Urdu-Hindi Controversy Aligarh Movement [1858-98] Deoband Movement [18-19!"] An#uman Himayat-i-$slam [188!-19!"] %stablishment %stablishment o& $ndian 'ational Congress [1885] 'adva-tul-(Ulema o& )u*+no, [189!-19!"]
Urdu-Hindi Controversy During the last days o& the Muslim rule Urdu emerged as the most *ommon language o& the north,estern .rovin*es o& $ndia/ $t ,as de*lared the o0*ial language and all o0*ial re*ords ,ere ,ritten in this language/ $n 18" some .rominent Hindus started a movement in anaras in ,hi*h they demanded the re.la*ement o& Urdu ,ith Hindi and the 2ersian s*ri.t ,ith the Deva 'agri s*ri.t as the *ourt language in the north,estern .rovin*es/ 3he reason &or o..osing Urdu ,as that the language ,as ,ritten in 2ersian s*ri.t ,hi*h ,as similar to the Arabi* s*ri.t and Arabi* ,as the language o& the 4uran the Holy oo+ o& the Muslims/ 3he movement gre, ui*+ly and ,ithin a &e, months s.read throughout the Hindu .o.ulation o& the north,estern .rovin*es o& $ndia/ 3he headuarters headuarters o& this movement ,ere ,ere in Allahabad/ Allahabad/ 3his situation situation .rovo+ed .rovo+ed the Muslims Muslims to *ome out out in order to .rote*t .rote*t the im.ortan*e im.ortan*e o& the Urdu language/ 3he o..osition by the Hindus to,ards the Urdu language made it *lear to the Muslims o& the region that Hindus ,ere not ready to tolerate the *ulture and traditions o& the Muslims/ 3he Urdu-Hindi Urdu-Hindi *ontroversy *ontroversy had a great great e6e*t on the li&e li&e o& 7ir 7yed 7yed Ahmad han/ e&ore this event he had been a great advo*ate o& Hindu-Muslim unity and ,as o& the o.inion that the t,o nations are li+e t,o eyes o& the beauti&ul bride $ndia/ ut this movement *om.letely altered his .oint o& vie,/ He .ut &or,ard the 3,o-'ation 3heory .redi*ting that the di6eren*es bet,een the t,o grou.s ,ould in*rease ,ith the .assage o& time and the t,o *ommunities
,ould not #oin together in anything ,holeheartedly/
Aligarh Movement [1858-98] 3he :ar :ar o& $nde.enden*e $nde.enden*e 185" ended ended in disaster disaster &or the Muslims/ Muslims/ 3he ritish ritish *hose to believe that the Muslims ,ere res.onsible &or the anti-ritish u.rising; there&ore they made them the sub#e*t o& ruthless .unishments and mer*iless vengean*e/ 3he ritish had al,ays loo+ed u.on the Muslims as their adversaries be*ause they had ousted them &rom .o,er/ :ith the rebellion o& 185" this &eeling ,as intensie the &a*t that man+ind had entered a very im.ortant .hase o& its e?isten*e i/e/ an era o& s*ien*e and learning/ He +ne, that the reali>ation o& the very &a*t ,as the sour*e o& .rogress and .ros.erity &or the ritish/ 3here&ore 3here&ore modern edu*ation be*ame the .ivot o& his movement &or regeneration regeneration o& the $ndian Muslims/ He tried to trans&orm trans&orm the Muslim outloo+ &rom a medieval one to a modern one/ 7ir 7yed(s
,ould not #oin together in anything ,holeheartedly/
Aligarh Movement [1858-98] 3he :ar :ar o& $nde.enden*e $nde.enden*e 185" ended ended in disaster disaster &or the Muslims/ Muslims/ 3he ritish ritish *hose to believe that the Muslims ,ere res.onsible &or the anti-ritish u.rising; there&ore they made them the sub#e*t o& ruthless .unishments and mer*iless vengean*e/ 3he ritish had al,ays loo+ed u.on the Muslims as their adversaries be*ause they had ousted them &rom .o,er/ :ith the rebellion o& 185" this &eeling ,as intensie the &a*t that man+ind had entered a very im.ortant .hase o& its e?isten*e i/e/ an era o& s*ien*e and learning/ He +ne, that the reali>ation o& the very &a*t ,as the sour*e o& .rogress and .ros.erity &or the ritish/ 3here&ore 3here&ore modern edu*ation be*ame the .ivot o& his movement &or regeneration regeneration o& the $ndian Muslims/ He tried to trans&orm trans&orm the Muslim outloo+ &rom a medieval one to a modern one/ 7ir 7yed(s
3here&ore 3here&ore in order to attain these these goals 7ir 7yed laun*hed the Aligarh Aligarh Movement o& ,hi*h Aligarh ,as the *enter/ He had t,o immediate ob#e*tives in mind@ to remove the state o& misunderstanding and tension bet,een the Muslims and the ne, ritish government government and to indu*e them to go a&ter the o..ortunities available under the ne, regime ,ithout deviating in any ,ay &rom the &undamentals o& their &aith/ ee.ing edu*ation and so*ial re&orm as the t,o .lan+s o& his .rogram he laun*hed the Aligarh Movement ,ith the &ollo,ing ob#e*tives@ 1/ 3o *reate an atmos.here o& mutual understanding bet,een the ritish government and the Muslims/ / 3o .ersuade Muslims to learn %nglish edu*ation/ =/ 3o .ersuade Muslims to abstain &rom .oliti*s o& agitation/ !/ 3o .rodu*e an intelle*tual *lass &rom amongst the Muslim *ommunity/ Bortunately 7yed Ahmad han ,as able to attra*t into his orbit a number o& sin*ere &riends ,ho shared his vie,s and hel.ed him/ Among them ,ere ,ell-+no,n ir Ahmad Chiragh Ali Mohammad Hayat and a+aullah/ Above all his gi&ted son 7yed Mahmud a reno,ned s*holar #urist and edu*ationist ,as a great sour*e o& hel. to him/ 7yed Ahmad also su**eeded in enlisting the servi*es o& a number o& distinguished %nglish .ro&essors li+e e*h Morison Ealeigh and Arnold ,ho gave their best in building u. the Aligarh College into a i.ur/ 18!@ 7et u. the 7*ienti<* 7o*iety in Aligarh/ 3his so*iety ,as involved in the translation o& %nglish ,or+s into the native language/ 18@ Aligarh $nstitute Fa>ette/ 3his im.arted in&ormation on history; an*ient and modern s*ien*e o& agri*ulture natural and .hysi*al s*ien*es and advan*ed mathemati*s/ 18"G@ Committee 7triving &or the %du*ational 2rogress o& Muslims/
18"5@ Muhammadan Anglo-riental 7*hool IM/ A/ /J Aligarh setu. on the .attern o& %nglish .ubli* s*hools/ )ater raised to the level o& *ollege in 18"" and university in 191=/ 188@ Muhammadan %du*ational Con&eren*e/ Con&eren*e/ 3his *on&eren*e met every year to ta+e sto*+ o& the edu*ational .roblems o& the Muslims and to .ersuade them to get modern edu*ation and abstain &rom .oliti*s/ $t later be*ame the .oliti*al mouth.ie*e o& the $ndian Muslims and ,as the &orerunner o& the Muslim )eague/
esides his .rominent role in the edu*ational u.li&t o& the Muslims 7yed Ahmad han(s ,ritings .layed an im.ortant role in .o.ulari>ing the ideals &or ,hi*h the Aligarh stood/ His essay on 3he Causes o& $ndian Eevolt in 1858 and other ,ritings su*h as )oyal Muhammadans o& $ndia 3abyin-ul-alam and A 7eries o& %ssays on the )i&e o& Muhammad and 7ub#e*ts 7ubsidiary 3herein hel.ed to *reate *ordial relations bet,een the ritish Fovernment and the $ndian Muslims/ 3hey also hel.ed to remove misunderstandings misunderstandings about $slam and Christianity/ $t ,as &rom this .lat&orm that 7yed Ahmad han strongly advised the Muslims against #oining the Hindu dominated Congress/ He ,as in &avor o& reserved seats &or Muslims and also .romoted the idea that Hindus and Muslims are t,o distin*t nations/ 3his idea led to the 3,o-'ation 3heory/ 7yed Ahmad han(s Aligarh Movement .layed a signi<*ant role in bringing about an intelle*tual revolution revolution among the $ndian Muslims/ 3hus it su**eeded in a*hieving its ma#or ob#e*tives i/e/ edu*ational .rogress and so*ial re&orm/ His e6orts earned 7ir 7yed the title 2ro.het o& %du*ation/
Deoband Movement [18-19!"] A.art &rom the Aligarh Movement there ,ere many other &or*es ,or+ing in the 7ub*ontinent that *ontributed to national *onsolidation/ 3hese ,ere in the &orm o& institutions that gre, u. ,ithin the *ountry/ 3hese institutions o**asionally held vie,s in o..osition to the Aligarh leadershi. but they all
,or+ed to,ards a *ommon goal; national a,a+ening and integrity/ Most im.ortant o& these institutions ,as the seminary at Deoband/ 3he original idea o& establishing a madrasa &or tea*hing religious sub#e*ts ,as that o& a .ra*ti*ing su< and a re.uted saint Ha#i Muhammad Abid o& Deoband/ He be*ame the honorary .atron and manager o& the seminary and ,hen am.le &unds be*ame available Maulana Muhammad Kaub a leading edu*ationist ,as a..ointed as the headmaster/ n A.ril 1! 18 the madrasa started &un*tioning in a small mosue/ 3he madrasa at at Deoband &ollo,ed &ollo,ed the Madrasa-i-Eahim Madrasa-i-Eahimiyah iyah in its em.hasis em.hasis on Hadith but it also in*or.orated many &eatures o& the ne, edu*ational institutions established by the ritish e/g/ division o& students in regular *lasses attendan*e registers and ,ritten e?aminations/ y 19=1 9GG students ,ere enrolled in the madrasa in*luding != &oreign students/ Maulana Muhammad 4asim 'anotvi ,ho #oined the madrasa &e, years a&ter its establishment establishment ,as very a*tive during the ,ar o& 185" and &or a .eriod o& time even established his o,n government in the area/ n the su..ression o& the revolt by the ritish Maulana Eashid Ahmad Fangohi one o& the Maulana(s *om.anions had to s.end several months in #ail ,hile their s.iritual tea*her Ha#i $mdad Ullah had to see+ re&uge in Me**a/ Maulana Mahmud-ul-Hasan ,ho remained head o& the institution &or = years en*ouraged *onta*ts bet,een Aligarh and Deoband/ $n 19G the Maulana established the Lami(ah Milliyah &or students ,ho had dis*ontinued studies at Aligarh during the 'on-Coo.eration 'on-Coo.eration Movement/ 3he Lami(ah in*or.orated many &eatures o& Deoband/ Another .ersonality asso*iated ,ith Deoband ,as Maulana Ubaid Ullah 7indhi/ He e a*tions against the ritish/ He ,as a..ointed as Home Minister in the .rovisional government o& $ndia &ormed at abul/ Ho,ever a&ter the &ailure o& the s*heme he .ro*eeded to Mos*o, and then &rom 3ur+ey to Me**a/
Deoband has invariably remained as the *entral institution *atering to reuirements o& religious edu*ation o& the Muslim *ommunity all over 7ub-*ontinent/ 3o a *ertain e?tent it also .layed the role o& a uni&ying &or*e &or them sin*e a.art &rom the o..osition o& the Deobandi tea*hers and students so many ulema &rom the same institution su..orted 4uaid-i-A>am and too+ a*tive .art in the 2a+istan Movement under the guidan*e o& Maulana 7habbir Ahmad Usmani/
An#uman Himayat-i-$slam [188!-19!"] Bor a thousand years )ahore had been a great *ultural and intelle*tual *enter o& the Muslims/ Under the Mughals )ahore boasted o& ra.id .rogress in the domains o& edu*ation and learning/ ut to,ards the end o& the Muslim rule in $ndia the 7i+hs devastated large areas o& 2un#ab/ 3he anne?ation o& 2un#ab brought .ea*e to the region but &ailed to *reate *onditions *ondu*ive to the gro,th o& intelle*tual and a*ademi* a*tivities/ 3he :ar o& $nde.enden*e o& 185" added to the ,oes and ,orries o& the $ndian Muslims/ 3he Muslims re&used to a*uire modern edu*ation/ 3o,ards the *lose o& 19th *entury the im.a*t o& 7ir 7yed(s Aligarh Movement ,as &elt all over the 7ub-*ontinent and 2un#ab ,as no e?*e.tion/ $n Mar*h 188! Maulana 4a>i Hamid-ud-Din invited his .u.il Maulvi Fhulam Ullah 4asuri and a number o& other .ubli*-s.irited .ersons to a small gathering and set u. the An#uman Himayat-i-$slam/ n 7e.tember 188! the establishment o& the An#uman ,as &ormally announ*ed and 4a>i Hamid-ud-Din ,as ele*ted its ilbash Mian 7ir Muhammad 7ha<
