Date: 1 October 1906
Location: Simla
Speaker: Aga Khan III
Source: Speeches of Aga Khan III – K K Aziz
Full Text
Benefits conferred by British rule on the population of India British policy in India – deference to the wishes of the people and the diversity of race and religion – the numerical strength of the Muslims in India – the position accorded to the Muslim community should be commensurate with its numbers and political importance – Muslims have been law-abiding – Muslims value representative institutions but consider the community’s representation inade quate – plea for adequate Muslim representation in the Gazetted, Subordinate and Ministerial services of the provinces, Municipal and District Boards, Senates and Syndicates of Indian Universities, Provincial Councils and the Imperial Legislative Council-appoint ment of Muslims to the Judiciary and to the Executive Council.
To HIS EXCELLENCY THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF MINTO, P.C., G.C.S.I., G.C.I.E., G.C.M.G., Viceroy and Governor-General of India.
MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY, Availing ourselves of the permission graciously accorded to us, we the undersigned nobles, jagirdars, talukdars, merchants, and others, representing a large body of the Mohammedan Subjects of His Majesty the King-Emperor in different parts of India, beg most respectfully to approach Your Excellency with the following memorial for your favourable consideration. 2. We have no need to be reminded of the incalculable benefits conferred by British rule on the teeming millions belonging to divers races, and professing divers religions, who form the population of the vast continent of India. Nor can we forget the chaos and misrule from which British arms extricated us when the country was a prey to an innumerable host of adven turers bent on rapine and plunder. We have good reason to be grateful for the peace, security, personal freedom, and liberty of worship that we now enjoy, and, from the wise and enlightened character of the Government, we have every reason.able ground for anticipating that these benefits will be progressive and that India will, in the future occupy an increasingly important position in the comity of nations. 3. One of the most important characteristics of British policy in India is the increasing deference that has, so far as possible, been paid from the first to the views and wishes of the people of the country in matters affecting their interests, with due regard always to the diversity of race and religion which forms such an important feature of all Indian problems. 4. Beginning with the confidential and unobtrusive method of consulting influential members of important communities in different parts of the country, this principle was gradually extended by the recognition of the right of recognised political or commercial organisations to communicate to the authorities their criticisms and views on measures of public importance; and, finally, by the nomination and election of direct representatives of the people in Municipalities, Local Boards, and- above ali in the Legislative Chambers of the country. This last element is, we understand, about to be dealt with by the Commission appointed by Your Excellency at the initiative of His Majesty’s Secretary of State for India, with the view of giving it further extension; and it is with reference mainly to our claim to a fair share in such extended representation that we have ventured to approach Your Excellency on the present occasion. 5. The Musalmans of India number, according to the census taken in the year 1901, over sixty-two millions, or more than one fifth of the total population of His Majesty’s Indian Dominions; while if the Native States and Burma were excluded from the computation and a reduction made for the uncivilized portions of the community enumerated under the heads of Animists and other minor religions, the proportion of Musalmans to the whole population of British India would be found to be approximately one-fourth. In these circumstances, we desire to submit that, under any system of representation, extended or limited, a. min0ority amounting to a quarter of the population – and in itself more numerous than the entire population of any first class European Power, except Russia – may justly lay claim to adequate recognition as an important factor in the State. We venture, indeed, with Your Excellency’s permission, to go a step further than this and urge that the position accorded to the Musalman community in any kind of representation, direct or indirect, and in all other ways affecting their status and influence, should be commensurate not merely with their numerical strength but also with their political importance; and that, in estimating the latter, due weight should be given to the position which they occupied in India a little more that a hundred years ago, and of which the traditions have naturally not faded from their minds. 6. The Musalmans of India have hitherto placed implicit reliance on the sense of justice and love of fair dealing that has always characterised their rulers and have in consequence abstained from pressing their claims by methods that might prove at all embarrassing; but earnestly as we desire that the Musalmans of India should not in the future depart from that excellent and time-honoured tradition, recent events have stirred up feelings, especially among the younger generation of Mohammedans, which might, in certain circumstances and under certain contin gencies, easily pass beyond the control of temperate counsel and sober guidance. 