‘The Parting of the Ways’
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 November 2008
With the passing of the Government of India Act of 1935, the history of Indian nationalism underwent a subtle change. Though not noticeable immediately after the introduction of the Act, the provincial elections, held under its provisions in 1937, and the results thereof, made this change more apparent and clear. The Indian National Congress secured a sweeping victory in five provinces and was in a position to form coalition ministries in two other provinces—a victory which revealed the efficiency and capability of the party so far as the election machine was concerned. It proved its claim of being a ‘National Party’. The Muslim-League, on the other hand, did not fare well at all, especially in the Muslim majority provinces of the Punjab and Bengal. Although it did better in the non-Muslim provinces, yet that was not enough to enable the League to boast of being the sole representative organization of the Muslims. The success of provincial parties like the Krishak Lok Party in Bengal and the Unionist Party in the Punjab showed that the Muslim electorates still thought in terms of ‘provincial’ or ‘local’ considerations, and were not moved so much by all-India issues. What was true of the League was also true of the Congress so far as the Muslims were concerned. The latter, too, was not able to capture Muslim seats in numbers adequate enough to demonstrate its popularity amongst Muslims.
1 F. No. 11/37, Poll, National Archives of India, New Delhi [N.A.I.].Google Scholar
2 Ibid.
3 Menon, V. P., The Transfer of Power in India (Longmans, 1957), p. 55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4 Nehru, Jawaharlal, A Bunch of Old Letters (Asia, 1958).Google ScholarNehru, to Jinnah, , Bombay, 14 December 1939.Google Scholar
5 Ibid.
6 Khaliquzzaman, C., Pathway to Pakistan (Lahore, 1961), pp. 160–1.Google Scholar
7 Press Statement by Nehru, 30 June 1937. Nehru Papers, Pt II I, No. 161, Nehru Memorial Museum, New Delhi.Google Scholar
