Ancient history

Jinnah's attack on Congress

Jinnah was stunned by the overwhelming victory of the Congress in the elections. He thought that only by organizing all the Muslim political parties of India under the League, the party of Hindus i.e. Congress could be given a tough challenge. After this Jinnah decided to make the principle of two-nationalism a weakness of the Muslims and capitalize on that weakness in his favor. Jinnah changed the entire direction of Indian politics. 'Islam is in danger' by propagating false figures and fabricated incidents of atrocities being committed by Hindus on Muslims by his associates. Like gave provocative slogans and raised the problem of communalism to its peak by creating artificial fear among Muslims.

Jinnah went from Bombay to Lucknow on 13 October 1937. Muslim League workers surrounded his compartment at Lucknow railway station. Such was his enthusiasm and his determination to face the Hindu attack was so strong that the often calm and undisturbed Mr. Jinnah also became emotional. There was a stern look on his face. At the same time, he was also satisfied to see that his people had finally stood up. He said some words to heal the raging sentiments of the public. Many Muslims, seeing their leader there, started crying in anger. They were sure that their leader would free them from the chains of slavery.

It was clear from the elections of 1937 that in any central system, Hindus would have a majority. Therefore it became necessary to present a plan which would be supported by the Muslim public and various Muslim parties and accepted by the British Government. Jinnah was not so much concerned about the approval of the Congress. In October 1937, while Congress' provincial ministries had not been working for a few weeks, Jinnah began to object that Muslims could not expect any justice from the Congress government. Jinnah complained about Vande Mataram, promotion of Hindi language and respect to the Congress flag.

In mid-April 1938, in the amphitheater, which was bathed in the light of the floodlights of Calcutta, Jinnah shouted:'The Congress is primarily a Hindu organization. Muslims have made it clear more than once that apart from religion, culture, language and marriage laws, there is a question which has become a question of life and death for them. Their future and destiny depend on whether they get their political rights or not. Whether they get their due share in the national life, in the government, in the administration of the country or not. They will fight till their last breath for this. No dream and idea of ​​establishing Hindu Raj will be allowed to succeed. No one can dominate Muslims and as long as they have the slightest bit of strength, they will not lay down arms.'

Jinnah wanted to teach the Congress a lesson to respect and fear the Muslim League, as well as a lesson for his followers to be completely self-reliant and mobilize as a solidly united people.

Meanwhile, Jawaharlal Nehru appealed to the Muslims to cooperate in his socialist program, but Dr. Iqbal called it a plan to destroy the cultural unity of the Muslims. Iqbal gave full support to Jinnah. Jinnah-Sikander Pact was reached through the mediation of Iqbal and Muslim members of Unionist Party in Punjab also became members of Muslim League.

Soon after, the Muslim members of the Legislative Assemblies under the leadership of Fazlul Haq in Bengal and Sadulla Khan in Sindh accepted the membership of the Muslim League. This made the Muslim League a powerful party. During this time, the controversy related to the formation of the cabinet in the United Provinces contributed to increasing the popularity of the Muslim League.

The growth of mistrust between the Congress and the League has led to superficially secondary issues, such as the Congress's 'tricolour' Hoisting of the flag, 'Vande Mataram' to be sung as national anthem, in place of Urdu Hindi Raising the demand for the use of U.P., etc. also now proved helpful in increasing communal disharmony. Jinnah took advantage of this and firmly imposed the influence of his leadership and the Muslim League on the Muslims. As a result, the membership of the Muslim League, which was only 1330 in AD 1927, increased to one lakh in AD 1938 and reached 20 lakh in AD 1944.

Jinnah called the Muslim League the only representative body of all the Muslims of India, while the Congress rejected his claim because accepting Jinnah's claim meant that the Congress was neither a single all-India party, and both Hindus and Muslims. 's party. Because of this Jinnah used to be irritated with the top Congress leaders, especially Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. He refused to accept Gandhiji as a Mahatma and called him a cunning fox, a snake and a Hindu who competes with everyone.

For Gandhiji he had to say - 'It is impossible to bring this man to any one thing. He is as clever as a snake.' Jinnah said about Jawaharlal Nehru - 'The defiant Brahmin who keeps his tricks covered by the veil of Western education. When he promises, he gives up one way or the other, and when he doesn't find a way, he tells a white lie.'

Jinnah's behavior was unbearable for the Congress leaders. Yet Gandhiji wanted to keep Jinnah with the Congress movement at all costs. Thus, the personal differences of the top leaders of both the parties, Congress and Muslim League, contributed significantly to the growth of communalism in the country. The correspondence between Nehru and Jinnah in April 1938 made it clear that there were many fundamental differences between the two. Jinnah wanted the Muslim League to be accepted as the sole representative of the Muslims. Nehru was ready to consider it only as a communal organization. Jinnah alleged that the behavior of the Congress was like a monopoly and a sovereign institution.

In a letter dated 12 April 1938, Jinnah wrote- 'We will have to wait until the Muslim League is accepted by the Congress on the level of complete equality and talks about a Hindu-Muslim pact. And you have to rely on your inner strength. He will be the indicator of our importance and prestige.'

In his speech given in Bombay on 26 December 1938, Jinnah called the Congress 'One-Nation Dream' Strongly criticized the Congress and called the Congress only a Hindu organization.

Jinnah made a scathing attack on Gandhiji and said- 'Whose mind is working behind the Congress? Mr Gandhi's I have no hesitation in saying that it is Mr. Gandhi who has destroyed the ideals on which the Congress was started. The responsibility of making the Congress an instrument for the revival of Hinduism rests on this one individual. Their goal is to revive Hindu religion and establish a Hindu state in this country and for this purpose they are using Congress. Today Hindu mentality and Hindu outlook is being nurtured with great care. …… Muslims are being forced to accept the new conditions and follow the orders of Congress leaders.’