Pakistan movement: Freedom struggle: Sir Adamjee in service of Muslim India
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Sir Adamjee in service of Muslim India
By Sabihuddin Ghausi
“Colonial oppression coupled with survivals of feudalism had adverse effects on the formation of capitalist relations in India. One of these effects was the uneven development of the various religious communities and castes of Indian bourgeoisie’’ wrote Professor Yu.V. Gankovsky, the celebrated Soviet scholar more than 30 years ago in his book A History of Pakistan 1947-58.
Professor Gankovsky’s name is familiar for all those students who study history of sub continent in perspective of principles set by political science and economic currents rather than from a communal angle.
His two books A History of Pakistan and Peoples of Pakistan are highly controversial and generated a heated debate in the decade of seventies but remain relevant this day when the government, for the first time in last 60 years, has decided to purge religious loaded material from Pakistan studies curriculum. Obviously, the focus is now on the economic, social and political factors that shaped the events in the 19th and 20th century and Gankovsky’s observation on the uneven development of various religious communities and castes in sub continent has a lot to do with partition in 1947 caries some weight.
Muslim businessmen role in the social reformation movements and political currents of the 19th and 20th century India can now be better understood with this change in outlook towards the past. It was social and economic emancipation and social uplift that motivated the Muslims of India to struggle for maximum autonomy within Indian Confederation as envisaged in the Cabinet Mission Plan.
But eventually, Pakistan became the ultimate destination in 1947 because of the short sightedness and arrogance of the secular leadership of Congres party. How and why it all happened and what role the Muslim businessmen played in this epic episode of about 150 years makes an interesting study.
In a pre dominantly feudal setting of 19th and 20th century India, the Muslims were either led by the religious scholars and ulemas or those Western educated persons who represented the aspirations and concerns of the emerging class of traders, contractors and professionals. Sir Aga Khan 111 led the delegation of 70 Muslim notables to a meeting with Lord Minto, the British Viceroy in 1906 at Simla to voice the sentiments of emerging Muslim middle class-still in the rudimentary stage then—of businessmen, traders, artisans and craftsmen, professionals and government servicemen.
The Aga Khan was elected first President of the All India Muslim League in 1906. He was the spiritual head of Ismailis sect but he was certainly not a religious leader by any stretch of imagination. The late Aga Khan was closely linked to Muslim businessmen—mostly Khojas as the Ismailis are identified—of Bombay, Calcutta, some other parts of India and with those who were doing business in Africa, South America and other British colonies.
The Aga Khan 11, father of Aga Khan 111 founded in 1881 the Muslim National Association of Bombay. After Aga Khann’s 11 death in 1885, the leadership of the Association was taken over by Badruddin Tayabji, a prominent lawyer a businessman of Bombay. The Association was a loose political organisation of small Muslim businessmen, contractors, professionals that sought close links with businessmen of other communities and also asked for favours, privileges and concessions from the British rulers.
Relatively prosperous Muslim businessmen, contractors and professionals were clustered mostly in Bombay and no wonder from where the political leadership came. According to a study in 1905 there were 59 Muslim tax payers out of a total of 259 with an annual income Rs 20,000 and more.
There were seven Muslim companies in 1915 that owned 11 mills. Currimbhoy, a well known Muslim business family launched the Muslim Mill Owners Association. Currimbhoy and his close business friend Rahimtoola were both active in All India Muslim League. Habibs and Dadas and many other prominent Muslim business groups based in Bombay funded Muslim League. They helped in setting up of educational institutions and later set up banks, insurance companies, shipping companies, airlines and contributed in bringing out newspapers and political journals.
Calcutta was the other city where a large number of Muslim businessmen clustered and provided support to Muslim League. Ispahani and Adamjees and many others were located in Calcutta. Later they migrated to Karachi or Dacca. After 1947, Ispahni was appointed Pakistan’s first ambassador to USA to established long lasting diplomatic relations. Abul Ispahni was a close associate of Quaid e Azam who contributed fund to Muslim League.
Memons were called ``Sailor businessmen of India’’ and had their business set up in many parts of India and other countries that included Burma, Ceylon, South Africa, Kenya, Zanjibar, Middle East. Jinnah fully exploited the international business exposure of Memons and their business acumen in furthering the cause of Muslims for economic emancipation.
Muslim businessmen in undivided India were said to be always obsessed with fear of persecution by the majority community. They felt protection under British rule and had strong business ties with British and other European and Far East Asian companies. Sir Dawood Adamjee, Haji Abdullah Haroon, Sir Sultan Chinoy, Jaffers, Abu Bakr, Tabanis, Karims and Dadas had relations with big European monopolies and business houses in Hong Kong, Japan, Europe. But then Sir Adamjee was a fierce Indian nationalist in the early days and took on a giant European monopoly match company. Top Indian leaders compared Adamjee to Tata, the Parsi industrialist who proposed an automobile plant with collaboration of American company Chevorlet in Bombay as early as 1917 and is already declared architect of modern India. For obvious reasons, the British government turned down Tata’s proposal to set up automobile plant in 1917 but allowed him later in decade of thirties to set up a steel mills in Jamshedpur.
