Now our Friend Mr. Saadulla from Assam claimed that he was not disclosing a secret when he said that they has met in December or in February to consider the question whether reservation were in the interests of a minority of not or whether they were in the interests of the Muslims or not. Now may I ask him: Did I suggest to him to consider the question? Why did they meet to consider the question, of there was not the imperceptible influence of the elimination of foreign rule in this land? How did they begin to think that reservations may or may not be better for them? Spontaneously the thought has been growing, it has been coming on the minds of people who previously were asking for the partition of the country. That is the first fruit of freedom. You have got a free mind to think now and therefore you begin to feel that what you have done in the past may perhaps not be right. And that fact was represented before the Minorities Committee. When Dr. Mookherjee moved his motion, it was Mr. Tajamul Husain from Bihar who stood up and moved an amendment that reservations must go. He was challenged in the Committee whether he had consulted the other members of the Muslim community, and he quoted chapter and verse from the representatives of the provinces whom he had consulted. Yet we did not want a snap vote. I said that I would advise the Advisory Committee to hold over the question and ask all members of the minority communities to consult their constituencies and find out what they really wanted. Nearly four months after that we met and unfortunately Mr. Saadulla was not present or he did not appear and so the opinions that he had gathered remained with him. He did not even communicate them to us. He said that there were only an attendance of four there of whom (I do not know whether he has consulted Maulana Azad or not) he says that Maulana Azad remained neutral. He claims to know Maulana Azad’s mind more then I can do. But I can tell him that Maulana Azad is not a cipher: he has a conscience. If he felt that it was against the interests of his community he would have immediately said so and protested. But he did not do so, because he knew and felt that what was being done was right. Therefore if Mr. Saadulla] interprets his silence as neutrality he is much mistaken, because Maulana Azad is a man who has stood up against the whole community all throughout his life and even in crises. He has not changed his clothes and I am sure if he has claimed or worked for partition and if he had ever believed that this is a country of two nations, after the Partition he would not have remained here: because he could not stay here if he believed that his nation was separate.
