Correspondence of M. Ziaud Din with M.A. Jinnah

Sub title : On Repression by the Congress Government in the North-West Frontier Province and the Muslim League's Response

Subject: North-West Frontier Province Politics | Congress-Muslim League Conflict | Repressive Legislation

Date of publication: 1939

Language: English

Page: 23 p.

Source: National Archives of Pakistan

Serial no: 27788

Keyword: M.A. Jinnah -- M. Ziaud Din -- NWFP Politics -- Congress Government | Dr. Khan Sahib -- Gonda's Bill -- Political Repression | Muslim League -- Civil Disobedience -- Pakistan Resolution -- Peshawar.

Abstract: This collection of letters from barrister M. Ziaud Din to M.A. Jinnah details the intense political struggle and state repression faced by the Muslim League in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) under the Congress government of Dr. Khan Sahib. The central issue is the passage of the "Gonda's Bill," a draconian law granting the government extraordinary powers to arrest and expel individuals without trial, which Ziaud Din argues is specifically targeted at crushing the Muslim League opposition. The correspondence includes a firsthand account of a lathi charge on League demonstrators ordered by the Premier himself, the arrest of League workers, and the suspension of legal procedures. Also included is a resolution drafted by Ziaud Din for the All-India Muslim League session, calling for Muslims to resist any Congress civil disobedience movement that is not preceded by a settlement with the League. Jinnah's reply urges organizational consolidation of Muslims under the League banner.

Description: This file provides a critical, ground-level perspective on the political turmoil in the NWFP, a key province in the Pakistan scheme. The letters from M. Ziaud Din serve as urgent dispatches from the front lines of the conflict between the Congress provincial government and the Muslim League. They vividly document the use of authoritarian legislation and police force to suppress political opposition, highlighting the high stakes of the struggle for influence in this strategically important region. The included resolution and Jinnah's response reveal the All-India Muslim League's strategic thinking in countering the Congress's moves and consolidating its own position. This collection is essential for understanding the intense and often violent provincial politics that underpinned the national movement for Pakistan and the challenges of organizing the League in a Congress-ruled province. SCANNED BY: NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF PAKISTAN.

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