Thursday, 18 October 2012

THE PAKISTAN MOVEMENT 1906-

1947

The Pakistan Movement did not start

abruptly. It grew out of necessity, slowly
and gradually. Muslims of India were
surrounded by inimical alien rulers and
well organized Hindus.

The British had not forgotten the War of

Independence waged by the Muslims
against them. The Hindus had never
forgiven the Muslims for having ruled
India for centuries. Therefore, both the
communities conspired against the
Muslims to turn them into a poor,
helpless and ineffective minority.

The Hindus soon learnt the English

language, adopted the western ways of
living and occupied important
government posts. Muslims were left far
behind socially, educationally and
economically. Then the events took a
new turn. Hindus who had received
western education in England or some
other countries of Europe formed in
connivance with the British rulers a
political party called the Indian National
Congress which aimed at sharing power
with the British in ruling India. They
were successful in their plans. But
Muslims were losers and so when
councils were set up, they were left out.
The ruling British sensed this and felt
concerned because the Muslims did not
get adequate representation.

In the meantime, a deputation of

Muslims known as 'Simla Deputation' led
by Sir Agha Khan met Lord Minto, the
then Viceroy of India on October 1,1906
and expressed the concern of the
Muslims of India over the situation and
also impressed upon him to look into
the genuine demands of the Muslims.
The Viceroy promised to sympathetically
and judiciously consider the Muslim
viewpoint. It was probably the result of
these efforts that the Muslims were
granted the right of separate electorate
in the Minto-Morley Reforms of 1909.

Indian National Congress was founded

in 1885, which was an overwhelmingly
Hindu body. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
advised the Indian Muslims to stay away
from it. The Muslims of India had no
political organization of their own;
therefore in 1906 they decided to form a
political party known as All India Muslim
League. The objective of the All India
Muslim League was to safeguard and
promote interests of the Muslims of
India and also strive for better
understanding among different
communities of India particularly the
British.
The partition of Bengal into East and
West Bengal in 1905 had carved out a
Muslim majority province. The
introduction of Minto-Morley Reforms
was another painful factor for the
Hindus. They were not prepared to
tolerate any such step which benefited
the Muslims. So they became violent,
and freely damaged government and
public property. At last, the British
Government bowed down before the
tactics of Hindus and annulled the
partition of Bengal in 1911. That was a
great blow to the Muslims.

Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah

had started his political career by joining
the Congress Party because Muslim
League was not in existence then. In
1913 Quaid-e-Azam joined the Muslim
League and did his best to bridge the
gulf between the Hindus and the
Muslims which won him the title of
"Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity

Quaid-e-Azam continued his efforts to

bring Hindus and Muslims closer. The
political leaders were waiting for a
chance to throw away the yoke of British
slavery. Thus, there was a much greater
need of Hindu-Muslim unity. The leaders
of the two communities got together at
Lucknow in 1916 and drew up a
document which was subsequently
known as the 'Lucknow Pact'. According
to this pact, the Hindus conceded the
right of separate electorate to Muslims.
It was also agreed that in Hindu majority
provinces, Muslims would get more
representation than their population
warranted and vice versa. In this way the
existence of Muslim League, as the sole
representative political organization of
the Muslims of the sub continent, was
recognized by the Hindus and the Indian
National Congress.

In the First World War, Turkey, a Muslim

country, decided to side with Germany,
against the latter's war with Great
Britain. Turkey at that time enjoyed a
position of great prestige in the Muslim
world being the biggest Muslim Empire
and custodian of the holy.Places of the
Muslims. In the beginning, the Muslims
of India came out in support of Turkey,
but later, on the understanding given by
the British that the latter would not do
any harm to the holy places of the
Muslims, the Muslims kept almost quiet
till the end of the war.

Turkey was defeated in this war and

suffered great humiliation by losing vast
territories. The British at the end of the
war forgot all their promises and got the
treaty signed on their own terms. Turkey
had become weak and was mockingly
called the sick man of Europe.

Luckily, Mustafa Kamal Ataturk came on

the scene and proved to be a man of
destiny. His personal courage, devotion
to motherland, and unquestioned
leadership bore fruit. The Greeks were
given a severe beating and through a
treaty between Turkey and the European
powers most of the restrictions on
Turkey were withdrawn.

After World War I, the British

Government in India apprehending an
uprising against the agreement because
it had not kept Its promises made during
the war with the Muslims of India,
enacted a law known as Rowlatt Act by
which any person could be imprisoned
without filing a suit against him. This led
to countrywide anti-British
demonstrations. One such protest
meeting was held in Jallianwala Bagh,
Amritsar. A British Army Officer, General
Dyer, without warning, opened fire on
the unarmed and peaceful public and
butchered quite a few thousand
innocent people. The Jallianwala killings
set in motion a wave of hatred against
the British throughout the length and
breadth of India.

