Jinnah’s tryst with the Madras presidency

For thirty years Mohammed Ali Jinnah hadn’t visited Madras. He had a pretty sore relationship with the city and its theosophical society. 

Jinnah’s marriage with his young wife collapsed when she turned theosophical, conducted séances, consulted astrologers and as a last straw wanted to put her daughter in the society’s Madras school. It’s worth speculating that perhaps the over indulgence of Parsi born Ruttie in Hindu occultism turned secularist Jinnah into a hardened Islamic fundamentalist. 

In 1941, Muslim nationalism was raging in the north and in Nizam’s Hyderabad, but in Madras presidency, it was just a murmur. Ever ready to spread his wings, Jinnah readily agreed to preside over the Muslim league’s 28th session in the Madras people’s park in an enclosure named after him — Jinnahbad. Collecting the resources to run the meet proved tough, but enough was accumulated to ensure a grand show befitting the stature of the presiding personality. Travelling by Bombay Mail, Jinnah alighted in Arakonam and changed into a special train. But, to the organiser’s disappointment, Jinnah was falling sick.  

They decided that a public reception would be too telling on his well being and so he  alighted at Basin Bridge station. Having managed to climb the overbridge to a car waiting for him, he drove to the Harrington road Beverly Hills house, Not knowing the change of plans, huge crowds had gathered all the way from Central Railway station to Big Mosque Triplicane.  

The train entered Central Station to a loud welcome of slogans of “Jinnah zindabad and Moslem Leauge Zindabad” The Raja of Mahudabad took Jinnah’s place in the procession in a florally decked car. Most of the crowd mistook him for  Jinnah and cheered him till their throats were hoarse. The Raja must have been enthused at this one time opportunity to eminence and waved to the crowd. (The Mehmoodabad area of Karachi is named after him.  

The Raja’s estate had both Motilal Nehru and Jinnah as guardians when he was a minor.) The 1200 delegates congregated in Jinnahbad for hoisting the league flag were disappointed again as Jinnah was still sick and the Rajah was asked to hoist the flag. He even presided over the working committee meeting for Jinnah. 

On April 14, to the relief of the organisers, Jinnah was escorted through the side entrance at 3 pm. He salaamed to the crowd and was treated with loud cheers of ‘Allahu Akbar’ and ‘Jinnah zindabad. Though weak, he was cheerful and overwhelmed seeing the crowd. Surprisingly a lot of non-Muslim leaders had been invited to the dais. EV Ramaswamy, RK Shanmukham Chetty —Dewan of Cochin, Kumararaja Muthiah Chettiar and even the editor of Swadesamitran CR Srinivasan listened as Jinnah spoke extempore for two hours. In the address, Jinnah spoke in Urdu initially but switched to his comfort zone in English. 

He paid a tribute to Madras and acclaimed that the city knew so many languages. Comparing himself with it he said he knew neither Tamil nor Telugu and very bad Urdu. In his presidential address Jinnah said since the fall of the Mughal Empire, Muslim population in India had never been so well organized, so alive and so politically conscious. 

He also announced his determination to establish an independent Muslim state. In addition he threw a bomb shell and actually asked for trifurcation of the country. “Three percent of Brahmins by skilful manoeuvring and deceitful means of electioneering had secured a majority in Madras” he accused. 

Other than Pakistan, Jinnah demanded Dravidasthan as the third nation of India and assured non Brahmins the full support of the Muslims. The press and Congress had indignant responses. Some papers even called Jinnah as the greatest tragedy that India faced. Jinnah supporting Dravidasthan made the justice party leaders were very happy. 

Annamalai Chettiar gave a luncheon party for Jinnah and other important delegates at his Adayar Palace On advice of the doctor Jinnah cancelled his departure to Bangalore on April 20 and left two days later. 

However much to the disappointment of the Dravidian leaders he would not bear cudgels for them thereafter. Looking back on those days it was the closest the Dravidanadu ever came to being created.

—The writer is a historian and author