7ir Muhammad $bal 7ir Abdul 4adir Dr/ hali&ah 7hu#a-ud-Din and a host o& others/ 3he An#uman established edu*ational institutions in arts s*ien*es and te*hnology &or men and ,omen as ,ell as or.hanages &or hel.less Muslims to ,hi*h ,ido,s( homes ,ere later added/ 3he Mo.lah or.hans the vi*tims o& ihar and 4uetta earthua+es and later the destitute *hildren and ,ido,s o& the 19!" holo*aust &ound shelter at these or.hanages/ $n 1885 the Eisala-i-An#uman Himayat-i-$slam made its a..earan*e .ublishing the .rin*i.les o& $slam/ $n 189 the An#uman established the $slamia College at )ahore/ 3his ,as later elevated to degree level in 19G=/ 3he *ontribution o& the *ollege to the general Muslim a,a+ening has been great/ $ts students .layed an im.ortant role in the Muslim national movement in 2un#ab/ $n 19=9 the An#uman established the $slamia College &or Firls/ & these servi*es in the
%stablishment o& $ndian 'ational Congress [1885] %vents li+e the .assage o& the erna*ular 2ress A*t in 18"8 and the $lbert ill o& 188 as ,ell as the redu*tion o& the age limit &or the Civil 7ervi*es %?ams in 18" resulted in a ,ave o& o..osition &rom the middle *lass $ndians/ Conseuently some o& them *ame together and &ormed a number o& small .oliti*al .arties that *ame out in the streets &or .rotests and rallies/ 3he ritish &oresa, the situation resulting in another rebellion on the .attern o& the :ar o& $nde.enden*e o& 185"/ 3o avoid su*h a situation the ritish de*ided to .rovide an outlet to the lo*al .eo.le ,here they *ould dis*uss their .oliti*al .roblems/ $n order to a*hieve this goal Allan *tavian Hume a retired ritish *ivil servant had a series o& meetings ,ith )ord Du6erin the i*eroy/
He also visited %ngland and met .eo.le li+e Lohn right 7ir Lames Caird )ord Ei.on and some members o& the ritish 2arliament/ Hume also had the su..ort o& a large number o& %nglishmen in $ndia in*luding 7ir :illiam :edderbun Feorge Kule and Charles radlaugh/ n his return &rom ritain Hume *onsulted the lo*al $ndian leaders and started ,or+ing to,ards the establishment o& an $ndian .oliti*al organi>ation/ He invited the *onvention o& the $ndian 'ational Union an organi>ation he had already &ormed in 188! to ombay in De*ember 1885/ 7eventy delegates most o& ,hom ,ere la,yers edu*ationalists and #ournalists attended the *onvention in ,hi*h the $ndian 'ational Congress ,as established/ 3his ation/ 1/ 3o see+ the *oo.eration o& all the $ndians in its e6orts/ / %radi*ate the *on*e.ts o& ra*e *reed and .rovin*ial .re#udi*es and try to &orm national unity/ =/ Dis*uss and solve the so*ial .roblems o& the *ountry/ !/ 3o reuest the government give more share to the lo*als in administrative a6airs/ As time ,ent by the Congress *hanged its stan*e and a..arently be*ame the biggest o..osition to the ritish government/ Muslims .rimarily o..osed the *reation o& Congress and re&used to .arti*i.ate in its a*tivities/ ut o& the "G delegates ,ho attended the o.ening session o& the Congress only t,o ,ere Muslims/ 7ir 7yed Ahmad han ,ho ,as invited to attend the ombay session re&used the o6er/ He also urged the Muslims to abstain &rom the Congress a*tivities and .redi*ted that the .arty ,ould eventually be*ome a Hindu .arty and ,ould only loo+ a&ter the interests o& the Hindus/ 7yed Ameer Ali another im.ortant Muslim
'adva-tul-(Ulema o& )u*+no, [189!-19!"] 3his institution *ame into e?isten*e in 189! as a result o& the e6orts o& some religious minded government o0*ials ulema and su
bring the ulema together and remove se*tarian di6eren*es/ 3he main ,or+ o& the organi>ation ,as the establishment o& a Dar-ul-Uloom at )u*+no,/ Bor some time 7hibli 'omani 7yed(s *o-,or+er &or many years ,as asso*iated ,ith the institution/ Under his inuen*e it gained im.ortan*e but in 191! he ,as &or*ed to resign/ 7hibli 'omani ,rote e?tensively on $slam highlighting those .eriods and .ersonalities that o6ered guidan*e and .rovided ins.iration to the Muslims enabling them to ta+e their .ro.er .la*e in the ,orld/ His ,ritings in*lude the series Heroes o& $slam/ 3he ali and Maulana Eoomi/ 3hrough his ,ritings 7hibli tried to re&ute ,estern allegations against $slam and Muslims/ His 3ara##um gave a &airly *om.lete a**ount o& the ste.s ta+en by the Muslims in the heyday o& their glory and in*or.orated into Arabi* the &ruits o& the learning o& Free*e $ran and $ndia et*/ He too+ great .ains to .i*+ out and train .romising youth to *arry on his ,or+ and s.read his message/ His basi* .ur.ose remained to train and edu*ate Muslim youth so that they *ould unite and lead their nation out o& des.onden*y/ A magni<*ent building ,as *onstru*ted &or the Dar-ul-Uloom ,ith a grant &rom the 7tate o& ha,al.ur/ 3he tradition o& training in literary *ra&tsmanshi. and style o& modern Arabi* ,as inherited by the institution/ 3he Dar-ul-Musanniamgarh manned by the &ormer students o& the 'adva is a by.rodu*t o& the institution/
2artition o& engal [19G5-to-11] 7imla De.utation [19G] %stablishment o& All $ndia Muslim )eague [19G] Minto-Morley Ee&orms
3he )u*+no, 2a*t [191] Montague-Chelms&ord Ee&orms hila&at Movement [1919-to-19!] 7imon Commission [19"] Delhi Muslim 2ro.osals [19"] 'ehru Ee.ort All 2arties Muslim Con&eren*e Bourteen 2oints o& M/ A/ Linnah Allahabad Address Eound 3able Con&eren*es 3he Communal A,ard Fovernment o& $ndia A*t 19=5 Eule o& Congress Ministries 3he $deology o& 2a+istan@ 3,o-'ation 3heory
2artition o& engal [19G5-11] Binding the engal 2residen*y too large &or one governor to administer in 19G5 the %nglish de*ided to redra, its boundaries and divided it into t,o .arts/
3he .rovin*es o& engal and Assam ,ere re*onstituted so as to &orm the t,o .rovin*es o& manageable si>e/ :estern engal ,ith a .o.ulation o& 5! million I! million Hindus and 9 million MuslimsJ; and %astern engal and Assam ,ith a .o.ulation o& =1 million I1 million Hindus and 18 million MuslimsJ/ 3he territory to be trans&erred &rom engal to the ne, .rovin*e *onsisted o& the distri*ts o& Chittagong and Dha+a Divisions Ea#shahi Division e?*luding Dar#eeling and the Distri*t o& Malda/ Cur>on the i*eroy o& $ndia sent the .ro.osal to )ondon in Bebruary 19G5/ 3he 7e*retary o& 7tate &or $ndia 7t/ Lohn rodri*h san*tioned it in Lune and
the .ro*lamation o& the &ormation o& the ne, .rovin*e ,as issued in 7e.tember/ 3he .rovin*e o& engal and Assam *ame into being on *tober 1 19G5/ $n*identally the .artition ,ent in &avor o& the Muslims/ e&ore the .artition :estern engal being the ed/ $t ,as a stri+ing *ontrast to the eastern .art ,here the Muslim .easantry ,as *rushed under the Hindu landlords the river system ,as in&ested ,ith .irates and very &e, &unds ,ere allo*ated &or edu*ation/ $t ,as dreaded as a .la*e o& banishment/ 3he .artition hel.ed boost engali literature and language; e6orts ,ere also made to,ards the so*ial e*onomi* and edu*ational u.li&t o& the Muslims/ 3he Muslims outnumbered the Hindus in %astern engal and this alleviated the engali Muslims .oliti*ally and e*onomi*ally/ 3his resulted in a series o& un.re*edented agitation by the Hindus/ 3hey alleged that )ord Cur>on had deliberately tried to divide the Hindus and the Muslims by dra,ing a line bet,een the Hindu and the Muslim halves o& engal/ And by &avoring the Muslims by giving them a ne, .rovin*e in ,hi*h they ,ere in a *lear ma#ority had stru*+ a deadly blo, to engali nationality/ 3hey branded him as the u.holder o& the devilish .oli*y o& (divide and rule(/ 3he Muslims o& $ndia ,el*omed the .artition o& engal but the Hindu *ommunity strongly o..osed it/ 3hey laun*hed a mass movement de*laring *tober 1 as a day o& mourning in Cal*utta/ $nuen*ed by the Chinese boy*ott o& Ameri*an goods the Hindus started the 7,adeshi Movement against the ritish/ $n the meantime the Hindus raised the and-i-Mataram as the national *ry .rote*ting ,orshi. o& 7hiva#i as a national hero/ 3his organi>ed anar*hist movement too+ a terrorist turn resulting in .oliti*al sabotage and *ommunal riots/ ee.ing in vie, the uid .oliti*al situation in $ndia and the *ult o& Hindu revivalism the ritish de*ided to undo their earlier de*ision to .lease the Hindus/ 3he .rovin*es ,ere reunited in 1911/ 3his a*t saddened the Muslims/ $t ,as a *atalyst in ma+ing the Muslims o& $ndia reali>e the need &or a se.arate homeland/
7imla De.utation [19G]
:hen )ord Minto ,as a..ointed as the i*eroy on $ndia in 19G5 ne, re&orms ,ere indi*ated in ,hi*h the ele*ted .rin*i.le ,ould be e?tended/ 3he anti-.artition agitation had *onvin*ed the Muslims o& the &utility o& e?.e*ting any &air-.lay &rom the Hindu ma#ority/ 3here&ore to sa&eguard their interests the Muslim leaders dre, u. a .lan &or se.arate ele*torates &or their *ommunity and .resented it to the i*eroy )ord Minto at 7imla on *tober 1 19G/ Mr/ ilgrami ,rote the te?t o& the .lan/ 3he 7imla De.utation *onsisted o& "G re.resentatives re.resenting all o.inions o& the Muslim *ommunity and headed by 7ir Aga han ,ho read the address/ 3he long address said among other things that the .osition o& the Muslim *ommunity should not be estimated by its numeri*al strength alone but in terms o& its .oliti*al im.ortan*e and servi*es rendered to the %m.ire/ He also .ointed out that the re.resentative institutions o& the :est ,ere ina..ro.riate &or $ndia and that their a..li*ation ,as raising di0*ult .roblems/ He stressed the need o& utmost *are ,hile introdu*ing or e?tending the ele*toral system in ,hatever s.here be it muni*i.al or .rovin*ial/ He stated that the Muslims should be re.resented as a *ommunity/ 3he i*eroy in his re.ly to the 7imla De.utation address reassured the Muslims that their .oliti*al rights and interests as a *ommunity ,ould be sa&eguarded by any administrative reorgani>ation under him/ 3he a**e.tan*e o& the De.utation(s demands .roved to be a turning .oint in the history o& the 7ub-*ontinent/ Bor the ation o& the 3,o-'ation 3heory its
7e.arate ele*torates ,ere given statutory re*ognition in the $ndian Coun*ils A*t o& 19G9/ Muslims ,ere a**orded not only the right to ele*t their re.resentatives by se.arate ele*torates but also the right to vote in general *onstituen*ies/ $n addition they ,ere also given ,eightage in re.resentation/ .a+istan-a6airsN15"!G-.a+istan-movement-185"-19!"-a
%stablishment o& All $ndia Muslim )eague [19G] n De*ember =G 19G the annual meeting o& Muhammadan %du*ational Con&eren*e ,as held at Dha+a under the *hairmanshi. o& 'a,ab iar-ul-Mul+/ Almost =GGG delegates attended the session ma+ing it the largest-ever re.resentative gathering o& Muslim $ndia/ Bor the
