Date: 6 February 1914
Location: Rangoon
Speaker: Aga Khan III
Source: Speeches of Aga Khan III – K K Aziz
Full Text
Work for the “National College” at Aligarh – the generosity of Muslims of Burma-charter for the University- many universities needed – the Muslim League – its political programme – co-oper ation with Hindus and brotherly goodwill towards all communities – need for regular Hindu-Muslim committees – sufferings of Muslims in Tripoli, the Balkans and Persia – his resignation from the Presidency of the All India Muslim League – the London League – educational work needed in Burma.
Mr. President of the Reception Committee, ladies and gendemen, I thank you most sincerely and from the bottom of my heart for your very kind words of welcome and also for having so very kindly taken such very great trouble and at so much personal sacrifice of time given me such a splendid reception. The gen erous terms in which you refer to me personally have touched me gready and I assure you though I do not deserve the naturally generous terms of reference to me it will be a source of strength, pleasure and gratitude to feel that I have the affectionate sym pathy of beloved co-religionists in my work for the community.
You have very kindly referred to what I have done for the National College at Aligarh. Well, gendemen, long ago I realised that it was my first duty in life to help forward the modern education of my countrymen and co-religionists and I have never yet come across an educational institution for Moslems, whether it be large or small, which has not attracted me. But,calas, gendemen, I have not been able always to help. It was always a case of looking out for the institution that had the greatest claims on me personally, and thus I have often not been able to do a quarter of what I should like to have done. You have very kindly referred to my work with regard to the Moslem University. Gentlemen, long ago, in 1902, I suggested it at Delhi and adumbrated a scheme. Now, thank God, the funds are ready. I cannot tell you how we Moslems of India proper feel grateful to you our brethren ,o f Burma for the kind help and generous assistance you gave us for the univer sity. You have asked me to approach Government and get a charter suitable to the Moslem aspirations. Well, let me assure you that the attitude of the Government of our beloved Viceroy has been most sympathetic not only towards the Moslem but towards the sister university of the great elder sister community of Hindus. Our people must also realise that we should not at the first step expect a free university such as has been gradually evolved at Oxford and Cambridge. In our own interests I think it would be a good thing to accept a compromise on the Govern ment terms and gradually work towards greater freedom of the senate and of wider educational powers over other Moslem insti tutions. We must, however, remember that ultimately we want many Moslem universities. Our people in India number seventy millions already. We are increasing and such a population must have many universities if it is to reach the standard of Europe and America. Gentlemen, in my humble opinion, if our com munity met the Government terms in a spirit of good will it would in its interest, be acting most wisely. Now I must thank you for so very kindly referring to and supporting my work for the League. I was the author of the League, for in the spring of 1906 at Aligarh I sketched its plans for my friend the late Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk. I am glad to say that the institution has more than justified its existence. We have adopted a wise political programme, the essence of which can be described: first, uncon ditional and absolute loyalty, devotion and love towards our King Emperor and his Majesty’s Government of India; secondly, good will and co-operation towards our compatriots of all religions, from the great elder sister community of Hindus down to the smallest of races and religions in India; thirdly, the maintenance of our national existence as a separate Moslem nation within the greater Indian nation which is itself but one part in the greatest whole, namely, the British Empire. You refer to the new ideal of the League. Such a loyal and patriotic ideal, true to Emperor and true to fatherland, true to ourselves, was necessary. It is the flag of Islam in India, but let us realise at once that it is a distant ideal that cannot be realised till after generations of effort, and that till then looking up only at the flag in the skies will not carry us forward; it will only retard our progress. We must go on at the ‘.f lY I~,.~, i ! plough, work at the solution of the immediate problems before us and help the Government. ..
May we not work hand in hand with the other communities towards a better condition of affairs rather than merely saying “wah, wah,” and looking in the skies at our flag? Gentlemen, co-operation with Hindus and brotherly good will towards all communities and all sects of Hinduism is a necessary part of our work if we are to get at salvation. I am glad to see that the relations of the two great communities are better than ever now; but, gentlemen, here too it will not do to rest; we must go ahead, we must have regular committees in every town and hamlet in India of Hindus and Mahomedans to adjust every difficulty as it arises and to nip in the bud every difference before it is born.
Gentlemen, I thank you for giving me an opportunity once more for publicly repeating what I have heard from all Moslems in every part of India, our loyalty as a community is unbounded.
