Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

August 12, 1908, Poona - The first meeting of the Deccan League was held in Poona wherein all the delegates of the important districts and provinces were present. Mawlawi Rafiuddin Ahmad was the Chairman, and at the end of the session he mentioned that Sir Sultan Mohamed Shah, Aga Khan III had accepted the offer of 'permanent Presidentship of the League.'
Since Mowlana Sultan Mohamed Shah was unable to attended this meeting, his inaugural address to the Deccan Muslim League Meeting was read out during the session by Rafiuddin Ahmad. The address mentioned the new forces affecting India, the meaning of patriotism and love for the Indian people, the violent disturbances and outbursts, and the slow unification of India among other topics. In the address, which was printed in 'The Civil and Military Gazette', Lahore, 1908.

Mowlana Sultan Mohamed Shah mentioned, '..Here in the Deccan we should pursue these ideals and combat the disruptive, retrograde forces at work in no sectarian spirit. Rather, should it be our task to persuade by precept and example those Hindus who have strayed from the path of true progress to return to it. But because I see so clearly the chaos and retrogression which threaten India from the growth of some of the new forces we find at work, because I Shudder at the anarchy, the loss, the moral and material suffering which must befall our country if they are allowed to spread, I say from the bottom of my heart that it is the duty of all true Indian patriots not only to accept British rule as the indispensable condition of natural advancement, but to make the strengthening of that rule the fixed purpose of their lives. (Aziz; 287)