A Tale of Nationalism: Maulvi Abdus Samad and Anti-Separate Electorate League

By Saquib Salim, New Age Islam 9 February 2023 The Bengal Tenancy Amendment Bill Was Passed Into Law In The Teeth Of Muslim Opposition.” Maulvi Pointed Out That By Dividing Hindus And Muslims Along Communal Lines The British Made Sure That Their Say Became A Must In Passing Any Bill. ----- “As long as elections are sought on communal and religious issues and not on political and economic issues and candidates have to seek election by appealing to the religious and fanatical sentiments of the electorates, the establishment of good feelings and cordial relations between the two communities (Muslims and Hindus) is impossible to achieve.” Maulvi Abdus Samad told this to the press in February 1940 in the capacity of the President of the ‘Anti-Separate Electorate League’. Any book on the history of modern India is incomplete without the mention of separate electorates. The British did not introduce limited democracy in India without mixing their divide-and-rule policy with it. Separate Electorates were introduced. It meant that Muslims would vote only for a fixed number of Muslim candidates, Christians for Christians, and so on. The idea was welcomed by many communal parties, Muslim League being the largest of them. Several scholars and politicians have since argued that communal politics and the partition of India were direct outcomes of separate electorates. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Asaf Ali, Khwaja Abdul Hamied, and several prominent nationalist Muslim leaders opposed this colonial scheme, which had the backing of communal leaders of the Muslim League. Still, a large section of Indian society believes that separate electorates waas a popular demand of Muslims. It was not. Almost no history book mentions the very existence of an outfit called ‘The anti-Separate Electorate League’ formed in Bengal by Maulvi Abdus Samad, a nationalist leader from Murshidabad. Several other leaders like Moeenuddin Husein and Rezaul Karim also joined in. No prominent historian wrote about the Muslims who had opposed this divisive scheme. We can never be sure of their intentions but generations of Indians kept believing that Muslims demanded separate electorates and were more than happy after getting them. History books did not try to show the other side that a Muslim member of the Bengal Council moved a resolution against the scheme on 2 August 1932 with the considerable support of other Muslim members. The resolution demanding the implementation of joint electorates in place of separate electorates passed with 47 votes in favour against 32 in opposition. The resolution was moved by Maulvi Abdus Samad. While moving the resolution, he argued that it was the British Government and Bureaucracy which had brought its stooges as representatives of Muslims to forward the demand for a separate electorate. He asked, “they have not yet explained how the interests of the community can be best safeguarded by separate electorate…… We have been enjoying this privilege for a long time, but let us see how it has safeguarded our interests in the past. The Bengal Tenancy Amendment Bill was passed into law in the teeth of Muslim opposition.” Maulvi pointed out that by dividing Hindus and Muslims along communal lines the British made sure that their say became a must in passing any bill. Maulvi further lamented the fact that under this system elections were being contested on religious issues instead of economic and social development. He said, “since the inauguration of the reformed constitution the fatwas of the mullas are playing a very important part in politics and council elections”. This introduction of religion into politics, he believed, would create obstacles in the overall development of the Muslim community itself. Not many Muslims believed in a separate electorate. Maulvi argued, “separate electorate is highly detrimental to the interests of the Muslim community and other backward and minority communities and is anti-national and inconsistent with responsible form of government and as such the nationalist Muslims are not prepared to accept it, under any circumstance, even with a statutory majority. So, the electorate must be joint.” The motion put to the vote said, “This council recommends to the Government that it be pleased to inform the proper authorities concerned that in the opinion of this council, the system of the separate electorate in the future constitution of the country should be replaced by a system of the joint electorate”. The motion passed with 47 against 32, where Maulvi Abdus Samad was supported by several Muslims like Maulvi Hassan Ali, Maulvi Syed Majid Baksh, Maulvi Nural Absar Chaudhury, Maulvi Abdul Hakim, Qazi Emdadul Haque, Maulvi Azizur Rahman, Maulvi Abdul Hamid Shah, and others. Muslims like Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan voted against it, not for the reason that they were in support of a separate electorate but because they believed that the resolution should be passed for Universal Adult Franchise, which, in view of Abdus Samad, was not practical at that time. With all the opposition from Muslims, the British went ahead and kept the separate electorates. Maulvi Abdus Samad formed a party to oppose this. In 1934, at a public meeting, he said, “The Communal Award would usher in an era of fratricidal strife in the country. We opposed separate electorates because it would more seriously affect the interests of the Muslim community than those of the Hindu community. The continuance of the separate electorates would merely strengthen the hands of the bureaucracy.” Parful Chandra Ray, writing on the issue in 1935 wrote, “it would be a gross calumny on the awakened national consciousness of our Moslem brethren to assert that they stand aloof (and support communal politics) in this hour of upheaval.” He described Maulvi Abdus Samad as a “noble son of Bengal, who has consistently and persistently maintained his position” and upheld secularism. The time has erased the names of nationalist Muslims giving an impression that Muslim leadership was communal in the pre-independence era. Historians have glossed over people like Maulvi Abdus Samad and organizations like the ‘Anti-Separate Electorate League’. 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