The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 37
37 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN At that time, the Muslim member of the Viceroy's Executive Council was Sir Fazle Hussain. The Council was composed of eight members: three Indians, three Europeans, the Commander-in-Chief, who was always a member of Council in those days, and the Viceroy himself. Out of the three Indians, one used to be a Muslim. This had happened gradually. The first Indian was appointed in 1909. Up to then no Indian had been appointed a member of Council since the time of Warren Hastings, when the Council had been constituted in 1772. The first Indian appointed was the late Lord Sinha. Later, when the number of Indian members was increased to three, the first Muslim, Sir Ali Imam, was appointed to the Executive Council. He was from Bihar and he was succeeded by Sir Muhammad Shafi from the Punjab. Sir Muhammad Shafi was succeeded by Sir Muhammad Habibullah from Madras, who was succeeded by Sir Fazle Hussain, again from the Punjab. Sir Fazle Hussain was appointed in April, 1930, and held office until April, 1935. His health had not been very good, even when he was Minister and later Revenue Member in the Punjab. He had developed some affliction of the throat. It was not cancer and he did not die of it, but it was a troublesome complaint which caused difficulty in breathing and sometimes put his temperature up when he had to take to bed. He carried on despite this serious handicap. In the summer of 1932, however, he felt that he must have some respite if he was to carry on at all. So he decided to take four months' leave, which was permissible to members of the Governor-General's Executive Council. The then Viceroy, Lord Willingdon, had known me, as we had worked together on the Consultative Committee which had been set up between the second and third Roundtable Conference in Delhi to carry on the work of the Roundtable Conference and of which the Viceroy was Chairman. That Committee came to an end after two or three sittings, as no progress could be made on account of the fact that as the communal award had not yet been announced, the Muslims did not know what their position would be in the new constitution and, therefore, they could not come to final decisions on several aspects of the matters that were to be discussed. It was not the Viceroy's choice that I should officiate for Sir Fazle Hussain. I am sure it was Sir Fazle Hussain's insistence that if he was to get any benefit from his leave, he should have somebody holding his