3he headuarters o& the All $ndia Muslim )eague ,as established in )u*+no, and 7ir Aga han ,as ele*ted as its
&rom all .rovin*es/ Maulana Muhammad Ali Louhar ,rote the *onstitution o& the )eague +no,n as the Freen oo+/ ran*hes ,ere also setu. in other .rovin*es/ 7yed Ameer Ali established a bran*h o& the )eague in )ondon in 19G8 su..orting the same ob#e*tives/ Bollo,ing ,ere the ob#e*tives o& the Muslim )eague@ 1/ 3o in*ul*ate among Muslims a &eeling o& loyalty to the government and to disabuse their minds o& misunderstandings and mis*on*e.tions o& its a*tions and intentions/ / 3o .rote*t and advan*e the .oliti*al rights and interests o& the Muslims o& $ndia and to re.resent their needs and as.irations to the government &rom time to time/ =/ 3o .revent the gro,th o& ill ,ill bet,een Muslims and other nationalities ,ithout *om.romising to it(s o,n .ur.oses/ Many Hindu historians and several ritish ,riters have alleged that the Muslim )eague ,as &ounded at o0*ial instigation/ 3hey argue that it ,as )ord Minto ,ho ins.ired the establishment o& a Muslim organi>ation so as to divide the Congress and to minimi>e the strength o& the $ndian Breedom Movement/ ut these statements are not su..orted by eviden*e/ Contrary to this the ,idely a**e.ted vie, is that the Muslim )eague ,as basi*ally established to .rote*t and advan*e the Muslim interests and to *ombat the gro,ing inuen*e o& the $ndian 'ational Congress/
Minto-Morley Ee&orms $n 19G )ord Morley the 7e*retary o& 7tate &or $ndian A6airs announ*ed in the ritish .arliament that his government ,anted to introdu*e ne, re&orms &or $ndia in ,hi*h the lo*als ,ere to be given more .o,ers in legislative a6airs/ :ith this a series o& *orres.onden*es started bet,een him and )ord Minto the then Fovernor Feneral o& $ndia/ A *ommittee ,as a..ointed by the Fovernment o& $ndia to .ro.ose a s*heme o& re&orms/ 3he *ommittee submitted its re.ort and a&ter the a..roval o& )ord Minto and )ord Morley the A*t o& 19G9 ,as .assed by the ritish .arliament/ 3he A*t o& 19G9 is *ommonly +no,n
as the Minto-Morley Ee&orms/ 3he &ollo,ing ,ere the main &eatures o& the A*t o& 19G9@ 1/ 3he number o& the members o& the )egislative Coun*il at the Center ,as in*reased &rom 1 to G/ / 3he number o& the members o& the 2rovin*ial )egislatives ,as also in*reased/ $t ,as
3he )u*+no, 2a*t [191]
:hen All $ndia Muslim )eague *ame into e?isten*e it ,as a moderate organi>ation ,ith its basi* aim to establish &riendly relations ,ith the Cro,n/ Ho,ever due to the de*ision o& the ritish Fovernment to annul the .artition o& engal the Muslim leadershi. de*ided to *hange its stan*e/ $n 191= a ne, grou. o& Muslim leaders entered the &olds o& the Muslim )eague ,ith the aim o& bridging the gul& bet,een the Muslims and the Hindus/ 3he most .rominent amongst them ,as Muhammad Ali Linnah ,ho ,as already a member o& $ndian 'ational Congress/ 3he Muslim )eague *hanged its ma#or ob#e*tive and de*ided to #oin hands ,ith the Congress in order to .ut .ressure on the ritish government/ )ord Chelms&ord(s invitation &or suggestions &rom the $ndian .oliti*ians &or the .ost :orld :ar $ re&orms &urther hel.ed in the develo.ment o& the situation/ As a result o& the hard ,or+ o& Mr/ Linnah both the Muslim )eague and the Congress met &or their annual sessions at ombay in De*ember 1915/ 3he .rin*i.al leaders o& the t,o .oliti*al .arties assembled at one .la*e &or the ations/ 3he s.ee*hes made &rom the .lat&orm o& the t,o grou.s ,ere similar in tone and theme/ :ithin a &e, months o& the ombay moot 19 Muslim and Hindu ele*ted members o& the $m.erial )egislative Coun*il addressed a memorandum to the i*eroy on the sub#e*t o& re&orms in *tober 191/ 3heir suggestions did not be*ome ne,s in the ritish *ir*le but ,ere dis*ussed amended and a**e.ted at a subseuent meeting o& the Congress and Muslim )eague leaders at Cal*utta in 'ovember 191/ 3his meeting settled the details o& an agreement about the *om.osition o& the legislatures and the uantum o& re.resentation to be allo,ed to the t,o *ommunities/ 3he agreement ,as *on
!/ 7ystem o& ,eightage should be ado.ted/ 5/ 3he number o& the members o& Central )egislative Coun*il should be in*reased to 15G/ / At the .rovin*ial level &our-<&th o& the members o& the )egislative Coun*ils should be ele*ted and one-<&th should be nominated/ "/ 3he strength o& 2rovin*ial legislative should not be less than 15 in the ma#or .rovin*es and &rom 5G to "5 in the minor .rovin*es/ 8/ All members e?*e.t those nominated ,ere to be ele*ted dire*tly on the basis o& adult &ran*hise/ 9/ 'o bill *on*erning a *ommunity should be .assed i& the bill is o..osed by three&ourth o& the members o& that *ommunity in the )egislative Coun*il/
1G/ 3erm o& the )egislative Coun*il should be ed the Muslim )eague as the .oliti*al .arty re.resenting the Muslims o& the region/ As Congress agreed to se.arate ele*torates it in &a*t agreed to *onsider the Muslims as a se.arate nation/ 3hey thus a**e.ted the *on*e.t o& the 3,o-'ation 3heory/
Montague-Chelms&ord Ee&orms $n :orld :ar $ the ritish *laimed that they stood &or the .rote*tion o& demo*ra*y around the ,orld/ 3hus the $ndians ,ho &ought &or them in this ,ar demanded that demo*ra*y should also be introdu*ed in their *ountry/ $n his &amous August De*laration .resented be&ore the House o& Commons on August G 191" Montague the 7e*retary o& 7tate &or $ndian A6airs said that in order to satis&y the lo*al demands his government ,as interested in giving more re.resentation to the natives in $ndia/ 'e, re&orms ,ould be introdu*ed in the *ountry to meet this ob#e*tive/ He *ame to $ndia and stayed here &or si? months/ During this .eriod he held meetings ,ith di6erent government and nongovernment .eo.le/ Binally in *oo.eration ,ith the Fovernor Feneral )ord Chelms&ord Montague .resented a re.ort on the *onstitutional re&orms &or $ndia in 1918/ 3he re.ort ,as dis*ussed and a..roved by the ritish 2arliament and then be*ame the A*t o& 1919/ 3his A*t is *ommonly +no,n as MontagueChelms&ord Ee&orms/ 3he &ollo,ing ,ere the main &eatures o& the A*t o& 1919@ 1/ 3he Coun*il o& the 7e*retary o& 7tate ,as to *om.rise o& eight to t,elve .eo.le/ 3hree o& them should be $ndian and at least hal& o& them should have s.ent at least ten years in $ndia/ / 3he 7e*retary o& 7tate ,as su..osed to &ollo, the advi*e o& his *oun*il/ =/ 2art o& the e?.enses o& the o0*e o& the 7e*retary o& 7tate ,as to be met by the ritish Fovernment/ !/ 3he 7e*retary o& 7tate ,as not allo,ed to inter&ere in administrative matters o& the .rovin*es *on*erning the (3rans&erred 7ub#e*ts( and also in the matters on ,hi*h Fovernor Feneral and his )egislative ,ere in agreement/ 5/ 3he Fovernor Feneral had the .o,er to nominate as many members to his %?e*utive Coun*il as he ,anted/ / Members a..ointed to the %?e*utive Coun*il ,ere to have served in $ndia &or at least 1G years/ "/ 3he Central )egislature ,as to *onsist o& t,o houses i/e/ the Coun*il o& the 7tate IU..er HouseJ and the )egislative Assembly I)o,er HouseJ/
8/ Coun*il o& the 7tate ,as to *onsist o& G members out o& ,hi*h == ,ere to be ele*ted and " nominated by the Fovernor Feneral/ 9/ 3he )egislative Assembly ,as to *onsist o& 1!! members out o& ,hi*h 1G= ,ere to be ele*ted and !1 to be nominated by the Fovernor Feneral/ 1G/ 3he &ran*hise ,as limited/ 11/ 3he tenure o& the U..er House ,as
hila&at Movement [1919-19!] 3he )u*+no, .a*t sho,ed that it ,as .ossible &or middle-*lass %nglish-edu*ated Muslims and Hindus to arrive at an ami*able settlement on Hindu-Muslim *onstitutional and .oliti*al .roblems/ 3his unity rea*hed its *lima? during the hila&at and the 'on-Coo.eration Movements/
A&ter :orld :ar $ the ttoman %m.ire &a*ed dismemberment/ Under the leadershi. o& the Ali rothers Maulana Muhammad Ali and Maulana 7hau+at Ali the Muslims o& 7outh Asia laun*hed the histori* hila&at Movement to try and save it/ Mohandas aram Chand Fandhi lin+ed the issue o& 7,ara# ,ith the hila&at issue to asso*iate Hindus ,ith the movement/ 3he ensuing movement ,as the
3he general im.ression among the Muslims o& $ndia ,as that the ,estern .o,ers ,ere ,aging a ,ar against $slam throughout the ,orld in order to rob it o& all its .o,er and inuen*e/ 3he ttoman %m.ire ,as the only Muslim .o,er that had maintained a semblan*e o& authority and the Muslims o& $ndia ,anted to save the $slami* .oliti*al .o,er &rom e?tin*tion/ As an institution the hila&at had a *he*+ered .ast/ $t had originally migrated &rom Medina to Damas*us and &rom Damas*us to aghdad/ Bor sometime it ,as lo*ated in %gy.t then it &ell to the lot o& 3ur+ey very mu*h as a .ri>e/ 3he 3ur+ish 7ultans had *laimed to be the *ali.hs o& the Muslim ,orld/ As long as the Mughal %m.ire had been in e?isten*e the Muslims o& $ndia had not re*ogni>ed their *laim/ At this *riti*al #un*ture ,hen the Muslims o& the 7ub*ontinent had no sovereign ruler o& their o,n they began to see the ne*essity o& re*ogni>ing the 7ultan o& 3ur+ey as their *ali.h/ 3i.u 7ultan ,as the
:ars I191-1=J/ 3o see+ revenge the 3ur+s de*ided to side ,ith the Fermans against the Allied Bor*es/ 3he $ndian Muslims su..orted this de*ision/ Muhammad Ali argued that &or Muslims to a**e.t mandates over $ra 7yria and 2alestine ,ould amount to a total disregard o& the ,ishes o& the Holy 2ro.het I7/ A/ :/J/ 3hus the Muslims o& $ndia laun*hed the 3ehri+-i-hila&at/ 3he ob#e*tives ,ere as &ollo,s@ 1/ 3o maintain the 3ur+ish Cali.hate/ / 3o .rote*t the holy .la*es o& the Muslims/ =/ 3o maintain the unity o& the ttoman %m.ire/ 3here ,as absolute unanimity among the $ndian Muslims/ 3hough se.arated &rom 3ur+ey by thousands o& miles they ,ere determined to ation o& sel&-rule in $ndia/ 3he ritish government a..ointed a *ommission under 7ir Lohn 7imon in 'ovember 19"/ 3he *ommission ,hi*h had no $ndian members ,as being sent to investigate $ndia(s *onstitutional .roblems and ma+e re*ommendations to the government on the &uture *onstitution o& $ndia/ 3he Congress de*ided to boy*ott the 7imon Commission and *hallenged )ord ir+enhead 7e*retary o& 7tate &or $ndia to .rodu*e a *onstitution a**e.table to the various elements in $ndia/ 3here ,as a *lear s.lit in the Muslim )eague/ 7ir Muhammad 7ha< ,ho ,anted to *oo.erate ,ith the *ommission de*ided to *onvene a Muslim )eague session in )ahore in De*ember 19"/ 3he other &a*tion led by Linnah stood &or the boy*ott o& the *ommission/ 3his &a*tion held a Muslim )eague session at Cal*utta and de*ided to &orm a sub*ommittee
to *on&er ,ith the ,or+ing *ommittee o& the $ndian 'ational Congress and other organi>ations ,ith a vie, to dra&t a *onstitution &or $ndia/
