Madan Mohan Jauher

One evening in early January, turning into a house off Harding Lane, past the police guard, the young man looked over his shoulder and hastened to the door. He was expected and was quickly, quietly ushered to a room meant for visitors.

Here in solitude, he – not yet 27 years of age – took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his brow. The ride from Safdarjang* airport was supposed to last half an hour to the central Delhi location. It had taken long hours as there was hardly any transport available. It was early 1948 and religious riots, following the creation of Pakistan gripped the city. Roads were littered with corpses and he had walked through a lot of side roads, trying to avoid attention and clutching his bag closely. Now safe at his destination the day’s events went through his mind.

A couple of days ago he had not imagined the task to be handed to him when he was called in by his superior officers. He was asked to carry sensitive documents securely and deliver these to the person he was now waiting for. Earlier that day he had boarded a flight from Begumpet* airport in the Deccan city of Hyderabad. Arriving at Delhi all single male passengers were being interrogated by a mustached, tough looking Sikh. As the young man approached he handed over his ticket stub to the police officer …

The officer at the Pakistan High Commission, located in Harding Lane (now called Tilak Marg), Delhi walked in and he handed over the legal sized envelope of documents. The officer inspected the enclosed papers, found them in order and was happy. He thanked the young man and asked about him, offering a good night’s rest.

…The police officer looked at the stub and then at him. To the young man he said – okay, but what does M.M. stand for? Without missing a beat he replied Madan Mohan, and then repeated assuredly, Madan Mohan Jauher. Sardar Jee smiled and waved him to proceed.

The headlines in the news on January 10, 1948 was: “The Nizam of Hyderabad’s government transfers securities worth Rupee 200 million to Pakistan government”

Notes:

*The functioning airports in Delhi and Hyderabad in 1948.

Papa told the story in his own way, minimizing the risks he took and the dangers he faced. He did say that it was turning dark. I tried to imagine how Delhi would have been at the time and was helped by accounts on the web.

The Pakistan High Commission was at the house owned by the late Liaqat Ali Khan. Today it is probably the official residence of Pakistan’s high commissioner to India.

I do remember the figure of 20 crore (200 million) and the encounter with Sardar Jee at Delhi airport. At the time, Papa was employed at Habib Bank in Hyderabad Deccan.

Pakistan’s first high commissioner to India (August 1947 – April 1948) was Zahid Hussain, who later was the first governor of the State Bank of Pakistan. From 1945 – 1947, Zahid Hussain had been the finance minister in the government of the Nizam of Hyderabad. Suggestions are that Zahid Hussain sahib invited Papa to join when National Bank of Pakistan was established. He may well have remembered the young man to whom the transfer documents were entrusted. Zahid Hussain probably was the one who received the securities documents.

The state of Pakistan was all but bankrupt by late 1947. On January 1, 1948 the government of India refused to pay the agreed share of Rupee 550 million. A financial catastrophe was avoided by the transfer of funds from Hyderabad Deccan.