founded by Mohammed Ali Jinnah, reminded its readers that Asaf Ali’s
remark “should go a long way towards disillusioning those few people in
the Arab world who might have set some store by the professions of the
Hindu Congress about its support of the Arab cause.... Mr. Asaf Ali does
not represent Muslim India and is acting contrary to Muslim India’s
views.”^19 In other words, Asaf Ali’s invitation to the Jewish Agency to
testify before the committee became an anti- Muslim act, even though the
Indian envoy had earlier made similar suggestions regarding the Arab
Higher Committee!
The Zionists were equally upset over Asaf Ali’s overtly pro- Arab stand.
Eliahu Epstein, the head of the Jewish Agency offi ce in Washington, of-
fered a scathing assessment.^20 Writing in January 1948, after the UN ap-
proval of the partition plan, he commented:
The [Indian] Ambassador here [in Washington], Mr. Asaf Ali, was the
worst opponent we had at the Special Session of the United Nations
General Assembly in April last year. Besides that, while the Arabs fi ght
us openly, he has been engaged in intrigues and double crosses, and has
confused many of our people by his hypocrisy and machinations.
Although he was not a member of the Indian delegation at the last
session, there is no reason to believe that he has made an about face
or that his character has improved.^21Likewise, Taraknath Das, a U.S.- based academic and active champion of
the Zionist cause, felt that Asaf Ali “was so pro- Arab that he earned the
title, Indian Attorney for the Arab League.”^22
Normally, one could dismiss these observations as partisan, moti-
vated, and even prejudiced. Unfortunately for Asaf Ali, even Nehru was
unhappy with his per for mance. During the session, Nehru was disap-
pointed at Ali’s hostile responses when Britain expressed its hesitation to
honor any UN recommendation that went against its imperial interests.
Ali’s stance violated Nehru’s April instructions to avoid controversy. The
envoy’s rebuke of the empire came when Nehru was pursuing delicate
negotiations with London over the transfer of power. Nehru was quick
and candid: “I do not have [a] full report of what you [Asaf Ali] said but I
would suggest your avoiding raising issues which might aff ect relations
between India and any other country. As we have informed you in our
brief, we support [the] Arab cause. Nevertheless we should avoid as far as
possible needless controversy.”^23
90 the partition of palestine