“ABSOLUTELY stupid”, “a malicious fabrication”, “some irresponsible reporter’s imagination” — these were some of the comments made by Muslim League leaders in Delhi when [Dawn’s political correspondent] drew their attention to a story which was prominently featured by the Hindustan Times in its issue of Tuesday [April 22].

The best description, perhaps was given by a Foreign Correspondent who called the story an “intellectual forgery”. The story, which was supposed to contain the substance of an alleged conversation which the Hindustan Times’ “Special Representative” had with a nameless League leader, made a number of fantastic statements which were, on the face of them, nothing but a tissue of falsehoods. …Among the views attributed to this “intellectual forger”, to the non-existent Muslim League leader were: that in Pakistan … Hindus will have to run their own hospitals (as if the Pakistan State would not provide for medical aid to all sections of citizens alike), that Hindus would be segregated in … “ghettos” and that Pakistan would be a “theocratic State” in the sense that all citizens alike would not have equal political and religious rights. It is obvious that this alleged interview … was written up in the Hindustan Times office itself.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2022