Delhi Muslim 2ro.osals [19"] Considering se.arate ele*torates to be the main hindran*e in im.roving HinduMuslim relations 4uaid-i-A>am .ro.osed that i& the Hindus agreed to .rovide *ertain sa&eguards the Muslims ,ould give u. this demand/ Conseuently the .ro.osals ,ere &ormally a..roved at a *on&eren*e held by the Muslims in 19" at Delhi and are no, *alled 3he Delhi-Muslim 2ro.osals/ Bollo,ing are the sa&eguards that ,ere .ro.osed@ 1/ 3he &ormation o& a se.arate .rovin*e o& 7indh/ / $ntrodu*tion o& re&orms in the 'orth :est Brontier 2rovin*e and in alu*histan on the same &ooting as in other .rovin*es/ Unless and until the above .ro.osals ,ere im.lemented the Muslims ,ould never surrender the right o& their re.resentation through se.arate ele*torates/ Muslims ,ould be ,illing to abandon se.arate ele*torates in &avor o& #oint ele*torates ,ith the reservation o& seats
!/ Hindu minorities in 7indh alu*histan and the 'orth :est Brontier 2rovin*e be a**orded the same *on*essions in the &orm o& reservation o& seats over and above the .ro.ortion o& their .o.ulation as Muslims ,ould get in Hindu ma#ority .rovin*es/ 5/ Muslim re.resentation in the Central )egislature ,ould not be less than one-third/ / $n addition to .rovisions li+e religious &reedom there ,as to be a &urther guarantee in the *onstitution that on *ommunal matters no bill or resolution ,ould be *onsidered or .assed i& three-&ourth o& the members o& the *ommunity *on*erned ,ere o..osed to it/
3hese .ro.osals ,ere to be a**e.ted or re#e*ted in toto/ 7o in e6e*t the Muslims agreed to give u. the se.arate ele*torates in &orm o& the reservation o& seats/ Un&ortunately the Congress
'ehru Ee.ort 3he Fovernment o& $ndia A*t 1919 ,as essentially transitional in *hara*ter/ Under 7e*tion 8! o& the said A*t a statutory Commission ,as to be a..ointed at the end o& ten years to determine the ne?t stage in the reali>ation o& sel&-rule in $ndia/ A**ordingly the 7imon Commission ,as sent to the 7ub-*ontinent under the *ommand o& 7ir Lohn 7imon/ All members o& the *ommission ,ere ritish/ 3his ,as regarded as highly insulting to the $ndians and immediate .rotest ,as raised &rom all the im.ortant .oliti*al .arties/ :hen the 7imon Commission arrived the lo*al masses ,el*omed it by ,ith slogans o& Fo ba*+ 7imonO/ All the ma#or .oliti*al .arties o& 7ub-*ontinent e?*e.t the 7ha< )eague o& 2un#ab boy*otted the 7imon Commission/ A&ter the &ailure o& 7imon Commission there ,as no alternative &or the ritish government but to as+ the lo*al .eo.le to &rame a *onstitution &or themselves/ 3hey +ne, that the Congress and Muslim )eague ,ere the t,o main .arties and that they both had serious di6eren*e o& o.inions/ ir+enhead 7e*retary o& 7ate &or $ndian A6airs thre, the ball in the $ndian .oliti*ians( *ourt and as+ed them to dra, a dra&t o& the &orth*oming A*t on ,hi*h both Hindus and Muslims *ould agree/ 3he $ndian leaders a**e.ted the *hallenge and &or this .ur.ose the All 2arties Con&eren*e ,as held at Delhi in Lanuary 198/ More than a hundred delegates o& almost all the .arties o& the 7ub-*ontinent assembled and .arti*i.ated in the *on&eren*e/ Un&ortunately the leaders ,ere not able to *ome to any *on*lusion/ 3he biggest hindran*e ,as the issue o& the rights o& minorities/ 3he se*ond meeting o& the All 2arties Con&eren*e ,as held in Mar*h the same year but the leaders still had their di6eren*es and again ,ere not able to rea*h a *on*lusion/ 3he only ,or+ done in this *on&eren*e ,as the a..ointment o& t,o sub*ommittees/ ut due to the mutual di6eren*es bet,een Muslims and Hindus the *ommittees &ailed to .rodu*e any .ositive result/
:hen the All 2arties Con&eren*e met &or the third time in ombay on May 19 198 there ,as hardly any .ros.e*t o& an agreed *onstitution/ $t ,as then de*ided that a small *ommittee should be a..ointed to ,or+ out the details o& the *onstitution/ Motilal 'ehru headed this *ommittee/ 3here ,ere nine other members in this *ommittee in*luding t,o Muslims 7yed Ali $mam and 7hoaib 4ureshi/ 3he *ommittee ,or+ed &or three months at Allahabad and its memorandum ,as *alled the 'ehru Ee.ort/ 3he *hairman #oined hands ,ith the Hindu Mahasabha and un*eremoniously uashed the re*ent Congress a**e.tan*e o& the Delhi 2ro.osals/ 3he 'ehru Ee.ort re*ommended that a De*laration o& Eights should be inserted in the *onstitution assuring the &ullest liberty o& *ons*ien*e and religion/ 3he &ollo,ing ,ere the re*ommendations advan*ed by the 'ehru Ee.ort@ 1/ $ndia should be given the status o& a dominion/ / 3here should be &ederal &orm o& government ,ith residuary .o,ers vested in the *enter/ =/ $ndia should have a .arliamentary &orm o& government headed by a 2rime Minister and si? ministers a..ointed by the Fovernor Feneral/ !/ 3here should be bi-*ameral legislature/ 5/ 3here should be no se.arate ele*torate &or any *ommunity/ / 7ystem o& ,eightage &or minorities ,as as bad as that o& se.arate ele*torates/ "/ Eeservation o& Muslim seats *ould be .ossible in the .rovin*es ,here Muslim .o.ulation ,as at least ten .er*ent but this ,as to be in stri*t .ro.ortion to the si>e o& the *ommunity/ 8/ Muslims should en#oy one-&ourth re.resentation in the Central )egislature/ 9/ 7indh should be se.arated &rom ombay only i& the Committee *erti
3he re*ommendations o& the 'ehru Ee.ort ,ent against the interests o& the Muslim *ommunity/ $t ,as an attem.t to serve Hindu .redominan*e over Muslims/ 3he 'ehru Committee(s greatest blo, ,as the re#e*tion o& se.arate ele*torates/ $& the re.ort had ta+en into a**ount the Delhi 2ro.osals the Muslims might have a**e.ted it/ ut the 'ehru Committee did not *onsider the Delhi 2ro.osals at all ,hile &ormulating their re.ort/ 3he Muslims ,ere as+ing &or one-third re.resentation in the *enter ,hile 'ehru Committee gave them only one-&ourth re.resentation/ $t is true that t,o demands o& Muslims ,ere *onsidered in the 'ehru Ee.ort but both o& them in*om.lete/ $t ,as said that 7indh should be se.arated &rom ombay but the *ondition o& sel&-e*onomy ,as also .ut &or,ard/ $t demanded *onstitutional re&orms in '/ :/ B/ 2/ but alu*histan ,as overloo+ed in the re.ort/ & the t,o Muslim members o& the 'ehru Committee 7yed Ali $mam *ould attend only one meeting due to his illness and 7hoaib 4ureshi did not endorse vie,s o& the Committee on the issue o& Muslim re.resentation in legislature/ 3hus the 'ehru Ee.ort ,as nothing else than a Congress do*ument and thus totally o..osed by Muslims o& the 7ub-*ontinent/ 3he Hindus under Congress threatened the government ,ith a disobedien*e movement i& the 'ehru re.ort ,as not im.lemented into the A*t by De*ember =1 199/ 3his Hindu attitude .roved to be a milestone in the &reedom movement o& the Muslims/ $t also .roved to be a turning .oint in the li&e o& Muhammad Ali Linnah/ A&ter reading the 'ehru Ee.ort Linnah announ*ed a (.arting o& the ,ays(/ 3he 'ehru Ee.ort ree*ted the inner .re#udi*e and narro,-minded a..roa*h o& the Hindus/
All 2arties Muslim Con&eren*e 3he immediate result o& the .ubli*ation o& the 'ehru Ee.ort ,as that Muslims o& all shades o& o.inion united in o..osition to it/ 3he t,o ,ings o& the Muslim )eague that had been s.lit sin*e 19! *ame *loser/ n Lanuary 1 199 the All 2arties Muslim Con&eren*e *onvened in Delhi under Aga han/ 'early
every shade o& o.inion ,as re.resented/ 3he Con&eren*e laid do,n the Muslims demands in the *learest .ossible terms@ 1/ 3he only &orm o& government suitable to $ndian *onditions ,as a &ederal system ,ith *om.lete autonomy and residuary .o,ers vested in the *onstituent states/ / Muslims should not be de.rived o& the right to ele*t their re.resentatives through se.arate ele*torates ,ithout their *onsent/ =/ Muslims should *ontinue to have ,eightage in the Hindu ma#ority .rovin*es and they ,ere ,illing to a**ord the same .rivilege to non-Muslim minorities in 7indh the '/ :/ B/ 2/ and alu*histan/ !/ Muslims should have their due share in the *entral and .rovin*ial *abinets/ 5/ Muslim ma#ority in all Muslim ma#ority .rovin*es I,ith .arti*ular re&eren*e to engal and 2un#abJ should in no ,ay be disturbed/ 3his resolution ,as the Muslims( re.ly to the 'ehru Ee.ort/ 3he re#e*tion o& the Congress-ins.ired *onstitution ,as *om.letely unanimous and *lear/ n t,o .oints the Muslims ,ere adamant@ se.arate ele*torates must *ontinue and $ndia must have a &ederal &orm o& government/ 3he 'ehru Ee.ort ,as .rimarily re.udiated be*ause it denied these *onditions/ At this *riti*al #un*ture Linnah made the last attem.t to unite the Hindus and the Muslims/ At All 2arties Convention at Cal*utta in 199 he suggested *ertain modi<*ations to be made in the re*ommendations o& the 'ehru Ee.ort/ 3hese ,ere as &ollo,s@ 1/ ne-third o& the ele*ted re.resentatives o& both the houses o& the *entral legislature should be Muslim/ / $n the event o& adult su6rage not being established in 2un#ab and engal there should be reservations o& seats &or the Muslims on the basis o& .o.ulation &or ten years; sub#e*t to a re-e?amination a&ter that .eriod but they shall have no right to *ontest additional seats/ =/ Eesiduary .o,ers should be le&t to the .rovin*es and should not rest ,ith the *entral legislature/ 3he *ommittee re#e*ted these suggestions/ $n Mar*h 199 4uaid-i-A>am *om.iled a set o& re*ommendations that greatly inuen*ed Muslim thin+ing &or the better .art o& the ne?t de*ade/
Bourteen 2oints o& M/ A/ Linnah A .ositive as.e*t o& 'ehru Ee.ort ,as that it resulted in the unity o& divided Muslim grou.s/ $n a meeting o& the *oun*il o& All $ndia Muslim )eague on Mar*h 8 199 members o& both the 7ha< )eague and Linnah )eague .arti*i.ated/ 4uaid-i-A>am termed the 'ehru Ee.ort as a Hindu do*ument but *onsidered sim.ly re#e*ting the re.ort as insu0*ient/ He de*ided to give an alternative Muslim agenda/ $t ,as in this meeting that 4uaid-i-A>am .resented his &amous Bourteen 2oints/ 3hese .oints ,ere as &ollo,s@ 1/ 3he &orm o& the &uture *onstitution should be &ederal ,ith the residuary .o,ers vested in the .rovin*es/ / A uni&orm measure o& autonomy shall be granted to all .rovin*es/ =/ All legislatures in the *ountry and other ele*ted bodies shall be *onstituted on the de
9/ 7indh should be se.arated &rom the ombay .residen*y/ 1G/ Ee&orms should be introdu*ed in the 'orth :est Brontier 2rovin*e and alu*histan on the same &ooting as in the other .rovin*es/ 11/ 2rovision should be made in the *onstitution giving Muslims an adeuate share along ,ith the other $ndians in all the servi*es o& the state and in lo*al sel&-governing bodies having due regard to the reuirements o& e0*ien*y/ 1/ 3he *onstitution should embody adeuate sa&eguards &or the .rote*tion o& Muslim *ulture and &or the .rote*tion and .romotion o& Muslim edu*ation language religion .ersonal la,s and Muslim *haritable institution and &or their due share in the grants-in-aid given by the state and by lo*al sel&-governing bodies/ 1=/ 'o *abinet either *entral or .rovin*ial should be &ormed ,ithout there being a .ro.ortion o& at least one-third Muslim ministers/ 1!/ 'o *hange shall be made in the *onstitution by the Central )egislature e?*e.t ,ith the *on*urren*e o& the 7tate(s *ontribution o& the $ndian Bederation/
