he Lahore resolution is considered a great landmark in the political history of British India. The resolution significantly transformed the nature and direction of politics in India. The creation of a separate state for Muslims of India emerged as a cherished goal of the Muslim political leadership and a pivotal point in the people’s struggle to achieve that objective.

While commemorating the Pakistan Day, the role of political leadership has remained largely marginalised. This feels strange considering the state of Pakistan was created through a democratic process and constitutional means. It was a politically negotiated settlement between the ruling British colonial power and leading political representatives, i.e. the Indian National Congress and All-India Muslim League.

March 23, 1940, was a day of evolving political consensus among the Muslim political elite of British India. The resolution was tabled at a critical juncture. New political currents were radically transforming the political landscape. The outbreak of World War II posed great challenge to the British and European supremacy in the global political arena. The resignation of the Congress ministries had created new opportunities for the Muslim political elite. The Muslim League, under the leadership of Jinnah, was a beneficiary of the situation. After its electoral defeat in Muslim majority provinces in the 1936-37 elections, the party had revitalised its organisation. The party under the leadership of Jinnah, had embarked on a mass contact campaign across the length and bread of India.

The shift in strategy had resulted in new alliances with provincial political forces. Jinnah had approached not only the popular leadership in Bengal but also the leadership of the Punjab as well. The League had developed political inroads in the Punjab after the Sikander-Jinnah Pact. The Unionist leadership too had revisited its strategy and extended cooperation to the League for the articulation of Muslims’ political interests and to effectively check the Congress’ entry in the Punjab.

The Muslim League planned its annual session in Lahore, the political capital of the Punjab. The political significance of the Punjab in the war years was as the fighting arm of the British Empire. It had a more than 50 percent share of the British Indian army. The resolution was tabled by the premier of Bengal, AK Fazl-ul Haq and supported by Muslim political heavyweights and public representatives from various provinces. These moves had symbolic as well as strategic value. The Muslim League was projecting its political power as the sole representative political force of the Muslim India. It now enjoyed the support and confidence of various shades of regional political leadership. The provincial political forces had accepted Jinnah as the advocate of Muslim political cause. The League was successfully challenging the Congress’ claims as the only representative political force in India and the sole nationalist party. The League would soon prove itself as a counterweight and a third force besides the British and Congress.

The Lahore session was also an important departure from old style of politics. There was a shift from elite to mass-centric politics. There were more than 100,000 people in attendance. The people of the Punjab, especially Lahore, also enthusiastically responded to the political call of the League. The Muslim League successfully established its political credentials as the representative political force of the Muslim India. The party enjoyed the support of all segments and sections of the Muslim society.

Previously, political demands and issues had been largely debated in close circles of the political elite. The masses were not involved or politically engaged on delicate constitutional and political proposals and demands. The League leadership opted to present the demand for a separate Muslim state as the ultimate solution of the long-standing political and constitutional deadlock regarding Muslim political emancipation. The people-centric political strategy now dominated political ethos and culture.

The Lahore Resolution had popular legitimacy. The notion of the people’s power and sovereignty was provided solid grounds through mass mobilisation and public approval of the demands to safeguard Muslim political, economic, social and religious interests. The positive reception by the Muslims to the idea of Pakistan as a separate Muslim homeland lent credence to the resolution’s demands. The Muslim League’s electoral victory in the 1945-46 elections was largely owed to the idea of Pakistan. The idea of Pakistan captured the Muslim political imagination and emerged as a popular slogan during the election campaign. It was very well received among various segments of the society, including political elite, the educated and business classes, students and women. The Muslim electorate extended its approval to the Pakistan Resolution by granting a thumping victory to the League. The people’s mandate facilitated the political transition, which not only ended the colonial rule but also eliminated the chance of Hindu rule in Muslim India.

The Lahore Resolution provided ideological foundations to Muslim nationalism. Jinnah’s speech at the session strongly advocated an exclusive Muslim identity through a separate nation. The resolution also upheld the notion of the right to self-determination, political autonomy and representation based on the popular will of the people. The right of self-determination is a globally acknowledged right coupled with the notion of popular will. The idea of Pakistan was the expression of political autonomy through people’s democratic aspirations. The resolution proposed a decentralised state and discouraged the tendency of excessive centralisation of power. The majoritarian principle had a great potential to deprive the Muslims of legitimate political interest. The idea of Pakistan provided constitutional guarantees and protections against a hostile majority. It also suggested a federal structure for the state with the notion of provincial autonomy as an effective safeguard for minorities in accommodation of the diversities.

The state of Pakistan was created through a democratic and constitutional process. The political leadership had mobilised the Muslims, who made Pakistan a democratic choice under the globally recognised notions of right of self-determination, popular will and people’s sovereignty in a nation state.

The writer is an assistant professor in the Department of Pakistan Studies at Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad. He has a PhD from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. His area of expertise is electoral politics. He can be reached at sajidkhanhistorian@gmail.com, and at X: @sajidkhanqau