420 My Advice to Indian Moslems t 10 ^ 



aware of the danger, and was seeking to relax his solidarity with Rus- 

 sia's action in the East, and to get on less hostile terms with Berlin in 

 the West. These were the days when an attempt was being made to 

 settle the Bagdad railway quarrel with Germany. It failed through 

 this very cause, the objection of Russia to our recognizing any extension 

 of German rights in that direction as likely to prejudice extensions of 

 her own ' sphere of influence ' in Persia — this and, in our dealings 

 with the Porte, our insistence on remaining in Egypt. 



My Diary contains nothing more of importance during that year. I 

 continued to receive letters from India, telling me of Moslem gratitude 

 for my work in placing the true nature of Grey's anti-Islamic policy 

 before them, and assuring me of its success in counteracting the officially 

 inspired utterances of the Agha-Khan on the subject, and asking me 

 for advice as to the attitude they should assume, and this led me to 

 write a long letter to one of them, the concluding paragraphs of which, 

 as it had a wide circulation in the Mussulman community, I may print 

 here. My concluding words were as follows, dated 28th July, 1913: 



" The duty of the Mohammedan community of India, therefore, 

 ■under the circumstances, seems to me to be pretty clearly marked out. 

 As regards Persia, Afghanistan, and the still independent provinces of 

 the Ottoman Caliphate menaced by Christendom, a courageous public 

 attitude should be adopted, which should let our Government clearly 

 understand that Indian sympathy with these is so strong that it will not 

 permit any further participation by England in attacks made on them, 

 and that none such can be indulged in without the certainty of incurring 

 the dangerous resentment of every Moslem subject of the King. Let 

 there, when complicity in these attacks is suspected, be no hesitation in 

 denouncing it. Let there be no such milk-and-water appeals to the 

 Government's better feeling as allowed Sir Edward Grey two years ago 

 to treat the All India Moslem League with contempt when he made 

 himself the accomplice of France and Italy in their invasions of Mo- 

 rocco and Tripoli, but plain language of the most indignant kind, worthy 

 of the force of 80,000,000 Moslems behind it. and which it represents. 

 In this way only can their duty to their co-religionists outside India be 

 performed effectively. 



" Besides this, they have another duty to themselves within the bord- 

 ers of the Indian Empire, taking an active part in that of preparing 

 for the great changes which are most surely coming there, as throughout 

 all Asia. You know that from the very beginning of the Congress 

 movement in 1884, I urged on the Indian Moslems that they should 

 take part in it with the Hindoos, and I am therefore rejoiced to-day 

 to learn that it has at last been decided that the policy of abstention 

 recommended in opposition to my advice by the late Seyd Ahmed of 

 Aligarh, and so long followed, should cease. Much ground has been 



