The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 19
19 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN degenerate into what has been described as pseudo-mysticism which has been roundly castigated by Iqbal. It is only pseudo-mysticism that is carried away in the current of emotion. True mysticism bases itself on contemplation. But perhaps we are going rather far afield from our subject. Question : May we now turn to the path of your political career from the time you were elected to the Punjab Legislature in 1926. Khan : During the period that we have dealt with so far, I was a minor figure on the scene, an apprentice, a pupil gradually taking up, as it were, the position of a lieutenant, of Sir Fazle Hussain, especially from the time I was elected to the Punjab Legislature. The Montagu-Chelmsford Scheme of Reforms under which those legislatures had been set up had provided that at the end of ten years, after the working of the system of dyarchy had been in operation long enough to be evaluated, the position would be reviewed by a Royal Commission, who would report on the working of the whole system and make recommendations as to what should be the next stage. But as political thought in India was getting impatient for the next stage of constitutional advance, it was expected on all hands that the appoint-ment of the Royal Commission would be announced during the fall of 1927. During the 1927 summer session of the Punjab Legislative Council, held at Simla, the Muslim members of the Unionist Party decided to send someone to England who should get in touch with leading British statesmen and Members of Parliament and explain to them the Muslim position with regard to the next stage of constitutional advance. At the suggestion of Sir Fazle Hussain their choice fell on me, and I was asked to proceed to England for that purpose. I arrived in England towards the end of September. The Assembly of the League of Nations was then in session in Geneva and Sir Fazle Hussain himself had proceeded as leader of the Indian Delegation to Geneva, before I set out on my journey to London. I stopped on the way in Geneva, spent a day with him and with the Maharaja of Kapurthala, who was a member of the Delegation. A very pleasant day it was. I then went on to London where I began to make contact with British statesmen and prominent Members of Parliament. I had spent two or three months in London in 1924, so that my contacts were not entirely new. I had met several people then and it was comparatively easy for me to get in touch with them and through them