Political Aspects of the Aligarh

Movement
Two Nation Theory
The Two Nation Theory in its simplest way means the cultural, political, religious, economic and social
dissimilarities between the two major communities. Hindus and Muslims of the Sub Continent. These
difference of outlook, in fact, were greatly instrumental in giving rise to two distinct political ideologies
which were responsible for the partition of India into two independent states. The Two Nation Theory was
the basis of the struggle for creation of Pakistan which held that Hindus and Muslims are two separate
Nations. They in spite of living together for centuries could not forget their individual cultures and
civilization. Al-Beruni recorded his ideas in 1001 A.D in his famous book "Kitab-ul-Hind" as: The
Hindus society maintained this peculiar character over the centuries. The two societies, Hindus and
Muslims, like two streams have sometimes touched but never merged, each following its separate
course." The political factors which led to the Two Nation Theory are as follows

A: Hindi-Urdu Controversy
After the War of Independence in 1857 the British blamed Muslims for the uprising and the political
condition of Muslims in India was worse than ever. Properties belonging to Muslims were confiscated
and they were deprived of employment opportunities in the government. The British also denied Muslims
education and the positions in government which were previously held by Muslims were now occupied
by the Hindus. The Hindi-Urdu conflict after the death of Sir Syed was a cultural setback to the Muslims.
Although Sir Syed had advised Muslims to stay away from politics against the British, the resurgence of
the Hindi-Urdu conflict forced the Muslims to ignore his advice. The British introduced Hindi in the 1900
and this led to Urdu being banned in the province of UP. Muslims started to organize themselves
politically to protest against this decision and created the Urdu Defense Association on 2 May 1900. This
was the first step taken by Muslims in their political struggle. After that Sir Anthony McDonnell forced
Mohsinul Mulk to resign from the Urdu Defense Association which led to the creation of the
Mohammadan Political Association, which was the first political party representing Muslims.

B: The Partition of Bengal

The next stage in the Muslim political struggle was The Partition of Bengal on 16 October 1905. This was
the first step taken by the British after the war which was in favor of the Muslims. British divided Bengal
into two parts: East Bengal and West Bengal. This action by the British caused a huge uproar amongst the
Hindus of Bengal. Before the partition Hindus were in majority in the West Bengal where the capital
Calcutta was located. Hindus were the leader in the professions of lawyers, doctors and professors of the
Calcutta University. After the partition East Bengal became a Muslim majority and West Bengal became a
Hindu majority. The new province of East Bengal would have a chief court, a new medical hospital and a
new university, all located in the new capital Dhaka. The lawyers in West Bengal would lose half their
clients which would be gained by the East Bengal lawyers who were mainly Muslim. The Hindu doctors
in the West would lose their patients because the people in the East would go to the new hospital in Dhaka
because it would be cheap and convenient. The partition was like a blessing for the Muslims but it greatly
threatened the wealth and influence of the Hindu professional class in Bengal. The protest by the Hindus

was clearly religious and against the Muslims. They held their first protest meeting on the day of the
partition at the Kali Temple. Sir Bamflyde Fuller was forced to resign from the post of lieutenant
governor. He was one of the few pro-Muslim British and he supported the partition. The British had
ensured the Muslims that the partition was a done deal whereas Fullers resignation was a sign that the
partition could be reversed. When the peaceful protesting of the Hindus failed they resorted to violence.
Sir Curzon Wyllie was killed in London. Lord and Lady Minto were attacked in Ahmadabad. Three
attempts to derail trains were recorded along with twelve attempts to bomb them.

C: Simla Deputation and All India Muslim League

These acts of violence by the Hindus led to the conservative section of the Muslims to form the Simla
Deputation on 1 October 1906. They decided to approach Viceroy Minto at his residence in Simla in the
hopes that he would be sympathetic to the Muslims because of the behavior of the Hindus. The Muslims
made four main demands to Lord Minto which were separate electorate for Muslims, weightage, a larger
share in government and the status of university for Aligarh College. All of the demands were accepted by
Lord Minto and this marked the first political victory for the Muslims. The radical group of the Muslims
were concerned that the partition would be annulled and also the Simla Deputation had made no direct
mention of the partition. So in order to safeguard their interests the Muslims at the All-India Muslim
Educational Conference founded the All India Muslim league at Dhaka on 30 December 1906 under the
leadership of Nawab Viqarul Mulk.
So it is clear that Sir Syeds Aligarh Movement and his Two Nation Theory marked the beginning of the
political struggle of Muslims and eventually led to the creation of Pakistan.