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Pakistan’s Creation by Syed Atiq ul Hassan
(Monday August 16 2004)
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Today, there have been a growing section of educated people who are found
articulating that the partition of India was wrong and Pakistan was a spacious
mistake. According to their perspective and supporting arguments; the partition
of India divided the Muslims of India; there were more Muslims left in India
than Pakistan; the partition costed the lives of millions of innocent people;
the atypical creation of Pakistan proved to be a failure with the its further
break-up in 25 years in the shape of creation of Bangladesh and so on. The
astonishing dilemma is that the majority of people who are found arguing
these statements are intellectuals, writers, professionals and even politicians.
To understand any historical development one has to go back and examine
the event by analysing the facts & findings and the progression of incidents
which made the development happen. It is not sensible practice to judge
the existence of any historical episode with the present circumstances.
To evaluate the creation of Pakistan one should to back and study the entire
sequence of developments happened during the struggle of Muslim League of
India in securing the basic rights of Muslims of India. The leadership had
to choose the last bitter option to demand a separate land for the Muslims
of India. The Indian Muslim had been living with the people of other faith
especially with Hindus, comfortably, from centuries until the British took
over the control of India from the Mughul Emperor. The British ruled the
Indian subcontinent for nearly 200 years - from 1756 to 1947.
Since the civil disobedience started by Indians in 1857, the British government
abolished the powers of the British East India Company, which had ruled
the sub-continent on behalf of the British Crown, and took on direct powers
of governance.
British Rulers launched political reforms allowing the formation of political
parties in 1880s. The Indian National Congress, representing the overwhelming
majority of Hindus, was created in 1885. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan – A great Muslim
Scholar - told the Viceroy that the English system of open elections would
not be suitable for India as contrary to Europe there were vast differences
based on religion and caste in India. A system of open elections would mean
the majority (Hindu) community would override the interests of the minority
especially the largest minority Muslims. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan demanded for
separate representation of Muslims in the electorates to secure appropriate
representation of Muslims in the political system.
The Muslim League was formed in 1906 to represent and protect the rights
of the Muslim minority. In the same year, Muslims met the Viceroy of India
for grant of separate electorate in legislative assemblies for Muslims.
In response, British government decided to increase the seats of locals
in legislative assemblies. In 1909, the British introduced constitutional
reforms. The demand of Muslims of separate electorate was also accepted
and in the process, in 1911 Bengal was partitioned on the basis of Muslim
and Hindu majority areas.
The Muslim League was still facing frustrating hurdles in negotiating the
constitutional arrangement with Indian National Congress. At that time,
Mohammed Ali Jinnah was a leading figure of the Indian National Congress.
In 1913, Jinnah was invited by the Lucknow based Muslim Leaguers, led by
Wazir Hassan, to join Muslim League, as the League leadership wanted to
establish good understanding with Congress. Later, Mohammed Ali Jinnah reassessed
the situation and recognised the value of an organised Muslim constituency
and a role for himself as a spokesman of Muslims. Separate electorates and
one-third representation in the Central Legislature, in accordance to the
Muslims proportion in India's population, were the two main Muslim demands
from the Muslims leadership until late 1930s.
In 1924, when Mr. Ghandhi called All-Parties Conference in Bombay to find
a solution of the Hindu-Muslim question. Mohammed Ali Jinnah attended the
conference and asked for the safeguards for the Muslims. In 1926, Muslim
League at its session in Delhi demanded the revision of the Government of
India Act 1919 and asked for the immediate appointment of Royal Commission
to place the Indian Constitution on a sound and permanent basis.
From Delhi Muslim Proposal of 1927 to three amendments to the Nehru Report
of 1928, then from Fourteen Points of 1929 and to three Round Table Conferences
held in London from 1930 to 1932, Mr. Jinnah came up with many proposals.
He even managed to convince his party (Muslim League) to drop the demand
for Separate Electorates but insisted firmly on one-third Muslim representation
in the Central Legislature. Hence, Mr. Jinnah from the Muslim League platform
tried every possible political solution to secure the rights of the Muslims.
However, the Congress was found unwilling to separate Muslim representation
in Central Legislature. Yet there was no any demand from Muslim League for
the partition of India. As a matter of fact, when (then) Muslim student,
Chaudhry Rehmat Ali put forward the idea of a separate Muslim country in
1933, Jinnah and other Muslim leaders were unwilling to accept it. The Leadership
of Muslim understood the division of India means leaving behind the traditional
centres of Muslim culture, as well as a significant number of Muslims, in
a Hindu-dominated India. However, the Congress Rule from 1937 to 1939 became
the turning point for the Muslim League to re-think their options. The Congress
instead of taking everyone together went all out to impose Hindu political
and cultural ideas on the Muslims. Many Muslims now feared the destruction
of their way of life in a Hindu-dominated independent India and the discriminative
attitude with Muslims during the Congress Rule.
Hence, in 1940, a formal demand for independent State for Muslim – Pakistan
– was approved in the form of Lahore Resolution 1940 by the Muslim League.
It is arguable that if the Congress had adopted a fair and reasonable attitude
towards Muslim demands, there would have been no division of India and no
Pakistan.
It is also very important to remember that even as late as 1946, when the
Cabinet Mission proposed a united India in which two regions in the north-west
and north-east would have assured Muslim majority, Mr. Jinnah persuaded
the Muslim League to accept this proposal. Jinnah’s action proved the first
priority for the Muslim League Leadership remained the protection of the
rights of Muslims rather than the partition of India. The Founder of Pakistan,
Mohammad Ali Jinnah, in his speech at the first Constituent Assembly of
Pakistan, said,
“The demand and struggle for Pakistan had been ensured mainly because there
was a danger of denial of basic rights to the Muslims in the Indian sub-continent….
the story of Pakistan, its struggle and its achievement is the story of
great human ideals struggling to survive in the face of odds and difficulties
...... I reiterate most emphatically that Pakistan was made possible because
of the danger of complete annihilation of human soul in a society based
on caste”.
Jinnah’s statements clearly articulate that he and his Muslim League opted
the demand of a separate land in extreme circumstances to secure the basic
rights of the Muslims, at least where they are in the majority. Mohammed
Ali Jinnah started is political career from Congress and he had very close
Hindu friends. He was never found against Hindus. In his speech to the first
legislative assembly of Pakistan, Jinnah said,
“you may belong to any religion or caste or creed -- that has nothing to
do with the business of the state ...... we are starting with this fundamental
principle that we are all citizens and citizens of one state....... in the
course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to
be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith
of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the state”.
It was unfortunate that just in one year time, the founder of Pakistan Mohammed
Ali Jinnah died on 11th of September, 1948 and the next to the founder and
the first Prime Minister of Pakistan Liaqat Ali Khan was brutally assassinated
on October 16, 1951. Since then Pakistan went into the hands of people who
could not show the ability to run Pakistan according to dreams of the creators.
Therefore, by looking at today’s shape of Pakistan one should not prove
to condemn the decision of the creation of Pakistan.
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