‘In 1929, Jinnah had strongly defended Bhagat Singh’

CHANDIGARH:The founder of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah may be getting heaps of criticism from the right-wing groups protesting against his portrait at the Aligarh Muslim University, but he had vehemently defended Bhagat Singh from the criticism of the British colonialists.
He had opposed the British government’s move to condemn the freedom fighter unheard during the trial in the Central Legislative Assembly bombing case.

Details on how Jinnah defended Bhagat Singh and other revolutionaries in the Central Assembly meeting on September 12, 1929 have been revealed in a Central government publication, “Bhagat Singh — The Eternal Rebel,” written by Malwinder Jit Singh Waraich.

Bhagat Singh was at the time in jail for his role in the assembly bombing case. He had gone on a hunger strike in jail along with other revolutionaries to demand better treatment for imprisoned Indians.

The book, published by Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, in 2007 reveals that as Bhagat Singh had been unable to attend the trial, the matter was discussed in the Central Assembly meeting in Shimla, in which home member (minister) moved an amendment to the Code of Criminal Procedure to dispense with the presence of the accused during trial.

Jinnah, who represented Bombay city in the assembly at the time, strongly opposed the colonial government’s move. “The man who goes on a hunger strike has a soul and he believes in the justice of his case,” he is quoted as saying in Chapter 11, “Arrests and Hunger Strike,” of the book.

“Sir, can you imagine a more horrible form of torture than a hunger strike? If, rightly or wrongly, these men are inflicting this punishment on themselves, and thereby you are unconvinced, is that any reason why you should ask us to abandon one of the cardinal principles of criminal jurisprudence?” Jinnah had said.

‘It’s not everybody who can go starving to death’

Jinnah had asked, "If these young men pursue this course, and I am sorry to hear that one of them died, what will happen?"

“Well, you know perfectly well that these men are determined to die? It is not a joke. I ask the hon’ble law member (minister) to realise that it is not everybody who can go on starving himself to death. Try it for a little while and you will see… The man who goes on a hunger strike has a soul. He is moved by the soul and he believes in the justice of his cause, he is not an ordinary criminal who is guilty of coldblooded sordid wretched crime,” Jinnah, a well-known lawyer, added.

quest that, rightly or wrongly, youth today in India is stirred up, and you cannot, when you have 300-odd millions of people, who cannot prevent such crimes being committed, however, much you may deplore them and however much you may say they are misguided. It is this system, this damnable system of government which is resented by people. You may be cold-blooded logician. I am a patient cool-headed man and can calmly go on making speeches here, persuading and influencing the treasury Stating that he does not approve the action of Bhagat Singh, Jinnah had said, “I rebench. But remember there are thousands of young men outside. This is not the only country where these actions are resorted to. It has happened in other countries, not youth, but grey bearded men had committed serious offences, moved by patriotic impulses.”

Sources confirmed to TOI that some historians have written to the Centre as well as the AMU authorities about Jinnah’s role in defending Bhagat Singh.

When contacted, the Chandigarh based author of the book on Bhagat Singh, historian Malwinder Jit Singh Waraich, refused to comment on the Jinnah controversy, but said that the job of the historians is to “bring the facts out.”