The letters which form the subject of this booklet
were written to me by the sage, philosopher and national poet of Islam,
the late Dr. Sir Muhammad Iqbal, during the period May 1936 to
November1937, a few months before his death. This period synchronises
with a very eventful period in the history of Muslim India—between the
establishment of the All-India Muslim League Central Parliamentary Board
in June 1936 and the great historic sessions at Lucknow in October
1937.
If the Central Parliamentary Board with its
Provincial Branches marked the first great attempt on the part of the
Muslim League to rally round the Muslim opinion to contest the
approaching elections, under the Government of India Act of 1935, for
Provincial Legislature on the League ticket, the Lucknow Session
indicated the first stage in the reorganization of the Muslim League on a
popular basis and as the only authoritative and representative
organisation of Muslim India. Both these high objects were attained in
great part owing to the invaluable support that I obtained through the
sincere efforts and patriotic and selfless activities of many friends
like Sir Muhammad Iqbal, amongst others. The League gained from strength
to strength in this short period. In each of the Provinces where League
Parliamentary Board was established and the League parties were
constituted we carried away about 60 to 70 per cent of the seats that
were contested by the League candidates. Hundreds of District and
Primary Leagues were established in almost every Province from the
farthest corner of Madras to the North- West Frontier Province.
The League gave a staggering blow to the so-called
Muslim Mass Contact Movement which was started by the Congress to
disrupt Muslim ranks and to overawe League into submission. The League
emerged triumphant in most of the by-elections and shattered the
intrigues and machinations of those who hoped to create the impression
that the Muslim League Organisation had no support of the Muslim people.
Within eighteen months before the Lucknow Session,
the League had succeeded in organising Muslims as one party with an
advanced and progressive programme and had brought under its influence
even those provinces which for lack of time or preparation had not been
sufficiently benefited by the activities of League Parliamentary Boards.
The Lucknow Session furnished an unmistakable evidence of the
popularity that League commanded among Muslims of all groups and ranks.
It was a great achievement for Muslim League that its
lead came to be acknowledged by both the majority and minority
Provinces. Sir Muhammad Iqbal played a very conspicuous part, though at
the time not revealed to public, in bringing about this consummation. He
had his own doubts about Sikandar-Jinnah Pact being carried out and he
was anxious to see it translated into some tangible results without
delay so as to dispel popular misapprehension about it, but
unfortunately he has not lived to see that the Punjab has all round made
a remarkable progress and now it is beyond doubt that the Muslims stand
solidly behind the Muslim League Organisation.
With this brief historical background in mind, the
letters can be read with great interest. It is, however, much to be
regretted that my own replies to Iqbal are not available. During the
period under reference I worked alone unassisted by the benefit of a
personal staff and so did not retain duplicate copies of the numerous
letters that I had to dispose of. I made enquiries from the Trustees of
Iqbal's estate at Lahore and was informed that my letters are not
traceable. Hence I had no alternative but to publish the letters without
my replies as I think these letters are of very great historical
importance, particularly those which explain his views in clear and
unambiguous terms on the political future of Muslim India.
His views were substantially in consonance with my
own and had finally led me to the same conclusions as a result of
careful examination and study of the constitutional problems facing
India, and found expression in due course in the united will of Muslim
India as adumberated in the Lahore resolution of the All-India Muslim
League, popularly known as the "Pakistan Resolution,” passed on 23rd
March, 1940.
27th March 1943
M. A. Jinnah
M. A. Jinnah
