LAHORE: The Punjab Muslim League campaign of civil disobedience is gaining momentum and the arrest of 213 persons, including 8 women and 5 members of the Lahore Corpo­ration and use of tear gas on a large scale on a resolute crowd of 7,000 strong were the highlights of the third day of the movement [Jan 26]. Following a statement in his [defence] by the Premier, Begum Shah Nawaz and Begum Kamal-ud-Din were released from the Central Jail at 9 p.m.

[Meawhile, as reported from Karachi,] Mr. M.A. Jinnah … has issued the following statement to the Press: “I am shocked to read the report in the Press of the decision of the Punjab Government to declare the Muslim National Guards organisation unlawful under the guise of [the] plea that the Government cannot allow private armies. There is not an iota of truth in it that the Muslim National Guards are based on the idea of rearing a private army… . The sudden swooping down upon the National Guards’ organisation and declaring it unlawful under Section 16 of the Indian Criminal Law Amendment Act, is most high-handed and unwarranted action and … strikes at the root of civil liberties.”

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2022