M.A. Jinnah and the Bihar Relief Fund Administration: Final Phase Correspondence

Sub title : The Crescendo of Donations, Receipt Challenges, and Broader Humanitarian Efforts

Subject: Culmination of Bihar Relief Fund Operations | Systemic Issues with Receipt Acknowledgments

Date of publication: 1947

Language: English

Page: 68 p.

Source: National Archives of Pakistan

Serial no: 27994

Keyword: M.A. Jinnah -- Bihar Relief Fund 1947 -- Donor Receipt Crisis -- Habib Bank Announcement | Administrative Overload -- Cape Muslim League (South Africa) -- Assam Eviction Relief -- Bihari Student Aid | Muslim Youth League Bangalore -- Chittagong Relief Committee -- Humanitarian Logistics -- Muslim League Organizational Capacity.

Abstract: This collection represents the final, intense phase of managing the Bihar Relief Fund in early 1947. It is dominated by a critical mass of correspondence from donors across India and the world (including the Cape Muslim League of South Africa and a contributor in Rangoon) urgently seeking receipts for their contributions, highlighting a systemic administrative bottleneck. A formal "Announcement" from the Habib Bank (Page122) admits to being overwhelmed by the volume of donations, blaming staff shortages and postal issues, and publicly instructs donors on how to follow up. Beyond the fund's logistics, the collection broadens to show Jinnah's role in other humanitarian crises: a letter authorizes funds for victims of the "ruthless eviction policy" in Assam, and another details urgent efforts to secure financial aid for Bihari students affected by the riots, involving negotiations with the Governor of Bihar. These documents collectively portray the Muslim League's expanding humanitarian mandate and the significant organizational pressure it faced during the tumultuous pre-Partition months.

Description: This archival set captures the climax and the complex aftermath of the Bihar Relief Fund initiative. It vividly illustrates the operational strain caused by its own success, with the Habib Bank's public apology serving as a central piece of evidence. The persistent, nationwide queries for receipts—from a contractor in Nowshera, cloth merchants in Bangalore, and a league in Poona—testify to the importance of formal accountability in maintaining public trust. The inclusion of instructions for aiding Assam evictees and the detailed correspondence regarding Bihari students reveals how Jinnah and the League's relief apparatus was being leveraged for multiple, simultaneous crises. This collection is crucial for understanding the practical limits of political organizations turned humanitarian agencies and provides a ground-level view of the widespread empathy and financial mobilization within the Muslim community during a period of profound upheaval, just months before the creation of Pakistan. SCANNED BY: NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF PAKISTAN.

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