Inadvertent contributions towards the establishment of Pakistan

The News, Sun, August,15, 2004.

Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema


There exists no two opinions about the massive contributions that were made towards the making of Pakistan by two eminent Muslim leaders like Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Sir Muhammad Iqbal. However it needs to be recognised that many other leaders of the Muslim League also made substantive contributions. In addition one cannot ignore the role played by innumerable workers who carried the message to the Muslim masses of British India. Indeed Pakistan is the product of collective efforts of all of them.

Apart from those who were enthusiastically working hard to have a separate homeland for the Muslims of India established, there were others who were opposing the division of British India and worked with dedication to prevent the creation of Pakistan. However a cursory glance at the developments of first half of the twentieth century clearly reveals that some of the policies that were pursued with the objective of preventing the establishment of Pakistan were, in a rather strange way, making contributions towards the establishment of Pakistan. Let me ask only five questions and respond to each question clearly pointing towards the contributions of the Hindus to the cause of Pakistan though inadvertently and not intentionally.

The first question is why was Muslim League established? On 30^th December 1906, the All India Muslim League was formed at Dhaka primarily to protect and safeguards the rights of the Indian Muslims. The groundwork for the foundation of the Muslim League was done in a meeting, which was held at Lucknow on 15-16 September 1906. Interestingly, the name ‘Muslim League’ for the proposed organisation was suggested in a very casual manner by Mian Mohammad Shafi on a slip of paper and was presented to those participating in the meeting which, was quickly and unanimously accepted.

Its objectives were clearly specified in its first resolution which included protecting and advancing the political rights of the Indian Muslims, representing their needs and aspiration to the government, and preventing the rise of hostilities towards other communities. All these objectives were reflecting what invariably a minority community desires. But the important question that needs to be subjected to academic investigations is how was an organisation aiming to protects the rights of a minority community was transformed into a party that was seeking the establishment of a separate country. The answer lies in the detailed analysis of majority community’s policies towards this minority community.      

The second question relates to Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s departure from the All India Congress. One does not have to dig too deeply in the history to know that Jinnah was regarded as an important and respected Congress leader by many Hindu leaders. Mrs.Sarojini Naidu even hailed him as the ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity. In fact some senior Congress leaders admired Jinnah’s capabilities and some were even visualising him as the leader of the Congress.  

The question that needs to be asked who pushed him out of Congress or forced him out of this leading political party of India. The answers once again lie in the petty politics of some of the younger generation of Hindu leaders in the Congress and his quick comprehensions of ultimate goals of the Congress. However it also needs to be stressed here that his pleas for special recognition of the Muslims fell upon stony grounds. He had helped in negotiating the Lucknow Pact which provided for the representation of the Muslims through separate electorates. Part of the reason for his disillusionment and consequent departure was his disillusionment with the Congress.

The next event in which Hindus made their inadvertent contributions relates to 1938 elections and consequent developments. While vociferously criticising the Government of India Act of 1935 which provided for a federation of India, both Congress and Muslim League decided to participate in the elections that were to be held under it in 1937. Since both were cooperating with each other in the centre, they decided to cooperate with each other even in the provinces.

According to a former prime minister of Pakistan the Muslims had demanded ‘a statutory provision for the inclusion of Muslim representatives in the ministries’ in the discussions that took place prior to the arrival of 1935 Act and were assured by both the Hindu and British statesmen though somewhat in general terms. They expected coalition ministries would include them but the Congress decided not to have coalition with the Muslim League in those provinces in which they had the majority.  The refusal to honour the promises that were made by the Hindu Congress leaders prior to the advent of 1935 Act, in many ways, destroyed all hopes of collaboration between the Congress and the Muslim League. In provinces where Congress had minorities sought to divide the Muslims in its attempt to form coalition government.   

In United Province (UP) the Muslim were around one sixth of the total population of the province. According to an eminent English historian there had been an unwritten understanding that two ministers would be taken from the Muslim League. Admittedly the Muslim League did not do well in the UP elections but it was still expected that Congress would implement the understanding and honour commitments. But in UP the Congress decided to take Muslims into the cabinet provided a price is paid which was that the Muslim League group would cease to exist and elected Muslim members would become part of the Congress party.

While this move may have been correctly and perhaps appropriately perceived by Hindu leaders, it certainly destroyed all hopes of working together and made the Muslim acutely aware of Hindus intentions of Hindu Raj. Perhaps that is why an eminent English historian referred to it as a ‘great blunder’. Since then the Muslims not only further pushed the demand for recognition of the Muslim League as an equal with the Congress, but also became much clearer about their destiny.

The fourth question relates to the transformation of Lahore Resolution into Pakistan resolution. Who transformed it and gave it a new name? In Feb. 1940 Mr. Jinnah had publicly proclaimed that any constitutional settlement must recognise that India was not one nation but two. In March 1940 Lahore Resolution was adopted by the Muslim League. What is interesting is the reported fact that the word Pakistan was not used in the text of the resolution but the entire Hindu press carried the headlines that Pakistan resolution has been passed. Inadvertently it facilitated the work of the Muslim League workers to make the Muslim masses understand what does Pakistan means and stands for.

The last question deals with the Cabinet mission Plan. Who accepted the plan and who rejected it? In 1946 the British government sent a Cabinet Mission to resolve the constitutional problem of India. After meeting various leaders and holding intense discussions the Cabinet Mission announced its plan. The focal point of the announced arrangement was the preservation of British India as a single state. It was known as a three tier constitutional arrangement.    

Cognizant of the apprehension of the Muslims the Cabinet Mission opted for maintaining the union of British India but divided it into three groups with two units reflecting Hindu majority and Muslim majority provinces forming two separate units and the third unit consisted of Bengal and Assam(A mixture of Hindus, the Muslims, the Christians and the Tribes). India was to be confederation with few subjects to be retained by central authority. The Cabinet mission Plan was accepted by the Muslim League but rejected by the congress though later Congress began to entertain second thoughts.

If one looks at the above mentioned questions and analyse them within the context of roles played and policies pursued by Muslim League as well as Congress, it becomes quite clear that in pursuit of strategy to prevent the division of British India, many Hindu leaders and Congress policy pursuits inadvertently contributed towards the making of Pakistan. The main objective of the Congress party was to prevent the division of the country whereas the Muslim League started with the objectives of safeguarding the rights of Muslim community in India. While opposing the pursuits of the Muslim League and attempting to prevent the establishment of Pakistan, the Congress leaders involuntarily and in some cases without knowingly influenced the thinking of the Muslims and inadvertently helped in the making of separate homeland called Pakistan.