Date: 14 July 1913
Location: London
Speaker: Aga Khan III
Source: Speeches of Aga Khan III – K K Aziz
Full Text
League London: 14 july 1913 Indian Muslim youth in England – leaders of the future – task before the London League – Muslim solidarity-relations between Turkey and Britain-British Empire the bulwark of Islam -Muslims in the Empire can mould British policy-domestic tasks before the Indian Muslims – education – uplift of the depressed classes meaning of self-government – political and other dimensions of self-government- the example of Japan- relations between dif ferent races of India – what Muslims can do – local committees to improve Hindu- Muslim relations – potential influence of sports.
The report presented today justly points out that the young Moslems who come here from India in a steadily-increasing stream will help to form the life of India of the near future. From the point of view of influencing and guiding these young men, the work of such an organisation as this is of very great import ance. I doubt whether public opinion here has any conception of the profound significance of the presence in London and in provincial educational centres of so many young men from India.
It may be asked what are 300 or 400 young Moslems in com parison with 70 millions of Indian Mussulmans, or 1,600 or 1, 700 Indians of various communities in comparison with ,the 315 millions of Hindustan. The answer is that they are like so many stones thrown into the middle of the placid pool or river each making concentric rings until the brink on either side is reached.
Twenty years ago not only the mass of the people but men of standing of what is termed “the old school” looked askance at new-fangled ideas brought by the “European-returned” young men. But now they listen with almost greedy eagerness to any message brought from the West, and are ready to accept in an uncritical spirit the views of their young countrymen who have sojourned here. The day when the educated classes could be spoken of as a “microscopic minority” has passed away; education is already diffused among the middle classes, and with the active encouragement and effort of Lord Hardinge’s Government is filtering down to the people at large. The young men sojourning here are the leaders and fathers of the future; though they are to be numbered only by hundreds they represent the hundreds of thousands of men of varying degrees of English education in India seeking to come more and more into touch with European thought and ideals; and, beyond these hundreds of thousands, the millions who are learning to read newspapers and to interest themselves in the world outside their villages. The ideas and messages our youths take back with them from Europe are eagerly listened to, and it is of the greatest importance to India and the Empire that they should here imbibe right ideas and learn the right way of interpreting them. This consideration cannot be lost sight of in estimating the work of the London League, as the report points out, and it is upon this ground that I use the opportunity your committee has kindly provided me to pass over more current details and address myself to problems which go to the very roots of our national life.
When I say that the work of guiding aright the future leaders of Indian Moslem thought is one of Imperial importance I do not confine that word to India alone. The recent Turkish war has demonstrated to the world the inherent solidarity of those who profess and call themselves Muslims. Wherever they may be, Mahomedans have a fellow-feeling and an interest in each other’s welfare is inadequately realised in Europe, where the strong religious sanctions of Islamic unity are not p_roperly understood.
In India in the last year or two the tribulations of Turkey and of Persia have absorbed the thought of the Moslem people to the practical exclusion of their own immediate affairs and those of India generally. The currents of feeling were very strong, and for a time our people were in danger of losing sight of certain fundamental considerations which they ordinarily hold with tenacity.
Whatever may have been the case in the past when affairs in Macedonia created irritation between England and Turkey, it is clear to thoughtful Indian Muslims that British and Turkish interests are closely identified. They feel that it is a matter of great moment to this country that Turkey should continue to hold sway as an independent power in Asia, and also that Persia should retain whatever remains of her integrity. Obviously the break-up of Ottoman dominion in Asia would expose the Western route to India to attack by other European Powers. Mutual good will and good understanding between England arid Turkey will afford the best possible safeguard against any partition of her Asiatic dominions. I have reason to believe that in view of all that has happened in recent years Turkey is not merely willing but anxious to come more fully within the orbit of British influence.
Whatever weight the Indian Moslems may possess in the Islamic world should be used for bringing Turkey and other Mahomedan countries into an attitude of genuine trust in Great Britain. They will thus be doing good service not only to the British Empire but also to their co-religionists in other countries; they will help to fulfil the destiny which has ordained that the welfare of England and of the Islamic world should be closely inter-related, and that if one is weakened the other is weakened also.
Though appearances may sometimes be unpropitious, the British Empire, as was lately observed by The Times, is and must be the bulwark of Islam. There are over 100,000,000 Muslims in the British Empire, a total compared with which .that of any other Power of Western Europe is small. Whatever is left of independent Mussalman States, in these circumstances they must either more or less gravitate under British influence or lose their position. Needless to say this aggregation of Moslems under the British Empire gives her a great moral asset in the beneficent and mighty part she plays in the world’s affairs. At the same time it imposes great responsibilities upon the Indian Muslims, since they have a high destiny to fulfil in their capacity as by far the largest and most important section of the Mahomedan subjects of the Crown. The more steadfast and strong their loyalty is ·to the British Empire, the more influential they will naturally be in promoting that harmony of interests of which I have spoken and also in the 1noulding of British policy.
