The Riots of 1953 — Page 2
2 behind those activities. 3. The Ahrar were a group of individuals, more prominent among them being Maulana Habib-ur-Rahman, Syed Ataullah Shah Bokhari, Maulana Mazhar Ali Azhar, Sheikh Hisam-ud- Din, Master Taj-ud-Din, Chaudhri Afzal Haq and a few others and were paid 1 workers of the Congress. Their speeches and writ- ings were not intended to raise the spiritual or moral uplift of the Muslim masses but only to preach hatred against the Government and to hold up to ridicule all Muslim organisations which were anxious to protect Muslim interests and to dubb them as syco- phants. It is no doubt true that even in this period they carried on their so-called national activities under the garb of religion, i. e. , the method employed was ostensibly religious. In fact in 1928, the Indian National Congress brought out the Nehru Report as the political demand of the people of India. The Nationalist Mus- lims who had not yet formed into the Ahrar Party supported 2 the Nahru Repor t. The Head of the Ahmadiyya Community wrote a book on the Nehru Report. In this book he examined in detail the proposals contained in the Nehru Report and demonstrated how, if accepted, those proposals were likely to injure Muslim interests. This book convinced the Muslims of India that their political, social and religious salvation lay in rejecting the Report. The Mus- lim parties in consequence rejected 3 that Report. The congress having been foiled in its attempt to secure the acceptaince of the Nehru Report through the good offices of the so-called National- is t Muslims probably withdrew the financial aid which this group received from the Congress with the result that for the time being 1 The Azad, 28. 6. 50; Life of Mr. Jinnah by B. A. Jafri, p. 639. 2 The Azad, 31. 1. 51; Afaq. 19. 3. 53. 3 The Siyasat, Lahore, 2. 12. 30; Life of Mr. Jinnah by B. A. Jafri, p. 183.