A Forgotten Ambassador in Cairo, page 25
24
National Committee for India’s Freedom
(1943–45)
J.J. SINGH’S ACTIVITIES continued unabated in New York, drawing the ire of the local British officials who reported that, “…his activities, and with them those of the India League are daily becoming more obnoxious and more mischievous, and while we cannot afford to ignore him, it is difficult to know what we can do about him”.1 While the ILA was the preeminent Indian organisation, there were others such as the India Welfare League of America based at New York, the Gadar Party, the Muslim Association of America, and the Indian National Congress Association of America, the latter three on the West Coast, that continued to work for their niche membership in specific areas. Syud Hossain, though a member of the League and of its National Advisory Board since December 1942, was only an occasional speaker at some of the League’s events. His academic commitments at U.S.C. inhibited his more active participation in the League’s activities. However, by mid-1942, Indian activism on the West Coast received a fillip largely because of a few individuals till as yet unknown in Indian nationalist circles. Two of them stand out: G.J. Watumull and J.N. Sharma.
Gobindram J. Watumull (1891–1959) was a Sindhi businessman originally from Hyderabad, Sind, (now in Pakistan), who came to Honolulu in Hawaii in 1917 to look after the East India Store, a business set up by his older brother, Jhamandas. The brothers expanded the lone store into a chain of stores primarily selling apparel, and then diversified into other areas such as real estate, soon becoming one of the wealthiest businessmen in Hawaii. The younger Watumull (known as G.J. or Goma) married Ellen Jensen, an American teacher and journalist in 1921, and they had three children: Lila, David and Radha. Watumull and Ellen moved to Los Angeles from Hawaii either in late 1941 or early 1942, and lived in a house on Malcolm Avenue in up-market Westwood near the campus of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). In 1942, the couple set up the Watumull Foundation to help in the scholastic betterment of Indians by offering scholarships for study in universities in the United States, and sponsoring exchange programs. The foundation sponsored a series of lectures in 1946 by Dr S. Radhakrishnan (the future President of India) in fourteen American Universities. Despite Watumull’s long residence in the United States, he had been unable to become a naturalised American in view of the prevailing laws. Moreover, Ellen herself had lost her citizenship when she married Watumull due to the Cable Act of 1922. Watumull and Ellen therefore had a great interest in securing citizenship rights for American based Indians and were also passionate advocates for the cause of India’s independence.2
Dr Jagan Nath Sharma (J.N. Sharma) was a scientist and inventor, and a colleague of Syud Hossain at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Sharma had become wealthy by putting into production his inventions, one of them being the process to preserve fruits and vegetables. His invention of artificially colouring oranges without harming them enabled the growers in Florida to increase their annual production by $45 million.3 He later took out two patents for the process of making “slow melting ice”. As it was reported, “The addition of tiny amounts of fluorescein to water before freezing it resulted in an ice that was hard as a rock and very slow to melt. In a demonstration [Sharma] placed a block of ice in the sun for several hours. Only a small amount of water melted off. He pounded it with a hammer. Only fine chips flew. Sharma plans to use it for lining refrigerator cars.”4
Watumull, Sharma, Syud, and the other Indians in Los Angeles such as Bhagwan Singh Gyanee, Dalip Singh Saund and Abnashi Ram seem to have met periodically, perhaps in Ram’s apartment, and Watumull was seized with the idea of making a substantial contribution to the cause of India’s freedom, by “personally initiating a big venture”. Having read about J.J.’s exploits in the press, and influenced by discussions with Syud, Watumull wrote to J.J. in October 1942 asking for information on the activities of the ILA.5 In subsequent letters, Watumull pledged his support, as well as Sharma’s, to ILA’s cause, and in particular asked J.J. to push the cause of citizenship for Indians in the United States, writing to him that, “‘Citizenship may not help you or me but it is a question of life and death for the farmers of California’ and that he [Watumull] thought that the citizenship issue was more vital to the Indians in America than was independence for India.”6
