, and it is growing by leaps and bounds all over India. The Muslim League, during the last three years, has made not only remarkable progress but a miraculous progress. You must, therefore, keep abreast of the movements and activities and developments of the All-India Muslim League and its policy and programme. My young friends , today you compare yourselves with what was the position of the Muslims even three years ago. Five years ago it was wretched. Ten years ago you were dead.
And within three years, as I said, you have succeeded in awakening the political consciousness of Muslim India from one end to the other end of this subcontinent. The Muslim League has given you a national flag. The Muslim League has given you common platform. The Muslim League has given you a goal which in my judgment is going to lead you to the promised land where we shall establish our Pakistan.
Speech at the Concluding Session of the All-India Muslim League Students’ Federation, Nagpur,
December 28,1941
Soon after the Pakistan resolution was passed at Lahore thousands of Muslims came to see me in the Railway train which was carrying me to Bombay and greeted me with shouts of “Pakistan Zindabad” with unprecedented enthusiasm. When the train reached Bombay, Muslims assembled at the platform greeted meand expressed their joy at the idea of establishing Pakistan in India. The most interesting episode was that of the two bright Muslim children who came to me shouting “Pakistan Zindabad”. One was nearly seven years old and the other was ten. I got interested and asked them what they meant by ‘Pakistan”. At first they became nervous but soon got over their shyness and answered that where the Muslims were in a majority, the Muslims must rule. I was immensely satisfied with the reply and further questioned them as to where they were in a majority? The reply was on the tip of their tongues, and they cried out with one voice “Punjab, Sindh, Bengal”. It was therefore, impossible for me to think that there was any Muslim who did not understand what was meant by Pakistan. The fact was that the Mussalmans had absolutely no difficulty in understanding what was meant by Pakistan. The People
who did not understand it, rather reftised to understand it, were my Hindu brethren.
The goal of Muslims in India was simple and clear. It was Pakistan. But the question was how the Mussalmans were to achieve it. Its achievement was in the hands of the Muslims themselves, who should know that there was nobody who was going to help them in reaching their goal for the simple reason that others had nothing to gain from it except the Muslims. The Hindus were opposed to it because they wanted Hindu Raj in the whole of India, and they wanted to establish flindudom throughout the country.
The Muslims, therefore, must be up and doing, and they should always be ready to make any sacrifice that was demanded of them. If they continued their efforts and organized themselves thoroughly well on the League platform and spoke with one voice, and one should, they were sure to see that even those who were opposed to them would become their friends, and they would willingly come forward to make peace with them (Muslims).
So long as the member of the Muslims League were imbibed with the true spirit of Islam and worked harmoniously for the cause of Muslim India loyally and selflessly, their success, lander any circumstances, was certain. Do not be impatient for reward or recognition of your services. When the tithe caine these things would automatically follow any effort which was made essentially in the spirit of service was in itself the best reward.
You (the students) must follow (my) advice .careftally and organize yourselves as best as you could. If you did so, I have no doubt that you would be successful in the task you have set to yourselves, at any rate, yours is, not a political orgajiisation and that there
was a vast field and enormous work to be done by you in various spheres. Apply your mind to the various social educational and economic problems which deserved the best of your attention during the holidays, in addition to your academic pursuits. These, were the spheres for you in which you could make your fill contribution. I warned you against the temptation of catching the lime-light, which would sap the very foundation of a good educational career.
The condition of the depressed classes in India, was the greatest blot on the history of this country and lot of social work could be done in that direction too. It was no use students wasting their time in superficial talks about controversial matters which did not result in anything good.
We will have Pakistan sooner than you think or I think.
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