7. We, therefore, pray that the representation we herewith venture to submit, after a careful consideration of the views and wishes of a large number of our co-religionists in all parts of India, may be favoured with Your Excellency’s earnest attention. 8. We hope Your Excellency will pardon our stating at the outset that representative institutions of the European type are, entirely opposed to the genius and traditions of Eastern Nations, and many of the most thoughtful members of our community look upon them as totally unsuitable to the social, religious, and political conditions obtaining in India. Since, however, our rulers have, in pursuance of their own immemorial instincts and tra ditions, found it expedient to give these institutions an increasingly important place in the Government of the country, we Mohammedans cannot any longer, in justice to our own national interests, hold aloof from participating in the conditions to which their policy has given rise. We must therefore acknow ledge with gratitude that such representation as the Musalmans of India have hitherto enjoyed has been due to a sense of justice and fairness on the part of Your Excellency and your illustrious predecessors in office, and the heads of Local Governments by whom the Mohammedan members of Legislative Chambers have with scarcely one exception been invariably nominated; but we venture to submit that the representation thus accorded to us has necessarily been inadequate to our requirements and has not always carried with it the approval of those whom the nominees were selected to represent. This state of things had, in existing circumstances, been unavoidable; for while, on the one hand, the number of nominations reserved to the Viceroy and Local Governments has necessarily been strictly limited, the selection, on the other hand, of really representative men has, in the absence of any reliable method of ascertaining the direction of popular choice, been far from easy. As for the results of selection, it is most unlikely that the name of any Mohammedan candidate will ever be submitted for the approval of Government by the electoral bodies as now constituted, unless he is prepared to forego the right of private judgment and undertake to vote with the majority in all matters of importance. We submit that a Mohammedan elected on these terms necessarily ceases to repre sent his own community and becomes a mere mandatory of the Hindu majority. Nor can we, in fairness, find fault with the desire of our Hindoo fellow-subjects to take full advantage of their strength and vote only for members of their own community, or for persons who, if not Hindoos, are pledged to vote for the interests of the Hindoo community. It is true that we have many and important interests in common with our Hindu fellow countrymen, and it will always be a matter of the utmost satisfac tion to us to see these interests safeguarded by the presence in our Legislative Chambers of able supporters of these interests, irrespective of their nationality. We Musalmans have,~ however, additional interests of our own which are not shared by other communities and these have hitherto suffered grievous loss from the fact that they have not been adequately represented. Even in the Provinces in which the Mohammedans constitute a distinct majority of the population, they have too often been treated as though they were inappreciably small political factors that might without unfairness be neglected. This has been the case, to some extent in the Punjab; but in a more marked degree in Sindh and in Eastern Bengal, where Mohammedan interests have suffered, owing partly to the backwardness of the community in education, for which they are not wholly to blame, but still more to their ignorance of the arts of self-assertion and political agitation. 9. Before formulating our views with regard to the electi~n of y representatives, we beg to observe that the political importance of a community to a considerable extent gains strength or suffers detriment according to the position that the members of that community occupy in the service of the State. If, as is unfortu nately the case with the Mohammedans, they are not adequately represented in this manner, they lose in the prestige and influ ence which are justly their due. Our first prayer, therefore, is that Your Excellency will be graciously pleased to issue strict orders that, both in the Gazetted and the Subordinate and Ministerial services of all Indian Provinces, a due proportion of Mohamme dans – to be locally determined – shall always find place. Orders of like import have, at times, been issued by Local Governments in some Provinces, but have never, unfortunately, been strictly enforced, on the ground that qualified Mohammedans were not forthcoming. This allegation, however true it may have been at one time, is no longer tenable now, and wherever the will to employ them is not wanting, the supply of qualified Mohamme dans, we are happy to be able to assure Your Excellency, is greater than any possible demand. 10. As Municipal and District Boards have to deal with important local interests, affecting to a great extent the health and comfort of the inhabitants, we shall, we hope, be pardoned if we solicit, for a moment, Your Excellency’s attention to the position of Musalmans thereon before passing on to higher con cerns. These institutions form, as it were, the initial rungs in the ladder of Self-Government, and it is here that the principle of representation is brought home intimately to the intelligence of the people. Yet the position of Musalmans on these Boards is not at present regulated by any guiding principle capable of general application, and practice varies in different localities.
