INTERNMENT OF MAHOMED ALI.
Speaking at the All-India Moslem League in December, 1917, on the release of the interned Moslem leaders, Mrs. Naidu said:—
If they were paying homage to the empty chair, they were paying homage not to Mahomed Ali in flesh but to Mahomed Ali, who was the embodiment of the new spirit of Indian nationalism. She then referred to the internment of Mr. Mahomed Ali and said that the honour of Islam had been challenged by that internment and on them lay the honour of Islam. They should not be contented with sitting quiet and shedding tears. They must be consolidated in their faith. Political destiny might fail, territorial possession might decay, but Islam would not die.
They wanted Moslem India to be true to Islam. They wanted the manhood of Islam, the valour of Islam. They should be united, they should sink all their personal differences, they should sink all their political differences—they were of different schools but that amongst themselves—and be not afraid of any sacrifice.