(کامریڈ (رئیس احمد جعفری

FOREWORD

After the partition of the subcontinent, it was in 1960 that I could go to India, I paid a visit to Bombay where I had passed good fifteen years of my life, most of this under the affectionate care of Maulana Shaukat Ali. It was had “dragged” me from the Jami,ah Milliyah, Delhi , to Bombay , and put on my shoulders the onerous duties of editorship of the Daily khilafat, then the most popular and widely circulated Urdu newspaper of India. Khilafat House was the first place in Bombay which I visited. This was the rendezvous during the lifetime of Shaukat Ali, where matters concerning the present and future of the nation and country were discussed and decided, where Gandhiji, Jawahar Lal and Malviyaji bended their knees, and life in which was once visible with ball its charm and attractions. It now presented a deserted spectacle and I felt like asking the inmates :

غزالاں تم تو واقف ہو کہو مجنوں کے مرنے کی
دیوانہ مر گیا آخر کو ویرانے پہ کیا گزری

But no, there is another madman-Zahid Shaukat Ali – Who is yet maintaining this father’s tradition.
Form Bombay, Through Lucknow and Khairabad, I arrived at Dehli, Here, one day Maulana Hafizurahman , now of blessed memory, Chief of the jami’atul Ulema-i-Hind, invited me to tea, much to my own inner desire .Before partition ,in spite of my Disapproval of and disagreement with his line of though and political creed, I was ever an admirer of his character and sincerity of purpose. After a brief general chat,, the Mualana abruptly said in a serious tone: ‘Jafri sahib’ You have written a good number of books and I have read with interest every book that fell to my hands. Now, Write a book at my request .’ Unable to comprehend what the Maulana had in his mind, I Submitted , It would be a pleasure to do so. But please let me have the detail, By this time the Maulana was evidently more serious. He said, ‘I wish you to write a book given details of the contribution of the Muslims to India’s freedom movement . It is not that the part the Muslims have played in this struggle is being ignored by other peoples of India which is painful. but rather that the Muslims themselves are becoming forgetful of their Elders’ great achievements.
The proposal was quite appropriate but, placed as I was, it was not so easy a task to be undertaken by me. Hesitatingly, I said ‘This has been the very desire of my own since long. But it requires week along stays at Calcutta, Patna, Lucknow, Deoband, Rampur , Delhi , Bombay and some other towns to collect the necessary material ., : THE Maulana promptly said , ; I take the entire responsibility of meeting the requirement of your stay at different places in India as long as you may wish , * Before I could say anything , the Maulana, as if reading my mind, again said, ‘It would please me much if this book were published in India, and in this connection I am prepared to do everything possible, but if you think other, wise, you are at full liberty to take your writing to Pakistan for publication there : no obligation except that you do write the book at your earliest ..This gesture of the Maulana impressed me much and I held out a solemn promise to him,…
On my return to Pakistan , my own circumstances so entangled me that I forgot all about the work, But in spite of this, the Maulana’s request kept on haunting my mind, till his soul departed for the eternal abode. After taking stock of my own situation, I arrived at the conclusion that, devoid of all materials resources as I am., I could only bring out those priceless and rare writings which were with me . ‘Ali Bradran’ (Urdu) was the First of the series, and this selection from the COMRADE is the second ..!