Our natural and justifiable efforts to relieve the suffering of our religious brethren in Tripoli, the Balkans and Persia and to represent our feelings before the Government has been misrep resented. We must deny all such misrepresent~.tions and caricature of our attitude and prove by our acts that they are wrong. I only resigned the presidency of the central [All India Muslim] League, not because I was dissatisfied but I felt that the political education of the community required a free organis ation. I remain an active member as active as ever. I have become an honorary president of the London League and my dear friend, the Right Hon. Syed Amir Ali has, I am happy to say, again become its president so I hope the work, most important work in London, will be carried on as well as ever. Gentlemen, my heart is in your work here in this province. I have watched it from afar. I cannot tell you how grateful I was to see it announced that a generous Memon leader in Bombay had given eight lakhs towards a college in Bombay or Poona. Here we must work and at once towards this end. Gentlemen, let me assure you that I am, with all my experience of Moslems, not only in India but all over the world, at your service. During my ten days stay here I am ready to give you all the advice that you require. It is but for you to command my services during these qays. My friend, Mr.
Aziz Mirza, visited Burma twice. That example I feel must be followed. Our leaders must come here. I thank you once more most sincerely, and believe me that I am most grateful and touched by your generous kindness.
Source: The Rangoon, Gazette, Rangoon, 9 February 1914.
The Aga Khan arrived in Rangoon early on Friday (6 February) morning, along with his personal staff and Mr. Allibhoy Muhammad (who had gone to Calcutta to meet His Highness), on board the Arankola. He was received at the port by a Reception Committee consisting of Abdul Karim Jamal (President), Mulla Abdur Rahim (Vice-President), Muhammad Azam (Honorary Secretary), Muhammad Ibrahim Mulla, Haji Ahmad Mulla Daud, V. M. Abdur Rahman, Agha Mahmud, Muhammad Kalameah, Abdul Bari Chowdhury, Ko Ba Oh, A.
K Imamjan, Jivabhoy Bhanji, Ismail Ibrahim Atia and Ismail Ahmad Muham madi, and the officials, including the Commissioner of Police, Captain Hutcheson, the aid-de-camp to the Lieutenant Governor of Burma, and a number of Muslim elders. Then he was taken by the launch Industry to the Lewis Street jetty where a reception was held in his honour, attended by a large gathering representing all the communities of the city. The dais was located at the north end of the pandal, where the Aga Khan was seated, with Abdul Karim Jamal sitting on one side of him and Captain Hutcheson on the other.
The proceedings began with a short speech by Abdul Karim Jamal which ran: “Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the reception committee I thank you most heartily for the trouble you have taken to come here this morning and join us in welcoming our distinguished guest. It is hardly necessary for me to say anything by way of introducing to you His Highness Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah; for although this province has not for a long time been honoured with a visit from his Highness, his fame as an ardent worker for the regeneration of his community has long been established here and his name is as much a household word here as everywhere else. To honour such an illustrious nobleman is therefore to do honour to ourselves. With these few words I call upon Mr.
Mahomed Auzam to read the address of welcome.”
Then Muhammad Azam read out the following address of welcome: “To His Highness Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan, KC.I.E., G.C.I.E., G.C.S.I., LL.D .. etc, May it please your Highness:-We the undersigned, on behalf of the Musalmans of Rangoon, offer you a hearty welcome on this your second visit to this picturesque land of pagodas and palms. Your Highness is welcomed here not only as the head of one of the Moslem sects, but also as the recognised leader of the whole Moslem community in India, and also as one of the ’empire builders’ in the glorious annals of the British rule. (2) Since your Highness’s first visit to this country fourteen years ago the material progress of the Musal mans (all over India) has been marvellous. Your Highness has taken a most prominent part in the development and progress of our community. Ever since your Highness has taken the field, your Highness has been an important factor in the evolution of the Musalmans of India. Your Highness’s keen interest in Moslem education and your Highness’s generous help to push the educational movements forward are too well-known. Your Highness’s liberal annual grant to the great National College atAligarh and your Highness’s permanent scholar ships for further studies in Europe are positive proofs of your Highness’s keen interest in the amelioration of your co-religionists. Only three years ago your Highness revived the dead and forgotten cause of the Moslem University which is of vital importance to the interest of our community. At your Highness’s own expense and at considerable personal inconvenience and sacrifice your Highness travelled throughout the length and breadth of India and begged from door to door to collect the necessary funds for this noble object. Your Highness’s own liberal subscription, your Highness’s personal effort!; and the generous response of the people to your Highness’s call have now materialised our dreams. Through your noble efforts the Musalmans have nearly sur mounted the preliminary difficulties which were sure