3he *oun*il o& the All $ndia Muslim )eague a**e.ted &ourteen .oints o& the 4uaid/ A resolution ,as .assed a**ording to ,hi*h no s*heme &or the &uture *onstitution o& the Fovernment o& $ndia ,ould be a**e.table to the Muslims unless and until it in*luded the demands o& the 4uaid .resented in the &ourteen .oints/
Allahabad Address 7everal Muslim leaders and thin+ers having insight into the Muslim-Hindu situation .ro.osed the se.aration o& Muslim $ndia/ Ho,ever Allama Muhammad $bal gave the most lu*id e?.lanation o& the inner &eelings o& Muslim *ommunity in his .residential address to the All $ndia Muslim )eague at Allahabad in 19=G/ Allama Muhammad $bal ,as a .oet .hiloso.her and thin+er ,ho had gained *ountry,ide &ame and re*ognition by 19=G/ 2oliti*al events had ta+en an ominous turn/ 3here ,as a t,o-.ronged atta*+ on the Muslim interests/ n one hand the Hindus o6ered a tough o..osition
by .ro.osing the 'ehru Ee.ort as the ultimate *onstitution &or $ndia/ n the other the ritish government in $ndia had totally ignored the Muslim demands in the 7imon Commission re.ort/ At this *riti*al #un*ture $bal reali>ed that the .e*uliar .roblems o& the Muslims in 'orth-:est $ndia *ould only be understood by .eo.le belonging to this region and that in order to survive they ,ould have to *hal+ out their o,n line o& a*tion/ $n his address Allama $bal e?.lained that $slam ,as the ma#or &ormative &a*tor in the li&e history o& $ndian Muslims/ $t &urnished those basi* emotions and loyalties ,hi*h gradually uni&y s*attered individuals and grou.s and ed as a nation/ He *laimed that the only ,ay &or the Muslims and Hindus to .ros.er in a**ordan*e ,ith their res.e*tive *ultural values ,as under a &ederal system ,here Muslim ma#ority units ,ere given the same .rivileges that ,ere to be given to the Hindu ma#ority units/ As a .ermanent solution to the Muslim-Hindu .roblem $bal .ro.osed that 2un#ab 'orth :est Brontier 2rovin*e alu*histan and 7indh should be *onverted into one .rovin*e/ He de*lared that the north,estern .art o& the *ountry ,as destined to unite as a sel&-governed unit ,ithin the ritish %m.ire or ,ithout it/ 3his he suggested ,as the only ,ay to do a,ay ,ith *ommunal riots and bring .ea*e in the 7ub-*ontinent/ 3he greatest histori*al signi<*an*e o& Allama $bal(s Allahabad address ,as that it *leared all .oliti*al *on&usion &rom the minds o& the Muslims thus enabling them to determine their ne, destination/ 3he national s.irit that $bal &used amongst the Muslims o& $ndia later on develo.ed into the ideologi*al basis o& 2a+istan/
Eound 3able Con&eren*es
3he $ndian .oliti*al *ommunity re*eived the 7imon Commission Ee.ort issued in Lune 19=G ,ith great resentment/ Di6erent .oliti*al .arties gave vent to their &eelings in di6erent ,ays/ 3he Congress started a Civil Disobedien*e Movement under Fandhi(s *ommand/ 3he Muslims reserved their o.inion on the 7imon Ee.ort de*laring that the re.ort ,as not
Birst Eound 3able Con&eren*e@ 3he am Maulana
Muhammad Ali Louhar 7ir Muhammad 7ha< and Maulvi Ba>l-i-Ha/ 7ir 3a# ahadur 7a.ru Mr/ Lai+ar and Dr/ Moon#e ,ere outstanding amongst the Hindu leaders/
3he Muslim-Hindu di6eren*es over*astted the *on&eren*e as the Hindus ,ere .ushing &or a .o,er&ul *entral government ,hile the Muslims stood &or a loose &ederation o& *om.letely autonomous .rovin*es/ 3he Muslims demanded maintenan*e o& ,eightage and se.arate ele*torates the Hindus their abolition/ 3he Muslims *laimed statutory ma#ority in 2un#ab and engal ,hile Hindus resisted their im.osition/ $n 2un#ab the situation ,as *om.li*ated by inated 7i+h *laims/ %ight sub*ommittees ,ere set u. to deal ,ith the details/ 3hese *ommittees dealt ,ith the &ederal stru*ture .rovin*ial *onstitution &ran*hise 7indh the 'orth :est Brontier 2rovin*e de&ense servi*es and minorities/ 3he *on&eren*e bro+e u. on Lanuary 19 19=1 and ,hat emerged &rom it ,as a general agreement to ,rite sa&eguards &or minorities into the *onstitution and a vague desire to devise a &ederal system &or the *ountry/
Fandhi-$r,in 2a*t@ A&ter the *on*lusion o& the Birst Eound 3able Con&eren*e the ritish government reali>ed that the *oo.eration o& the $ndian 'ational Congress ,as ne*essary &or &urther advan*ement in the ma+ing o& the $ndian *onstitution/ 3hus )ord $r,in the i*eroy e?tended an invitation to Fandhi &or tal+s/ Fandhi agreed to end the Civil Disobedien*e Movement ,ithout laying do,n any .re*onditions/ 3he agreement bet,een Fandhi and $r,in ,as signed on Mar*h 5 19=1/ Bollo,ing are the salient .oints o& this agreement@ 1/ 3he Congress ,ould dis*ontinue the Civil Disobedien*e Movement/ / 3he Congress ,ould .arti*i.ate in the Eound 3able Con&eren*e/ =/ 3he Fovernment ,ould ,ithdra, all ordinan*es issued to *urb the Congress/ !/ 3he Fovernment ,ould ,ithdra, all .rose*utions relating to o6enses not involving violen*e/
5/ 3he Fovernment ,ould release all .ersons undergoing senten*es o& im.risonment &or their a*tivities in the *ivil disobedien*e movement/ 3he .a*t sho,s that the ritish Fovernment ,as an?ious to bring the Congress to the *on&eren*e table/
7e*ond Eound 3able Con&eren*e @ 3he se*ond session o& the *on&eren*e o.ened in )ondon on 7e.tember " 19=1/ 3he main tas+ o& the *on&eren*e ,as done through the t,o *ommittees on &ederal stru*ture and minorities/ Fandhi ,as a member o& both but he ado.ted a very unreasonable attitude/ He *laimed that he re.resented all $ndia and dismissed all other $ndian delegates as non-re.resentative be*ause they did not belong to the Congress/ 3he *ommunal .roblem re.resented the most di0*ult issue &or the delegates/ Fandhi again tabled the Congress s*heme &or a settlement a mere re.rodu*tion o& the 'ehru Ee.ort but all the minorities re#e*ted it/ As a *ounter to the Congress s*heme the Muslims the de.ressed *lasses the $ndian Christians the Anglo-$ndians and the %uro.eans .resented a #oint statement o& *laims ,hi*h they said must stand as an interde.endent ,hole/ As their main demands ,ere not a**e.table to Fandhi the *ommunal issue ,as .ost.oned &or &uture dis*ussion/ 3hree im.ortant *ommittees dra&ted their re.orts; the Bran*hise Committee the Bederal Binan*e Committee and 7tates $nuiry Committee/ n the *on*luding day the ritish 2rime Minister Eamsay Ma*Donald a..ealed to the $ndian leaders to rea*h a *ommunal settlement/ Bailing to do so he said ,ould &or*e the ritish government ,ould ta+e a unilateral de*ision/ 4uaid-i-A>am did not .arti*i.ate in the session o& the 7e*ond Eound 3able Con&eren*e as he had de*ided to +ee. himsel& aloo& &rom the $ndian .oliti*s and to .ra*ti*e as a .ro&essional la,yer in %ngland/ n his return to $ndia Fandhi on*e again started Civil Disobedien*e Movement and ,as duly arrested/
3hird Eound 3able Con&eren*e@ 3he third session began on 'ovember 1" 19=/ $t ,as short and unim.ortant/ 3he Congress ,as on*e again absent so ,as the )abor o..osition in the ritish 2arliament/ Ee.orts o& the various *ommittees ,ere s*rutini>ed/ 3he *on&eren*e ended on De*ember 5 19=/ 3he re*ommendations o& the Eound 3able Con&eren*es ,ere embodied in a :hite 2a.er/ $t ,as .ublished in Mar*h 19== and debated in .arliament dire*tly a&ter,ards analy>ed by the Loint 7ele*t Committee and a&ter the
3he Communal A,ard :hen the $ndian leadershi. &ailed to *ome u. ,ith a *onstitutional solution o& the *ommunal issue the ritish 2rime Minister Eamsay Ma*Donald announ*ed his o,n &ormula &or solving the .roblem/ He said that he ,as not only a 2rime Minister o& ritain but ,as also a &riend o& the $ndians and thus ,anted to solve the .roblems o& his &riends/ A&ter the &ailure o& the 7e*ond Eound 3able *on&eren*e Mr/ Ma*Donald announ*ed the (Communal A,ard( on August 1 19=/ A**ording to the A,ard the right o& se.arate ele*torate ,as not only given to the Muslims o& $ndia but also to all the minority *ommunities in the *ountry/ 3he A,ard also de*lared untou*hables as a minority and thus the Hindu de.ressed *lasses ,ere given a number o& s.e*ial seats to be
Muslim ma#ority o& 5!/8 .er*ent in 2un#ab ,as thus redu*ed to a minority/ 3he &ormula &avored the 7i+hs o& 2un#ab and the %uro.eans o& engal the most/
3he A,ard ,as not .o.ular ,ith any $ndian .arty/ Muslims ,ere not ha..y ,ith the Communal A,ard as it has redu*ed their ma#ority in 2un#ab and engal to a minority/ Ket they ,ere .re.ared to a**e.t it/ $n its annual session held in 'ovember 19== the All $ndia Muslim )eague .assed a resolution that reads; 3hough the de*ision &alls &ar short o& the Muslim demands the Muslims have a**e.ted it in the best interest o& the *ountry reserving to themselves the right to .ress &or the a**e.tan*e o& all their demands/ n the other hand the Hindus re&used to a**e.t the a,ards and de*ided to laun*h a *am.aign against it/ Bor them it ,as not .ossible to a**e.t the Untou*hables as a minority/ 3hey organi>ed the Allahabad Unity Con&eren*e in ,hi*h they demanded &or the re.la*ement o& se.arate ele*torates by #oint ele*torates/ Many nationalist Muslims and 7i+hs also .arti*i.ated in the *on&eren*e/ 3he Congress also re#e*ted the A,ard in 3oto/ Fandhi .rotested against the de*laration o& Untou*hables as a minority and undertoo+ a &ast unto death/ He also held meetings ,ith the Untou*hable leadershi. &or the
Fovernment o& $ndia A*t 19=5 A&ter the &ailure o& the 3hird Eound 3able Con&eren*e the ritish government gave the Loint 7ele*t Committee the tas+ o& &ormulating the ne, A*t &or $ndia/ 3he Committee *om.rised o& 1 members ea*h &rom the House o& Commons and House o& )ords G re.resentatives &rom ritish $ndia and seven &rom the .rin*ely states/ )ord )inlithgo, ,as a..ointed as the .resident o& the Committee/ A&ter a year and a hal& o& deliberations the Committee
signed by the ing ,as en&or*ed as the Fovernment o& $ndia A*t 19=5 in Luly 19=5/ 3he main &eatures o& the A*t o& 19=5 ,ere@ 1/ A Bederation o& $ndia ,as .romised &or *om.rising both .rovin*es and states/ 3he .rovisions o& the A*t establishing the &ederal *entral government ,ere not to go into o.eration until a s.e*i
/ 3he Fovernor Feneral remained the head o& the *entral administration and en#oyed ,ide .o,ers *on*erning administration legislation and
11/ Diar*hy ,hi*h had been established in the .rovin*es by the A*t o& 1919 ,as to be established at the Center/ Ho,ever it *ame to an end in the .rovin*es/