The British Government introduced

constitutional reforms in India in 1919.
All the leaders of Indo-Pakistan sub-
continent were greatly disappointed
because they felt that the reforms fell far
short of their hopes and demands. The
Muslims were already disgusted with
what had been done to Turkey and now
the conflagration was at the doorsteps.
The general disappointment gave rise to
a regular movement against the brutal
rulers.

One of the provisions of the Reforms of

1919 was that the Government would set
up every ten years a commission to
assess the political and social
conditions of India. In pursuance of this
provision, the British Government in
1927 sent a Commission known as
'Simon Commission' under John Simon.

The Simon Commission was received

everywhere with black flags.It failed
miserably.

The British Secretary of India Lord

Birkenhead got annoyed at failure of the
Simon Commission and threw a
challenge to*Indian leaders to produce
an agreed Constitution for the
consideration of the British Government.
After this challenge all the political
parties got together at Delhi under the
chairmanship of Moti Lai Nehru.
Meetings were frequently held among
leaders and at the end. a report was
produced, which is known as Nehru
Report.The Report did not reflect the
aspirations of the Muslims. Muslims
were completely disappointed with the
Report. The Report clearly indicated the
inner mind of the Hindus (hat they
wanted to bring Muslims under their
control permanently.

After the Nehru Report, Quaid-i-Azam

Muhammad AH Jinnah was disgusted
and fully realized that the parting of
ways of the two communities had come.
To explain the viewpoint of the Muslims
of the sub-continent, the Quaid gave his
own scheme which has gone down in
history as the famous 'Fourteen Points
of the Quaid which are given below:

(1) The form of the future constitution

should be federal, with the residuary
powers vested in the provinces.
(2) A uniform measure of autonomy shall
be granted to all provinces.

(3) All legislatures in the country and

other elected bodies shall be constituted
on the definite principle of adequate and
effective representation of minorities in
every province without reducing the
majority in any province to a minority or
even equality.

(4) In the Central Legislature. Muslims

representation shall not be less than
one-third.

(5) Representation of communal group

shall continue to be, by means or
separate electorate as at present,
provided that it shall be open to any
community at any time to abandon its
separate electorate in favour of 'joint
electorate'.
(6) Any territorial redistribution that
might at any time be necessary shalI not
in anyway, affect the Muslim majority in
the Punjab, Bengal and N.W.F. Province

(7) Full religious liberty, i.e., liberty of

belief, worship and observance,
propaganda, association and education
shall be guaranteed to all communities.

(8)No bill or resolution or any part

thereof shall be passed in any
legislature or any other elected body if
three-fourths of the members of that
community in that particular body
oppose such a bill, resolution or part
thereof, on the ground that it would be
injurious to the interests of that
community or in the alternative, such
other method devised as may be found
feasible and practicable to deal the such
cases.
(9) Sindh should be separated from the
Bombay Presidency.

(10) Reforms should be introduced in

the N.W.F.P. and Balochistan on the
same footing as in other provinces.

(11) Provision should be made in the

Constitution giving Muslims an
adequate share along with the other
Indians, in all the services of the State
and in local self-governing bodies
having due regard to the requirements
of efficiency.

(12)The constitution should embody

adequate safeguards for the protection
of Muslim culture and for the protection
and promotion of Muslim education,
language, religion, personal laws and
Muslim charitable institutions, and for
their due share in the grants-in-aid given
by the State and by Iocal self-governing
bodies.

(13)No cabinet, either Central or

Provincial, should be formed without
there being a proportion of at least one-
third Muslim Ministers.

(14) No change shall be made in the

constitution by the Central Legislature
except with the concurrence of the
States constituting the Indian
Federation.

The annual meeting of the Muslim

League which was held at Allahabad in
1930 was presided over by Allama Iqbai
who in his Presidential address said that
the N.W.F.P. Punjab, Sindh and
Balochistan should be combined in one
State. AJIama further said that there was
no way out; it was destined to become
an independent state because this was
the only way by which Muslims could
live an honourable life. They must have
a homeland so that they could preserve
their culture, civilization and modes of
worship. Thus a forceful demand was
put forward for an independent Muslim
State. The Allahabad address caught the
imagination of the Muslims who started
working hard for the preservation of
their rights and ultimate independence.

