Asaf Ali, he clashed with Nehru over his “UN personality” and solutions
to the Palestine question.
Abdur Rahman and UNSCOP
The selection of Rahman for the important task of UNSCOP
representative is both interesting and intriguing. Once again, the Islamic
prism through which India viewed the problem of Palestine infl uenced
his candidacy. The Foreign Offi ce was more forthcoming and candid
than the po liti cal leadership. In its assessment, it was “necessary to fi nd,
at a very short notice, a suitable Indian Muslim with wide legal knowledge”
for the job.^38 Since the problem was primarily po liti cal, it is unclear why
it preferred someone with “legal knowledge.” The other criterion of a
“suitable Indian Muslim” was defi nitely aimed at the unfolding domestic
situation and the impending partition. Instead of seeking a suitable per-
son knowledgeable on the Middle East, it sought an “Indian Muslim.”
Was it because Muslims better understood and could articulate the Pal-
estinian problem? Was it because the problem was Islamic rather than
po liti cal? Or, by sending a Muslim to the UNSCOP on the eve of India’s
partition, was Nehru conveying a powerful message to the Muslim con-
stituency of the Congress Party? In the absence of additional rec ords, one
can only speculate.
The selection of Sir Abdur Rahman raised an additional problem. He
was a judge at the Punjab High Court. Though it was still part of India,
Lahore, where the High Court was located, had a Muslim majority and
was to eventually become part of Pakistan. India’s partition greatly infl u-
enced Rahman’s views and fi gured prominently in his interactions with
the Indian government, even leading to a mild confrontation with Nehru.
In line with the Indian position at the Special Session, Rahman de-
manded the participation of Palestinian Arabs in the UNSCOP delibera-
tions. He vehemently argued that the task would be unsatisfactor y “unless
the Arab case is explained to us by those who have studied the problem
and are vitally interested therein.” The Arab Higher Committee, whose
cooperation India sought at the Special Session, however, chose to boycott
the UNSCOP proceedings in Palestine. Rahman still did not give up and
suggested that the views of the neighboring Arab countries should be
heard before the UNSCOP fi nalized its recommendations. In a letter to
the committee chairman, Emil Sandstorm, he stated: “in all probability,
the partition of palestine 93