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Aga Khan III wrote an article in 'The Times' - London - 1909-12

Date: 
Wednesday, 1909, December 1
Location: 

'The National Review' - London, in its December 1909 issue, published an article that Sir Sultan Mohamed Shah, Aga Khan III wrote.He talked among other important topics, about how many writers have a superficial knowledge of the Indians, the political structure of the Indian government, ambitions of the Indians, the blessings brought by the British government but yet, discontentment still exists within the country and he also mentioned the role of the press, and how education would eliminate prejudice.

He said, 'It is not fair to say that the standard of education of a nation or a people is judged by the style and the form of its Press. No greater disservice is done to a country than for a local or a national Press to continually write in biassed and hyper-critical tone - because in time the irritation which the writer betrays is silently communicated to his readers. The more so is this the case in a country where education is still in a backward condition.

It is to the Press in such a country that the Government must look for the spread of those ideas which are sound in policy and fair in the presentation of particular matters of information.'

With regards to the importance of education, Mowlana Sultan Mohamed Shah said, ' The last and most important benefit would be that as education became general, caste and religious prejudices would gradually die out. The greatest misfortune of India is that its peoples are divided into compartments and live in compartments. Mohamedans and Hindus, owing to religioius and social prejudices due to ignorance, are like tow nations apart. The Hindus of the upper and lower castes are equally separated. This division is not only ruinous to the people but in the long run will make peaceful administration impossible. This gulf cannot be bridged by force.

No, the work must be done through education, general, elementary and scientific. Religious difficulties and caste disabilities will only become the minor things they are in Europe and America when education teaches the public that such differences are not to be allowed to interfere in their daily lives.' (Aziz;. p319)

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