to hinder the progress of the movement in the beginning. The work would have been in an advanced state by this time had there not been some unpleasant differences of opinion· between the community and the Government on some basic principles in the constitution of the university. We are eager to see the differences settled, without losing the Moslem point of view, and the work re-started. Will it be too much to appeal to your Highness’s generous heart in the name of those whose welfare is nearest and dearest to your heart, to intervene once more and to request the Government to give a more sympathetic hearing to the wants of the com munity? We are confident that the liberality of your nature will not refuse a helping hand at this critical juncture. (3) Your Highness’s services in the field of politics are as glorious as in that of education. In the year 1906, at the right moment your Highness’s political foresight convinced your Highness that the Moslem policy of aloofness from the political arena, if continued, would have been detrimental to our national existence in India. Your Highness rose to the occasion and led the memorable deputation which waited upon His Excellency Lord Minto at Simla, and successfully convinced the Government of the political importance of our community and the desirability of equal treatment in accord ance with their political importance. Then again, with your Highness’s estimable co-operation, the late Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk laid the foundation of the All India Moslem League, to watch and to protect the political interest of our community. This was the dawn of organised Moslem political consciousness in the recent history of India. Your Highness’s subsequent efforts in the reform scheme have been very fruitful and gratifying to one and all. More than three years ago your Highness finding that Hindu-Moslem sentiment was becoming estranged and feeling that such a condition was detrimental to the well-being of the country and the Empire, took the initiative and formed a special depu tation at Nagpore in the year 1910 and went to Allahabad, where the annual sitting of the Indian National Congress was held that year, to meet representative Hindu gentlemen and to devise means to establish cordial relations between the sister communities. This wise and statesmanlike policy of your Highness will ever remain a landmark in the history of Indian nationalism. This effort has not been without a happy and glorious result. We see today that the atmosphere is clearer and the relation more cordial and hopeful than it was some years before. We fervently hope that this noble feeling will grow stronger and stronger every day till it becomes solid and permanent. Last year, at the right psychological moment in our recent history you agreed to the change of the League’s constitution which had grown old and effete. The new constitution with its new ideals quite suits the advanced state of our community and has inspired the people with a new spirit of hope and energy. Your Highness, the natural anxiety of Musalmans of India over the Islamic world abroad, the improved relations of the two great communities of India, and the political programme of the League have been mad~ capital of mischievous criticism in India and Great Britain, against our educated and rising young generation.
Every sort of calumny founded on imagination and entirely misconstrued stories, were published and directed against us to poison the mind of our benign Government and the British public at large. Your Highness realised the situation and foresaw the consequences which were not free from danger. Your Highness took the earliest opportunity to contradict and disprove the false charges levelled against us. Your Highness’s recent article in the Edinburgh Review has proved the hollowness of all these ill-founded and mischievous calumnies, which is a memorable service rendered to the community as well as to the Empire which shall for ever remain vivid and fresh in the minds of generations. Your Highness, we were disappointed to learn that the Moslem League will no longer enjoy the honour and privilege of your Highness’s presidentship, but there is great consolation in your assurance to the community that you as one of the members of the League, would continue to take active part with greater freedom than it was possible in the judicial character that attaches to the president. Your beneficent work, your noble example and your name will ever remain in the history of the national politics a source of inspir ation for the future generation. Your noble words and wise pronouncements on political questions will be a beacon light to guide the path of Musalmans for many years to come. Your brilliant career and services as the member of the Imperial Legislative Council have been followed up with keen interest by Musalmans and have been no less appreciated and fruitful to the country. Your liberal donations to the Turkish Relief Fund and other causes have also been additional and parallel examples of your generosity and philanthropic nature, which hardly permit you to overlook a deserving cause without extending an ever-ready and voluntary helping hand. ( 4) Your Highness, a concise statement of the condition of Musalmans in this province will not be without interest to you. This is the youngest province in the Indian Empire. The population of Musulmans is second in numerical strength in this province. It is painful to observe that up to this time no organised effort has been made to raise the masses from the deep depth of ignorance in this province. In the whole