The Aligarh Municipality for example, is divided into six wards, and each ward returns one Hindoo and one Mohammedan Com missioner, and the same principle, we understand, is adopted in some other Municipalities, but in many localities the Musalman tax-payers are not adequately represented. We would, therefore, respectfully suggest that local authority should, in every case, be required to declare the number of Hindoos and Mohammedans entitled to seats on Municipal and Local Boards, such proportion to be determined in accordance with the numerical strength, social status, and local influence of either community-in consul tation, if necessary, with their leading men. 11. We would also suggest that the Senates and Syndicates of Indian Universities might, so far as possible, be similarly dealt with; that there should, in other words, be an authoritative declar ation of the proportion in which Mohammedans are entitled to be represented in either body, whether by selection or nomi nation or both. 12. We now proceed to the consideration of our share in the Legislative Chambers of the country. Beginning with the Provincial Councils, we would suggest that, as in the case of Municipalities and Local Boards, the proportion of Moham medan representatives entitled to a seat should be determined and declared with due regard to the important considerations which we have ventured to point out in paragraph 5 of this Memorial; and that the Mohemmedan members of District Boards and Municipalities, and the Registered Graduates of U ni versities, should be formed into Electoral Colleges, and be authorised, in accordance with such rules of procedure as Your Excellency’s Government may be pleased to prescribe in that behalf, to return the number of members that may be declared to be eligible. 13. With regard to the Imperial Legislative Council, whereon the due representation of Mohammedan interests is a matter of the utmost importance, we would solicit:( 1) That in the cadre of the Council, at least, one member out of every four should always be a Mohammedan. (2) That, as far as possible, appointment by election should be given preference over nomination; and that in any case the majority of members should be appointed by election. (3) That for purposes of choosing Mohammedan representa tives, Mohammedan members of the Provincial Councils and Mohammedan Fellows of Universities should be invested with electoral powers to be exercised in accord ance with such procedure as may be prescribed oy Your Excellency’s Government in that behalf. 14. The methods of election we have ventured to suggest are necessarily tentative: they may even be found, in certain respects, defective; but they are the simplest and the least complicated of the two or three that have occurred to us in the very limited time at our command. But, provided the choice be left free and unhampered in the hands of respectable and educated Moham medans, we shall have no hesitation in accepting any other method that may be ·considered more practicable. ~1 .
I 15. We have reason to believe that the generality of Mohamme dans in all parts of India feel it a grievance that Mohammedfu Judges are not more frequently appointed on the High Courts and Chief Courts of Judicature. Since the creation of these Courts only three Mohammedan lawyers have held these honour able appointments, all three of whom have happily justified their elevation in a most signal manner. It is not, therefore, an extrava gant request on their behalf that, whenever possible, a Mohammedan judge should be given a seat on each of these Courts. Qualified lawyers, eligible for these posts, can always be found – if not in one Province, then in another, and seeing that a Bengalee Judge sits on the bench of the Punjab Chief Court, there should be no objection to a Mohammedan, provided he is qualified being transferred from one Province to another. 16. There has lately been some talk, we understand, of the possible appointment of one or more Indian members on the Executive Council of the Viceroy and the India Council in England. Should such appointments be contemplated, we beg that the claims of Mohammedans in that behalf may not be overlooked. More than one Mohammedan, we venture to say, will be found in the ranks of the Covenanted and Uncovenanted Services fit to serve with distinction in either of these august Chambers. We have at this moment, a retired Judge of the High Court of Calcutta, domiciled in England, who, by his ability as a lawyer, his standing as a scholar, and his reputation as an experi enced and versatile man of the world, cannot fail to be an ornament to the India Council: we mean Mr. Syed Amir Ali, in whom the Mohammedans of India repose the fullest confidence. 17. In conclusion, we beg to assure Your Excellency that in assisting the Musalman subjects of His Majesty at this crisis in the directions indicated in the present Memorial, Your Excellency will be·strengthening the foundations of their unswerving loyalty to the Throne and laying the foundations of the political regener ation and national prosperity, and Your Excellency’s name will be remembered with gratitude by their posterity for generations to come.
We have the honour to subscribe ourselves, Your Excellency’s Most obedient and humble servants, Source: Nawab Imad-ul-Mulk Bahadur (Syed Hossain Bilgrami, c.s.I.), Speeches, Addresses and Poems, Government Central Press, Hyderabad Deccan, 1925, pp. 139-44.
The address was drafted by Bilgrami. I have included the address in the Aga Khan’s works because it was he who read it out and presented it to the Governor General and Viceroy of India, Lord Minto, on 1 October 1906 in Simla on behalf of the Muslims of India. The great and far-reaching impact of this memorial is brought out in the constitutional changes and political develop ments of the years 1906-9. It gave voice to and encouraged Muslim separatism in the country, procured for the Muslims separate electorates and led directly to the establishment of the All India Muslim League.
