Right to information: India to hand over Jinnah tapes

Says it does not have the recording of Quaid’s August 11, 1947, address.

India will hand over copies of two speech-recordings of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah to Pakistan, but says it does not have a recording of his famous August 11, 1947, address to the country’s constituent assembly, a report in The Hindu said.

The decision comes in response to a request by the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) and after a year-long battle by Right to Information activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal to access the recordings.



On March 29, 2012, the then PBC director general Murtaza Solangi wrote to All India Radio (AIR) Director General Leeladhar Mandloi, requesting him to provide a copy of the Quaid’s first presidential address to the constituent assembly in Karachi.

Solangi noted that he was told during his visit to the AIR in November 2011 that the speech was in the archives. In the speech, the Quaid spoke of his vision of Pakistan as a state with equal citizens, irrespective of community, colour, caste and creed, and said people were free to go to their places of worship.

But AIR said that while it did not have a copy of that specific speech, it had two other recordings “We will hand over the copies of the recordings to Pakistan at the earliest. We have got clearances from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,” The Hindu cited Mandloi as saying.

In one speech, the Quaid said it would be their constant effort to work for the welfare and well-being of ‘all communities in Pakistan’. Stating that the ‘tolerance and goodwill’ shown by Emperor Akbar was ‘not of recent origin,’ he said that ‘13 centuries ago … our Prophet not only by words but deeds treated the Jews and Christians handsomely after he conquered them.’

The Quaid added that the ‘whole history of Muslims where they ruled is replete with those humane and great principles’ and should be ‘followed and practised by us.’

The second speech is a direct address on June 3, 1947, right after the Transfer of Power plan was announced, discussing its implications and appealing to all to maintain ‘peace and order’.

In June last year, The Hindu reported details of PBC’s request to AIR. Agrawal attached the news clipping to file an application with AIR, seeking the recording of the speech and other related information. He was initially told that recordings were being searched for and would take time, while it was later conveyed that these were under exemption provisions and could not be disclosed. AIR also referred the matter to the Indian information and external affairs ministries.

Agrawal then appealed to India’s Central Information Commission, which issued an important order in June this year, stating it would be ‘regressive’ for any public authority to ‘take the stand that everything related to Pakistan or the leaders who went over to Pakistan should be kept secret or confidential.’

Published in The Express Tribune, September 2^nd, 2013.