text should be deposited under sealed cover in the National Library, Calcutta, and the National Archives, New Delhi. He was, however, anxious that the exclusion of these passages should not in any way alter either the outline of his picture or his general findings. I carried out the changes according to his instructions and was able to present to Maulana Azad the revised and abridged draft towards the end of November, 1957. i He went through it once again during the period when I was away in Australia. After my return we went through the manuscript chapter by chapter and indeed sentence by sentence. He made some minor alterations, but there was no major change. In some cases, a chapter was thus revised three or four times. On Republic Day this year, Maulana Azad said that he was satisfied with the manuscript and it could now be sent to the printers. The book as now released represents the text as finally approved by him. It was Maulana Azad's wish that the book should appear in November 1958 to synchronies with his seventieth birthday. Fate however willed otherwise and he will not be with us to see the book when it appears. As I have already stated, Maulana Azad was not in the beginning very willing to undertake the preparation of this book. As the book progressed his interest grew. In the last six months or so, he rarely missed an evening for the preparation of the manuscript. He was extremely reticent about his personal life, but in the end he volunteered to write a first volume which would have covered the earlier phases of his life and brought the story up to 1937. He did in fact approve a synopsis which, according to his own wishes, is included in this volume as its first chapter. He had also intended to write a third volume to deal with events since 1948. Unfortunately for us, these volumes will now never be written. The work in connection with this book has been for me a labor of love and I shall feel happy if it helps in forwarding an object that was very dear to Maulana Azad's heart. This is the promotion of greater understanding among the different Indian communities as a first step towards greater understanding among peoples of the world. He also wished that the people of India and Pakistan should look upon one another as friends and neighbors. He regarded the Indian Council for Cultural Relations as an instrument for the achievement of this object and in his Presidential Address to the Council— his last prepared and printed speech— he made a fervent appeal for the strengthening of the bonds of understanding and sympathy between the people of these two States which till only a decade ago had been one undivided country. I feel that there can be no better use of any income derived from this book than to make it available to the Council for promoting better understanding among different communities which live in India and Pakistan. Apart from a share to be paid to his nearest surviving relatives, royalties from this book will therefore go to the Council for the annual award of two prizes for the best essay on Islam by a non-Muslim and on Hinduism by a Muslim citizen of India or Pakistan. In view of Maulana Azad's great love and consideration for the young, the competition will be restricted to persons of thirty or below on the 22nd of February in any year. Before I conclude, I wish to make one other thing perfectly clear. There are opinions and judgments in this book with which I do not agree, but since my function was only to record Maulana Azad's findings, it would have been highly improper to let my views color the narrative. When he was alive, I often expressed my differences to him, and ii with the open-mindedness which was so strong an element in his nature, he has at times modified his views to meet my criticisms. At other times, he smiled in his characteristic way and said, 'These are my views and surely I have the right to express them as I will.' Now that he is no more, his views must stand in the form in which he left them. It is difficult for any man to reflect with complete accuracy the views and opinions of another. Even when both use the same language, the change of one word may alter the emphasis and bring about a subtle difference in the shade of meaning. The difference in the genius of Urdu and English makes the task of interpreting Maulana Azad's thoughts still more difficult. Urdu like all other Indian languages is rich, colorful and vigorous. English, on the other hand, is essentially a language of understatement. And when the speaker is a master of Urdu like Maulana Azad, the plight of the writer who seeks to express his thoughts in English can easily be imagined. In spite of these difficulties, I have tried to reflect as faithfully as I could the views of Maulana Azad, and I regard myself as richly rewarded by the fact that the text had met with his approval. New Delhi, HUMAYUN KABER 15th March 1958 iii CONTENTS Page PREFACE .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. i PROSPECTUS OF THE FIRST VOLUME .. .. .. .. 1 CONGRESS IN OFFICE .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 11 WAR IN EUROPE .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 20 I BECOME CONGRESS PRESIDENT .. .. .. .. .. 27 A CHINESE INTERLUDE .. .. .. .. .. .. 37 THE CRIPPS MISSION .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 41 UNEASY INTERVAL .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 62 QUIT INDIA .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 70 AHMEDNAGARFORTJAIL .. .. .. .. .. .. 77 THE SIMLA CONFERENCE .. .. .. .. .. .. 88 GENERAL ELECTIONS .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 102 THE BRITISH CABINET MISSION .. .. .. .. .. 119 THE PRELUDE TO PARTITION .. .. .. .. .. 131 THE INTERIM GOVERNMENT .. .. .. .. .. 140 THE MOUNTBATTEN MISSION .. .. .. .. .. 155 THE END OF A DREAM .. .. .. .. .. .. 164 DIVIDED INDIA .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 176 EPILOGUE .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 190 APPENDIX .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 194 PROSPEC TUS OFTH E FIRSTVOLUM E My forefathers came to India from Herat in Babar's days. They first settled in Agra and later moved to Delhi. It was a scholarly family and in Akbar's time, Maulana Jamaluddin became famous as a religious divine. After him, the family became more inclined to worldly affairs and several members occupied important civil positions. In Shahjehan's days, Mohammad Hadi was appointed Governor of the Agra Fort. My father's maternal grandfather was Maulana Munawaruddin. He was one of the last Rukn-ul Mudarassin of the Moghul period. This post had been first created in Shahjehan's time and was intended to supervise the activities of the State for the promotion of learning and scholarship. The officer had to administer gifts of lands, endowments and pensions to scholars and teachers and could be compared to a Director of Education in the modern world. Moghul power had by this time declined but these major posts were still retained.