Towards the end of 1942, the idea of forming an organisation to lobby for Indian rights based in Washington D.C. was gathering momentum amongst Watumull, Sharma and Syud, as it was felt that India was the only country that did not have an organisation or committee in the capital to represent its people. As Abnashi Ram wrote to Mumtaz Kitchlew in January 1943, “Los Angeles is once more the center of a theatre of action. Prince Moosa Rawjee, Pandit Sharma, Seth Watumull and our beloved mutual and time-honoured friend Syud Hossain met here and have started to move in a very timely and befitting action. The first three have decided to contribute money as generously as possible to utilize the priceless, and valuable knowledge and ability of Syud Ji to promote the cause of enlightening the able mind of broadminded and willing Americans and furthermore to take the right cause to the proper people in Washington. They all have decided to put the helm of power in the hands of Syud Hossain to represent India’s cause right into the heart of the world center (Washington). These people here are going to carry the load here, and Washington, New York, Chicago, etc. carry on their own work in their respective places. Chicago will be on your shoulders as well as all the people you find willing. It will be a national affair. And for the first time it is to be carried on in a very practical and logical way. No Komagata Maru and no Ghadar, just the right thing and in the right way. Nothing Un-American, nothing illegal, and nothing pertaining to the subversive.”7
Watumull and Sharma asked Syud to quit his position at USC and move to Washington D.C. Hossain seems to have been initially reluctant, but was eventually coaxed into doing so, perhaps by Abnashi Ram’s persuasive letter to him, “…Self-made merchants like Watumull who started with practically nothing, but with hard work and initiative can compete with anyone at the top in his territory. J.J. Singh, with no educational background, and no Oxford or Harvard degrees to help, could surpass any lobbyist or publicity man anywhere. I am not even mentioning your achievements in fighting for the motherland against the millions of dollars worth of propaganda from our Lords and Masters. But collectively we have been a miserable failure. The unpleasant history of it from the start of the Ghadar till today’s New York political discussions is so unhappy, so miserable, so disappointing…The material is here Dr. Hossain. We could not find any one in the world to lead us but you…Your sacrifice, your devotion, your courage, your untiring efforts, your genuine spirit is like a beacon of light to us. It will need some personal sacrifice on your behalf and on behalf of all of us. But personally I feel you are the man. You have everything that takes to make the grade. I hope and pray that with divine guidance along with your personal sincere untiring efforts you succeed.”8
British Intelligence, aware of Syud Hossain being persuaded by Watumull and Sharma’s reported that the suggested name for the new office in Washington D.C. is the “National Committee for Indian Independence”. It said, “The sponsors of this proposed step take credit for a ‘smart’ move in placing the office in charge of a Moslem, thereby demonstrating Hindu-Moslem solidarity behind the India Congress Party. Meanwhile at the present moment, Syud Hossain is on his lecture tour and from one report, when last heard of, was indulging in one of his periodic drinking bouts.”9
However, the differences between J.J. and the other senior members of the ILA that had begun a few months ago due to the “Americanisation” of the League became so pronounced now that Intelligence reports of 1943 and 1944 mention numerous instances of the extent of disagreement with J.J. The reports also reveal the vitriolic hatred of the British towards J.J., no doubt due to his phenomenal success in keeping the India issue alive in American political circles despite British attempts to suppress it. A few extracts from the reports:
Report of Major Shah, Spring 1943: “There seems to have arisen some differences of opinion between the members of the executive committee of the ILA due to assumption of almost dictatorial powers by J.J. Singh. Singh now dominates the League and has relegated his other colleagues to an inferior position which they do not like. Some of them think that the more intellectual talent like Syud Hossain, Shridharani and Gobind Behari Lal should be brought in to strengthen the organisation and make it a more representative body. It must be remembered that J.J. Singh is after all an uneducated man whose rise is due to sheer ‘guts’ and almost callous effrontery with which he asserts himself and brushes aside all opposition. He is a shrewd individual with a great sense of humour and remarkable common sense.”10
Report of August 1943: “Anup Singh and his mistress, Mrs. Wierum Boulter, continue to work on the production of the League bulletin, but remain antagonists of J.J. Singh, with whose lack of political sense they have no patience. Anup Singh regards himself as a liberal and very pro-labour, and he disapproves strongly of J.J. Singh’s connections with Claire Boothe Luce and her wealthy Republican Party friends…Anup Singh maintains that her active participation in pro-India meetings will do the cause more harm than good. In this view, Anup Singh is closely supported by his friend Haridas Muzumdar, who is also very antagonistic to J.J. Singh.”11
