The building blocks of 23rd March

The historic annual session of All India Muslim League from March 22 to 24 in 1940 at Lahore was called to scrutinise situation that had evolved due to the outbreak of the World War II and India's enforced entry into the war without consulting Indian political leaders, as well as to examine the rationale for the Muslim League's defeat in the general election of 1937 in the Muslim majority provinces. The Muslim League's general session adopted the Lahore Resolution in this three days session which was later pronounced as Pakistan resolution by the Congress influenced media. The events that steered towards the Pakistan Resolution traced back not only to the Round Table Conferences (1930-1932) and the brutal Congress ministries but also brewed deliberately since the mutiny in 1857 and even prior to that event.

Muslim rule in India is delineated to Muhammad bin Qasim's conquest of Sindh and Multan followed by Ghaznavids in Punjab and Ghoris in the northern India. Turko-Mongol Muslim dynasties, such as the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire, began to establish themselves throughout the subcontinent from the late 12th century onwards; they adopted local culture and mingled with the natives. The Mughal dynasty materialised by Babur, controlled most parts of the subcontinent after 1526 when he vanquished Ibrahim Lodi, the last Pashtun ruler of the Delhi Sultanate, at the First Battle of Panipat.

English East India Company was founded as a monopoly trading entity on December 31, 1600, by a royal charter, so that England may participate in the East Indian spice trade, however, trade and colonisation for the English were intrinsically tied. The Mughal Empire after 1707 lost strength and territory to the Marathas and the EIC. The company later in 1757, following the last Battle of Plassey, embarked on ruling the subcontinent until 1858 when it lost its administrative powers as a result of the Government of India Act 1858, which was introduced following the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857. The government of India shifted from the directors of the company to a secretary of the state, so began the direct British imperial rule on India.

Muslims were dismantled of their livelihood in the aftermath of the mutiny. Despite the fact that the last Mughal king, Bahadur Shah Zafar, was a reluctant front man for the anti-British struggle, the Muslim population as a whole was blamed by the vindictive British Empire. Thousands of Muslims were hanged to death and shot, entire localities in Delhi were razed. Many more were exiled and died in prison, including the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. Hindus, on the other hand, faced no all-out consequences and welded themselves to bureaucracy and politics in the British Raj. Events like the Urdu-Hindi controversy was yet another issue that escorted the Muslims to acknowledge the petty-minded manoeuvring of Hindus who were in majority.

Muslims were devastated and retreated inwards. Few Muslims were able to compete when western education became a necessity for government posts. With his Aligarh University, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan attempted to reverse this thinking, but Muslims in general, were hesitant to accept their surrender of authority to the British Raj. He also laid the foundations of Two Nation Theory and made the Muslims aware that their political involvement is a prerequisite if they wish to exist meaningfully.

Concurrently, an ex-English ICS officer A.O. Hume had the vision of organising a political party in India and met prominent English administrators for this aim, resulting in the formation of Indian National Congress (INC) in 1885 under the British supervision and with local Indian contributions. Congress was formed with the aim to represent the people of India alike, regardless of their faith but its top tier was monopolised by the extremist Hindu leaders like Tilak, Rash Behari, Medan Mohan and Banerjee who pushed Muslims to the wall for their religious customs including cow slaughter. Congressmen endorsing movements like Shuddhi and Sangathan of the Arya Samaj for conversion of Muslims and Christians to Hinduism unveiled their hypocrisy and verbal claims of equality and emancipation of all ethnic groups residing in India.

Despite the Congress’ anti-Muslim initiatives, a number of Muslim politicians remained committed to Congress and the idea of a united and equal India. Important political figures like Mohammad Ali Johar, Maulana Azad, and even Jinnah believed that despite the freshly growing Hindu-Muslim tensions, there was likelihood for them to unite.

During the All-India Muslim Education Conference's annual meeting in 1906, the Nawab of Dhaka, Khwaja Salimullah, proposed the formation of a political party to serve the interests of Muslims in British India. The conference unanimously passed a resolution, resulting in the creation of the All India Muslim League (AIML).

On October 10, 1913, Jinnah joined AIML and was influential in convincing the party to revise its constitution to include an acceptable form of self-government under the British Crown. At Lucknow, in 1916, while being a member of both INC and AIML, he facilitated a pact for separate electorates for the Muslims and Hindus. Sarojini Naidu, a dynamic political figure of the time, called Jinnah as the Ambassador of Hindu Muslim Unity.

Demand for self-rule gained fame in India after a million Indian soldiers fought on behalf of Britain. To pacify the people GOI Act 1919 was passed which due to its exclusive diarchal nature, confronted cosmic opposition from both the leading parties. The Jalianwala Bagh incident and Khilafat movement proved momentous in coaxing Indians towards independence. Congress in 1920 launched Non-Cooperation Movement while Jinnah, an adherent of political struggle, resigned from Congress calling the move political anarchy and moved to London where he spent most of the roaring 20s.