But these international considerations, though vital, should not lead to any neglect in the duties dose at hand. In my judg ment the Indian Moslems should in domestic affairs largely concentrate their efforts upon two great aims. The first of these should be to alter the position of affairs under which they are justly described in the recent Government pronouncement on Moslem education as “educationally backward.” They cannot hope to play their part adequately and satisfactorily in the great developments of Indian life now in progress unless their edu”~.· ~ ,.~. :.·· .;! ‘ I cational equipment is equal to that of other communities. The second great aim should be to help in uplifting and reclaiming the depressed classes. The splendid example which has been set in this respect by Christian missions, and in more recent years by Hindu agencies, have not been responded to by our people.
The Mussalmans are doing absolutely nothing to contribute to this essential element in the building up of Indian nationhood.
It is high time that they set themselves to work both to elevate the depressed classes and to bring enlightenment and the advan tages of cultured civilization to the wild tribes of the jungle and the hills.
Having spoken of Indian nationhood, I may here refer to the adoption by the Committee of the Central League [All India Muslim League] last winter of the ideal of self-government under the British Crown. That ideal, whether on Colonial lines as has been suggested by so many of our compatriots, or in some form “suitable to India,” the conditions of which we do not at present conceive and therefore do not attempt to define, must commend itself to thoughtful opinion, if it means, as I take it to mean, an ideal involving many decades of effort towards self-improvement, towards social reform, towards educational diffusion, and toward complete amity between various communities. Given personal and national self-sacrifice for generations to come, some form of self-government worthy of the British Empire and worthy of the people of India will be evolved, and Indians will have won a proud place for their nation in the world under the British Throne. But if it means a mere hasty impulse to jump at the apple when only the blossoming stage is over, then the day that witnessed the formulations of the idea will be a very unfortunate one in our country’s annals. We have a long way to tr~vel before the distant goal can be reached, and the voice of wisdom calls us to proceed step by step. The fact that the Central Committee confined itself to favouring some system “suitable to India” shows that at present it is difficult even to define the plan which may be evolved as Indian life develops and expands. Such development, I need hardly say, must be social, material and moral as well as political if a goal worthy of the self-sacrifice involved and of India’s place in the Empire is to be reached. We have that extra ordinary example of the progress ofJ apan within living memory to show us that we cannot truly advance upon one side of our national life unless other sides are simultaneously developed.
And the motive force must be religious, because for nothing else will vast masses of the East toil on for generations along the path of self-denial.
An element in the new national self-consciousness must be the mutual goodwill and understanding of the diff~rent races of India. Unfortunately, as the Report observes, there are parts of the country where the relations of Hindus and Moslems are unsatisfactory. It is eminently desirable that in the provinces and districts where good-will and right feeling exist missionaries should go forth to the less fortunate parts of the country in the effort to bring about good understanding. The Mussalmans have a great opportunity if they will only realise how far they can go in evoking and strengthening Hindu goodwill by voluntarily abandoning the public slaughter of cows for sacrifice. The ques tion as you are aware, is largely an economic one, and much could be done to solve it by committees of Mussalmans and rich Hindus organizing subscriptions for the purchase of other animals to be sacrificed in substitution of kine. Good work could also be done by local committees for bringing Hindus and Mus salmans together in social intercourse. It is true that there are difficulties of caste in the way of taking food together; but no such obstacle stands in the way of games and sports. Years ago in Bombay, Lord Harris revealed to us how much can -be done on the cricket field to create good feeling between different races.
Play is instinctive in young life in India as elsewhere. I believe that with due organisation there can be spread among our youth everywhere the camaraderie of the playing ground, and that social knowledge and goodwill is to be attained in India largely along the lines of the physical culture of our young people – a culture eminently desirable also for the direct benefits it will confer upon coming generations.
Source: The Times of India, Bombay, 2 August 1913, which published a verbatim report of the speech. The Times of London carried a brief version. in its issue of 15 July.
This meeting was attended, by Sir H. H. Shephard, C. E. Buckland, M. A Jinnah, and Mirza Ali Muhammad Khan among others.
On the London Muslim League see the excellent treatment in M. Yusuf Abbasi, London Muslim League (1908-1928): An Historical Study, Islamabad, 1988. ~l’ I