Explosive insights like the above and more aptly describe AG Noorani's opus that seeks to unravel the forgotten comradeship between Mohammed Ali Jinnah and Lokmanya Tilak and the subsequent events that led to Partition



The authors of our history books will need to do a rethink after reading AG Noorani's latest book, Jinnah and Tilak: Comrades in the Freedom Struggle. It's through this book, that Noorani reminds readers of the mutual respect and bond shared between two of undivided India's most passionate leaders.

About the book

Few are aware that Jinnah actually defended Tilak in his trial in 1916 on sedition charges and ultimately managed to secure his acquittal. Mumbai was Jinnah's home then. Even after Tilak's death in 1920, Jinnah worked closely with leaders of all denominations.





Mohammed Ali Jinnah and Lokmanya Tilak Illustrations/Satish Acharya

A distinguished lawyer by profession, Noorani strongly believes that it was much later, in 1937 over the controversy surrounding the United Provinces that Jinnah abandoned his hopes of working with the Congress to seek independence.In a freewheeling chat, Noorani attempts to dissect these two heavyweights and the post-Tilak years leading up to Partition.

Why did you decide to write this book?

During my research, I was surprised to find out that historians on both sides haven't mentioned about Tilak and Jinnah's friendship. I met freedom fighter and Home Rule League member Kanji Dwarkadas who worked with our national leaders and spoke about this. Jinnah and Tilak were members of the League. Did you know that the two would meet almost every evening in Jinnah's chambers?



I wanted to convey two points Jinnah was a mass politician; along with Tilak, he attended public meetings and made speeches at Shantaram Chawl, Mulji Jetha Market and China Bagh. Two Governors even wanted to deport him for his anti-government activities. Secondly, he wanted to bring Muslims closer to the freedom movement. Jinnah wasn't opposed to the partnership of Hindus and Muslims.



He was the undisputed king of Bombay, a leader of the Bar, held an important position within the Bombay Chronicle newspaper and was a Home Rule League leader. He defended Bhagat Singh in the Central Assembly. It was only in 1937 when the Congress sought to be the sole representative of the freedom movement that he lost his balance to coin the poisonous two-nation theory.

Who were the real Tilak and Jinnah?

Indians must come to terms with Jinnah. He used Pakistan as a bargaining centre with the Congress; Gandhi was an autocrat. This harmed the Muslims and Pakistan. That was the tragedy of a great man who ended as a great failure.



Tilak was a self-respecting, independent-thinking individual, a man without malice. Their friendship was one of the cornerstones of Hindu-Muslim unity in the pre-Partition era. Had Tilak lived longer, Gandhi wouldn't have gone far. Till today, Maharashtra respects Tilak much more than Gandhi.

What were your experiences while working on this historic opus?

Strangely, nobody opposed this book. It grew from an essay into a full-length work. India is blessed with economists, scientists but not world-class historians. They belong to the Nehruvian or the anti-Nehruvian (communal) School of Thought. My publishers with a presence in both countries played a defining role.



Special mention must be made to Ameena Saiyid (Managing Director, OUP, Pakistan) for her brave action in publishing. Kumar Ketkar was helpful for my research on Tilak. I completed the first draft in six-seven months. I don't use a personal computer and have no access to the Internet. I always write in long hand. A typist at Fort helped with my drafts.

How did Pakistan react to the book?

It received a favourable review in The Dawn. The book has been widely reported in the Pakistani press. The book was released on March 16 at Karachi's Mohatta Palace Grounds.

In today's volatile scenario will such a book heal or open fresh wounds?

This is a "nuance book" it's about history. People shouldn't be in a state of denial and face reality. Give Kashmir maximum autonomy so long as it remains within the Indian Union. I have tremendous faith in Manmohan Singh's statesman-like qualities. However, he is a technocrat, not a politician.



Excerpts the book

It was a progressive party he sought to build. Jinnah had long been patient with Gandhi's use of religious symbols in politics. Lala Lajpat Rai had criticized him even in the twenties.



'The introduction of religion in the Non-Cooperation Movement was in my judgement a great blunder'. To this was allied Gandhi's assertion to authority to dictate the Congress' politics according to the promptings of his 'inner voice'. The Congress leaders accepted that, most notably in 1942, without demur.



Jinnah went his own way rather than submit to Gandhi's dictatorship. Tilak assuredly would have done the same if he had lived longer. Jinnah attacked Gandhi publicly on both grounds dictatorial authority and injection of religion in politics both of which he loather, only after the breach in 1938.



Even Gandhi's unfortunate stand on the Nehru Report and his attitude at the Round Table Conference in London were criticized after the breach. The only explanation for this circumspection is that he wished to keep open the lines of communication with the Congress' mentor. Nehru's uneasiness with Gandhi's religiosity is well known. Gandhi himself told Richard G.



Casey, governor of Bengal, when they met on 6 December 1945 that 'Jinnah had told him that he [Gandhi] had ruined politics in India by dragging up [sic] a lot of unwholesome elements in Indian life and giving them political prominence that it was a crime to mix up politics and religion the way he had done.' This was a reference to the flotsam and jetsam that entered politics in the Khilafat days.



(Extracted from Jinnah and Tilak: Comrades in the Freedom Struggle, Chapter 2; pg 133)

OMG facts

Jinnah was a member of the Bombay Municipal Corporation from February 17, 1904 till his resignation in 1906.

Noorani admits that he should've titled the book Jinnah, Tilak and the Partition to reach out to a wider audience. The book's content took its own course after December 2009, when he decided to go back to the drawing board.