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
10 The Times of India, 10 May 1937.Google Scholar
11 Pant, G. B. to Nehru, , 2 April 1937, Nehru Papers, Pt. I, Vol. 79.Google Scholar
12 The Times of India, 6 May 1937.Google Scholar
13 The Pioneer 16 February 1937.Google Scholar
14 A.I.C.C. File No. G. 32/1938, Nehru Memorial Museum, /New Delhi.
15 Acharaya Kriplani's Reply to Jinnah. See The Times of India, 15 May 1937.Google Scholar
16 Ibid.
17 Ibid.
18 Nehru Papers, Pt III, No. 249.
19 A.I.C.C.F. No. G.30(1)/1937.Google Scholar
20 Indian Annual Register, 1937, Vol. II.Google Scholar
21 The Search Light, 27 April, 1937.Google Scholar
22 Nehru Papers, Pt III, No. 249.
23 The Times of India, 6 May 1937.Google Scholar
24 The Times of India, 27 May 1937.Google Scholar
25 Ibid.
26 Indian Annual Register, 1937, Vol. I, Calcutta Session, 27, 28 12 1937.Google Scholar
27 The Bombay Chronicle, 8 February 1938.Google Scholar
28 Baiq, M. R. A., The Muslims's Dilemma in India (Vikas, 1947), pp. 65–7.Google Scholar
29 The Times of India, 1 May 1937.Google Scholar
30 Indian Annual Register, 1938, Vol. I.Google Scholar
31 Ibid.
32 Ibid.
33 Indian Annual Register, 1938, Vol. II.Google Scholar
34 State of India, 29 December 1938.Google Scholar
35 The Daily Gazette, Karachi, 9 10 1938.Google Scholar
36 Amrita Bazar Patrika, 29 December 1938.Google Scholar
37 Civil and Military Gazette, Lahore, 12 10 1938.Google Scholar
38 Nehru Papers, Pt III, Nos 275, 276.
39 Ibid.
40 Nehru, to Mahmud, Syed of Patna, 12 December 1939, Nehru Papers, Pt I, Vol. 79.Google Scholar
41 A.I.C.C. File No/G22/1938.Google Scholar
42 Mahmud, S. Syed to Nehru, , 9 December 1939, Nehru Papers, Pt I, Vol. 97.Google Scholar
43 A.I.C.C. File No. B 9/1938.Google Scholar
44 A.I.C.C. File No. B 9/1938.Google Scholar
45 A.I.C.C. File No. G32/1938.Google Scholar
46 The Times of India, 12 May 1937.Google Scholar
47 A.I.C.C. File No. 11/1937.Google Scholar
48 Indian Annual Register, 1938., Vol. I.Google Scholar
49 Ibid.
50 Philips, Cyril H., The Evolution of India and Pakistan 1858–1947 (London, 1962), pp. 765–7.Google Scholar
51 Indian Annual Register, 1938, Vol. II.Google Scholar
52 Ibid.
53 Ibid.
54 The Bombay Chronicle, 10 July 1938.Google Scholar
55 The Eastern Times, Lahore, 7 07 1938.Google Scholar
56 The Sind Observer, 6 July 1939.Google Scholar
57 Muslim League W.C. Meeting Bombay, July 1939, Indian Annual Register 1939, Vol. II.Google Scholar
58 Satish Chandra Bara Benki to Dr. Ashraf, 23 April 1937. A.I.C.C. F. No. 41/1937.Google Scholar
59 Quoted in Haq, Mushin U., Muslim Polititus in India. (Meerut, 1970), pp. 127–8.Google Scholar
60 Amrita Bazar Patrika, 17 January 1939.Google Scholar
61 Ibid., 31 January 1939.
62 The Times of India, 6 July 1938.Google Scholar
63 Indian Annual Register 1939, Vol. I.Google Scholar
64 Dr Ashraf to Dr Zakir Hussain, 9 April 1938, A.I.C.C. F. No. G-68/1937–38.Google Scholar
65 F. No. 71/39, Home Poll, N.A.I.
66 Ibid.
67 A.I.C.C. F. No. 18/1937.Google Scholar
68 The Times of India, 6 July 1938.Google Scholar
69 Patna Session of League, 1938, See Jamil-ud-Din, Speeches of Jinnah.
70 F. No. 71/37, Home Poll, N.A.I.
71 Nehru Papers, Pt I, Vol. 79.Google Scholar
72 Ibid., G. B. Pant to Nehru, 16 January 1939.
73 Amrita Bazar Patrika, 8 February 1939.Google Scholar
74 Nehru Papers, Pt I, Vol. 39, Press Statement by Nehru.Google Scholar
75 For full report, see A.I.C.C. F. No. 34/1939.Google Scholar
76 Pant, G. B. to Nehru, , A.I.C.C. F. No. B 9/1937.Google Scholar
77 Coupland, R., The Indian Problem, Pt II, Indian Politics, 1936–1942 (Oxford University Press, 1943), p. 106.Google Scholar
