Punjab Province in India was curry-hot with
religious conflicts and revolts against British rule until 1937, when
moderate Sir Sikander Hyat Khan, member of a distinguished Moslem
family, became Premier of the Punjab. By straightforward administration
and sense-making pleas for Hindu-Moslem unity, he succeeded in uniting
the major political parties of the Punjab's 28 millions—56% Moslems,
27% Hindu, 13% warrior Sikhs—into a coalition Government which brought
internal peace to the Province and has raised 500,-ooo troops to fight
the Axis. Last week, at Lahore, the fruitful work of Sir Sikander was
ended: a sudden heart attack brought death to Britain's stanchest
friend in India. Britain's major loss was expected to bring major gain to a minor man.
Stouthearted, statesmanlike Sir Sikander was probably the only
non-Congress Moslem important enough to challenge the claim of Mohamed
Ali Jinnah to speak for all Moslems in India. In the last elections
Jinnah's Moslem League won less than one-fourth of the seats officially
reserved for Moslems in the Provinces; in the Sind, where Moslems are
preponderant, it won not a single seat; in the North-West Frontier
Province, with a population 92% Moslem, it polled less than 5% of all
Moslem votes cast. Jinnah, whom the Congress calls a British tool, last week stepped up his
pip-squeaking with a self-contradicting attack on a speech by the
Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow. The tired Viceroy had again claimed that
“agreement cannot be reached between the conflicting interests of this
country as fro who is to take over responsibilities which we are only
too ready to transfer to Indian hands.” First Jinnah called
Linlithgow's speech “most inopportune and likely to shatter what little
hope of settlement had been created,” then he gave substance to
Linlithgow's claim by ranting: “We do not want the Atlantic Charter or
the Pacific Charter. We love our charter—that is Pakistan [separate
Moslem State]. Neither the British Government nor the Government of
India can distract us from our goal.” Jinnah, clearly, was going to be
no help in bringing unity, strength and dignity to India. Neither were the British, apparently.
Last week, while they kept democratic United Nations' friend Jawaharlal
Nehru in jail, they lifted the ban on the Khaksars, a storm-trooperish
gang which talks like the Axis radio. Possible reason for the
ban-lifting: the Khaksars are violently anti-Congress. The British got
a promise from the Khaksars that they would no longer drill, carry
weapons, wear uniforms or badges, and “in general the activities of the
Khaksars are to be of such a nature as not to cause the least anxiety
to the authorities anywhere as long as the war lasts.”