1/ 3,o ne, .rovin*es 7indh and rissa ,ere *reated/ 1=/ Ee&orms ,ere introdu*ed in '/ :/ B/ 2/ as ,ere in the other .rovin*es/ 1!/ 7e.arate ele*torates ,ere *ontinued as be&ore/ 15/ ne-third Muslim re.resentation in the Central )egislature ,as guaranteed/ 1/ Autonomous .rovin*ial governments in 11 .rovin*es under ministries res.onsible to legislatures ,ould be setu./ 1"/ urma and Aden ,ere se.arated &rom $ndia/ 18/ 3he Bederal Court ,as established in the Center/ 19/ 3he Eeserve an+ o& $ndia ,as established/ oth the $ndian 'ational Congress and the Muslim )eague o..osed the A*t but .arti*i.ated in the .rovin*ial ele*tions o& ,inter 19=-=" *ondu*ted under sti.ulations o& the A*t/ At the time o& inde.enden*e the t,o dominions o& $ndia and 2a+istan a**e.ted the A*t o& 19=5 ,ith &e, amendments as their .rovisional *onstitution/
Eule o& Congress Ministries 3he Fovernment o& $ndia A*t o& 19=5 ,as .ra*ti*ally im.lemented in 19="/ 3he .rovin*ial ele*tions ,ere held in the ,inter o& 19=-="/ 3here ,ere t,o ma#or .oliti*al .arties in the 7ub-*ontinent at that time the Congress and the Muslim )eague/ oth .arties did their best to .ersuade the masses be&ore these ele*tions and .ut be&ore them their mani&esto/ 3he .oliti*al mani&estos o& both .arties ,ere almost identi*al although there ,ere t,o ma#or di6eren*es/ Congress stood &or #oint ele*torate and the )eague &or se.arate ele*torates; Congress ,anted Hindi as o0*ial language ,ith Deva 'agri s*ri.t o& ,riting ,hile the )eague ,anted Urdu ,ith 2ersian s*ri.t/
A**ording to the results o& the ele*tions Congress as the oldest ri*hest and bestorgani>ed .oliti*al .arty emerged as the single largest re.resentative in the )egislative Assembles/ Ket it &ailed to se*ure even !G .er*ent o& the total number o& seats/ ut o& the 1""1 total seats in the 11 .rovin*es Congress ,as only able to ,in slightly more then "5G/ 3hus the results *learly disa..roved Fandhi(s *laim that his .arty re.resented 95 .er*ent o& the .o.ulation o& $ndia/ $ts su**ess moreover ,as mainly *on
that there ,ere only t,o .oliti*al .arties in $ndia i/e/ the ritish and the Congress/ 3he aim ,as to de*rease the im.ortan*e o& the Muslim )eague &or the Muslims/ A&ter ta+ing *harge in Luly 19=" Congress de*lared Hindi as the national language and Deva 'agri as the o0*ial s*ri.t/ 3he Congress ag ,as given the status o& national ag slaughtering o& *o,s ,as .rohibited and it ,as made *om.ulsory &or the *hildren to ,orshi. the .i*ture o& Fandhi at s*hool/ and-i-Mataram an anti-Muslim song ta+en &rom an+im Chandra Chatter#i(s novel Ananda Math ,as made the national anthem o& the *ountry/ Eeligious intoleran*e ,as the order o& the day/ Muslims ,ere not allo,ed to *onstru*t ne, mosues/ Hindus ,ould .lay drums in &ront o& mosues ,hen Muslims ,ere .raying/ 3he Congress government introdu*ed a ne, edu*ational .oli*y in the .rovin*es under their rule +no,n as the :arda 3aleemi 7*heme/ 3he main .lan ,as to s,ay Muslim *hildren against their ideology and to tell them that all the .eo.le living in $ndia ,ere $ndian and thus belonged to one nation/ $n ihar and C/ 2/ the idya Mandar 7*heme ,as introdu*ed a**ording to ,hi*h Mandar edu*ation ,as made *om.ulsory at elementary level/ 3he .ur.ose o& the s*heme ,as to obliterate the *ultural traditions o& the Muslims and to in*ul*ate into the minds o& Muslim *hildren the su.eriority o& the Hindu *ulture/ 3he Congress ministries did their best to ,ea+en the e*onomy o& Muslims/ 3hey *losed the doors o& government o0*es &or them ,hi*h ,as one o& the main sour*es o& in*ome &or the Muslims in the region/ 3hey also harmed Muslim trade and agri*ulture/ :hen Hindu-Muslim riots bro+e out due to these biased .oli*ies o& the Congress ministries the government .ressured the #udges; de*isions ,ere made in &avor o& Hindus and Muslims ,ere sent behind bars/ 3o investigate Muslim grievan*es the Muslim )eague &ormulated the 2ir.ur Ee.ort under the *hairmanshi. o& Ea#a 7yed Muhammad Mehdi o& 2ir.ur/ ther re.orts *on*erning Muslim grievan*es in Congress run .rovin*es ,ere A/ / Ba>l-ulHa(s Muslim 7u6erings Under Congress Eule and 3he 7hari& Ee.ort/
3he allegation that Congress ,as re.resenting Hindus only ,as voi*ed also by eminent ritish .ersonalities/ 3he Maruees o& )othian in A.ril 19=8 termed
the Congress rule as a rising tide o& Hindu rule/ 7ir :illiam arton ,riting in the 'ational Eevie, in Lune 19=9 also termed the Congress rule as the rising tide o& .oliti*al Hinduism/ At the outbrea+ o& the :orld :ar $$ the i*eroy .ro*laimed $ndia(s involvement ,ithout .rior *onsultations ,ith the main .oliti*al .arties/ :hen Congress demanded an immediate trans&er o& .o,er in return &or *oo.eration o& the ,ar e6orts the ritish government re&used/ As a result Congress resigned &rom .o,er/ 4uaid-i-A>am as+ed the Muslims to *elebrate De*ember 19=9 as a day o& deliveran*e and than+sgiving in to+en o& relie& &rom the tyranny and o..ression o& the Congress rule/
3he $deology o& 2a+istan@ 3,o-'ation 3heory 3he ideology o& 2a+istan stems &rom the instin*t o& the Muslim *ommunity o& 7outh Asia to maintain their individuality by resisting all attem.ts by the Hindu so*iety to absorb it/ Muslims o& 7outh Asia believe that $slam and Hinduism are not only t,o religions but also t,o so*ial orders that have given birth to t,o distin*t *ultures ,ith no similarities/ A dee. study o& the history o& this land .roves that the di6eren*es bet,een Hindus and Muslims ,ere not *onam translated it into a .oliti*al reality; and the Constituent Assembly o& 2a+istan by .assing b#e*tives Eesolution in Mar*h 19!9 gave it legal san*tion/ $t ,as due to the reali>ation o& Muslims o& 7outh Asia that
they are di6erent &rom the Hindus that they demanded se.arate ele*torates/ :hen they reali>ed that their &uture in a (Demo*rati* $ndia( dominated by Hindu ma#ority ,as not sa&e; they .ut &or,ard their demand &or a se.arate state/ 3he Muslims o& 7outh Asia believe that they are a nation in the modern sense o& the ,ord/ 3he basis o& their nationhood is neither territorial ra*ial linguisti* nor ethni*; rather they are a nation be*ause they belong to the same &aith $slam/ n this basis they *onsider it their &undamental right to be entitled to sel&-determination/ 3hey demanded that areas ,here they ,ere in ma#ority should be *onstituted into a sovereign state ,herein they ,ould be enabled to order their lives in individual and *olle*tive s.heres in a**ordan*e ,ith the tea*hings o& Holy 4uran and 7unnah o& the Holy 2ro.het I7/ A/ :/J/ 3hey &urther ,ant their state to strengthen the bonds o& unity among Muslim *ountries/ As early as in the beginning o& the 11th *entury Al-iruni observed that Hindus di6ered &rom the Muslims in all matters and habits/ He &urther elaborated his argument by ,riting that the Hindus *onsidered Muslims Mla*hha or im.ure/ And they &orbid having any *onne*tion ,ith them be it intermarriage or any other bond o& relationshi./ 3hey even avoid sitting eating and drin+ing ,ith them be*ause they &eel .olluted/ 3he s.ee*h made by 4uaid-i-A>am at Minto 2ar+ )ahore on Mar*h 19!G ,as very similar to Al-iruni(s thesis in theme and tone/ $n this s.ee*h he stated that Hindus and Muslims belong to t,o di6erent religious .hiloso.hies ,ith di6erent so*ial *ustoms and literature/ 3hey neither intermarry nor eat together and indeed belong to t,o di6erent *ivili>ations ,hose very &oundations are based on *oni*ting ideas and *on*e.ts/ 3heir outloo+ on li&e and o& li&e is di6erent/ He em.hasi>ed that in s.ite o& the .assage o& about 1GGG years the relations bet,een the Hindus and Muslims *ould not attain the level o& *ordiality/ 3he only di6eren*e bet,een the ,riting o& Al-iruni and the s.ee*h o& 4uaid-i-A>am ,as that Al-iruni made *al*ulated .redi*tions ,hile 4uaid-i-A>am had history behind him to su..ort his argument/ 3he $deology o& 2a+istan has its roots dee. in history/ 3he history o& 7outh Asia is largely a history o& rivalry and *oni*t bet,een the Hindus and Muslims
o& the region/ oth *ommunities have been living together in the same area sin*e the early 8th *entury sin*e the advent o& $slam in $ndia/ Ket the t,o have &ailed to develo. harmonious relations/ $n the beginning one *ould ni and Lay.al Muhammad Fhuri and 2rithvi Ea# abur and Eana 7anga and Aurang>eb and 7hiva#i are *ases in .oint/ :hen the Hindus o& 7outh Asia &ailed to establish Hindu 2adshahi through &or*e they o.ted &or ba*+ door *ons.ira*ies/ ha+ti Movement ,ith the desire to merge $slam and Hinduism ,as one o& the biggest atta*+s on the ideology o& the Muslims o& the region/ A+bar(s diversion &rom the main stream $slami* ideology ,as one o& the Hindus( greatest su**ess stories/ Ho,ever due to the immediate *ounteratta*+ by Mu#addid Al& 7ani and his .u.ils this era .roved to be a short one/ Muslims on*e again .roved their se.arate identity during the regimes o& Lehangir 7hah Lehan and .arti*ularly Aurang>eb/ 3he attem.ts to bring the t,o *ommunities *lose *ould not su**eed be*ause the di6eren*es bet,een the t,o are &undamental and have no meeting .oint/ At the root o& the .roblem lies the di6eren*e bet,een the t,o religions/ 7o long as the t,o .eo.le ,ant to lead their lives a**ording to their res.e*tive &aith they *annot be one/ :ith the advent o& the ritish rule in $ndia in 1858 Hindu-Muslim relations entered a ne, .hase/ 3he ritish brought ,ith them a ne, .oliti*al .hiloso.hy *ommonly +no,n as (territorial nationalism(/ e&ore the *oming o& the ritish there ,as no *on*e.t o& a (nation( in 7outh Asia and the region had never been a single .oliti*al unit/ 3he ritish attem.t to ,eld the t,o *ommunities in to a (nation( &ailed/ 3he ritish *on*e.t o& a nation did not
the situation more *om.le?/ 3he Hindus su..orted the idea ,hile it ,as strongly o..osed by the Muslims/ 3he Muslims +ne, that im.lementation o& the ne, order ,ould mean the end o& their se.arate identity and endless rule o& the Hindu ma#ority in the name o& nationalism and demo*ra*y/ 3he Muslims re&used to go the ritish ,ay/ 3hey *laimed that they ,ere a se.arate nation and the basis o& their nation ,as the *ommon religion $slam/ 3hey re&used to a**e.t a .oliti*al system that ,ould redu*e them to a .ermanent minority/ 3hey am *onsidered the *reation o& 2a+istan a means to an end and not the end in itsel&/ He ,anted 2a+istan to be an $slami* and demo*rati* state/ A**ording to his ,ishes and in a**ordan*e ,ith the ins.irations o& the .eo.le o& 2a+istan the Constituent Assembly o& 2a+istan .assed the b#e*tives Eesolution/ 3he ado.tion o& b#e*tives Eesolution removed all doubts i& there ,ere any about the ideology o& 2a+istan/ 3he Muslims o& 2a+istan de*ided on*e and &or all to ma+e 2a+istan a state ,herein the Muslims shall be enabled to order their lives in their individual and *olle*tive s.heres in a**ordan*e to the tea*hings and reuirements o& $slam as set out in the Holy 4uran and 7unnah/
19!G - 19!"
