The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 78
78 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN Is that of particular interest to you?" I said, "Yes, it is. It was on the 3rd of October that in London the Secretary of State proposed, I had not asked for it, that I should take over the portfolio of Commerce and Railways, and he said it was the desire both of the Viceroy and himself that I should do so. Now, you made this commitment before this was said to me or after. If you made it before, then so far as I am concerned, it is wiped out by the offer of the Viceroy and the Secretary of State to me in London on the 3rd of October that I should take over Commerce and Railways. I do not say it is wiped out forever, but you cannot make these changes just now because I was made this offer, and accepted it. If anything arises later we shall see. " "If the commitment was made after that date, you had no business to make it after this offer had been made to me and I had accepted it, without making any reference to me. " They looked at each other and after reminding Sir Joseph Bhore that the Secretary of State had told me, and the Viceroy had confirmed that until I took over charge important papers concerning trade agreements and other questions that were pending in the portfolio would be sent to me for my information, and receiving an assurance from him that I would be kept fully informed, I left. I might add that Sir Joseph Bhore carried out that undertaking by not sending me a single line from that date until the date that I took over charge! I met the Viceroy again in the evening. He asked me what had happened an I reported the conversation to him. I went back to Lahore and wrote a letter to Sir Samuel Hoare telling him what had transpired in Delhi and added that I did not wish to cause any embarrassment to him or to the Viceroy or to the gentlemen who would have been my colleagues if I had taken over charge. The simplest way out was for me to withdraw from my acceptance of the office of Member of the Viceroy's Council and that the Secretary of State and the Viceroy were free to choose anybody else they liked. I received a brief reply from Sir Samuel Hoare saying he had received my letter, and appreciated the position. He had written to the Viceroy and he was quite sure that everything would be all right. I received another invitation from the Viceroy to go down to Delhi. The Viceroy, as usual, met me very graciously, and he said, "Oh, my dear, Sammy Hoare has sent me a stinker! But, of course, if you are not