Maulana's questions

Against Partition: April 1946 Interview with Abul Kalam Azad
from Communalism Watch by c-info
From Covert Magazine THE MAN WHO KNEW THE FUTURE by Matbooat Chattan Lahore Congress president Maulana Abul Kalam Azad gave the following interview to journalist Shorish Kashmiri for a Lahore based Urdu magazine, Chattan, in April 1946. It was a time when the Cabinet Mission was holding its proceedings in Delhi and Simla. Azad made some startling predictions during the course of the interview, saying that religious conflict would tear apart Pakistan and its eastern half would carve out its own future.

The question is when and where Islam provided for division of territories to settle populations on the basis of belief and unbelief.

• Does this find any sanction in the Quran or the traditions of the Holy Prophet?
• Who among the scholars of Islam has divided the dominion of God on this basis?
• If we accept this division in principle, how shall we reconcile it with Islam as a universal system?
• How shall we explain the ever growing Muslim presence in non-Muslim lands including India?
• Do they realise that if Islam had approved this principle then it would not have permitted its followers to go to the non-Muslim lands and many ancestors of the supporters of Pakistan would not have had even entered the fold of Islam?
• What is the cherished goal of a devout Muslim? Spreading the light of Islam or dividing territories along religious lines to pursue political ambitions?

The impact of western thought and philosophy has made the crisis more serious.

• How many of the Ulema find an honourable mention in the Muslim history of the last 1,300 years?
• What is meant by community identity? If this community identity has remained intact during the British slavery, how will it come under threat in a free India in whose affairs Muslims will be equal participants?
• What attributes of the Muslim state you wish to cultivate?
• The real issue is the freedom of faith and worship and who can put a cap on that freedom. Will independence reduce the 90 million Muslims into such a helpless state that they will feel constrained in enjoying their religious freedom?
• If the British, who as a world power could not snatch this liberty, what magic or power do the Hindus have to deny this freedom of religion?

These questions have been raised by those, who, under the influence of western culture, have renounced their own heritage and are now raising dust through political gimmickry.

• Muslim history is an important part of Indian history. Do you think the Muslim kings were serving the cause of Islam?

They had a nominal relationship with Islam; they were not Islamic preachers. Muslims of India owe their gratitude to Sufis, and many of these divines were treated by the kings very cruelly... Posted by c-info at Saturday, November 28, 2009 Labels: Communalism, History, Partition