PM Baldwin appointed a commission under John Simon in November 1927 to present a report on the GOI Act 1919 but this commission too got repulsed by both Congress and Muslim League as none of the seven members were Indian. Lord Birkenhead who was the then secretary of state on Indian affairs challenged Indian political parties to frame a constitution for themselves if they were capable enough and this underestimation resulted in All Parties Conference (1928) which in its fourth session at Bombay presented Nehru Report as preamble for the constitution of united India. Muslim League rejected Nehru Report and Jinnah came up with his famous fourteen points demanding provincial autonomy, one-third Muslim representation in the central legislature and reserved seats for Muslims in Punjab and Bengal's provincial assemblies. Jinnah who was once an Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity was now convinced that in a Hindu majority India, rights of Muslims cannot be sheltered in true essence.

Sir Muhammad Iqbal too was once an enduring enthusiast of Indian nationalism but soon recognised the existential threat that loomed over the Muslims of India and in his presidential address in the 21st annual session of AIML at Allahabad on December 29, 1930. He critically advocated Muslim identity and religious nationalism. Iqbal recommended that Punjab, the North West Frontier Province, Balochistan, and Sindh be amalgamated into one state as a lasting solution to the Muslim Hindu conundrum.

Three Round Table Conferences were called on by Prime Minister Ramsay McDonald to shape a future constitution for India after it was felt that Nehru Report alone was deficient. To summarise, the first Conference ended in failure due to the absence of the Congress, and the second Conference failed due to the arrogant attitude of the Congress, which elevated the level of resentment between Hindus and Muslims, and the communal award confirmed to be the death blow to relations between the two communities of the Indian subcontinent. On July 4, 1935, a new constitution was ratified by both houses of the English Parliament and through royal assent enacted in India. The GOI Act 1935 proved helpful regarding separate electorates and provinces were empowered as the diarchy introduced in GOI Act 1919 was axed but the strings of power remained entangled.

Though not immediately noticeable after the Act's enactment, the provincial elections held under its provisions in I937, and the outcomes thereof, brought this crossroad in Indian nationalism to light. Congress formed government in eight out of 11 provinces while AIML cracked into divergent ideological factions, lagged to gain public credence and was not able to form government in any province. Although, Congress and ML failed to procure a conclusive Muslim majority but Muslims still anticipated the Congress government to be fair and religiously neutral, given their overwhelming support. The new government, however, treated Muslims with oppression and despotism, which was dismaying for Muslims who underpinned Congress in the polls. Hindi became the national language, the Congress flag became the national flag, cow slaughter was outlawed and “Vande Mataram” became the national anthem adapted from Chandra Chatterji's novel “Anandamath”. Warda Teleemi Scheme was aimed to engineer Muslim youth against Two Nation Theory. Congress made a colossal error and misjudged the consequences, which manifested themselves as Muslims alienated from the Congress.

Muslim League was not dormant during this time; the organisation mobilised the Muslim youth politically, made them aware of the Hindus’ proclivity for theocracy. Several reports including “Pirpur Report” and “The Sharif Report” and “Muslim Sufferings under the Congress Rule” by A.K Fazul ul Haq were issued during this time to accentuate the dissatisfaction Muslims had with the Congress rule.

The British were battling the Axis Powers once World War II broke out and India’s involvement was proclaimed by the Viceroy without engaging India’s ruling party. Congress was unhappy over the move, the party resigned from government in 1939, while Quaid-i-Azam seeing a promising opportunity for Muslim political empowerment asked them for “honourable co-operation at the critical and difficult juncture”. The nightmare regime that had tormented the Muslim population beyond imagination came to an abrupt end. Jinnah urged Muslims to commemorate 22nd December as a “Day of Deliverance” without malice against other nations.

A year later in Lahore during the three-day annual convention of AIML, Lahore Resolution was passed demanding a separate homeland for the Muslims of India which was projected as “Pakistan Resolution” by Indian press while taking the word “Pakistan” from Choudhry Rehmat Ali’s pamphlet during the third Round Table Conference (1932) by which he referred to the five northern units of India. The struggle for a separate homeland continued till 1947 but the resolution and its history provided a blueprint for the future course of action.

Today, Two-Nation Theory is revised in India as Narendra Modi’s government is branded with anti-Muslim sentiments and religious intolerance peaking high. However, today’s Pakistan characterised by extremism and political disability too has deviated by miles from the ideals envisioned by the founding fathers. Muslim League and Jinnah particularly had facilitated women’s proactive political involvement but instead of evolving for better with the advancing intellect and human reason, we evolved for the worst and today the rights of minorities and women exist only on papers.

History has the power to guide the future, unfortunately though, in today’s Pakistan where landmark events are memorised for the sake of profession and the fourteen points of Jinnah for a college degree, the true essence of non-violent struggle, diplomacy and tolerance is burdensome for the youth to translate. We all have to contribute in blocking the chaos and diffusing peace so that no human has to fear for their lives. We will have to strive together, by eliminating discrimination and internal biases among ourselves to thrive as a nation.

-The writer is a grad student of Political Science at SPIR, QAU. He can be accessed at: kashifafridiinfo@gmail.com.