BOMBAY: Maulana Abul Kalam Azad’s offer to Mr. M.A. Jinnah, President, All-India Muslim League, to share the Azad-Wavell correspondence at the time of the Simla Conference with him in confidence is characterised as “futile and childish” by Mr. Jinnah in a statement today [Aug 14].

Mr. Jinnah says: “My attention has been drawn to the interview given by the President of the Congress to the ‘Associated Press’, which has appeared in the Press today, stating that he would be prepared to share with me in confidence the correspondence that passed between him and Lord Wavell. This offer is futile and child­ish. It is not a family matter between him and me or a private concern of two individuals. Ele­mentary sense of duty and responsibility as President of the Congress should make him realise that he owes it to the public to release the correspondence, so that the whole truth may be placed upon the bar of public opinion. “I have already shown that the so-called ruling of the Viceroy, if any given, is legally, morally and in fact wrong. Why was the correspondence bet­ween Lord Wavell and me allowed to be publish­ed by him without any ado?...”

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2020