The British Government called a series

of Round Table Conferences in London
to work out some solution to some of
the problems that had disturbed the
political atmosphere of the sub-
continent. Representatives of all the
important political parties of the sub-
continent were invited to the meetings.
The Congress boycotted the Conference
and started 'civil disobedience
movement' because the government did
not agree to their unjust demands.
The First Round Table Conference was
held in London in December, 1930 which
was attended by prominent Muslim
leaders but the Congress stayed away.
Many issues were debated upon, but
without any tangible results.

Mr. Gandhi was a shrewd politician. He

knew that by staying away from the
Conference, he could dictate his terms,
which he did. Lord Irwin, the then
Viceroy of India and Mr. Gandhi came to
some agreement after which the
Congress decided to attend the Second
Round Table Conference. This time, too,
not much was achieved except that it
was decided that Sindh be separated
from Mumbai that reforms be introduced
in N.W.F.P. on the lines they had been
introduced in other provinces.

On return to India, Mr. Gandhi again

started 'civil disobedience movement'
because things had not gone his way in
the Round Table Conferences.

When the British Government became

convinced that the Hindus and Muslims
could not offer an agreed formula they
issued an 'Award* themselves in 1932.
According to this Award known as
Communal Award, the right of Muslims
and other minorities to separate
electorate was restored.

In the Communal Award the 'Achhutes'

or untouchables were treated as a
distinct minority and given the right of
separate electorate. This turned the
table on the Hindus who now saw their
position becoming very weak. Mr.
Gandhi started a 'fast unto death and put
a lot of pressure on Mr. Ambedkar, the
Achhut leader, to surrender the right of
separate electorate. Mr. Ambedkar cculd
not withstand the pressuie and finally
signed a treaty known as 'Poona Pact'
and thus put many million Achhutes in
the lap of Hindus.

The Third Round Table Conference was

held in November, 1932. The Congress
did not attend and the Quaid-f-Azam was
not invited. Only reports of various
Committees were discussed and
finalized in this conference.

Based on the recommendations of the

Third Round Table Conference held in
1932, the British Government enacted a
new law known as the Government of
India Act, 1935. This Act, provided for
the Federal type of Government in the
sub-continent. The provinces were given
autonomy and Provincial Assemblies
were given more powers. Number of
members in the central Assembly was
also increased.
The Congress won the elections, held
under the provisions of the Government
of India Act, 1935, by an overwhelming
majority. This era of Congress Rule
proved very detriment to the Muslim
cause. Urdu was replaced by Hindi. The
doors of Government services were
closed on Muslims and they were
disgraced and humiliated in many ways.
The Hindus even interfered in Muslim
religious ceremonies. Their property
was looted, houses set on fire and
Muslims were massacred at many
places. Thus, the ignoble behaviour of
the Hindus forced the Muslims to rally
round the Muslim League Flag to get
their demands conceded.

In 1939 when World War II started, the

Viceroy of India also declared war
against Germany. Since the Congress
Ministries had not been consulted, they
resigned in protest. At this, on the
advice of the Quaid-i-Azam, the Muslims
celebrated the "deliverance day", as the
Hindus had treated the Muslims cruelly
and shamefully during their rule.

In 1940, the annual meeting of the

Muslim League was held at Lahore at the
place in the Iqbal Park where today the
Minar-e-Pakistan, stands in its majestic
glory to remind the whole world that
determined people can cut shackles of
slavery and win freedom in a span of
only seven years.

Moulvi Fazle Haque, the famous leader

from Bengal, moved the historic
resolution in this meeting on March 23,
1940 which was unanimously passed.
This resolution goes down in history by
the name of Lahore Resolution or
Pakistan Resolution. The Resolution
demanded that Muslim States be set up
in Eastern and North-Western parts of
India where Muslims could live in peace,
lead an independent life according to the
principles of Islam and preserve their
distinct civilization and culture.

The Resolution proved a great boon. The

Muslims of the subcontinent, under the
dynamic leadership of the Quaid-i-Azam,
became organized and solid like a rock.
They forced the two enemies, the British
and the Hindus, to accept the demand
for an independent Pakistan.

The World War was still on and Germany

had won initial successes. The Indian
sub-continent was showing signs of
restlessness and concern. The British
Government realized it and sent another
mission, Cripps Mission under Sir
Stafford Cripps with new proposals on
the take it or leave it principle'.

The Mission met the leaders of various

important political parties. Briefly, the
British Government offered to grant
freedom to the sub-continent after the
end of the war. She would be a dominion
under the British Crown and a
Constitution would be prepared in which
each Province would be a member of the
Federation for at least ten years after
which they could break away if they so
desired.

