Was Pakistan Created in the Name of Islam_ _ Yasser Latif Hamdani - Academia

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8/14/2015 Was Pakistan created in the name of Islam? | Yasser Latif Hamdani - Academia.edu

http://www.academia.edu/4671150/Was_Pakistan_created_in_the_name_of_Islam

Was Pakistan created in the name of Islam?

1WASPAKISTANCREATEDIN

THENAMEOFISLAM?

ImaintainthatHindu-Muslimisaconditionprecedent-

nay it is a sine qua non- before any constitution can be

completedfortheGovernmentofIndia

(Jinnah,SpeechonFederalStructureSub-committeeon13

January1931)

"Imustrecordmyownbelief,thatanyattempttoestablishthe

reignofHindunumericalmajorityin India willneverbeachieved

withoutacivilwar...TheMuslimsnumbering90million..theword

minorityhasnorelevanceorsensewhenappliedtomassesof

humanbeingsnumberedinmanyscoresofmillions(Winston Churchill, December 13th 1946 at House of

Commons)

Oneofourmostpersistentnationalmythsputforwardby

boththestateanditsdetractorsisthatPakistanwascreatedin

thenameofIslam.ItissaidthatPakistanwascreatedwiththe

useoftheslogansIslamindangerandPakistankamatlab
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http://www.academia.edu/4671150/Was_Pakistan_created_in_the_name_of_Islam 2

2 Jinnah:MythandReality

kya,Laillahailallah,bothsloganswhichironicallywere

neverusedbyQuaid-e-Azamhimself.IndeedJinnahruledout

Pakistankamatlabkiya,Laillahaillallahwhenhecensureda

LeagueratthelastsessionoftheAllIndiaMuslimLeagueafter

partition in these words: Neither I nor the Muslim League

WorkingCommittee ever passeda resolution Pakistanka

matlabkiyayoumayhaveusedittocatchafewvotes.

Nevertheless,thefactthatPakistanwascreatedasaresultof

agroupsnationalism,whichwasbasedinwhateverwatered

down form on common religious beliefs, has damned

Pakistantoaperpetualidentitycrisisthatcontinuestosapits

vitality.ThatnooneontopsinceSeptember11,1948hasbeen

able to talk sense in this country has only aggravated ourpredicament.

Fundamentaltothisidentitycrisisisthenationalconfusion

surrounding theTwoNationTheory, which is hailed as the

ideologicalfoundationofthestateofPakistan.Itisoneofthe

mostmisunderstoodideasinmodernhistory,bothintermsof

whatitclaimedandhowithasbeenappliedbyvariouscurrents

inourhistory.

BothIndiaandPakistandonotdisagreeonwhattheyconsider

theessentialsofthetheory,butwhileinIndiaitisasymbolof

exclusivismandcommunalism,inPakistanitispartoftheIslamic

ideologicalnarrative.Thisisthepublicistsviewofhistory,butnot

necessarilyone that is accepted withoutquestion by historians.

Perhapsthe timehas come to turn such conventionalcommon

(non)senseabouttheTwoNationTheoryonitshead.

The Two Nation Theory, as adopted by Jinnah and the

MuslimLeaguein1940,wasamererestatementoftheminority

probleminnationaltermsandnotaclarioncall,touseDrAyesha

Jalalsvocabulary,forpartition.WhatJinnahwasaimingforwas

whatinrecentyearshasbeencoinedasconsociationalism,a


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WasPakistancreatedinthenameofIslam? 3

powersharingbetweendisparateethnicandcommunalgroupsin

multinationalandmultiethnicstates.Thoughthetermwascoined

onlyadecadeorsoago,consociationalismasapoliticalsystemis

quiteoldandistriedandtestedinstatesliketheNetherlands,

SwitzerlandandCanada.

WhentheQuaid-e-AzamarticulatedtheTwoNationTheory,

he referred to language, culture, family laws and historical

antecedents.Hewas,asanadroitlawyer,makingthecasefor

changingthestatusofaminoritytothatofanationandnotfor

separationofIslamfromIndiaasisallegedbyhisdetractors.JinnahsideaofPakistanwasnotpredicatedonthepartition

ofIndia.HisideaofPakistanwasapowersharingarrangement

betweentheMuslimsandHindus.HisTwoNationTheorydid

not,atleastnotuntilDecember1946,suggestthattheHindusandMuslimsmust be separatedand even then he spoke of

MuslimIndiaandHinduIndia.Still,eveninMay1947,Jinnah

waspleadingagainst the partitionof Punjaband Bengal by

arguingthataPunjabiisaPunjabiandaBengaliisaBengali

beforeheisaHinduoraMuslim.

Muchofthisisconfirmedbyoneofthemostextraordinary

piecesof prescience leftbehindbyH VHodson,whowasthe

ReformsCommissionerinIndiain1941.Hodsonwroteinclear

termsverysoonaftertheLahoreResolutionthateveryMuslim

Leaguer from Jinnah down to the last one interpreted the

Pakistanideaasconsistentwiththeideaofaconfederationof

India. Hodson believed that Pakistan wasa revolt against

minority status and a call for power sharing and not just

definingrulesofconducthowamajority(inthiscaseHindu)

wouldgovernIndia.Hespokeof anacuterealisationthatthe

minoritystatuswithallthesafeguardscouldonlyamounttoa

Cinderellawithtradeunionrightsandradiointhekitchenbut

stillbelowthestairs.JinnahscommentwasthatHodsonhad

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finallyunderstoodwhattheLeaguewasafter,butthathecould

notpubliclycomeoutwiththesefundamentaltruths,asthese

werelikelytobemisunderstoodatthetime.

