Islamia College Peshawar,
July 30, 1940
not be accepted by any responsible organization — and was rejected by the All-India Muslim League.
That is all about the present. Now, we come to the future. As regards future, ladies and gentlemen, I have tried my very best to give every possible attention, and as far as possible, bereft of any bias or prejudice, and as far as it is humanly possible I have tried to examine the arguments against the Lahore Resolution. So far as we are concerned, we stand by the Lahore Rresolution, and we want it as soon as circumstances permit or immediately after the war. That is what we want. Our demand is not for Hindus because the Hindus never took the whole of India. It was the British who took India from the Mussalmans. So, we are not asking the Hindus to give us anything. Our demand is made to the British, who arc in possession. It is an utter nonsense to say that Hindustan belongs to the Hindus. They also say that Muslims were Hindus at one time. These nonsensical arguments are advanced by their leaders. They say, supposing an Englishman becomes a Muslim in England, he does not ask for Pakistan. Have you got not eyes to see and don’t you have brains to understand that an Englishman, if he changes his religion in England, he, by changing his religion, still remains a member of the same society, with the same culture, same social life and everything remains exactly the same when an Englishman changes his faith? But can you see that a Muslim, when he was converted, granted that he was converted more than a thousand years ago, bulk of the then according to your Hindu religion and philosophy, he becomes an outcaste and he becomes a malecha (untouchable) and the Hindus cease to have anything to do with him socially, religiously and culturally or in any other way? He, therefore, belongs to a different order, not only religious but social, and he
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has lived in that distinctly separate and antagonistic social order, religiously, socially and culturally. It is now more than a thousand years that the bulk of the Muslims have lived in a different world, in a different society, in a different philosophy and different faith. Can you possibly compare him with that nonsensical talk that mere change of faith is no ground for a demand for Pakistan? Can’t you see the fundamental difference? Now, therefore, I do not think really that any honest man can possibly dispute the fad that the Muslims are a nation by themselves, distinctly separate from the Hindus. Suppose they are, and I have no doubt in my mind, there are hundreds and hundreds of Hindus who honestly think so and there are hundreds of Hindus who believe in this and who have come to me and•who have often said that this is the only solution, viz., the Lahore resolution. Therefore, it is no use arguing this point any further. But how is the propaganda carried on against it? The propaganda is carried on and, as I have told you, I have tried to understand the arguments against it, without any prejudice as far as it is possible for a human being to do so. What is the argument?
I will start with Mr. Gandhi. He says that it is a vivisection of India. It gives you at once a feeling of horror. Is it really to frighten the Muslims not to commit the vivisection of India? It is really to frighten the Hindus that their motherland is vivisected by these wretched Muslims! Here is a question that may arise. May I know when was India one? Was it ever one? Why use this word ‘vivisection? Then his disciple Mr. Rajagopalacharya goes one step further and says — and he started by saying that it was cutting the baby into two! I say to him, my dear fellow, where is the baby who is going to be cut into two? He was not satisfied
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