As the Viceroy’s reply to the memorial was the first British official recognition of a separate Muslim identity in India it is reproduced below: “Your Highness and gentlemen, -allow me, before I attempt to reply to the many considerations your address embodies, to welcome you heartily to Simla.
Your presence here today is very full of meaning. To the document with which you have presented me are attached the signatures of nobles, of Ministers of various States, of great landowners, of lawyers, of merchants, and of many other of His Majesty’s Mahomedan subjects. I welcome the representative character of your deputation as expressing the views and aspirations of the enlightened Muslim community of India. I feel that all you have said emanates from a representative body basing its opinions on a matured consideration of the existing political conditions of India, totally apart from the small personal or political sympathies and antipathies of scattered localities, and I am grateful to you for the opportunity you are affording me of expressing my appreciation of the just aims of the followers of Islam, and their determination to shan~ in the political history of our Empire. As your Viceroy I am proud of the recognition you express of the benefits conferred by British rule on the diverse races of many creeds which go to form the population of this huge continent. You yourselves, the descendants of a conquering and ruling race, have told me today of your gratitude for the personal freedom, the liberty of worship, the general peace and the hopeful future which British administration has secured for India. It is interesting to look back on early British efforts to assist the Mahomedan population to qualify themselves for the public service. In 1782 Warren Hastings founded the Calcutta Madrassah, with the intention of enabling its students ‘to compete on more equal terms with the Hindus for employment under Government’. In 1811 my ancestor Lord Minto advocated improvements in the Madrassah and the establishment of Mahomedan Colleges at other places throughout India. In later years the efforts of the Mahomedan Association led to the Government Resolution of 1885 dealing with the edu cational position of the Mahomedan community and their empl()yment in the Public Service, whilst Mahomedan educational effort has culminated in the College of Aligarh, that great institution which the noble and broad-minded devotion of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan – (applause) – has dedicated to his co religionists. It was in July, 1877, that Lord Lytton laid the foundation-stone of Aligarh, when Sir Syed Ahmed Khan addressed these memorable words to the Viceroy: ‘The personal honour which you have done me assures me of a great fact, and fills me with feelings of a much higher nature than mere personal gratitude. I am assured that you who upon this occasion represent the British rule have sympathy with our labours. To me this assurance is very valuable and a source of great happiness. At my time of life it is a comfort to me to feel that the undertaking which has been for many years and is now the sole object of my life, has roused on the one hand the energies of my own countrymen, and on the other has won the sympathy of our British fellow-subjects, a~d the support of our rulers, so that when the few years I may still be spared are over, and when I shall be no longer amongst you, the College will still prosper and succeed in educating my countrymen to have the same affection for their country, the same feelings of loyalty for the British rule, the same appreciation of its blessings, the same sincerity of friendship with our British fellow-subjects as have been the ruling feelings of my life. (applause)’. Aligarh has won its laurels, its students have gone forth to fight the battle of life strong in the tenets of their own religion, strong in the precepts of loyalty and patriotism, and now when there is much that is critical in the political future of India the inspiration of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and the teachings of Aligarh shine forth brilliantly in the pride of Mahomedan history, in the loyalty, commonsense, and sound reasoning so eloquently expressed in your address. “But gentlemen, you go on to tell me that sincere as your belief is in the justice and fair dealings of your rulers, and unwilling as you are to embarrass them at the present moment you can not but be aware that ‘recent events have stirred up feelings amongst the younger generation of Mahomedans which might pass beyond the control of the temperate counsel and sober guidance’.
Now I have no intention of entering into any discussion upon the affairs of Eastern Bengal and Assam, yet, I hope that without offence to any one I may thank the Mahomedan community of the new Province for the moderation and self-restraint they have shown under conditions which were new to them and as to which there had been inevitably much misunderstanding, and that I may, at the same time, sympathise with all that is sincere in Bengali sentiments. But above all what I would ask you to believe is that the course the Viceroy and the Government of India have pursued in connection with the affairs of the new Province- the future of which is now I hope assured- (applause)-has been dictated solely by a regard for what has appeared best for its present and future populations as a whole – irrespective of race or creed, and that the Mahomedan community of Eastern Bengal and Assam can rely as firmly as ever on British justice and fair play for the appreciation of its loyalty and the safeguarding of its interests. “You have addressed me, gentlemen, at a time when the political atmosphere is full of change. We all feel it would be foolish to attempt to deny its existence.
