The Riots of 1953 — Page 9
9 During the proceedings before the Boundary Commission when Mr. Justice Teja Singh put the specific question to the representa- tive of the Ahmadiyya Community as to what the position of the Ahmadiyya Community was with respect to the generality of the Muslims he emphatically declared: “We are Muslims first and Muslims last. We are a part of Islam”. For several other reasons specified in their memorandum and in their address before the Boundary Commission the point was repeatedly stressed and emphasised by the representative of the Ahmadiyya Community that the District of Gurdaspur com- prising the Headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Community must be placed in the Dominion of Pakistan. In addition to this the services of an expert in Geography, who was a lecturer in the London School of Economics, were requisitioned by the Ah- madiyya Community to assist in the presentation of the Muslim case before the Boundary Commission. 15 The Head of the Ah- madiyya Community was present with his team of workers at all the meetings of the Commission and stayed at Lahore during all this period to render any help he could give and no member of any consequence of the All India Muslim League is ignorant of the fact that at that critical time the Community pooled all its resources in furthering the Muslim claim. But as ill luck would have it political considerations resulted in the loss of a good and just case by the Muslims and Gurdaspur was placed in India. 12. However after a great struggle Pakistan became a reality and in the great chaos and holocaust that came in the wake of the partition the Ahrar also had to seek shelter in Pakistan along with other Muslims. There can be no mistaking the fact that they were 15 Zamindar, 25. 9. 47.