The Muslim League rejected the

proposals in toto because no guarantee
had been given that the rights of the
Muslims would be safeguarded.
Congress also rejected the proposals
but on different grounds. They thought
that if the provision that a province
could secede after ten years was
accepted, then Pakistan would come
into being after ten years, surely against
their wishes; so the Cripps Mission
failed hopelessly.
Hindus by now had come to realize that
no success could be achieved without
the co-operation of Muslims. Mr.Gandhi
wrote to the Quaid that he wanted to see
him. The two leaders met, but Mr.
Gandhi being a staunch Hindu insisted
on getting things decided in his own
way. The dialogue known as Gandhi-
Jinnah Talks, failed as it was destined
to.

In 1944 Lord Wavell was appointed

Viceroy of India. In 1945 he prepared a
plan and called a meeting of all
important Ieaders at Simla. This
Conference known as Simla Conference
also failed because no decision could be
arrived at regarding the appointment of
Muslim Members to Viceroy's Council.

During the Simla Conference a demand

for general elections was put forward
from all quarters. At this the Viceroy
announced general elections in the
winter of 1945. In the Central Legislative
Assembly all the Muslim seats were won
by the Muslim League. In the Provincial
elections held in the beginning of 1946,
the Muslim League won about 90 per
cent of the Muslim seats. This amply
proved the claim of Muslim League to be
the sole representative body of the
Muslims of India.

After the failure of Wavell Plan and the

success of Muslim League, things
started taking a new shape. The British
Cabinet decided to send another
Mission consisting of Lord Pathic
Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps and A.V.
Alexander. This mission known as
Cabinet Mission, also could not make
the leaders of different political parties
arrive at an agreed formula. In the
absence of an agreement, the Mission
presented their own formula of grouping
Hindu majority provinces and Muslim
majority provinces. Hindus opposed it
because they could sense Pakistan
coming into being on the two flanks of
India. The Muslim League also opposed
it because no guarantee of the
establishment of Pakistan had been
given.

Jawahar Lal Nehru ridiculed the Cabinet

Mission Plan and gave a threat that he
would not allow the grouping of the
provinces, ,nor would he allow his party
to stay in the Assembly.

Under these circumstances, the Muslim

League also withdrew its support to the
Cabinet Mission Plan. As a protest
against the attitude of the British the
Muslims returned all the titles conferred
on them.
The British Government made a
ludicrous move and asked Nehru to form
the Government which he did in August,
1946. After some discussion, the League
also decided to join the 'Interim
Government'. When the portfolios were
allocated, Congress appropriated all the
important portfolios itself and gave to
the League nominees such portfolios as
were either unimportant or the Congress
thought that the Muslims would be
unable to do well with them.

Liaqat Ali Khan, who was the Minister

for Finance, made every intelligent
move. He prepared a budget which was
beneficial to the poor, but hit the Hindu
capitalists hard. The Congress opposed
the budget and was exposed to the
world as a party which stood for the
interests of the capitalists and not the
masses.
The British Prime Minister, at the failure
of the Cabinet Mission as well as the
Interim Government announced the
Intention of the British Government to
transfer power to the people of the
subcontinent and also announced the
appointment of Lord Mountbatten In
place of Lord Wavell.

Lord Mountbatten studied the political

situation and later with the approval of
the British Government announced the
June 3 Plan in which it was decided to
partition the sub-continent. Punjab and
Bengal were to be divided on the basis
of Muslim majority and Hindu majority
areas. A Boundary Commission was
also to be appointed to demarcate the
boundaries of Pakistan and Bharat.

Provincial Assembly of Sindh and 'Shahi

Jirga' of Balochistan were to decide
about their future. N.W.F.P. was given an
option to hold a referendum and decide
their own fate. Similarly, Sylhet of the
Assam Province was given the option to
decide about their future.

When it was decided to partition Punjab

and Bengal the British Government
appointed Sir Radcliff, as the Chairman
of the Boundary Commission.
Mountbatten and Radcliff, betraying all
norms of fair play and justice, gave
some of the Muslim majority areas to
Bharat. By giving away Gurdaspur, a
Muslim majority district to Bharat, the
British Government gave Bharat an
access to Kashmir which ultimately
proved to be the greatest hurdle in the
smooth neighbourly relations between
Bharat and Pakistan.

In the distribution of assets,

Mountbatten again showed great
partiality and Pakistan was deprived of
her legitimate share In the finances,
defence equipment, railway engines and
bogies and the like.

On the 14th day of August, 1947 the sub-

continent was divided into two parts —
Pakistan and Bharat. Lord Mountbatten
came to Karachi and transferred the
power to Pakistan. Quaid-i-Azam
Muhammad Ali Jinnah was appointed as
the first Governor-General of Pakistan.
Acting on the golden principles of unity,
faith and discipline, the Muslims
established a true and everlasting
Muslim State of which we are all so
proud.
.