Nehru and the Language Politics of India by Robert D. King

Nehru, however, viewed the “communal question as a conservative reaction to progressive forces”. Jinnah asserted that “there is no progress for India until the Musalmans and Hindus are united,” earning the title of the “best ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity” (bestowed by none other than Sarojini Naidu) for himself. Nehru also referred to Jinnah as a “distinguished leader”. Jinnah, the president of the Muslim League, a party founded to voice the interests of Muslims on the national level in colonial India, praised Nehru for “his sincerity and genuineness of purpose”.

They often fundamentally disagreed with one another on how to tackle certain political problems of the day.īut, despite each being a spokesperson for a different political body, their interactions, while often heated, were marked nevertheless, by consistent civility. “When there is a conflict of opinion, a clarification of the opposing opinions is an essential preliminary to their consideration.” - Jawaharlal Nehru, in this letter to Muhammad Ali Jinnah (4th February, 1938)Ĭontinuing our series titled ‘Great Debates ’ (you can read previous debates we have carried in this series, between Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore here and here), we bring to you a heated, yet civil exchange from 1938, between Jawaharlal Nehru and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, on the Muslim representation and the ‘communal question’, as published by Tripurdaman Singh and Adeel Hussain in their book Nehru: The Debates that Defined India.īoth Jawaharlal Nehru and Muhammad Ali Jinnah were hailed as secularists, but when it came to politics their relationship ranged from the respectful to the bitter.

Nehru and the Language Politics of India by Robert D. King