Report of October 1943: “J.J. Singh’s behaviour in respect of League funds is known to have been the cause of open friction with some of his colleagues. Thus in February 1943, N.R. Checker resigned from the League in open protest, declaring that he himself had contributed upto $2000 in a single year (when he had been President of the League) and that he could no longer tolerate J.J. Singh’s methods with the League finances. It was Singh’s prodigal expenditure to which Checker took exception. Anup Singh is also known to have been frequently in open disagreement with J.J. Singh over matters of League finance.”12
Report of September 1944: “Anup Singh and Jagjit Singh have always been at loggerheads. The two are, of course, very dissimilar in fibre and character. Anup is an intellectual and is generally credited with being sincere in his beliefs and staunch in his principles. J.J. Singh, on the other hand, is ambitious, unscrupulous, and commercially minded.”13
Having decided on their strategy, the Los Angeles activists, represented by Watumull and Sharma, travelled to New York to meet J.J. Singh and the members of the Steering Committee of the ILA, and proposed the setting up of a national committee for Indian independence in Washington composed exclusively of prominent Indians. J.J. however was not overly receptive to the idea, believing that a new organisation would only result in confusion in the minds of the Americans and weaken the cause. However, Watumull, who had already contributed substantially towards ILA’s funds and was of the view that he who pays the piper calls the tune, was insistent. In September 1943 he wrote to Hemendra Rakhit (Secretary of the ILA) giving a virtual ultimatum to the League and asking its Executive Committee to take a decision before the month end in cooperating with his group to sponsor the establishment of a National Committee in Washington which would be headed by Syud Hossain. He added that his group would bear all expenses of the Washington Committee, but if the ILA did not agree with his suggestion, “then we propose that the Washington Committee be set up independently, consisting of representative Indians from different centres of the U.S.A. and work in fraternal cooperation with the League. India is the one solitary exception which is not nationally represented in Washington D.C. and this tragic omission we are resolved, in cooperation with our compatriots and American friends, to rectify if possible.”14
Faced with such a blunt ultimatum, the ILA’s Executive Committee decided to cooperate with Watumull subject to certain specific conditions namely, that the Committee would be “part and parcel of the India League, functioning under its jurisdiction” and that Anup Singh should serve as a sort of an executive secretary of the Washington Committee. It was also agreed that the new venture should be launched in Washington on 25 October 1943. However, the first conflict between the two groups surfaced almost immediately. The ILA was of the view that the Washington meeting to launch the new committee should be under its auspices, with prominent speakers being invited to create the maximum impact. Watumull and Sharma argued that the meeting should be under the umbrella of the National Committee since their group was paying for it.15 Eventually, the National Committee for India’s Freedom (NCIF) was launched on 25 October at a rally sponsored by the NCIF and with Syud Hossain as its Chairman. Those present at the mass meeting held at the National Press Club Auditorium at Washington D.C. included J.J. Singh, Anup Singh, Dr Y.C. Wei of the United China Relief, and Upton Close, historian and radio commentator. In his speech, Syud Hossain “assailed the British policy of ruthless repression now being carried out in India and argued that the Indian people are not anti-British, but they have no use for the British tories and imperialists who want to perpetuate an outmoded system of colonialism of which they are the chief beneficiaries.”16
The next couple of months saw an unprecedented success for J.J. Singh in his lobbying efforts when he was able to persuade the United States Congress (through Representative Karl Mundt) to pass an amendment to the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) bill to bring India within the scope of UNRRA so that it could benefit from that organisation’s famine relief aid. While no aid reached India on account of this change, it certainly boosted J.J.’s reputation as a lobbyist par excellence. The continued success of the ILA worried British Intelligence to such an extent that it advised that, “…the only effective method of neutralising League activities would be by getting supporters of other Indian parties, preferably the India Muslim League, and the Hindu Mahasabha, to set up rival organisations over here and thereby confuse the issue.”17 Allaying somewhat the fears of the British, the escalating disputes between the ILA and the NCIF came to a head in December 1943, when the name of Syud Hossain was proposed for the Presidentship of the ILA in opposition to that of J.J. Singh. Singh was re-elected.18 This marked the beginning of the end of the formal association between the ILA and the Washington Committee.