2a+istan Eesolution [19!G] Cri..s Mission [19!] Fandhi-Linnah 3al+s [19!!] :avell 2lan and 7imla Con&eren*e [19!5] 2rovin*ial and Feneral %le*tions [19!5-19!]
Cabinet Mission 2lan [19!] Lune =rd 2lan [19!"] 3he irth o 2a+istan [August 1! 19!"]
2a+istan Eesolution [19!G] Brom Mar*h to Mar*h ! 19!G the All $ndia Muslim )eague held its annual session at Minto 2ar+ )ahore/ 3his session .roved to be histori*al/ n the am Muhammad Ali Linnah narrated the events o& the last &e, months/ $n an e?tem.ore s.ee*h he .resented his o,n solution o& the Muslim .roblem/ He said that the .roblem o& $ndia ,as not o& an inter-*ommunal nature but mani&estly an international one and must be treated as su*h/ 3o him the di6eren*es bet,een Hindus and the Muslims ,ere so great and so shar. that their union under one *entral government ,as &ull o& serious ris+s/ 3hey belonged to t,o se.arate and distin*t nations and there&ore the only *han*e o.en ,as to allo, them to have se.arate states/ $n the ,ords o& 4uaid-i-A>am@ Hindus and the Muslims belong to t,o di6erent religions .hiloso.hies so*ial *ustoms and literature/ 3hey neither inter-marry nor inter-dine and indeed they belong to t,o di6erent *ivili>ations that are based mainly on *oni*ting ideas and *on*e.tions/ 3heir *on*e.ts on li&e and o& li&e are di6erent/ $t is uite *lear that Hindus and Muslims derive their ins.iration &rom di6erent sour*es o& history/ 3hey have di6erent e.i*s di6erent heroes and di6erent e.isodes/ ery o&ten the hero o& one is a &oe o& the other and li+e,ise their vi*tories and de&eats overla./ 3o yo+e together t,o su*h nations under a single state one as a numeri*al minority and the other as a ma#ority must lead to gro,ing dis*ontent and
n the basis o& the above mentioned ideas o& the 4uaid A/ / Ba>l-ul-Ha the then Chie& Minister o& engal moved the histori*al resolution ,hi*h has sin*e *ome to be +no,n as )ahore Eesolution or 2a+istan Eesolution/ 3he Eesolution de*lared@ 'o *onstitutional .lan ,ould be ,or+able or a**e.table to the Muslims unless geogra.hi*al *ontiguous units are demar*ated into regions ,hi*h should be so *onstituted ,ith su*h territorial read#ustments as may be ne*essary/ 3hat the areas in ,hi*h the Muslims are numeri*ally in ma#ority as in the 'orth-:estern and %astern >ones o& $ndia should be grou.ed to *onstitute inde.endent states in ,hi*h the *onstituent units shall be autonomous and sovereign/ $t &urther reads 3hat adeuate e6e*tive and mandatory sa&eguards shall be s.e*i<*ally .rovided in the *onstitution &or minorities in the units and in the regions &or the .rote*tion o& their religious *ultural e*onomi* .oliti*al administrative and other rights o& the minorities ,ith their *onsultation/ Arrangements thus should be made &or the se*urity o& Muslims ,here they ,ere in a minority/ 3he Eesolution re.udiated the *on*e.t o& United $ndia and re*ommended the *reation o& an inde.endent Muslim state *onsisting o& 2un#ab '/ :/ B/ 2/ 7indh and alu*histan in the north,est and engal and Assam in the northeast/ 3he Eesolution ,as se*onded by Maulana a&ar Ali han &rom 2un#ab 7ardar Aurang>eb &rom the '/ :/ B/ 2/ 7ir Abdullah Haroon &rom 7indh and 4a>i %sa &rom alu*histan along ,ith many others/ 3he Eesolution ,as .assed on Mar*h !/ $t laid do,n only the .rin*i.les ,ith the details le&t to be ,or+ed out at a &uture date/ $t ,as made a .art o& the All $ndia Muslim )eague(s *onstitution in 19!1/ $t ,as on the basis o& this resolution that in 19! the Muslim )eague de*ided to go &or one state &or the Muslims instead o& t,o/ Having .assed the 2a+istan Eesolution the Muslims o& $ndia *hanged their ultimate goal/ $nstead o& see+ing allian*e ,ith the Hindu *ommunity they set out on a .ath ,hose destination ,as a se.arate homeland &or the Muslims o& $ndia/
Cri..s Mission [19!] 3he ritish government ,anted to get the *oo.eration o& the $ndian .eo.le in order to deal ,ith the ,ar situation/ 3he divergen*e bet,een the t,o ma#or re.resentative .arties o& the *ountry harassed the ritish government/ $t &ound it di0*ult to ma+e the ,ar a su**ess ,ithout the *oo.eration o& both the Hindus and the Muslims/ n Mar*h 19! ritain sent 7ir 7ta6ord Cri..s ,ith *onstitutional .ro.osals/ 3he im.ortant .oints o& the de*laration ,ere as &ollo,s@ aJ Feneral ele*tions in the .rovin*es ,ould be arranged as soon as the ,ar ended/ bJ A ne, $ndian dominion asso*iated ,ith the United ingdom ,ould be *reated/ *J 3hose .rovin*es not #oining the dominion *ould &orm their o,n se.arate union/ dJ Minorities ,ere to be .rote*ted/ Ho,ever both the Congress and the Muslim )eague re#e*ted these .ro.osals/ Linnah o..osed the .lan as it did not *on*ede 2a+istan/ 3hus the .lan *ame to nothing/
Fandhi-Linnah 3al+s [19!!] 3he Fandhi-Linnah 3al+s have eminent signi<*an*e ,ith regard to the .oliti*al .roblems o& $ndia and the 2a+istan Movement/ 3he tal+s bet,een the t,o great leaders o& the 7ub-*ontinent began in res.onse to the general .ubli*(s desire &or a settlement o& Hindu-Muslim di6eren*es/ n Luly 1" 19!! Fandhi ,rote a letter to 4uaid-i-A>am in ,hi*h he e?.ressed his desire to meet him/ 4uaid-i-A>am as+ed the Muslim )eague &or .ermission &or this meeting/ 3he )eague readily a*uies*ed/ 3he Fandhi-Linnah tal+s began in ombay on 7e.tember 19 19!! and lasted till the !th o& the month/ 3he tal+s ,ere held dire*tly and via *orres.onden*e/ Fandhi told 4uaid-i-A>am that he had *ome in his .ersonal *a.a*ity and ,as re.resenting neither the Hindus nor the Congress/
Fandhi(s real .ur.ose behind these tal+s ,as to e?tra*t &rom Linnah an admission that the ,hole .ro.osition o& 2a+istan ,as absurd/ 4uaid-i-A>am .ainsta+ingly e?.lained the basis o& the demand o& 2a+istan/ :e maintain he ,rote to Fandhi that Muslims and Hindus are t,o ma#or nations by any deam did not agree to the .ro.osal and the tal+s ended/
:avell 2lan and 7imla Con&eren*e [19!5] $n May 19!5 )ord :avell the i*eroy o& $ndia ,ent to )ondon and dis*ussed his ideas about the &uture o& $ndia ,ith the ritish administration/ 3he tal+s resulted in the &ormulation o& a .lan o& a*tion that ,as made .ubli* in Lune 19!5/ 3he .lan is +no,n as :avell 2lan/
3he 2lan suggested re*onstitution o& the i*eroy(s %?e*utive Coun*il in ,hi*h the i*eroy ,as to sele*t .ersons nominated by the .oliti*al .arties/ Di6erent *ommunities ,ere also to get their due share in the Coun*il and .arity ,as reserved &or Cast-Hindus and Muslims/ :hile de*laring the .lan the 7e*retary o& 7tate &or $ndian A6airs made it *lear that the ritish Fovernment ,anted to listen to the ideas o& all ma#or $ndian *ommunities/ Ket he said that it ,as only .ossible i& the leadershi. o& the leading $ndian .oliti*al .arties agreed ,ith the suggestions o& the ritish Fovernment/ 3o dis*uss these .ro.osals ,ith the leadershi. o& ma#or $ndian .arties :avell *alled &or a *on&eren*e at 7imla on Lune 5 19!5/ )eaders o& both the Congress and the Muslim )eague attended the *on&eren*e ,hi*h is +no,n as the 7imla Con&eren*e/ Ho,ever di6eren*es arose bet,een the leadershi. o& the t,o .arties on the issue o& re.resentation o& the Muslim *ommunity/ 3he Muslim )eague *laimed that it ,as the only re.resentative .arty o& the Muslims in $ndia and thus all the Muslim re.resentatives in the i*eroy(s %?e*utive Coun*il should be the nominees o& the .arty/ Congress ,hi*h had sent Maulana A>ad as the leader o& their delegation tried to .rove that their .arty re.resented all the *ommunities living in $ndia and thus should be allo,ed to nominate Muslim re.resentative as ,ell/ Congress also o..osed the idea o& .arity bet,een the CastHindus and the Muslims/ All this resulted in a deadlo*+/ Binally :avell announ*ed the &ailure o& his e6orts on Luly 1!/ 3hus the 7imla Con&eren*e *ouldn(t .rovide any ho.e o& .ro*eeding &urther/
2rovin*ial and Feneral %le*tions [19!5-19!] :ith the &ailure o& the 7imla Con&eren*e )ord :avell announ*ed that the Central and 2rovin*ial )egislature ele*tions ,ould be held in the ,inter o& 19!5 a&ter ,hi*h a *onstitution-ma+ing body ,ould be set u./ He also announ*ed that a&ter the ele*tions the i*eroy ,ould set an %?e*utive Coun*il that ,ould have the su..ort o& the main $ndian .oliti*al .arties/ oth the Muslim )eague and the Congress o..osed the .ro.osal/
4uaid-i-A>am de*lared that Muslims ,ere not ready to a**e.t any settlement less than a se.arate homeland &or them and the All $ndia Congress Committee *hara*teri>ed the .ro.osal as vague inadeuate and unsatis&a*tory be*ause it had not addressed the issue o& inde.enden*e/ Des.ite this the t,o .arties laun*hed huge ele*tion *am.aigns/ 3hey +ne, that the ele*tions ,ould be *ru*ial &or the &uture o& $ndia as the results ,ere to .lay an im.ortant role in determining their standing/ 3he )eague ,anted to s,ee. the Muslim *onstituen*ies so as to .rove that they ,ere the sole re.resentatives o& the Muslims o& 7ub-*ontinent ,hile Congress ,anted to .rove that irres.e*tive o& religion they re.resent all the $ndians/ oth the Muslim )eague and the Congress .romulgated o..osite slogans during their *am.aigns/ 3he Muslim )eague .resented a one-.oint mani&esto i& you ,ant 2a+istan vote &or the Muslim )eague/ 4uaid-i-A>am himsel& toured the length and breadth o& $ndia and tried to unite the Muslim *ommunity under the banner o& the Muslim )eague/ 3he Congress on the other hand stood &or United $ndia/ 3o *ounter the Muslim )eague the Congress .ress abused the 4uaid and termed his demand &or 2a+istan as the vivise*tion o& Mother $ndia rea*tionary .rimitivism and religious barbarism/ Congress tried to brand Muslim )eague as an ultra-*onservative *liue o& +nights han ahadurs toadies and government .ensioners/ 3he Congress also tried to get the su..ort o& all the .rovin*ial and *entral Muslim .arties ,ho had some di6eren*es ,ith the )eague and ba*+ed them in the ele*tions/ %le*tions &or the Central )egislature ,ere held in De*ember 19!5/ 3hough the &ran*hise ,as limited the turnover ,as e?traordinary/ 3he Congress ,as able to s,ee. the .olls &or the non-Muslim seats/ 3hey managed to ,in more then 8G .er*ent o& the general seats and about 91/= .er*ent o& the total general votes/ 3he )eagues .er&orman*e ho,ever ,as even more im.ressive@ it managed to ,in all the =G seats reserved &or the Muslims/ 3he results o& the .rovin*ial ele*tion held in early 19! ,ere not di6erent/ Congress ,on most o& the non-Muslim seats ,hile Muslim )eague *a.tured a..ro?imately 95 .er*ent o& the Muslim seats/
$n a bulletin issued on Lanuary 19! the Central %le*tion oard o& the Congress *laimed that the ele*tion results had vindi*ated the .arty as the biggest strongest and the most re.resentative organi>ation in the *ountry/ n the other hand the )eague *elebrated Lanuary 11 19! as the Day o& i*tory and de*lared that the ele*tion results ,ere enough to .rove that Muslim )eague under the leadershi. o& 4uaid-i-A>am ,as the sole re.resentative o& the Muslims o& the region/