Sir Adamjee Haji Dawood, the founder of Adamjee family is one such businessman, who for his business acumen, social awareness, political insight, nationalist outlook, compassion, commitment for the cause won plaudits from all sections of Indian society. Like Tata, Sir Adamjee was a visionary who sowed seeds of modern industrial culture in India as early as the beginning of 20th century.
His admirers include Vithalbhai Patel, the Congres leader and brother of Sardar Vallabhai Patel, the Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister in first cabinet of India after 1947 who introduced the revolutionary land reforms in his country.
In 1929, Vatalbhai Patel then Speaker of the Legislative Assembly addressed Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and said ``It is all right to talk about ending foreign exploitation by the boycott of foreign goods but more effective ways to save India from foreign exploitation is to create more Adamjees. If India had a dozen Adamjees, sawraj (self government) could be gained much more quickly’’.
He is same Adamjee who offered a blank bank cheque to Quaid-e-Azam in late 1947 when India held back Rs 55 million from Pakistan’s share of assets. As the story goes, there was a balance of Rs 4 billion in the Reserve Bank of India at the time of partition in 1947. Pakistan’s share was Rs 1 billion but it was agreed to give Rs 0.75 billion to Pakistan.
The first instalment of Rs 200 million was paid to Pakistan. Sardar Patel is said to have advised to stop the remission of remaining balance. Pakistan thus faced an acute liquidity crunch and was finding to meet national and domestic financial obligations. Leaders were just wondering how to pay monthly salaries to the government employees who were already impoverished after having gone through worst in communal riots after 1947 partition and had travelled from India to Pakistan in hardships.
The late Adamjee was then staying in the Palace Hotel (now demolished and taken over by Sheraton). Ghulam Mohammad, then Finance Minister in the first cabinet met Adamjee in the hotel and apprised him of government’s difficulties. Adamjees had interest in Muslim Commercial Bank which was still in Calcutta. Habib bank had however a branch in Karachi with head office in Bombay. Adamjee talked to Mohammad Ali Habib and asked him to loan out the amount needed by Pakistan government with his funds in MCB at Calcutta as collateral.
With this arrangement, Pakistan government managed its affairs in the early days of independence. How would one describe the transfer of ownership of same MCB to a group of Punjab based businessmen in 1991 and recently a hostile raid by the same business group on Adamjee Insurance.
Sir Adamjee died on January 27, 1948 days after State Bank of Pakistan was inaugurated. Quaid e Azam was most shocked and in his condolence message he recounted Adamjee’s services for the cause of Pakistan. ``His loss will be felt all the more now having achieved our goal we needed his services for building Pakistan’’ the Quaid said while lamenting that Adamjee’s death will leave a gap in Muslim’s commercial life which will be very difficult to fill. His death is really a national loss to Pakistan, the Quaid declared.
Who was Sir Adamjee Haji Dawood and what did he do to earn a place of respect and honour in Pakistan’s history which is replete with examples of loot and plunder by the politician-businessmen and the military rulers. Starting on a monthly salary of Rs 25 as an internee in a small business enterprise owned by one of his father’s friends at the age of 15, Adamjee was a name known all over India in next 25 years. At the age of 40 years in 1924 he established first industrial venture a match factory that brought him in direct confrontation with a giant Swedish monopoly Kreuger. Adamjee countered effectively the price war unleashed by the Swedish monopoly by tactfully cutting down on distribution channels.
The epic battle finally ended with suicide of Kreuger in his Paris flat in 1932. It was during this battle with Kreuger that Adamjee earned a tribute from Vatalbhai Patel in 1929 in Calcutta. Adamjee’s association with Mohmmad Ali Jinnah began in the year 1928 when he was President of All India Muslim League. The 1928-29 budget proposed a tax on Muslim Wakf (trusts).
The prosperous Memon businessmen who were contributing a good amount towards charitable charitable trusts were obviously not happy on this development. Jinnah, then President of League and member of the Legislative Council was asked to tak up Muslim case with the British budget makers.
It was said that the proposed tax on Muslim trusts is being levied after getting a clearance from Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Sir John Runciman was them member of the Finance Committee who was approached and convinced of the implications of tax. Sir John talked to the Viceroy and tax was finally dropped from the budget.
At time of independence there were a few ginning factories, a cement factory in Karachi, a textile mill, a biscuit factory at Sukkur and a few flour and rice husking mills. Valika set up the first woollen textile mill at SITE which then appeared to be located in far off desolate place near Karachi. Adamjees has jute business in East Bengal before 1947 and they set up the biggest jute mill near Dacca. Shipping companies were formed and within 25 years of independence Pakistan boasted one of the big fleet of merchant ships.
It was separation of East Pakistan and a humiliating military defeat in December 1971 that gave a setback to Pakistan’s business rather than nationalisation in 1972. There were more than two dozen business entities under Board of Industrial Management that overlooked nationalised business. There were about three dozen industrial project under implementation when private sector was shy to enter the business.
Businessmen have been part of successive governments for last 50 years in Pakistan. But their creativity appears to have been stunted and are not making much impact on the national economy. They are more involved in speculative business as is manifested by rising real estate business and frequent ups and down in stock exchange transactions. They are found wanting in real competitive business well reflected in widening trade imbalance.
The writer is a staffer