Meanwhile, the Magnuson Act, also known as the Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act of 1943, (proposed in October 1943 by Representative Warren Magnuson, a Democrat from Washington state) was signed into law by President Roosevelt on 17 December 1943. This allowed Chinese immigration into the United States for the first time since the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and set an annual quota of one hundred and five ethnic Chinese to immigrate into the country. The act also made close to forty-five thousand Chinese residents in the United States eligible for citizenship.19 The impetus for this piece of legislation was provided by the exigencies of the war. Although China had become a war ally of the United States since 1941, Japanese propaganda repeatedly stressed that the Chinese were still excluded from the United States thus trying to weaken the bond between the two allies. Roosevelt himself threw his weight behind the legislation arguing that this was “important in the cause of winning the war and of establishing a secure peace.”20 The various Indian associations that had seemingly gone into a stupor on the citizenship rights of the Indians in America were all of a sudden galvanized into action.
Mubarak Ali Khan, the President of the New York-based India Welfare League of America Inc. (IWLA) was the first to get off the mark, possibly with the help of J.J. Singh. The IWLA was an organisation primarily consisting of poor, illiterate Muslim seamen and labourers from Bengal and Punjab, most of who had jumped ship after coming to America to earn their living as janitors and factory hands.21 Mubarak Ali Khan enlisted the support of William Langer (a maverick Republican Senator from North Dakota) to introduce a bill “to permit approximately three thousand natives of India who entered the United States prior to 1 July 1924 to become naturalized”. The bill was introduced in the Senate by Langer on 15 December 1943.22
Moreover, Mubarak Ali had also planned on taking a delegation to Washington to plead the case with the Department of Justice. This action by Mubarak Ali seems to have jolted the various groups, and their latent rivalries now came out into the open. British Intelligence, commenting on this action of Mubarak Ali in their reports of January 1944 mentioned that, “We understand that rumours of this move have reached the ears of Syud Hossain in Washington—who has no fondness for Mubarak Ali Khan—and he has apparently decided that such a fertile field for publicity must not be left to the sole cultivation of Mubarak Ali. According to reports Syud Hossain also is in the process of assembling a delegation to press for citizenship rights for Indians.” Both the ILA and the breakaway group of N.R. Checker now established direct contact with Senator Langer and “they appear to have completely stolen Mubarak Ali Khan’s show”.23
The unseemly haste with which the Langer Bill was introduced as well as the infighting among the Indian groups led Taraknath Das to write in despair to Watumull in February 1944:24
“I did not know anything of [the Langer Bill] until a few days ago when I wrote to Senator Langer and also to you. I come to know of such activities of Indians as are brought to my notice by accident…It is a fact [that] various groups of Indians act towards each other with suspicion and feel their activities are ‘state secrets’ and thus there is very little co-ordination.
It is a matter of surprise to me that India League of America and its officers—Messrs J.J. Singh, Dr. Anup Singh, Dr. Hossain who have been in Washington so often during the last few months, and who are in touch with Indians, and some of the Indian businessmen of New York who are in touch with you, did not keep you and others informed about the bill. As far as I can make out, this Bill was introduced through the efforts of Mr. Mubarak Ali and his group. Senator Langer’s visit to the Pacific Coast in company with Mr. Mubarak Ali was not even known to Mr. Checker, who is the Chairman of a new Committee to fight for Citizenship rights for Indians. If I knew anything about this visit or tour, I would have strongly advised against it as a waste of money…I am not in favour of the Langer Bill, because it is not inclusive enough. Several months ago I suggested that India League should take up the question of Indian citizenship issue, following the Chinese precedent. Now that an unsatisfactory bill has been introduced, to mend the situation, a new bill will [have to] be introduced. It seems [the] energy of Indians is wasted or at least divided in many organisations, because few Indians who act as Indians are unable to coordinate their efforts to accomplish the same thing which they all want.
