The Riots of 1953 — Page 101
101 August 1952 over which you presided tell you that yours was the only community against whom complaints of proselytising had been made? A. When I arrived for the Cabinet meeting, one of the Secretaries told me that Khwaja Nazim-ud-Din was indisposed and would not be able to preside over the meeting. He also gave me a draft saying that Khwaja Sahib wanted to put it to the Cabinet and to have it passed. I read it through and commented that this document mentioned one community meaning the Ahmadis, and that this was unfair in the sense that there was no proof that anything was being done by the Ahmadis. On this Sirdar Abdur Rab Nishtar said that the communique did not say that this was being done but that complaints had been received to that effect. I said that even then it singled out a community with regard to that complaint. He said that we could modify this communique if there was any other community with similar complaints against it. I pointed out that there was a good deal of complaint with regard to the Juma’at-i-Islami. He said that the Juma’at-i-Islami was a political Juma’at and with regard to it there was already a decision that any Government servant who joins it would be violating the Government Servants Conduct Rules. He then went on to say that this was only a preamble and that the directive part of the communique did not make any discrimination and was directed to all communities. Q. What position did you occupy when you wrote the letter Ex. D. E. 256? A. When I wrote this letter in November 1947, I held no official position under the Pakistan Government. I was then leading the Pakistan Delegation to the United Nations. I was Constitutional Adviser to His Highness the Nawab of Bhopal.