The following is included in the Jinnah Papers (edited by Z.H. Zaidi, Volume XIII, item #3) - a letter from a Sikh zamindar to M.A. Jinnah. I suppose it is not an April's Fool joke. This letter plays into the idea the economic interests of the Muslim landed class is what led them to support the Muslim League.
When the Congress started opposing the zamindars I wanted to join the League, but then the League was a religious and a Muslim body, [and] I being a Sikh as well as a zamindar had to give up the idea.
What a pity, if a person of your calibre had led a party entirely national and not just a religious-cum-national, you would certainly have blown the Congress to smithereens, and also, on the quiet, stolen some advantageous religious aims too [sic].
Please, Mr. Jinnah, why have you subordinated the broader aim to a narrower one. It is unfortunate, not only for the general public but does yourself injustice, in that it retards the natural growth of your stature.
KUCHESAR FORT,
VIA BABUGARH, U.P.,
1 April 1946
Dear Mr. Jinnah,When the Congress started opposing the zamindars I wanted to join the League, but then the League was a religious and a Muslim body, [and] I being a Sikh as well as a zamindar had to give up the idea.
What a pity, if a person of your calibre had led a party entirely national and not just a religious-cum-national, you would certainly have blown the Congress to smithereens, and also, on the quiet, stolen some advantageous religious aims too [sic].
Please, Mr. Jinnah, why have you subordinated the broader aim to a narrower one. It is unfortunate, not only for the general public but does yourself injustice, in that it retards the natural growth of your stature.
Yours faithfully,
KANWAR SARJIT SINGH
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