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ALL MUSLIM PARTIES CONVENTION, LAHOREChaudhri Zafrullah Khan's speech in Karachi accelerated the pace of events, and the Ahrar clutched at a long-awaited opportunity which they exploited to the utmost. In the issue of the ‘Zamindar’ of 3rd July, an advertisement appeared that a contention of all religious jama’ats, which would be attended by ulama, khatibs, pirs, sajjada-nashins and leaders and workers of different political parties, would be held in the Barkat Ali Muhammadan Hall on 13th July, to chalk out a preliminary programme of action for the protection of the doctrine of khatm-i-nubuwwat. An invitation for the meeting, Ex. D. E. 138, was issued by Ghulam Ghaus Hazarvi over the signatures of :—
Though only one of the signatories to this invitation, namely, Maulvi Muhammad Ali Jullundri, described himself as Nazim-i-A’la, Majlis-i-Ahrar, it is clear from the evidence of Maulana Akhtar Ali Khan that the da’ee committee which decided to issue the invitation, had a preponderant majority of the Ahrar, and Ghulam Ghaus Hazarvi who issued the invitation, appears to be the same person who was an active member of the Ahrar party and had been previously warned for his activities by the Governor of the Punjab. Neither the Ahrar nor the Majlis-i-Amal in their written statements have given details of the manner in which the da’ee committee was formed or who decided the names of the invitees to this convention ; but it appears from the pamphlet ‘The Majlis-i-Ahrar, Pakistan’ compiled by Mr. Anwar Ali, D. I. G., C. I. D., on information derived from C. I. D. records, that invitations were issued to some sixty religious divines and that the convention was attended, among others, by Maulana Ehtisham-ul-Haq Thanvi, Maulana Abdul Haamid Badayuni and Sayyad Suleman Nadvi from Karachi. During the days that the convention was held, there was in force in Lahore an order under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, prohibiting public meetings but in the decisions taken by the conference of District Magistrates, presided over by the Chief Secretary, on 5th July, it was decided to let the Convention take place and not to interfere with its proceeding. At this Convention the three demands, namely, that the Ahmadis be declared to be a minority, that Chaudhri Zafrullah Khan be removed from tae office of Foreign Minister and that the Ahmadis be removed from key posts in the State, were adopted and a Council of Action (Majlis-i-Amal) was formed of the following to decide upon the future programme of action :—
The administrative position was considered by the authorities after the date of the Convention was announced but before it was actually held. Mr. Qurban Ali Khan in his note dated l4th July 1952, correctly read the motives of the Ahrar when he said :—
The Home Secretary thought that the Ahrar had succeeded to a very large extent in exploiting the sentiments of the people to avoid being isolated and thus finished for all times, but he felt that Government had succeeded in curbing them and that that was why they were making desperate efforts for seeking extraneous protection. He suggested that before any decisions were taken the Chief Minister should convene a meeting of I. G. P., D. I. G., C. I. D., and the Home Secretary, the Chief Secretary being away to Karachi on leave. Accordingly the subject was discussed at a meeting held on 16th July 1952 but there is no record of the decisions taken. After the Convention was over, the speeches made on that occasion were examined with a view to considering whether any action against any speaker should be taken or not. Mr. Wali Ullah Khan, S. P. (B.), C. I. D., Punjab, expressed the opinion on 21st July 1952 that five of the speeches were actionable but he remarked that Bahawal Haq Qasimi and Allama Ala-ud-Din Siddiqi who had committed an offence under section 21 (ii) of the Public Safety Act should not be prosecuted because any such step would furnish an opportunity for further mud slinging in Court. Abdul Ghafar Hazarvi, he thought, was not of any substance and, therefore, his speech was to be treated with the contempt that it deserved. About Maulvi Muhammad Ali Jullundri, who had called the Government be-iman, he said, that the remark made by him was a solitary one and could be ignored. In the case of Abdus Sattar Khan Niazi his opinion was that he could be left out with the hope that he would be pulled up on some subsequent occasion. The D. I. G., C. I. D., sent up the case to the Home Secretary drawing his special attention to the speech of Abdus Sattar Khan Niazi and the Home Secretary forwarded it to the Chief Minister who initialled it on 25th July 1952. |