TheoriginsoftheTwonationtheory

OntheMuslimsidethefirstarticulationofthetwonation

theory came from the famousMuslim modernist, Sir Syed

AhmedKhan,whodecidedaftertheexperienceofUrdu-Hindi

controversyof1867thatMuslimsandHindusweretwoseparate

nations, andwere like two eyes of India, whoshouldhave

sovereignparity.WhenCongresswasfoundedbyAOHume

(1885),SirSyedAhmedKhanpersuadedmostoftheMuslims

nottojointheCongressPartybecausehefelttheMuslimswere

notreadyeducationallysocially,andpoliticallytofacetheHinducommunityinthemainstreamofpoliticsyet.Hewassupported

intheseviewsbyotherMuslimmodernistsofthetimelikeSyed

AmeerAli.

Thetwonationtheoryfinallyreachedaculminationinthe

form of theseparate electorates whichwere demanded by a

delegationoftheMuslimelite,andintelligentsiaintheirmeeting

withViceroyMinto.LordCurzonspartitionofBengalwasalso

on thesame lines. Partition of Bengalwas annulled dueto

Swadeshimovement.

ABriefHistoryoftheAll India MuslimLeague

TheAll India MuslimLeaguewasfoundedin1906withthe

expresspurposeof safeguardingMusliminterestsin aunited

India.LiketheCongressParty,itstartedoffasapartyloyalto

British Government. By1913,theLeaguewaspersuadedby

MohammedAli Jinnah oftheCongressPartytoabandonitspro-
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WasPakistancreatedinthenameofIslam? 5

Britishstanceandassumeastancewhichwasmoreinlinewith

theCongress.Hewasunablehowevertobudgetheleagueonits

stanceonseparateelectorates.In1916MohammedAli Jinnah

managedtobringtogethertheLeagueandtheCongressonone

platformworkingtogetherfortheIndependenceofIndia.During

theKhilafatMovementandthenon-cooperationmovement,the

Leaguebecamesidelinedwhen Gandhi ledCongresswentover

theleagueandmadeallianceswiththeKhilafatConferenceand

Jamiat-e-ulema-Hind, two radically Islamic organizations

agitatingforthesafeguardoftheIslamicinstitutionofKhilafat.

By1928thereweretwofactionsoftheMuslimLeague:Pro-

British faction led by Sir Muhammad Shafi and the Pro-

CongressfactionledbyMohammedAli Jinnah.AfterJinnahs

brief exit from all India politicsin1931,theLeaguevirtually

ceased to exist. By 1935 the beleaguered leaguers were

clamouringforJinnah tocomeback.In1935 Jinnah emergedoutofhisself-imposedexiletoreorganizetheleague.Withtheexit

ofShafi, Jinnah hadafreehand,andfrom1935-1937 Jinnah and

theLeaguewerethestaunchestsupportersoftheeffortsofthe

CongressPartyinsideandoutsidethecentrallegislativebody.

The Pakistan idea

InAllahabadin1930,Dr.MuhammadIqbalissaidtohave

giventheideaofaMuslimstateinthenorthwestof India within

orwithouttheBritish India. Readingtheaddress,itbecomes

clear that Iqbal was talking about an autonomous Muslim

ProvincewithintheBritishEmpireandbyimplicationwithinthe

IndianUnion.Thisideahadhithertobeenunarticulated,butit

wasalready there inmanydifferent forms. 1 The demand for

1

KKAzizmentions88differentschemescontainingpartitionofIndiabeforeIqbalfinallygavehisidea.


autonomyhadalwaysbeenthereintheNorthWest,andIqbal

wasonlygivingitamoreconcretepicture.Iqbalsconcernwas
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clearlytheMuslimMajorityareas,andnottheMuslimsinHindu

majorityareas.HenceIqbalsviewwasincontradictiontothe

officiallystatedLeaguepositionwhichwasbestexpressedinthe

LucknowPact.

By1933RahmatAli,astudentatCambridgeUniversity,

cameoutwithaneccentricschemewhichhecalled Pakistan :

OurFatherland.LaterthatyearhetriedtoenlistMohammedAli

Jinnah,theninEngland,forthiscause. Jinnah dismissed this

ideaasameredream,earningforeverthewrathofCh.Rahmat

Ali.

The elections of1937

Thefirst elections heldunderthe Government of India act

1935sawCongressemergingasthemajorityparty.Itwon711outoftotalof1585seats,andcouldform government in5/11

provinceswithout the supportof any party. Out of these 711

seats only 26 seats were Muslim seats, thereby increasing

CongresssrelianceonlocalHinduleaders,whichallowedfor

theiragendatobeimposedontheCongress.

MuslimLeagueontheotherhanddidwellontheMuslim

seatsintheHinduMajorityprovinceswinning29outof35seats

intheUP.Theleaguehowevercouldntdowellagainstthe

regionalpartiesinMuslimMajorityareas.

CongressandtheLeague

"ISir,standherewithaclearconscienceandIsaythatIam

anationalistfirst, anationalistsecondandnationalistlast...I

oncemoreappealtothisHouse.WhetheryouareaMussalman
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