The Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, was thoroughly disappointed by the anti Muslim attitude of the Indian National Congress in the Nehru report. He considered it as parting of the ways with Congress and with a broken heart decided to leave India for good. After attending the First Round Table Conference in 1931, he decided to settle down permanently in London.
It was because of his correspondence with Allama Iqbal and his meeting with Liaquat Ali Khan in London that made him revise his decision. Quaid-i-Azam came back to India in 1934 but this time he was a totally different person. With no more interest in Hindu Muslim unity, his only aim was then to work for the betterment of the Muslims of South Asia. Probably he was clear in his mind that the only solution of the problem of South Asian Muslims was a separate homeland for them. However, he knew that this idea should not be made public before doing necessary homework.
At the time of his return to South Asia, All India Muslim League was a political party without any grass root support. The party was also divided into Hidayat League and Aziz League. Quaid-i-Azam’s first success on his return was the reunification of the two factions of the party. The united Muslim League had a lot of expectations from Quaid-i-Azam as they elected him as the President of the party. The Quaid responding to the expectations decided to reorganize the League.
To begin with he decided to popularize the League among the ordinary Muslims. He reduced the annual membership fee from Rs. 4 to only two annas (one-eighth of a rupee). Then central and provincial Parliamentary Boards of the party were set up. Moreover, a well-defined constitution was also prepared. A committee comprising Maulana Akram Khan, Husain Imam and Haji Abdus Sattar was set up to increase the membership of the Muslim League.
In 1938 Muslim League started its separate Women Chapter. In the same year in order to maintain discipline during the sessions of the League, Muslim League National Guards was launched. Quaid-i-Azam also appealed from the Muslims community of South Asia to donate one million rupees to strengthen the financial position of the Party.
This article was last updated on Monday, Jan 01, 2007