Hopes and ambitions new to India are making themselves felt; we can not ignore them, we should be wrong to wish to do so. But to what is all this unrest due? Not to the discontent of misgoverned millions- I defy anyone honestly to assert that; not to any uprising of a disaffected people. It is due to that educational growth in which only a very small portion of the population has yet shared, of which British rule first sowed the seed, and the fruits of which British rule is now doing its best to foster and to direct. There may be many taxes in the harvest we are now reaping, the Western grain which we have sown may not be entirely suitable to the requirements of the people of India, but the educational harvest will increase as years go on, and the healthiness of the nourishment it gives will depend on the careful administration and distribution of its product. You need not ask my pardon, gentlemen, for telling me that ‘representative institutions of the European type are entirely new to the people of India’ or that their introduction here requires the most earnest thought and care. I should be very farfrom welcoming all the political machinery of the Western world amongst the hereditary instincts and traditions of eastern races. Western breadth of thought, the teachings of Western civilization, the freedom of British individuality, can do much for the people of India. But I recognise with you that they must not carry with them an impracticable insist ence on the acceptance of political methods. (Applause). “And now, gentleman, I come to your own position in respect to the political future; the position of the Mahomedan Community for whom you speak. You will, I feel sure, recognise that it is impossible for me to follow you through any detailed consideration of the conditions and the share that community has a right to claim in the administration of public affairs. I can at present only deal with generalities. The points which you have raised are before the Com mittee which, as you know, I have lately appointed to consider the question of representation, and I will take care that your address is submitted to them. But at the same time I hope I may be able to reply to the general tenor of your remarks without in any way forestalling the Committee’s report. The pith of your address, as I understand it, is a claim that in any system of representation – whether it affects a Municipality, a District Board, or a Legislative Council in which it is proposed to introduce or increase an electoral organisation – the Mahomedan Community should be represented as a community. You point out that in many cases electoral bodies as now constituted can not be expected to return a Mahomedan candidate, and that if by chance they did so it could only be at the sacrifice of such a candidate’s views to those of a m~ority opposed to his own community whom he would in no way represent; and you justly claim that your position should be estimated not merely on your numerical strength but in respect to the political importance of your community, and the service it has rendered to the Empire. I am entirely in accord with you. (Applause).
Please do not misunderstand me, I make no attempt to indicate by what means the representation of communities can be obtained, but I am as firmly convinced as I believe you to be, that any electoral representation in India would be doomed to mischievous failure which aimed at granting a personal enfranchisement regardless of the beliefs and traditions of the communities composing the population of this continent. (Applause). The great mass of the people of India have no knowledge of representative institutions, I agree with you gentlemen, that the initial rungs in the ladder of self-government are to be found in the Municipal and District Boards, and that it is in that direction that we must look for the gradual political education of the people. In the meantime I can only say to you that the Mahomedan Community may rest assured that their political rights and interests as a community will be safe guarded in any administrative organisation with which I am concerned, and that you and the people of India may rely upon the British Raj to respect, as it has been its pride to do, the religious beliefs and the national traditions of the myriads composing the population of His M~esty’s Indian Empire. (Applause). ”Your Highness and gentlemen, I sincerely thank you for the unique oppor tunity your deputation has given me of meeting so many distinguished and representative Mahomedans. I deeply appreciate the energy and interest in public affairs which have brought you here from great distances, and I only regret that your visit to Simla is necessarily so short.” (Earl of Minto, Speeches by the Earl of Minto, Viceroy and Governor General of India, Calcutta, 1911).