Cabinet Mission 2lan [19!] All o& the ritish Fovernment(s attem.ts to establish .ea*e bet,een the Congress and the Muslim )eague had &ailed/ 3he results o& the general ele*tions held in 19!5-! served to underline the urgen*y to
3he union ,ould have an %?e*utive and a )egislature/ / All residuary .o,ers ,ould belong to the .rovin*es/ =/ All .rovin*es ,ould be divided into three se*tions/ 2rovin*es *ould o.t out o& any grou. a&ter the
3he i*eroy should no, have invited the Muslim )eague to &orm Fovernment as it had a**e.ted the interim setu.; but he did not do so/ Mean,hile La,aharlal 'ehru addressing a .ress *on&eren*e on Luly 1G said that the Congress had agreed to #oin the *onstituent assembly but saying it ,ould be &ree to ma+e *hanges in the Cabinet Mission 2lan/ Under these *ir*umstan*es the Muslim )eague disasso*iated itsel& &rom the Cabinet 2lan and resorted to Dire*t A*tion to a*hieve 2a+istan/ As a result i*eroy :avell invited the Congress to #oin the interim government although it had .ra*ti*ally re#e*ted the .lan/ Ho,ever the i*eroy soon reali>ed the &utility o& the s*heme ,ithout the .arti*i.ation o& the )eague/ 3here&ore on *tober 1! 19! he e?tended an invitation to them as ,ell/ Linnah nominated )iauat Ali han $/ $/ Chundrigar 7ardar Abdur Eab 'ishtar Fha>an&ar Ali han and Logandra 'ath Mandal to the *abinet/ Congress allo*ated the Binan*e Ministry to the )eague/ 3his in e6e*t .la*ed the ,hole governmental setu. under the Muslim )eague/ As Minister o& Binan*e the budget )iauat Ali han .resented ,as *alled a .oor man(s budget as it adversely a6e*ted the Hindu *a.italists/ 3he deadlo*+ bet,een the Congress and the )eague &urther ,orsened in this setu./ n Mar*h 19!" )ord Mountbatten arrived as the last i*eroy/ $t ,as announ*ed that .o,er ,ould be trans&erred &rom ritish to $ndian hands by Lune
19!8/ )ord Mountbatten entered into a series o& tal+s ,ith the Congress and the Muslim )eague leaders/ 4uaid-i-A>am made it *lear that the demand &or 2a+istan had the su..ort o& all the Muslims o& $ndia and that he *ould not ,ithdra, &rom it/ :ith staun*h e?tremists as 2atel agreeing to the Muslim demand &or a se.arate homeland Mountbatten no, .re.ared &or the .artition o& the 7ub*ontinent and announ*ed it on Lune = 19!"/
Lune =rd 2lan [19!"] :hen all o& Mountbatten(s e6orts to +ee. $ndia united &ailed he as+ed $smay to *hal+ out a .lan &or the trans&er o& .o,er and the division o& the *ountry/ $t ,as de*ided that none o& the $ndian .arties ,ould vie, it be&ore the .lan ,as ed/ 3he .lan ,as ed in the Fovernor(s Con&eren*e in A.ril 19!" and ,as then sent to ritain in May ,here the ritish Fovernment a..roved it/ Ho,ever be&ore the announ*ement o& the .lan 'ehru ,ho ,as staying ,ith Mountbatten as a guest in his residen*e at 7imla had a loo+ at the .lan and re#e*ted it/ Mountbatten then as+ed / 2/ Menon the only $ndian in his .ersonal sta6 to .resent a ne, .lan &or the trans&er o& .o,er/ 'ehru edited Menon(s &ormula and then Mountbatten himsel& too+ the ne, .lan to )ondon ,here he got it a..roved ,ithout any alteration/ Attlee and his *abinet gave the a..roval in a meeting that lasted not more than am )iauat 'ishtar and aldev 7ingh/ A&ter these leaders a..roved the .lan Mountbatten dis*ussed it ,ith Fandhi and *onvin*ed him that it ,as the best .lan under the *ir*umstan*es/ 3he .lan ,as made .ubli* on Lune = and is thus +no,n as the Lune =rd 2lan/ 3he &ollo,ing ,ere the main *lauses o& this 2lan@
1/ 3he 2rovin*ial )egislative Assemblies o& 2un#ab and engal ,ere to meet in t,o grou.s i/e/ Muslim ma#ority distri*ts and non-Muslim ma#ority distri*ts/ $& any o& the t,o de*ided in &avor o& the division o& the .rovin*e then the Fovernor Feneral ,ould a..oint a boundary *ommission to demar*ate the boundaries o& the .rovin*e on the basis o& as*ertaining the *ontiguous ma#ority areas o& Muslims and non-Muslims/ / 3he )egislative Assembly o& 7indh Ie?*luding its %uro.ean MembersJ ,as to de*ide either to #oin the e?isting Constituent Assembly or the 'e, Constituent Assembly/ =/ $n order to de*ide the &uture o& the 'orth :est Brontier 2rovin*e a re&erendum ,as .ro.osed/ 3he %le*toral College &or the re&erendum ,as to be the same as the %le*toral College &or the .rovin*ial legislative assembly in 19!/ !/ alu*histan ,as also to be given the o.tion to e?.ress its o.inion on the issue/ 5/ $& engal de*ided in &avor o& .artition a re&erendum ,as to be held in the 7ylhet Distri*t o& Assam to de*ide ,hether it ,ould *ontinue as a .art o& Assam or be merged ,ith the ne, .rovin*e o& %ast engal/
3he irth o 2a+istan [August 1! 19!"] 3he ritish 2arliament .assed the $ndian $nde.enden*e A*t on Luly 18 19!"/ 3he A*t *reated t,o dominions $ndian Union and 2a+istan/ $t also .rovided &or the *om.lete end o& ritish *ontrol over $ndian a6airs &rom August 15 19!"/ 3he Muslims o& the 7ub-*ontinent had am Muhammad Ali Linnah ,as a..ointed the
3he boundaries o& 2a+istan emerged on the ma. o& the ,orld in 19!"/ 3his ,as a**om.lished on the basis o& the 3,o-'ation 3heory/ 3his theory held that there ,ere t,o nations Hindus and Muslims living in the territory o& the 7ub*ontinent/ 7ir 7yed Ahmad han ,as the
3he .oliti*i>ation o& the Muslim *ommunity *ame about as a *onseuen*e o& three develo.ments@ 1/ arious e6orts to,ards $slami* re&orm and revival during the late 19th and early Gth *enturies/ / 3he im.a*t o& Hindu-based nationalism/ =/ 3he demo*rati>ation o& the government o& ritish $ndia/ :hile the ante*edents o& Muslim nationalism in $ndia go ba*+ to the early $slami* *onuests o& the 7ub-*ontinent organi>ationally it stems &rom the demands .resented by the 7imla De.utation to )ord Minto the Fovernor Feneral o& $ndia in *tober 19G .ro.osing se.arate ele*torates &or the $ndian Muslims/ 3he .rin*i.al reason behind this demand ,as the maintenan*e o& a se.arate identity o& the Muslim nationhood/ $n the same year the &ounding o& the All $ndia Muslim )eague a se.arate .oliti*al organi>ation &or Muslims elu*idated the &a*t that the Muslims o& $ndia had lost trust in the Hindu-dominated $ndian 'ational Congress/ esides being a Hindu-dominated body the Congress leaders in order to ,in grass-root su..ort &or their .oliti*al movements used Hindu religious symbols and slogans thereby arousing Muslim sus.i*ions regarding the se*ular *hara*ter o& the Congress/
%vents li+e the Urdu-Hindi *ontroversy I18"J the .artition o& engal I19G5J and Hindu revivalism set the t,o nations the Hindus and the Muslims &urther a.art/ Ee-annulment o& the .artition o& engal in 1911 by the ritish government brought the Congress and the Muslim )eague on one .lat&orm/ 7tarting ,ith
the *onstitutional *oo.eration in the )u*+no, 2a*t I191J they laun*hed the 'onCoo.eration and hila&at Movements to .ress u.on the ritish government the demand &or *onstitutional re&orms in $ndia in the .ost-:orld :ar $ era/ ut a&ter the *olla.se o& the hila&at Movement Hindu-Muslim antagonism ,as revived on*e again/ 3he Muslim )eague re#e*ted the .ro.osals &or,arded by the 'ehru Ee.ort and they *hose a se.arate .ath &or themselves/ 3he idea o& a se.arate homeland &or the Muslims o& 'orthern $ndia as .ro.osed by Allama $bal in his &amous Allahabad Address sho,ed that the *reation o& t,o se.arate states &or the Muslims and Hindus ,as the only solution/ 3he idea ,as reiterated during the 7indh .rovin*ial meeting o& the )eague and
Linnah(s $nde.enden*e Day Message
4uaid-i-A>am Mohammad Ali Linnah too+ oath as the ed 15 August as the day o& inde.enden*e and it ,as on this day that the nation *elebrated its $nde.enden*e Ithe *elebration o& 1! August as the $nde.enden*e day ,asn(t introdu*ed until a *ou.le o& years laterJ/
)iauat signs as 2M ,hile Linnah ,at*hes 15
Message to the 'ation
n the o**asion o& the inauguration o& the 2a+istan road*asting 7ervi*e@ August 15 19!"
$t is ,ith &eelings o& greatest ha..iness and emotion that $ send you my greetings/ August 15 is the birthday o& the inde.endent and sovereign 7tate o& 2a+istan/ $t mar+s the &ul
At this su.reme moment my thoughts are ,ith those valiant
3he *reation o& the ne, 7tate has .la*ed a tremendous res.onsibility on the *iti>ens o& 2a+istan/ $t gives them an o..ortunity to demonstrate to the ,orld ho, *an a nation *ontaining many elements live in .ea*e and amity and ,or+ &or the betterment o& all its *iti>ens irres.e*tive o& *aste or *reed/
ur ob#e*t should be .ea*e ,ithin and .ea*e ,ithout/ :e ,ant to live .ea*e&ully and maintain *ordial and &riendly relations ,ith our immediate neighbors and ,ith the ,orld at large/ :e have no aggressive designs against any one/ :e stand by the United 'ations Charter and ,ill gladly ma+e our &ull *ontribution to the .ea*e and .ros.erity o& the ,orld/
Muslims o& $ndia have sho,n to the ,orld that they are a united nation their *ause is #ust and righteous ,hi*h *annot be denied/ )et us on this day humbly than+ Fod &or His bounty and .ray that ,e might be able to .rove that ,e are ,orthy o& it/
3his day mar+s the end o& a .oignant .hase in our national history and it should also be the beginning o& a ne, and a noble era/ )et us im.ress the minorities by ,ord deed and thought that as long as they &ulens o& 2a+istan they have nothing to &ear/
3o the &reedom loving tribes on our borders and the 7tates beyond our borders ,e send our greetings and assure that 2a+istan ,ill res.e*t their status and ,ill e?tend to them its most &riendly *o-o.eration in .reserving .ea*e/ :e have no ambition beyond the desire to live honorably and let others live honorably/
3oday is Lummat-ul-:ida last Briday o& the holy month o& Eama>an a day o& re#oi*ing &or all o& us ,herever ,e may be in this vast sub-*ontinent and &or the matter o& that throughout the ,orld/ )et the Muslim *ongregations in their thousands in all the mosues bo, in all humility be&ore the Almighty and than+ Him &or His eternal +indness and generosity see+ing His guidan*e and assistan*e in the tas+ o& ma+ing 2a+istan into a great 7tate and themselves into its ,orthy *iti>ens/
Binally let me tell you &ello, *iti>ens 2a+istan is a land o& great .otential resour*es/ ut to build it u. into a *ountry ,orthy o& the Muslim nation ,e shall reuire every oun*e o& energy that ,e .ossess and $ am *on
2a+istan indabadO
7our*e@ 4uaid-i-A>am Mohammad Ali Linnah 7.ee*hes and 7tatements as Fovernor Feneral o& 2a+istan 19!" - !8/ 2ublished by Fovernment o& 2a+istan Ministry o& $n&ormation P road*asting Dire*torate o& Bilms P 2ubli*ations $slamabad
