The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 151
135 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN On the 15th of August, 1945, when the general election in Britain had brought the Labour Party into power, Prime Minister Attlee made an announcement in the Speech from the Throne that steps would be taken to set up India as an independent dominion as soon as possible, a promise which was fulfilled exactly two years later. Question : Sir Zafrulla, it has frequently been said, especially since independence, that from 1906 on, with the founding of the Muslim League, the British Government in India quite deliberately, as a matter of policy or at the best unconsciously, attempted to divide Hindu and Muslim interests. What is your own view on this ? Khan : My view is that the deliberate policy of the British Government in England or as a major objective in the policy of any Viceroy, this is not true. The Muslim League came into being in 1906, during the viceroyalty of Lord Minto, under the guidance of such Muslim leaders as the late Aga Khan, Sir Syed Amir Ali, Nawab Salimullah of Dacca, and Mirza Abbas Ali Beg, in consequence of the growing apprehension in the minds of Muslim leadership in India that with the progress of the representative principle, which found expression in popular elections, Muslim interests would be progressively neglected, unless safeguards were devised and put into effect. Experience had already shown that the electoral system of responsibility could be manipulated to the serious prejudices of the minorities, and the Muslims, being the largest minority, had grave apprehensions on that score. The country was still at a stage when the struggle for independence all lay ahead, but the experience already gained in the political field made the Muslims feel that some safeguards had become necessary. Muslim public opinion later on split on whether the best way of safeguarding the Muslim position would be through co-operation with the Indian National Congress or through strengthening their own organization. I do not think the setting-up of the Muslim League in 1906 could be interpreted as evidence of British policy to divide the Hindus and Muslims although it is true that we were still in a stage where any colonial administration would look for support wherever it could find it. It was part of colonial policy, not only in India but in other places also where similar conditions prevailed, that the administration would try to obtain support wherever it could find it, and it was imagined that as the minorities were more dependent upon the government for