78 Sen, Dhirandernath, Revolution by Consent (Calcutta, 1947), p. 186.Google Scholar
79 Smith, Robert Aura, Divided India (New York, 1947), p. 33.Google Scholar
80 Haripura Session of the Congress. See Indian Annual Register, 1938.
81 Jamil-ud-Din, , Speeches of Jinnah, Lucknow Session of the League, 1937.Google Scholar
82 The Times of India, 6 May, 1937.Google Scholar
83 The Times of India, 24 May 1937.Google Scholar
84 Ibid., 28 May 1937.
85 Nehru Papers, Pt III, F. No. 262–3.
86 Nehru Papers, Pt I, Vol. 39.
87 A.I.C.C. F. No. 48/1938, Dr Ashraf's speech at Lahore, 17 June 1937.Google Scholar
88 Prasad, R., India Divided (Bombay, 1946), pp. 148–9.Google Scholar
89 The Times of India, 4 July 1938.Google Scholar
90 The Times of India, 4 May, 1937.Google Scholar
91 Ibid.
92 Ibid.
93 Jinnah, to Basa, S., 2 August 1938. See Indian Annual Register, 1938, Vol. II.Google Scholar
94 Ibid.
95 The Times of India, 4 July 1938.Google Scholar
96 Khan, Mh. Ismail to Nehru, , The Times of India, 16 January 1938.Google Scholar
97 Indian Annual Register, 1937, Vol. I.Google Scholar
98 Ibid.
99 Indian Annual Register, 1938, Vol. I.Google Scholar
100 A.I.C.C. F. No. 11/1937.Google Scholar
101 A.I.C.C. F. No. 11/1937.,Google Scholar
102 See A.I.C.C. F. No. 11/1937. It contains letters from and to above Associations. Also see A.I.C.C. F. No. 11/1937 containing similar letters.Google Scholar
103 DrAshraf, to Brelvi, Sh. S. A. of Bombay Chronical, 29 May 1937, A.I.C.C. F. No.G-68/1937–38.Google Scholar
104 Dr Ashraf to Sht. Gaunda Mijumdar, 7 May 1937, ibid.
105 DrAshraf, to DrQazi, Abdul Hamid, 20 May 1937, A.I.C.C. F. No. 25/1937.Google Scholar
106 The Times of India, 27 May 1937.Google Scholar
107 The Times of India, 27 May 1937.Google Scholar
108 A.I.C.C. F. No. 16/1937.Google Scholar
109 A.I.C.C. F. No. 18/1937.Google Scholar
110 A.I.C.C. F. No. 47/1937.Google Scholar
111 The Times of India, 1 March 1938.Google Scholar
112 The Times of India, 2 March 1938.Google Scholar
113 A.I.C.C. F. No. 16/1937.Google Scholar
114 Indian Annual Register, 1939, Vol. I.Google Scholar
115 Ibid.
116 For the letter of Dr Ashraf informing his inability to attend Muslim meetings at various places see A.I.C.C. F. No. G.68/1937–38; F. No. 47/1937 and F. No. 11/1937.
117 A.I.C.C. F. No. 42/1937.Google Scholar
118 A.I.C.C. F. No. 42/1937.Google Scholar
119 A.I.C.C. F. No. 11/1937.Google Scholar
120 Ibid.
121 Ibid.
122 A.I.C.C. F. No.G.68/1937–1938.Google Scholar
123 A.I.C.C. F. No. 42/1937.Google Scholar
124 Nehru Papers, Pt I, Vol. 49.Google Scholar
125 Indian Annual Register, 1938, Vol. I.Google Scholar
126 Philips, , Evolution of India and Pakistan, pp. 347–8.Google Scholar
127 Note by Sahai, Raghubir, 21 April 1937, A.I.C.C. F. No. 41/1937.Google Scholar
128 Nehru Papers, Pt I, Vol. 79.Google Scholar
129 Nehru Papers, Pt I, Vol. 100.Google Scholar
130 A.I.C.C. F. No. B-9/1938.Google Scholar
131 A.I.C.C. F. No. G-32/1938.Google Scholar
132 Indian Annual Register, 1939, Vol. I.Google Scholar
133 Coupland, R., The Indian Problem, Pt II, p. 104.Google Scholar
134 Indian Annual Register, 1938, Vol. II.Google Scholar
135 Hodson, H. V., The Great Divide (London, 1969), pp. 74–5.Google Scholar
136 The Leader, Allahabad, 29 December 1938.Google Scholar
137 Jamil-ud-Din, , Speeches of Jinnah, Lucknow Session of League, 1937.Google Scholar
138 For full Report, see SirGwyer, Maurice and Appaderoi, A. (Eds), Speeches and Documents on the Indian Constitution, 1921–47, 2 vols (Oxford University Press, 1957), I 410–16.Google Scholar
139 Jamil-ud-Din, , Speeches of Jinnah.Google Scholar
140 Ibid.
141 National Herald, 23 December 1939.Google Scholar
142 See Ibid, The Times of India, The Statesman for 23–24 December 1939.
143 Patel, V. B. to Nehru, , 7 December 1939, Nehru Papers, Pt I, Vol. 39.Google Scholar
144 The Tribune, The Statesman, The Pioneer, etc. 23–25 December 1939.Google Scholar
145 Amrita Bazar Patrika, The Times of India, 23 December 1939.Google Scholar
146 Coupland, R., The Indian Problem, Part II. pp. 192–3.Google Scholar
147 The Pioneer, 25 December 1938.Google Scholar
148 Jamil-ud-Din, , Speeches of Jinnah.Google Scholar
149 Cambridge History of India, Vol. VI, p. 82.Google Scholar
150 Coupland, R., The Indian Problem, Pt II, pp. 407–8.Google Scholar