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332 DR. BABASAHEB AMBEDKAR : WRITINGS AND SPEECHES
appeared as a witness before the North-West Frontier Committee appointed in that year by the Government of India under the chairmanship of Sir Dennis Bray, to report upon the administrative relationship between the Settled Districts of the N.-W.F. Province and the Tribal Area and upon the amalgamation of the Settled Districts with the Punjab. The importance of his evidence was not realized by any member of the Committee except Mr. N. M. Samarth who was the one member who drew pointed attention to it in his Minority Report. The following extracts from his report illuminate a dark corner in the history of the evolution of this new destiny.* Says Mr. Samarth :—
“There was not before the Committee another witness who could claim to speak with the authority of personal knowledge and experience of not only the North-West Frontier Province and Independent Territory but Baluchistan, Persia and Afghanistan, which this witness could justly lay claim to. It is noteworthy that he appeared before the Committee as a witness in his capacity as ‘President, Islamic Anjuman, Dera Ismail Khan’. This witness (Khan Saheb Sardar Muhammad Gul Khan) was asked by me: ‘Now suppose the Civil Government of the Frontier Province is so modelled as to be on the same basis as in Sind, then this Province will be part and parcel of the Punjab as Sind is of the Bombay Presidency. What have you to say to it ?’ He gave me, in the course of his reply, the following straight answer: ‘As far as Islam is concerned and the Mahommedan idea of the League of Nations goes, I am against it’. On this answer, I asked him some further questions to which he gave me frank, outspoken replies without mincing matters. I extract the pertinent portions below:—
‘Q.—The idea at the back of your Anjuman is the Pan-Islamic idea which is that Islam is a League of Nations and as such amalgamating this Province with the Punjab will be detrimental, will be prejudicial, to that idea. That is the dominant idea at the back of those who think with you ? Is it so ?
‘A.—It is so, but I have to add something. Their idea is that the Hindu-Muslim unity will never become a fact, it will never become a fait accompli, and they think that this Province should remain separate and a link between Islam and Britannic Commonwealth. In fact, when I am asked what my opinion is—I, as a member of the Anjuman, am expressing this opinion—we would very much rather see the separation of the Hindus and Muhammadans,
23 crores of Hindus to the south and 8 crores of Muslims to the north. Give the whole portion from Raskumari† to Agra to Hindus and from Agra to Peshawar to Muhammadans, I mean
*Report of the North-West Frontier Inquiry Committee, 1924, pp. 122-23.
† This is as in the original. It is probably a misprint for Kanya Kumari.