The memorial was signed by the following persons: 1. His Highness Aga Sir Sult~n Muhammad Shah Aga Khan, G.C.I.E. (Bombay). 2. Shahzada Bakhtiar Shah, c.I.E., Head of the Mysore Family, Calcutta (Bengal). 3. Honourable Malik Umar Hayat Khan, c.I.E., Lieut., 18th Prince ofWales’ Tiwana Lancers, Tiwana, Shahp ur (Punjab). 4. Honourable Khan Bahadur Mian Muhammad Shah Din, Barr.-at-Law, Lahore (Punjab). 5. Honourable Mawlawi Sharfuddin, Barr.-at-Law, Patna (Bihar). 6. Khan Bahadur Sayyid Nawab Ali Chowdhury, Mymensingh (Eastern Bengal). 7. Nawab Bahadur Sayyid Amir Husain Khan, c.I.E., Calcutta (Bengal). 8. Naseer Husain Khan Khayal, Calcutta (Bengal). 9. Khan Bahadur Mirza Shujaat Ali Beg, Persian Consul-General, Murshidabad, Calcutta (Bengal). 10. Sayyid Ali Imam, Bar.-at-Law, Patna (Bihar). 11. Nawab Sarfraz Husain Khan, Patna (Bihar). 12. Khan Bahadur Ahmed Muhayyuddin Khan, Stipendiary of the Carnatic Family (Madras). 13. Mawlawi Rafi.uddin Ahmad, Barr.-at-Law (Bombay). 14. Ebrahimbhoy Adamji Peerbhoy, General Merchant (Bombay). 15. Abdur Rahim, Barr.-at-Law (Calcutta). 16. Sayyid Allahdad Shah, Special Magistrate and Vice-President, Zamindars’ Association, Khairpur (Sind). 17. Mawlana H. M. Malak, Head ofMehdi Bagh Bohras, Nagpur (C.P.). 18. Mushir-ud-Dawlah Mamtaz-ul-Mulk Khan Bahadur Khalifa Sayyid Muhammad Husain, Member of the State Council, Patiala (Punjab). 19. Khan Bahadur Col. Abdul Mcyid Khan, Foreign Minister, Patiala (Punjab). 20. Khan Bahadur Khwaja Yusuf Shah, Honorary Magistrate, Amritsar (Punjab). 21. Mian Muhammad Shafi, Barr.-at-Law, Lahore (Punjab). 22. Shaikh Ghulam Sadiq, Amritsar (Punjab). 23. Hakim Muhammad AJmal Khan, Delhi (Punjab). 24. Munshi Ihtisham Ali, Zamindar and Rais, Kakori (Oudh). 25. Sayyid Nabiullah, Barr.-at-Law, Rais, Kara, District Allahabad (U.P.) 26. Mawlawi Sayyid Karamat Husain, Barr.-at-Law, Allahabad (U .P.) 27. Sayyid Abdur Rauf, Barr.-at-Law, Allahabad (U.P.) 28. Munshi Abdus Salam Khan, Retired Sulrjudge, Rampur (U.P.) 29. Khan Bahadur Muhammad Muzammillullah Khan, Zamindar, Secretary, Zamindars’ Association (U.P.), and joint Secretary, MAO College Trustees, Aligarh (U.P.) 30. Haji Muhammad Ismail Khan, Zamindar, Aligarh (U.P.) 31. Sahibzada Aftab Ahmad Khan, Barr.-at-Law, Aligarh (U.P.) 32. Mawlawi Mushtaq Husain, Rais, Amroha (U.P.) 33. Mawlawi Habibur Rahman Khan, Zamindar, Bhikampur (U .P.) 34. Nawab Sayyid Sirdar Ali Khan, son of the late Nawab Sirdar Daler-ul-Mulk Bahadur, c.I.E., Hyderabad (Deccan). 35. Mawlawi Sayyid Mahdi Ali Khan (Muhsin-ul-Mulk), Honorary Secretary, MAO College, Aligarh (U.P.) On the Simla deputation and memorial see Mary, Countess of Minto, India:
Minto and Morley, 1905-1910, London, 1934; B. R. Ambedkar, Thoughts on Pakistan, Bombay, 1941; Sayyid Ameer Ali, “Dawn of a New Policy in India”, The Nineteenth Century and After, November 1906; H. A., Letter, The Englishman, 10 October 1906; “Muslims and their Claims”, The Englishman, 19 November 1906; “Simla Deputation”, Economist, 6 October 1906; “The Forces of Loyalty”, The Times, 26 September 1906; “The Muhammadan Memorial”, The Times, 1 October 1906; “The Muslim Deputation”, The Englishman, 2 October 1906· Abdullah Yusuf Ali, “The Indian Muhammadans: Their Past, Present and Future” ,journal of the Society of Arts, 4January 1907; “Muhammadan Address to Lord Minto”, Imperial and Asiatic Quarterly Review,January 1907; and E. E. Lang, “The All India Muslim League”, Contemporary Review, September 1907.