the islamic prism 77
Prior to the adoption of this resolution, a number of delegates re-
sorted to mouthing familiar anti- Semitic ste reo types about Jews.^30 Com-
ing weeks after Kristallnacht, the “night of the broken glass,” one Mus-
lim League delegate claimed that “Britain’s atrocities against the Arabs
were greater than those of Germany against the Jews.” Another delegate,
who had earlier been knighted by the Crown, claimed that religious
scriptures had ruled out any home for the Jews and that “Britain would
overrule the will of God in providing a home for the Jews.” For another:
“both the British and the Hindus were Jews to Muslims, that is, their
enemies. In India, Mr. Gandhi was the leader of the Hindu Jews.” Calls
were made for a jihad in defense of Muslims in Palestine, and a delegate
named Abdul Khaliq remarked: “The real Jews of the West were the
British, and those of the East were the Hindus and both were the sons
of Shylock.”^31 However, this exceeded even the lenient limits of the Mus-
lim League, and, after an admonition from Jinnah, Khaliq withdrew his
remark.
The outbreak of World War II signifi cantly altered the po liti cal climate
in India. Torn between their commitment to fi ght Nazism and fascism in
Eu rope, the Congress Party leaders were unwilling to support allied war
eff orts until the fi ght for freedom included India’s in de pen dence. Unilat-
erally committing India to the war, the colonial administration incarcer-
ated the entire INC leadership and throttled its normal functions. The
Muslim League, by contrast, was able to conduct its po liti cal activities
and held fi ve annual sessions during the war. These sessions enabled the
Muslim League to articulate the Muslim position on Palestine and to re-
mind the British of its earlier promise to the Indian Muslims over the
spoils of the Ottoman Empire in return for Muslim support and assis-
tance during the war.^32
At its Delhi session in April 1943, the Muslim League expressed its
concern and alarm at “Zionist propaganda” and the resultant American
pressure on the British to convert Palestine into a Jewish state. Warning
the British to desist from harming Arab interests, it expressed sympathy
for the Arabs “at a time when the Arab National Higher Committee of
Palestine stands disbanded and the Arab nationalists are... almost de-
fenseless against or ga nized Jewry and High Finance in the world.”^33 In
December 1943, the Muslim League demanded an end to all British and
French mandates in the Middle East, including Palestine, and called for
the establishment of sovereign governments.^34 This was the last annual
session of the Muslim League before the subcontinent’s partition.
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