province with such a vast Moslem population we have only one Islamia High School, the Mahomedan Randheria School in Rangoon. There are a few middle schools and numerous primary schools. All these schools are maintained by the generosity of private persons and the local aids of the Government. Collegiate education is practically unknown among the Musalmans. Only few Moslem students are at present in the Government College, Rangoon. This deplorable state of Moslem education is due partly to the lack of the united effort of the community and partly to the under-rated value of education. It is, however, satisfactory to note that the recent resolution of the Government of India on Moslem education and the earnest efforts of the Local Government to give the resolution a practical shape have awakened our people to realise their true educational position in this province. On the request of the director of public instruction of Burma the Moslem community has lately submitted a scheme how to encourage and improve the Moslem education in this province on the basis of the said resolution of the Government of India. The Musalmans of this province earnestly hope that their scheme will receive a fair and just treatment at the hands of the authorities of Education Department. The community is now trying to form an organised body for the purpose of watching the educational interest of the Musalmans in this province in future. The whole effort of the community will be directed to raise the present schools up to the standard of high schools and to establish good boarding houses for the students who come for higher standards from the districts. In this province as well as India the lack of funds has been one of the greatest causes in the way of our educational progress. But we earnestly hope that the active sympathy of our rich men and the Local Government will cope with the situation. (5) We are constrained to remark that up to this time this province has been neglected by our Indian leaders; very seldom have they given a thought to the welfare of their co religionists inhabiting this part of the country. Occasional exchange of views between the Musalman leaders of India and the leaders of this part of the country together with mutual support would go a great way to inspire and up lift the Musalman population of this province. We hope that your Highness’s visit will open a new chapter in our history and will inspire us with new hopes and ambitions. (6) In conclusion your Highness will allow us once more to offer you our hearty welcome on your visit; and we fervently pray that Lord Almighty may grant you long life, health and prosperity so that you may serve your nation, your country and your King with greater energy than you have done before. “We have the honour to be, Your Highness’s most humble servants: (1) A.
K. Jamal, (2) Mulla Abdur Rahim, (3) Mohamed Ebrahim Mulla, ( 4) Haji Ahmed Mulla Dawood, (5) V. M. Abdur Rahman, (6) Aga Mahmood, (7) Mohmed Kalamyah. (8) Abdul Bari Chowdhury, (9) Ko Bo Oh, (10) A. K Imamjan, (11) Allibhoy Mohamed, (12) Jivabhoy Bahnji, (13) Ismail Ebrahim Atia, (14) Ismail Ahmed Mohamedi, (15) Mahomed Azam.”
At the conclusion of his address the Aga Khan was presented with a handsome silver casket by Mr. Jamal and then escorted to a motor car which was in waiting and with Mr. Jamal and friends was driven along Strand Road, to Phayre Street, to Merchant Street, to Messrs. Peer Mahomed’s premises which had been decorated with a banner of welcome swung across the street in front of the store. Here a short stop was made while Mr. Peer Mahomed garlanded the Aga Khan and several handsome bouquets were presented. The route then led along Merchant Street, to Mogul Street to the Khoja Mosque where a very handsome pandal had been erected and where another short stay was made.
At both these places bands of music were in attendance, while the band of the Royal Munster Fusiliers played at the reception pandal. On leaving the Khoja Mosque the route lay along Montgomery Street and over the railway bridge, Signal Pagoda Road, King Edward Avenue and along Cemetery Road to Pagoda hill. All the streets were handsomely decorated. It was then decided to visit Mr.
Solomon’s house in Halpin Road where His Highness was served with tea. Two mounted Indian police of the Rangoon Town police led the way followed by numerous members of the Khoja community on bicycles carrying Union Jacks.
The motor car of the Aga Khan was followed by about twenty others and many private horsed conveyances. Mter tea the party proceeded to ‘Brightlands’ in Park Road where the Aga Khan will stay during his visit to Rangoon and where the band of the Burma Railways Volunteers was in attendance. He visited the Lieutenant-Governor at Government House about midday and it is understood that Sir Harvey Adamson will return the visit this morning at eleven o’clock.
The Lieutenant-Governor has also accepted the Aga Khan’s invitation to a garden party to be given by him at ‘Brightlands’ on Monday, February 17 as he has accepted an invitation from the chairman of the Port Commissioners to be present at the inauguration of the river training works.
On Burma see “Government of Burma”, British Burma Gazetteer, Rangoon, 1880, 2 vols; J. Chailley-Bert La colonisation de l1ndo-Chine: [‘experience Anglaise, Paris, 1892; Charles Crosthwaite, The Pacification of Burma, London, 1912; A.
Fytche, Burma: Past and Present, London, 18783j2 vols; J. Nisbet, Burma under British Rule and Before, London, 1901, 2 vols; and H. H. Dodwell (ed.), The Cambridge History of India, Vol. VI· The Indian Empire, 1858-1918, Cambridge, 1932.