The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 161
145 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN I left Lahore the next day and went back to Delhi. As soon as Khizr's decision was announced, a disturbance began in the Punjab, inspired mainly by Master Tara Singh, the Sikh leader, who later on, in India, started his agitation for a separate Sikh province. He stood at the steps of the Legislative Assembly Chamber in Lahore, rattled his kirpan, that is, his dagger, and said, "This will decide. " Unfortunately, that proved to be the presage to all sorts of horrible things that happened afterwards. That is a chapter that most of us do not wish to recall now, after all the horrors that happened. But that was the beginning of it, in the last week of February, 1947. Sir Khizr Hayat Khan did a great service to the cause of Pakistan by the manner in which he acted on that occasion. It is a great pity that the part played by him at that juncture has not been properly appreciated, especially by the Muslim League. The very first difference that arose between him and the Muslim League was that they had hoped, when he decided to resign, that he would join the Muslim League, but he would not join the League as that might be interpreted as meaning that he was still hankering after office, which he was not. He was in full sympathy with the ideal of Pakistan and he would continue to support it, but he would rather not do anything that might appear as if he was wanting to play a prominent part in whatever course affairs might take in the Province. I have always admired him for the part that he played at that time as I thought it showed great courage, situated as he was, with all the difficulties in his way. He did not consider his own position, he had no thought of any personal benefit; he did what he thought was right in all the circumstances. The situation continued to drift through the spring and early summer. Lord Mountbatten was appointed Governor General: he came out and took stock of the situation. He went back to England and urged upon His Majesty's Government that whatever was to be done must be done quickly. The original idea had been, as indeed was announced by Prime Minister Attlee, that partition should be completed within the course of a year, and by June, 1948, the whole project should be completed. Lord Mountbatten urged that the situation was so precarious that unless something was done immediately, everything might get out of hand and nothing may be achieved.